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Terry Odell

Nothing Ever Happens In Mapleton … Until It Does

A small town police procedural-cozy mystery blend. In the eleventh offering in Terry Odell’s Mapleton Mystery series, Deadly Relations brings back familiar faces and introduces new ones. (Not to mention a couple of dogs and cats!)

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton, Colorado’s Police Chief, is called away from a quiet Sunday with his wife to an emergency situation at the home he’s planning to sell. A man has chained himself to the front porch, threatening to set off an explosive.

When Gordon discovers he knows the arsonist—his brother-in-law from his previous failed marriage—he’s sent down an unexpected road to find his ex-wife, who, along with his brother-in-law, has disappeared. Does Gordon need to worry that his brother-in-law will put in another appearance to finish what he’s started?

Meanwhile, he has to find a balance between his Chief Stuff and his Cop Stuff. Is Mapleton facing a homeless problem? Then there’s the town council, the budget, the upcoming election, plus finding a way to keep his officers up to speed with all the changes in crime. Adding the thorn-in-his-side reporter who seems to want to undermine everything Gordon’s trying to do for his town, creates more headaches.

Steve Marvel

Mapleton Mystery

Deadly Relations

Mapleton, Colorado’s police chief, Gordon Hepler, would rather be on the streets than behind a desk, but he promised his late mentor he’d accept the position. And to Gordon, a promise is a promise, even if the person you made it to isn’t around anymore. However, doubts creep in, and he wonders if he was shoved into the job because his mentor thought he couldn’t cut it on the streets.

Everything changes when a fatal traffic accident well outside Mapleton seems connected to the elderly Rose and Sam Kretzer, two of Mapleton’s most beloved citizens. When Gordon ties the car accident to a grisly murder in Mapleton—the first anyone in town can remember—he’s afraid he’s into more than he bargained for.

The arrival of Megan, the Kretzers grown godchild, and Justin, their grandson, add to Gordon’s troubles when Megan is mugged and someone breaks in and ransacks the Kretzers’ home. Gordon’s fears that he’s in over his head are realized when his investigation seems to link the Kretzers to a Nazi war criminal. Can he work with the big-city detective brought in to assist? Will he be able to solve the crime without revealing the secrets of his citizens?

Deadly Secrets

Three Mapleton Mystery Novellas, a blend of police procedurals and cozy mysteries. 

Deadly Places

Life is a balancing act. When you’re a cop, the choices can be deadly.

Ed Solomon, long-time police officer in the small town of Mapleton, Colorado, has been ribbed for thinking there’s a ring of assassins out killing deadbeat dads. He’s convinced these killers exist and they’re doing their dirty work from behind an innocuous-looking travel blog. Proving the ring exists has been a sideline investigation for him, but it’s shoved further onto the back burner when Ed is forced to assume the duties of Chief.

Deadly Engagement

If you’re with a cop, there’s no escaping mystery and crime, even on a Caribbean cruise.

Angie Mead thinks time away from Gordon’s “Cop Stuff” is what he needs to distract him from being suspended as Mapleton’s Chief of Police and get over killing a man. A Caribbean cruise, where Gordon has no jurisdiction, seems the perfect solution—and Angie is looking forward to some fun in the sun.

Communication mishaps and Gordon’s apparent lack of interest in their getaway create second thoughts for Angie. That is, until a series of petty thefts give Gordon a new bone to chew on.

Deadly Assumptions

Will a string of mysterious trespassing incidents give Rookie Officer Ed Solomon his chance at being a big-time detective?

In most places, people breaking into garden and storage sheds might not be a big deal, but in the small town of Mapleton, Colorado, it’s a veritable crime wave, at least according to Chief Dixon. Kids playing pranks? Or something more serious? Could these trespassers have something to do with a much bigger, big-city crime? What starts out as a perfunctory investigation soon escalates. Will Dixon, Arch Hepler, and new rookie Solomon discover the truth before Mapleton sees its first homicide in decades?

The Mapleton Mystery Novellas

A dog finding a bone is no big deal—until it turns out to be human.

Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler and the mayor can’t agree about what being a cop means. To Gordon, it’s keeping his citizens safe. To the mayor, it’s generating revenue by issuing speeding and parking tickets.

When two runaway dogs waylay Gordon on the way to what he hopes will be an uneventful afternoon at a backyard barbeque, more than his afternoon is interrupted. As dogs will do, these have uncovered a bone. Trouble is, it turns out to be human. When it leads to the discovery of more human remains, Gordon needs to find out why they’re on the property, when they got there, and who they belonged to. After all, somebody needs to care.

Over the mayor’s objections, Gordon pursues the investigation of the bones along with an unusual outbreak of petty crimes, accidents, and a dispatcher who seems to be losing it. Before long, he’s got more puzzle pieces than he knows what to do with—and no puzzle to fit them into. When people he loves are endangered, no mayoral directive will stop Gordon from saving them.

This second book in the Mapleton Mystery series reunites Gordon with Detective Tyler Colfax, once again faced with cooperating to solve another case.

Deadly Bones

Solv­ing a crime is like piec­ing together a puz­zle. But what hap­pens if the pieces don’t fit?

When Police Chief Gordon Hepler’s doctor orders him to cut down on the stress in his life or risk losing his vision, Gordon books a winter retreat at a remote Bed and Breakfast. Hours away from Mapleton, where nobody knows he’s a cop, he plans to relax and try to forget about his eyes.

However, traveling “incognito” doesn’t mean he’s left his cop instincts behind. His curiosity is piqued when one of the other guests at the B&B doesn’t appear to be who she claims. Before he can explore the puzzle she presents, a man shows up, pleading for help. His car’s gone off the road, and his wife is inside.

Although a blizzard is approaching, Gordon can’t refuse the frantic man’s request and agrees to help him search. Fighting the storm, Gordon and the man struggle down a ravine to the car. What they find turns out to be one more puzzle, and it’s not the last Gordon faces.

Are they unrelated coincidences? Or part of one bigger mystery? Or is he seeing a crime where none exists? Well outside his jurisdiction, with his health at stake, Gordon wonders whether he should follow his cop impulses, or remember he’s on vacation and let the locals handle it. When it becomes personal, Gordon has no choice.

Deadly Puzzles, will have readers trying to put the pieces together along with Gordon.

Deadly Puzzles

When life seems too good to be true—watch out. 

Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler thinks his troubles with the small-town politics are behind him. The town council has even awarded him a reserved parking place. But an early-morning summons from the new mayor has Gordon on alert. Instead of yet another budget dispute, the mayor announces an independent film company is making a movie in Mapleton.

For the mayor, it means good press for Mapleton—and more importantly—more money for the town coffers. For the citizens, it means rubbing elbows with celebrities. For Gordon, the news means headaches, extra shifts, and scheduling issues. But he’s a pro. He’ll ensure the company has his full cooperation while continuing to protect his town.

When a member of the film crew is found dead, everything goes sideways. The mayor pushes Gordon to adopt a business as usual mentality, and let the film company handle the investigation. But a murder on Mapleton soil makes it Gordon’s jurisdiction, and nothing the mayor says can make him halt his investigation. When other members of the cast and crew haven’t reported in, Gordon wonders if he’s looking for more suspects or more victims.

Will Gordon listen to the mayor, or risk his job to find the truth?

Deadly Production

Someone is playing a game with Mapleton’s Chief of Police … and it’s deadly. 

For Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler, life has become predictably boring—despite being a newlywed. Being a husband is great. Dealing with nothing but parking violations, speeders, and the occasional disorderly complaint is monotonous. Gordon wonders if he’s been so busy dealing with “Chief Stuff” that he’s lost his edge as a street cop. Especially when his biggest challenges are handling the penny-pinching mayor and deciding what goes into the station’s vending machines. A few anonymous prank letters are about the only ‘non-normal’ things to hit his desk, and even those pose no apparent threat.

When a tragic car accident kills a friend, Gordon soon learns it was no accident. Determined this is the case meant to pull him out of his workplace rut, Gordon delves into the investigation. He and his colleagues uncover a string of similar murders all across the country over the last 20-odd years. Then, going through a victim’s personal effects, Gordon discovers the same type of anonymous letters that he’s been receiving. Now it’s a race against the clock to find the killer before another victim is chosen.

Or is Gordon the next casualty on the killer’s list?

This 9th book in the Mapleton Mystery series pits Gordon against a cat-and-mouse killer playing a deadly game.

Deadly Fun

A Mapleton Mystery/Pine Hills police crossover, a blend of cozy mystery and police procedural from Award Winning Author Terry Odell.

Are Gordon’s Days in Mapleton Numbered?

All Mapleton Police Chief Gordon Hepler wants is to enjoy a rare quiet moment and have a peaceful lunch. Before he can finish his sandwich, Angie, his wife, calls to say her business partner is going to be arrested at a wedding reception they’re catering. Seems her partner stumbled upon the body of one of the guests—the mother of the groom. Was it a natural death? Suicide? Homicide?

A death at an event could mean the end of Angie’s catering business. What will happen to their plans to move out of Angie’s cramped apartment and into a house they can call their own?

Gordon and his officers deal with questioning guests, including a self-centered bride and her new husband who doesn’t seem upset that his mother has died unexpectedly. Or was it unexpected? They’re eager to get off on their honeymoon.

So much for quiet. On top of a homicide investigation, the mayor’s making demands again. The crime lull is over. Angie and Gordon’s house-hunting brings an unpleasant surprise. Then there’s the matter of an unexpected letter from the mayor of Pine Hills, Oregon.

Is it time for Gordon to rethink his career?

Deadly Options

How can he solve crimes if he’s not allowed to investigate?

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton’s Chief of Police, has his hands full. During the groundbreaking ceremony for expansion of the community center, he discovers a dead body. Shortly afterward, the center’s CEO is assaulted. Does someone have it in for the community center and its new programs designed to benefit the homeless? Or does it have something to do with the highly contested upcoming mayoral election?

Frustration builds as clues and suspects fall into other jurisdictions, effectively tying Gordon’s hands. The investigation soon resembles a giant bowl of spaghetti. Can he follow the rules and still protect his city?

Although it’s part of a series, this police-procedural cozy-mystery blend—and all the Mapleton books—can be read as small-town stand alones.