Up Shute Creek — Denise Grover Swank

Book four in the New York Times bestselling Rose Gardner Investigations series.

Rose Gardner feels like she's up a creek without a paddle. Her sister is dying, her secret boyfriend, James Malcolm, is struggling to protect the county underworld from an upstart drug dealer, and her ex has moved back to town with a bee in his bonnet and a mission to root out corruption in the county. To make matters worse, Neely Kate is in dire straits too -- the past she's spent years trying to forget has finally caught up to her, with horrific fallout. They're in the thick of danger, and everyone's quick to tell them they'd do best to hunker down and keep to themselves.

But mysteries have a way of finding Rose and Neely Kate. A mother contacts them about finding her missing teenage daughter the same day they find a different young woman stranded by the side of the road. They know they should turn down the case, just as they should ignore the signs that the woman with the broken down car is running from something, but for Rose and Neely Kate, curiosity will always have a stronger call than danger.

Reading order:
Family Jewels (Rose Gardner Investigations #1)
Trailer Trash (Neely Kate Mystery #1)
For the Birds (Rose #2)
Hell in a Handbasket (Rose #3)
In High Cotton (Neely Kate #2)
Up Shute Creek (Rose #4)
Untitled (Neely Kate #3) --Late Spring