Morgan Warren and Jason Rowland were looking for a missing plastic rifle belonging to their friend Jeff as they walked through the woods surrounding the old drive-in theater. Jeff lost it in the woods and his friends thought they would help him out.

During the walk, Morgan tripped over a tree root, but instead of finding the rifle she found a decomposed body. Thankfully, Jason was a Forest Ranger and quickly contacted the proper authorities.

During the investigation the body was identified as Mary Goldstein, twenty-nine years old when she was reported missing. At the time, she was trying to get away from her two overly protective older brothers so she could live her own life.

Mary was a budding artist who was tutored by Cecily Garman, a middle school art teacher with a Ph.D. in art history. Cecily told Morgan that Mary was timid because of her brothers and Mary seemed too busy that summer to check in with her tutor.

After school started the next fall, Mary’s principal said that she had received a grant from the German Government and she had gone to Germany to work on some sort of government project. That was 1984, and she was never heard from again.

Her brothers blamed her friend Xander for her death and he, in turn, blamed the brothers.

Birch Blackguards – a Sutton Mass. Mystery is the second in a new mystery romance series by Lisa Shea. The first book in the series is Aspen Allegations. The series is unique in several ways. First of all, the author is writing in a chapter-a-day style throughout the month.

For example, Aspen Allegations was written in the month of November 2012 and Birch Blackguards was written the next August.

Shea uses local color, locations, and experiences throughout the story which gives the reader a feeling they are a part of the tale. She is also writing the series through the alphabet with the idea that the next book title will begin with a C.

The story itself is filled with detailed scenes, surprise twists, and emotional moments as the heroine works her way through the mystery of what happened to the promising young lady. The author writes in a steady pace that flows through the month-long length of the novel.

As of this writing, Lisa has written 18 fiction books and 67 non-fictions including her well received stand-alone medieval romance novels set in medieval England.

A special thank you goes to Lisa Shea for providing a complimentary copy of Birch Blackguards for our review. If you are interested in reading any of her stories, Lisa’s books are available on Amazon.com.