Puzzles Can Be Deadly

A bizarre old woman who worships the memory of her lost son.
A nun with hidden secrets.
A spinster housekeeper with a secret of her own.
An angry young man with a troubled past.
A neighbor who claims to talk to dead people at seances.
Skip Valentine and Henry Finch encounter these eccentric people on their weekend trip to visit Henry's uncle. When they learn of the groundskeeper who died in a mysterious fire shortly before they arrived, strange occurrences are imbued with ominous portent. The peculiar accidents, ghostly barking, a pounding heard late at night in the creepy old mansion, and a strange old box buried behind the burned-out carriage house all add up to something.
Skip yearns to investigate. It's all so perplexing. But when another death raises the stakes, the puzzle turns deadly. The solution may lie in a curious rhyme told by the groundskeeper before he died, but first Skip and Henry must decipher it.

David S. Pederson was born in Leadville, Colorado, where his father was a miner. Soon after, the family relocated to Wisconsin, where David grew up, attending high school and university, majoring in business and creative writing. Landing a job in retail, he found himself relocating to New York, Massachusetts, and eventually back to Wisconsin, where he currently lives with his longtime partner, and works in the furniture and decorating business.
He has written many short stories and poetry and is passionate about mysteries, old movies, and crime novels. When not reading, writing, or working in the furniture business, David also enjoys working out and studying classic ocean liners, floor plans, and historic homes.