Shuntoll Road (Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries Book 2)

Secrets Burn Beneath the Surface on Shuntoll Road

When Boston library curator Kathryn Stinson returns to the Berkshires, she hopes to rekindle a romance gone awry. Instead, she finds herself at the center of a bitter land dispute, a raging fire—and a murder. A New York developer plans to turn the quiet property she’s been renting into a luxury housing project, and Earl Barker—the man she’s come back for—has agreed to help clear the land.

As Kathryn begins to investigate the deadly blaze that left a charred body in its wake, she’s drawn into a web of secrets linking the developer to a close friend with a troubled past. Her search for the truth reveals buried tensions, dangerous loyalties, and a chilling willingness to kill to keep the past hidden.

Set against the haunting beauty of rural New England, Shuntoll Road is the second book in the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries by award-winning author Leslie Wheeler—a gripping, atmospheric mystery that explores the shadows cast by progress and the power of long-held secrets.

Available now—step into the mystery.

Excerpt from the book

Kathryn Stinson slowed to take the Lee exit for the Berkshires. After two and a half hours of high-speed driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike, she welcomed the shift to a more leisurely pace of travel and life in general, here in the westernmost corner of the state. As she approached Stockbridge, her cell phone chirped a cheery tune. The name on the dashboard screen made her feel less than cheerful. It was Brandy Russo, the realtor who was trying to sell the house Kathryn rented on Rattlesnake Hill. With a sigh, she took the call.

“Hi, Brandy, what’s up?”

“Remember that New York City developer I told you about a while back?”

“I think so.” A knot of worry coiled in Kathryn. She recalled mention of a developer who was interested in the property, but had pushed him to the back of her mind while the purchase was a remote possibility.

“Well, have I got news for you,” Brandy said. “The closing was yesterday, and he’s coming up this weekend to get a better look at his new property.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, what’s the matter?”

“You might have given me advance notice this was about to happen. Then, I wouldn’t have planned a two-week stay in New Nottingham.”

“Not a problem. He knows you’re the tenant there, and he’s not going to boot you out right away. In fact, he’s one of the most charming men I’ve ever dealt with. I’m sure you guys can work out some sort of arrangement.”

Brandy’s assurances notwithstanding, Kathryn was skeptical. She’d have to wait and see for herself how agreeable the new owner was.

She continued into Stockbridge. The sidewalks were clogged with tourists at all times of the year, but especially in the summer. To most people who visited the area, Stockbridge and the neighboring town of Lenox were the Berkshires. Visitors came for the chi-chi shops, gourmet restaurants, quaint country inns, and cultural amenities.

But it was the other Berkshires she was headed toward−the Berkshires of lonely towns perched high on hills, of narrow, winding back roads, where wildlife outnumbered humans, and the residents often led hardscrabble lives. Earl Barker was one of them.

She and Earl had met and fallen in love last November when she’d come to the Berkshires to solve an old family mystery. She’d solved that mystery—as best she could—and also a more recent one. But the solution of the more recent mystery had almost cost them their relationship, and they were struggling to rebuild it. Whether they could, or even should, remained an open question. Kathryn hoped an extended stay in the area would give her the answer.

Just short of the New Nottingham village center, Kathryn turned onto a side road that took her past the elementary school. On the far side of the school lay a playing field. Here, the town’s youth soccer team was playing its last game of the season. Behind the field, the land sloped upward into a grassy hill that made a natural grandstand.