Book 2

Cold Wind

by Paige Shelton

Published 22 December 2020
Beth Rivers is still in Alaska. The unidentified man who kidnapped her in her home of St. Louis hasn’t been found yet, so she’s not ready to go back.

However, as October comes to a close, Benedict is feeling more and more like her new home. Beth has been working on herself: She’s managed to get back to writing, and she’s enjoying these beautiful months between summer and winter in Alaska.

But everything in Benedict changes after a mudslide exposes a world that had been hidden for years. Suddenly, two mud-covered and silent girls appear, and a secret trapper’s house is found in the woods. The biggest surprise, though, is a dead and frozen woman’s body in the trapper’s shed. No one knows who she is, but the man who runs the mercantile, Randy, seems to be in the middle of all the mysteries.

Unable to escape her journalistic roots, Beth is determined to answer the questions that arrive: Are the mysterious girls and the frozen body connected? Can Randy possibly be involved? And - most importantly - can she answer these questions before the cold wind sweeping over the town and the townspeople descends for good?

Book 5

Lost Hours

by Paige Shelton

Published 5 December 2023
A year after arriving in Benedict, Beth Rivers is feeling very at home in Alaska, even as outsiders are starting to return to enjoy the brief summer perfection. Beth feels like she’s finally let go of most of her demons. She’s even found her father, Eddy Rivers - or, rather, he found her - and she's trying to find the middle ground between anger and forgiveness.

One sunny July day, Beth boards a tourist ship to see the glaciers, the main reason visitors venture to the area, and something Beth hasn’t attempted until now. But when the captain has to navigate to an island, a bloodied woman is found standing on the shore, waving for help. When she’s brought aboard, she claims she was kidnapped from her home in Juneau three days earlier, and that a bear on the island killed her captor. She, however, is unharmed.

The woman, Sadie, finds a sympathetic ear in Beth. She tells her that she’s been in Juneau under witness protection, and that the Juneau police don’t like her. When another kidnapping occurs, Beth and police chief Gril can’t help but think the two cases are interwoven, though the clues to solving them will be harder to unravel.

Dark Night

by Paige Shelton

Published 7 December 2021

Winter's End

by Paige Shelton

Published 6 December 2022
It’s springtime in Benedict, Alaska, and with it the warmer weather comes an unseasonably somber local tradition... the annual Death March. At the end of each brutal winter, citizens gather downtown and then break into groups to search the community for those who might have somehow gotten stuck at home. Beth Rivers sets off with her friend Orin and dog Gus, toward the cabin of an elderly resident, intending to check on him.

As Beth and company make their way, Orin mentions he’s concerned about two men who showed up for the March. Neither he nor the police chief, Gril, recognised the men.

When they reach the cabin, the old man is alive, but not in the best shape. Beth stays with him while Orin hurries to town for help, but it’s not Orin who returns. Gril comes back with the shocking news that one of the mystery men was just found dead in town and the other is missing. And now, Gril can’t find Orin. Beth and Gril are both concerned, especially considering how cryptic Orin has been of late. When they discover that Orin has been doing some top-secret research, they start to worry he’s been exposed, or worse.

Meanwhile, Beth continues on her own search, for her father, who allegedly is alive in Mexico, but won't return her calls. Still, she's making progress in healing from her own trauma, though can't quite shake the feeling she's being followed...

Perfect Storm

by Paige Shelton

Published 3 December 2024