Bought the Farm Mystery

Ivy Galloway doesn’t know how desperate she is to escape the big city and her soul-sucking corporate career until she meets a sheepdog also in need of rescue. Ivy has downsized so much staff that her boss calls her “the grim reaper” of HR, but it’s the only job she’s known. It would take something huge to make her leave that behind.

Ivy Galloway may not know an alpaca from a llama, but nothing’s going to stop her from pursuing her dream of opening a farm-themed inn in her hometown of Clover Grove. Not after what she went through to flee the big city with her brilliant rescue dog, Keats.

Ivy was happy to put her old life at Flordale Corporation behind her, but with a recent murder tarnishing her new inn’s reputation, she can’t afford to be choosy about paying guests. So when her former teammates from HR ask to hold their retreat at Runaway Farm and Inn, she throws down the welcome mat.

After a rocky start, Ivy is finally settling into life at Runaway Farm and Inn. She’s even managed to smooth the feathers of a formerly feisty neighbor. Or has she? Nothing is ever quite as simple as it seems in charming Clover Grove.

There’s a handsome new guy at Runaway Farm and Keats isn’t happy about the competition. The bossy border collie wants to be Ivy’s one-and-only partner in crime-solving. Cats are unwelcome here. When a curmudgeonly cat-sitter targets Ivy with slanderous claims, however, a curious cat may be exactly what’s needed to help sort out the truth from the lies. And when a Clover Grove resident gets their final cut in her family’s new salon, Ivy needs all hands—and paws—on deck to defend the Galloway name.

Alvina, the alpaca, is the most popular rescue animal at Runaway Farm. Her passion for dancing with handsome men has created a cult-like following. When an equally popular ballroom dance instructor brings his troupe to stay in Clover Grove, it starts a craze that ends in a well-choreographed murder.

A caroling donkey arrives in Clover Grove before Christmas with tidings of a new murder. Stray rescue animals are business as usual for hobby farmer Ivy and her sheepdog Keats. Misfits blend seamlessly into the menagerie, and the more the merrier. When a mouthy, grieving donkey demands room at the inn right before Christmas, however, Ivy bites off more than she can chew. He’s got a message that’s far from festive, and he won’t stop singing the blues till she figures out his secret.

When Wilma goes on the lam again, she roots up terrible trouble. There’s another dead body in Clover Grove, and the pig is the prime suspect. Meanwhile, a reality TV show has arrived in town and the cast and crew are getting way too close for Ivy’s comfort. There’s no love lost between sleuthing sheepdog Keats and the formidable hog. But if one of his charges is unfairly targeted, he’ll put his smarts and heart on the line to help Ivy get to the bottom of the muddy mess.

When rescuers drop off a trio of pregnant goats at Runaway Farm they also deliver the promise of renewal and fun. Instead, the arrival of a ghost from Ivy’s past coincides with another murder in quaint Clover Grove. Learning about goat midwifery becomes the least of her problems.