Product Description
Rumors fly in Maryland’s horse country when Squire Dan, a leading contender for the Hunt Club Trophy, inexplicably goes lame in his stall. Did Jack Fielding’s stingy ways cause Dan’s illness? Or is it, as Jack insists, a case of sabotage masterminded by his old rival, Harry Montgomery. Everyone knows Harry covets the trophy. But would he stoop so low as to hobble the competition?

Tempers flare when Jack and Harry meet at the annual Hunt Club Ball. Rather than bury the hatchet, one of them buries a steak knife in the other man’s chest. The police have an open-and-shut case—until Dr. Ben Benjamin takes a look at the evidence. As veterinarian to some of the most pampered horses in Maryland, Ben examines the crime from a different angle. The good doctor’s equine expertise soon proves the undoing of a very clever killer.
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Product Description
Christmas on a psychiatric ward can be downright depressing, but the nurses of St. Anne's Hospital are determined to deck the blues by decking the halls.There's only one problem:someone's planted a bomb in their brand new Christmas tree.The ensuing devastation leaves seven corpse buried in the rubble of the ward, wiry pine branches protruding from their bodies like the shafts of green fir arrows.

Caroline Rhodes, RN, thought she'd left all her problems in Chicago when she moved to the quiet little town of Rhineburg, IL.But after witnessing the bombing at St. Anne's, the middle aged nurse finds she can't escape her past.Not only is she a suspect in the eyes of the FBI, but now, for some unknown reason, she's also on the killer's hit list. Aided by Carl Atwater, an elderly professor of history at Rhineburg's Bruck University, Caroline goes on the offensive to prove her innocence.She employs the skills she's acquired over her nursing career, observing and assessing both the living and the dead until, on the night of the town's annual Winter Festival, she uncovers the identity of the Mad Bomber of Rhineburg'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Nothing like a fatal Christmas tree
Mary Welk doesn't just gives readers a holiday blast, she adds explosives to it. A Deadly Little Christmas is that most fun read that combines Christmas cheer with a ruthless killer and a registered nurse reluctantly moonlighting as detective. Full of festive details juxtaposed merrily against cold-blooded murder, this an enjoyable page-turner. Merry reading!

A cozy Christmas mystery for fans of all ages.
I love to read a mystery with a Christmas theme, and I wasn't disappointed by this one.The plot was intriguing, and the characters grow on you until you don't want the book to end. I hope Caroline and Carl return very, verysoon!Also, the language was clean enough that I could give this book toanyone without worrying they'd be offended.That's a rare thing in a booktoday.

Suspencful from beginning to end
From the time that Caroline Rhodes was introduced to the solving of the mystery, I was kept in suspence the whole way.Every page brought along new information and kept me guessing about who the murderer could havebeen.Wonderfully written and a great accomplishment for the author. Bravo!I can't wait to read the next one.

Deadly Little Christmas Packs A Big Wallop!
Mary Welk's Deadly Little Christmas is one of the very best books I have read in a long, long time. You get absorbed from the first sentence and it just gets better from there until the last sentence. It is full of twistsand turns and really keeps you wondering what's next. I can't wait to findout what happens to Caroline and the group next. I would advise anyone toRUN, DON'T WALK AND GET THIS BOOK NOW.

Holidays and Murder! What better way to celebrate!
This tale will keep you guessing til the very end. Finally, a believable and likable heroine, a goodly touch of humor, and well woven subplots - and all just in time for the holidays!(This one I'm wrapping up for me.) ... Read more

Product Description
It was nobody's fault, unless you counted the mice, and even they didn't mean to start trouble. A forgotten candy cane lured them to the Christmas tree stored in the basement of St. Anne's Hospital. The nibbling and gnawing just went on from there. Now there are holes in the trunk where none should be and not a single branch will stay in place. Despite this disaster, the nurses of Psychiatric Ward One are determined to deck the blues by decking the halls. When an anonymous donor sends them an artificial balsam, they happily press their patients into decorating it. But lighting the new tree ends with a bang!Who planted the bomb that wrecks havoc in the little town of Rhineburg? A frustrated employee fired by St. Anne's despised administrator? A student terrorist from Bruck University? Or Caroline Rhodes, a nurse with a suspicious past who survived the explosion but refuses to discuss it?Tagged as a suspect by the FBI, Caroline must prove her innocence by unraveling a devilish plot devised to eliminate one man's nemesis. Aided by history professor Carl Atwater, Caroline cuts through a maze of conflicting stories, red herrings, and downright lies to bring a killer to justice. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Same book , different title
I just wanted to point out that A Deadly Little Christmas is the same book as A Merry Little Murder, if the descriptions are correct. Different cover, different title, but seems like the same book. I have not read the book, but I was forced to rate the book, so gave it a rating which doesn't reflectany discredit on the author.

Enjoyable read.
This book introduces a very enjoyable series, I will be watching for more of them! ... Read more

Product Description
"We are surrounded by death,and there is no way to stop it.No way at all."Caroline Rhodes is skeptical of the dire warning. But a Gypsy fortuneteller's words prove true when the discovery of a Viking rune stone on the campus of Bruck University leads to murder during the school's annual Festival of Knights. Blackmailed into investigating the crime by the despised university president, Caroline is dismayed to find her suspects are as plentiful as the flowers on Bruck Green. Questions come easily to the veteran ER nurse, but the answers are not so obvious.Did Andrew Littlewort's famous temper get the best of him, or is the eccentric professor as innocent as he claims? Is Sid Burke the proverbial "bad seed", or just a troubled student from a famous family? How did Emma Reiser amass a fortune on a government salary? And why does Bruck's gardener call his flowerbeds 'paths of gold'? Most troubling of all, what is Agatha Hagendorf really gazing at through her telescope at the Rhineburg Boarding House and Home for Gentle Women?Caroline teams up with septuagenarian Professor Carl Atwater to track a killer without a conscience in little Rhineburg, Illinois. ... Read more

Product Description
It's a battle of the sexes in little Rhineburg, Illinois, when Bruck University's fledgling football team butts heads with female rodeo riders during Halloween Homecoming Days. The Bruck Bruins protest President Garrison Hurst's hiring of the Moore Sisters' Rodeo to perform in the school's new stadium the night before the Homecoming game. Joined on the picket line by the town fathers, the Bruins meet resistance from the women of Rhineburg who rally in support of their cowgirl sisters. ER nurse Caroline Rhodes worries when her son and his wife take opposite sides in the argument. Her worries grow when a football player is found dead in a rodeo bullpen and Martin Rhodes is charged with the young man's murder. Caroline looks to Professor Carl Atwater, Maddy Moeller, and the ladies of the Rhineburg Boarding House and Home for Gentle Women for help in catching a clever killer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Scarecrow Murders
Mary Welk writes the way we live! I love words, and her descriptions and prose set the scenes so well, it's as if you are a part of the story. I especially liked the language between Carolyn and her son in this story. The mystery moves along quite well, and once I got started reading I didn't want to stop for bed.This is the first of Ms. Welk's books that I've read, but not for long.

Received a Readers' Choice Award in 2002
As author of the Caroline Rhodes mysteries, Mary V. Welk garnered a unusual variety of accolades, including finalist in the 1996 Hemingway First Novel competition and a 2000 Readers' Choice Award for Best First Mystery for A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. Her SOMETHING WICKED IN THE AIR received a Readers' Choice Award in 2002 as Best Traditional Mystery. She has been reviewed by the Chicago Sun Times, Mystery Scene Magazine, Romantic Times Magazine, and many others.

Rhineburg, Illinois boasts a terrible college football team with an unusually hot-headed coach; a college president who is desperate for money; a small town banker with dubious business practices; and Caroline Rhodes, ER and college nurse, part-time sleuth, and soon-to-be grandmother. All of these paths collide when the football team and a rodeo fight over the new stadium. Equipment clad football players engage in fights at the local brew pub, which escalates into a gender picket line, with the men on one side in favor of the team and the ladies on another in favor of the rodeo. When a particularly nasty football player is found dead in a bull pen and Caroline's son Martin is the primary suspect, she puts her sleuthing talents to work, utilizing her friend Carl the college history professor and some of the town's most interesting characters. Of course this all happens during Halloween, to set a scene of goblins and mayhem:

"'I lost my hat in the wind,' Carl grumbled. 'I didn't want my head to get soaked, so I put on the Halloween mask I bought to scare the kids with.' Half way out of his jacket, he stopped to eyeball the nine women huddled around the table. They were staring at him as if he'd gone completely mad. 'Hey! I'm not the only crazy one around here,' he bellowed, gesturing at the outfits they were wearing. 'Take a look at yourselves in the mirror. At least I had a good reason to look foolish.'"

Mary Welk's folksy, yet well-crafted style of writing makes this a first-rate mystery. She develops an unusual and interested plot, includes plenty of well-defined characters, and her use of language and circumstance all add up to an griping tale with bulls and bull-headed men running around everywhere. Caroline is a no-nonsense sleuth with lots of personality.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Halloween Havoc
A clever mystery which takes place in a town divided by the coming of a rodeo on Homecoming weekend.Tempers flare, ER nurse, Caroline Rhode's son is a prime suspect in the murder of the college football hero and she needs to get to the bottom of it.Characters are so well done they make you angry at their actions at times.The clues are there for you if you can pick up on them and you find yourself surprised at times.Totally enjoyable!

A perfect read for Halloween
The fourth in the Caroline Rhodes series finds the part-time ER nurse smack dab in the middle of a feud between the college football team and a group of female rodeo riders.Caroline's son is on the football team and has several run-ins with one of the players who ends up dead.It doesn't help that Martin doesn't have an alibi.Caroline has become a bit of an Icon in Rhineburg, Illinois.Not only do more residents note that crime had been on an upswing since Caroline's arrival, but they also know who to turn to when the crime needs solving.Carl, Caroline's trusted friend and a history professor, is back assisting with philosophical rhetoric and good common sense.Although this is a cozy that can be read any time of the year, the fact that it takes place during Halloween should encourage one to nudge it up on your TBR pile for a cozy fall read.

Rodeo or football?
I was looking for something to entertain me, and The Scarecrow Murders did just that.

The storyline is believable, the characters are likable, and the setting is great. Can you imagine someone wanting to hold a rodeo on a college football field when there's a big game coming up? But there's a lot more to the people involved than meets the eye. Mary Welk has done a great job bringing these two worlds together. And Caroline, the no-nonsense protagonist, will keep you on your toes.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Mary Welk. ... Read more

Product Description
Caroline Rhodes has no idea that she'll be walking into an Emergency Room marked for murder when she agrees to return to Ascension Medical Center for the summer. But two days after she arrives at the Chicago suburban hospital, a fellow employee is found dead in bed, smothered by a lavender silk pillow.

Nothing can stop Caroline from investigating when a second death results in the arrest of the ER's nurse manager. Determined to clear her best friend, Caroline forms a strange pact with an aging Mafia boss, then calls on her buddies from the little town of Rhineburg for help in hunting down the killer.

As if murder isn't enough, charges of sexual harassment fly hot and heavy through the ER. Caroline must sort through a long list of suspects while coping with an irate cab driver, a litter of hungry puppies, a medical resident who can't stay on his feet, and a plastic bag full of very smelly dead fish. All this on top of a heat wave that turns the suburb of Niles, Illinois, on its ear.

It's enough to send most people scurrying for cover, but not Caroline Rhodes. The veteran ER nurse proves again that attention to detail is the key to solving any problem. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

An Engaging Medical Mystery
To Kill a King is an engaging mystery. The medical backdrop is as fascinating as it is convincing. It is obvious that Mary Welk knows what she's writing about. Caroline Rhodes is a keeper-an interesting and insightful sleuth. This book is for anyone who loves mysteries, but especially those who have an interest in medicine, hospitals, and ERs. This was my first Caroline Rhodes mystery, but it won't be my last!

An ER to avoid
The fact that this is a self-published book is obscured by the way the author has created her own publishing company.The Klew- in Kleworks is just Welk spelled backwards.The fact that it's self-published may explain why it's so seriously flawed.It begins with a death scene in a prologue.The reader goes through most of the book before finding out what -- if any -- connection that scene has to the rest.The first 90 pages of the book is an account of the infighting between doctors and nurses in the ER of a Chicago hospital.There is no mystery to solve until p. 92.

Welk seems to have little understanding of plotting or pacing.The dialogue is stilted.Her characters rarely "say" anything.They "mutter," "comment," "retort," etc.One character has a "nervous tick" (p. 112).We're aren't told if her flea is any more relaxed.There are two policemen involved.One is Dom, the other is Tom.References to earlier books in the series are too numerous.A good editor might have saved this book, but it would have taken a stupendous effort.

Rhodes is on the move!
When Caroline Rhodes returns to her native Chicago to help out a friend for the summer she finds the job and the weather to be murder. In the midst of a heat wave, a murderer goes on a spree in the temporary ER at Ascension Medical Center. Mary Welk keeps her readers wanting more by including many of the gang from Bruck University of Rhineburg. Welk lives up to the reputation she is building as an excellent whodunnit writer in this third outing for Caroline Rhodes, RN, and her portly sidekick Professor Carl Atwater. Keep us laughing, crying, . . . and guessing the culprit Mrs. Welk!

WORTH READING
TO KILL A KING is The third installment of Caroline Rhodes, the first was "A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS "the second was, "SOMETHING WICKED IN THE AIR "

This was my first Caroline Rhodes mystery and at times I was lost when there was a mention of Rhineburg and thingsthat happened there, That is why I feel that the books should be read in order.

Caroline gets a cry of help from her best friend Molly O'Neal, so Caroline returns to Ascension Medical Center to helpher friend out. Caroline has no idea what she is getting herself into.Two days after Caroline arrives, Angela Horowitz is murdered in her apartment.A few days after that, there is another murder; this time Mac Guffy is found hanged in one of the emergencyrooms.Molly is soon arrested, and Caroline will do what ever she can to clear her friends name.

TO KILL A KING is an expeditious, cheerful read that flows through in a timely manner. Best of all it is filled withcredible, amiable characters. The author puts her nursing background to good use; she is able to get the hospital settingand politics that go along with the running of a hospital just right. Thanks Mary for an admirable read.

Pam Stone

A Wonderful Visit to Rhineburg
I love Mary V Welk's books and this one is no exception.This time nurse Caroline Rhodes is back in her old home town of Chicago.When she again stumbles across a body, her friends from Rhineburg and her family help her to catch the murderer.If you are looking for really wonderful characters that you look forward to visiting again and again then this is the book for you.The mystery is good and the characters are so real you feel like you know them.Be sure to read the first 2 books A Deadly Little Christmas and Something Wicked in the Air. ... Read more

Product Description
Sitting in the witness chair in her canary yellow suit and pearl necklace, Hazel Roundtree Callahan looks more like a plump little grandmother than a wily politician. But looks can be deceiving, as District Attorney Andrew Hollis quickly learns when the silver-haired Mrs. Callahan takes the stand in the murder trial of her personal secretary, Miss Lydia Applewhite.

Not only is Hollis out-maneuvered by hotshot defense lawyer Princeton Wainwright III, but he is also ill prepared for the shocking testimony of his star witness. Did Lydia Applewhite intend to kill Hazel’s husband when she plunged a barbecue fork into Sen. Blake Callahan’s stomach, or was it simply a horrible accident as the grieving widow claims. It’s up to the citizens of the sleepy Southern town of Nuisance to decide whether the beautiful Miss Applewhite is a cold blooded killer or simply a woman wrongly caught in the steel jaws of justice.
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Product Description
Dust jacket notes: "'A-one, and a-two...' are some of the best-known words in America - made famous by the orchestra leader Lawrence Welk on his twice-a-week TV shows. And with upward of fifty million viewer channeling in on him every week, Lawrence Welk is one of the best-known men in America. What is the secret of his immense success? How did he rise from poverty and obscurity on a North Dakota farm to become the top star he is today? What kind of family life does he have? Why do so many people like his music? The answers to all such questions about Lawrence Welk are in this book - the authorized biography of the man who has a $3,000,000 a year income but who remains unpretentious, devoutly religious, and wholeheartedly concerned with giving his audiences the kind of musical entertainment they want. This is an inspiring story." ... Read more

Product Description
The discovery of a rune stone on the campus of BruckUniversity threatens to disrupt the school's annual Renaissance Faire,the Festival of Knights.When the eccentric Professor AndrewLittlewort attempts to prove the stone is a genuine Viking relic, hestirs up a hornet's nest that leads to murder.Caroline Rhodes, RN,and Professor of History Carl Atwater track a killer without aconscience in the little town of Rhineburg, Illinois. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Something Wonderful
Something Wicked in the Air is a wonderful and worthy successor to A Deadly Little Christmas.Nurse Caroline Rhodes is persuaded (or should that be railroaded?) to help investigate the death of Rhineburg'slong-serving post-mistress.She calls on her good friend, Professor CarlAtwater of Bruck University, for assistance.Suspects are thick on theground, including the obsessed and wonderfully named Professor Littlewort, taciturn gardener Charlie Branch, andhandsome bad boy student Sid Burke. Throw in some of the colourful Rhineburg residents, especially the lovelyladies of the Rhineburg Boarding House and Home for Gentle Women, and madMadeline, the Police Chief's wife, and you have a recipe for murder, mayhemand mirth. All this is set against Rhineburg's annual Renaissance Faire,the Festival of Knights, a medieval extravaganza that is so wonderfullydescribed you want to join in the jousting and carousing.At any rate, Icould almost smell that barbecue.

Caroline and Carl are such greatcharacters, it's a pleasure to know them.If I was an accident victim, Iwould be relieved if Caroline were my ER nurse.If I were a murder victim,I would definitely want her to investigate my death.I'm already enrollingmy children at Bruck University, and can't wait for my next dose of life inRhineburg.

More great characters - A new great story
Mary Welk does it again. SOMETHING WICKED IN THE AIR is a perfect follow-up to the explosive debut of Mary Welk and her fantastic characters (A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, Kleworks, 1998. In this new adventure ofCaroline Rhodes and her "sidekick" Carl Atwater, the tiny collegetown of Rhineburg loses its much-loved, but also much-underestimatedpostmistress to a murder over what? A runestone? Throw in the rantings ofan eccentric literature professor, the antics of a spoiled rich kid, andthe mystique of an ancient gypsy fortune teller, and you have the makingsof another first-rate tale from this new voice to the mystery scene.Centered on the college's Renaisance Fair, the story is fast-paced, funny,and keeps the reader wanting to come back for more. Let's visit Rhineburgand good ole Bruck U. again soon!

Mary V Welk IS BATTING A THOUSAND!!!
A Deadly Little Christmas packed a big wallop. Something Wicked In The Air has as much of a wallop, if not more. The descriptions of the Renaissance Fair were so good that I felt like I was wearing the costumes with them andthe story line had me in its grip from the first page to the last. I loveboth the familiar characters from the 1st book and the new ones introducedin this book, especially Maddie, the chiefs wife. I also loved the ladiesat the Home for Gentle Women. I am waiting impatiently for the third bookin the series and I feel certain that it will be going out of the park!!Mary write faster!!!!

A great follow-up to Ms. Welk's debut novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Welk's first novel, A DEADLY LITTLE CHRISTMAS.Her second book continues the adventures of Caroline Rhodes, RN, and Professor of History Carl Atwater in the town of Rhineburg, Illinois.Onceagain, Ms. Welk captures the essence of small town living with herdescriptions of the place and the people.Anyone who has roots in ruralAmerica will recognize the pomposity of local politicians like Mayor TeddySchoen, the reclusive lifestyle of characters like Branch the gardener, andthe indomitable strength of elderly folks like Alexsa Stromberg Morgan. Chief of Police Jake Moeller, his antique dealer wife Madeline, and thelittle gypsy girl Bricole are welcome additions to the Rhineburg family, asare those wacky residents of the Rhineburg Boarding House and Home forGentle Women. My only wish was that we could have heard more from theArchangels, those guardians of civilized behavior at Bruck University. Hopefully they will shine in Ms. Welk's next novel in the Caroline Rhodesseries.I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a cozy mysterywith a strong plot and continuous action. For those who enjoy a taste ofthe past, the descriptions of the Renaissance Faire are an added treat toan already great story.

Makes me eager to read Welk's first book.
You've got to love a mystery where the prime suspect's name is Littlewort.Anyone who's attended college will recognize the type:an eccentric know-it-all professor who's despised by all his colleagues.Ms. Welk aptlydescribes the university setting and the various types of characters whowork there.I enjoyed her description of the Renaissance Fair with all thepomp and pagentry surrounding the knighting ceremony.Most of all, Ienjoyed how she wove a diverse group of characters into a fast paced plotthat was both realistic and entertaining. Not having read Welk's firstbook, I now intend to do so. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of stories submitted to the 2006 Deadly Ink Short Story contest. ... Read more

Product Description
Some of the articles:Lawrence Welk Debbie Reyonds, Jo Ann Castle, Lucille Ball: Her Daughter Leaves Home, Andy Williams: His Vow for his Son and lots more. ... Read more