Black Moon — Jo A. Hiestand

Each April the members of a mystery writing group gather on Stanton Moon for camaraderie and to fuel their plots. The moody area seems the perfect setting for hatching a whodunit. Unfortunately, an unscripted mystery materializes like an unsolicited manuscript on a publisher's slush pile—the leader of their group is found on the moor, her head bashed in and very dead.Lesley Keeton's murder takes on the aspects of a novel's first draft: the suspects shadowy and the killer unnamed. Now, a year later, ex-police detective Michael McLaren is asked to tidy up the plot and expose the killer.McLaren investigates and discovers anger and jealousy cropping up as often as editor's red marks on a manuscript page. The group members crafted more than stories—they planned a mass exodus, fleeing Lesley's tutelage, dictatorship and tongue lashings. Add a tinge of blackmail, an illegal business and an affair to this framework, and the deadly combination has the earmarks of a bestseller.In the midst of this, McLaren's lady friend arrives unannounced and disrupts the case…and unbalances his emotions. Both are tested one dark night in a churchyard when she stumbles into the arms of the killer…and McLaren must rescue her without letting evil go free.