The Watch on the Fencepost by @Kdibianca is a Cozy Mystery Event pick #cozymystery #giveaway
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  • N. N. Light
    • Oct 7, 2021
    • 5 min read

The Watch on the Fencepost by @Kdibianca is a Cozy Mystery Event pick #cozymystery #giveaway



Title: The Watch on the Fencepost


Author: Kay DiBianca


Genre: Cozy Mystery


Book Blurb:


A Watch that Tells More than the Time . . . A mysterious gold watch propels 27-year-old Kathryn Frasier into a quest to prove her parents’ recent deaths were not an accident. Following a trail of cryptic clues, she encounters a remarkable cast of characters, including an actress with a talent for disguises, a politician with a dark secret, and a handsome businessman who shows a sudden romantic interest in Kathryn.

But is the search for the truth worth risking her own life?


Excerpt:


“C’mon Barkley. Keep up. We’re training for a marathon, not a stroll in the garden.”


Halfway through her five-mile run at Campbell Park, Kathryn Lee Frasier glanced back at her little sable-colored border collie who had stopped to investigate a twig by the side of the trail. Hearing her call, Barkley bounded back to his owner’s side, gleefully yipping in the late afternoon chill.


Winter had been slow to loosen its grip on the western foothills of the Rockies this year, and Kate could taste the arctic-forged air as it drove deep into her lungs. Her breath puffed out frosty little clouds each time she exhaled, keeping time with her strides. “Let’s pick up the pace,” she said as she dodged a patch of snow.


Campbell Park, or “Runners’ Heaven” as the locals called it, was like an old friend to Kate. She had trained on its trails when she ran cross-country in high school, and she knew every rise and fall, every switchback, and every level path in the place. But for the past month, this park had taken on new meaning.


“Let’s go, Barkley. Up the hill.” She tucked a strand of dark hair back under her fleece headband, and the two galloped together past the three-mile marker and up a slight incline to the highest point in the park, where the trail overlooked the town of Bellevue.


Bellevue was one of those adolescent towns that had sprouted out of the hip of a larger, more mature city to its east. Spurred on by some kind of urban hormones, it continued to develop enthusiastically without the burdens of old infrastructure, old industries, or old ideas. But, like most teenagers, it probably thought a little more of itself than it should have and gave less attention to the wisdom of its elders than it could have.


As a matter of fact, if an airplane flew over the town and dropped one hundred leaflets out, half of them would land in the yards of large homes with a swimming pool or a children’s cedar activity center in the backyard and a BMW in the driveway. But most of the remaining half would land on smaller properties owned by the “old-timers,” those folks who made their livings in Bellevue when it was just a country village and who now provided many of the support services for their new neighbors.


As they passed the four-mile marker, Kate began to pay a price for setting a strong pace early. “Almost there, Barkley,” she said. Then to herself: Never give up.


Never give up. Her mantra for the past month since Reverend Whitefield suggested the marathon. The Whitefields had always been her spiritual guides. Now they were shepherding her through the darkness.


“Mourning for your parents is very important, Kathryn, but you can’t let it take over your life,” the reverend had said. “It’s been three months since the accident, and this would be an appropriate time for you to find something to focus your attention on as you continue to deal with the sorrow. You’re a runner. Have you ever considered training for a marathon?”


“No. I’ve never had the time or the courage to take on a full marathon.”


But the good reverend and his wife knew her too well. She could never refuse a challenge.


“It won’t be easy,” Jan Whitefield had said. “I’ve run several marathons myself, and I can tell you that the training will test your mental and physical capabilities to the limit.”


It would be demanding, but that’s what she wanted. Something physical. And hard. Her manager at Vectra Software Corporation had given her a long-term leave of absence. So why not?


And so she ran. And as the miles built up, the sorrow began to fade. And her old sense of well-being was rekindled.


Kate and Barkley turned into the wind as they rounded the last bend in their route. The raw air slapped her in the face and made her eyes leak tears. Her body demanded that she slow down, but she pushed back against the desire to relieve the pain in her legs and concentrated on the soft thump, thump of her Sauconys on the paved path.


With a quarter mile to go, her thighs were on fire and her breaths had become short, savage gasps. She clenched her fists for the final sprint. “Race you to the finish, Barkley,” she wheezed out as she drove to the end.


Finally, it was over, and they were back at the beginning of the trail, next to a park bench. Lungs burning, she bent over, hands on her knees, to catch her breath. With her chest still heaving from the effort, she leaned down and ruffled Barkley’s pert little ears. “We made it. Good boy.”


As the sun sank into the hills, a park ranger rode by on a bicycle. “We’re closing in a few minutes—time to wrap it up,” he said as he headed down the trail to find other stragglers.


She waved to him. “No problem. I just have to stretch out.” Kate put her hands on the park bench and extended each leg alternately behind her until the muscles slowly relaxed their tension.


When she stood upright and pulled a deep breath of cold air into her lungs, something caught her eye. Behind the park bench, on top of an old fencepost, a tiny gold object glittered with light from the setting sun. A watch on the fencepost.


Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):









What makes your featured book a must-read?


Entertaining and thought-provoking, The Watch on the Fencepost weaves a tale of mystery and romance for a young woman mourning the death of her parents. When Kathryn Frasier finds a gold watch on a fencepost, it sets in motion a series of events that will change her life forever. But as she works to untangle a web of dark secrets, the next life at risk could be her own.


This is a book about faith, family, and a determination to uncover the truth regardless of where it leads.


The Watch on the Fencepost won a 2019 Illumination Award for General Fiction and a 2019 Eric Hoffer Award for Mystery.


Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card:



Open Internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon Canada account to win.


Runs October 5 – October 14, 2021.


Winner will be drawn on October 15, 2021.



Author Biography:



Kay is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime, and the Collierville Christian Writers Group. An avid runner, she can often be found at a nearby track, on the treadmill, or at a large park near her home. Her background in software development fuels her fascination with puzzles and mysteries, and her dedication to running helps supply the endurance and energy to write about them.


Kay and her husband, Frank, live, run, and write in Memphis, Tennessee.


You can connect with Kay through her website at https://kaydibianca.com.


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