The Girl in the Woods - paperback

🔥Joe’s back, but a storm is building…🔥

I drank the final gulp of water from my canteen and wiped grit from my forehead with my shirt sleeve before asking my dispatcher again to repeat her instructions. When that didn’t work, I took out my cell phone. My connection was weak but stable. Trisha answered on the second ring.

“Hey,” I said. “It’s Joe. I’m somewhere in grid seven in a hollow in the woods. I didn’t hear your message.”

“Hey, Joe. Sorry about that. The terrain makes it hard to communicate.”

“Yeah,” I said, looking around to make sure no one could see me before adjusting the sports bra beneath my shirt. The salt-encrusted fabric chafed my back and sides, but it was the best outfit I owned for a long walk in the woods. “What’s going on?”

“A volunteer found a body in grid thirteen.”

Even though I had expected this call all morning, I still grimaced.

“Paige or Jude? And please don’t tell me one killed the other.”

“Neither,” said Trisha. “It’s a Jane Doe. She’s at a little campsite.”

I blinked, hoping I had misunderstood.

“You’re telling me our search for Paige and Jude turned up a different murder?”

“We still don’t know whether someone murdered Paige and Jude, but this girl’s dead. Dave Skelton is on the scene now.”

Complaining about a body on the ground wouldn’t get me anywhere, but I swore under my breath anyway. Our search had started that morning when a hunter found a car belonging to Paige Maxwell deep in the woods. She and her boyfriend, Jude Lewis, had gone missing four weeks ago. They were both in high school, and they were in love. When my station received reports that they were missing, I presumed the two of them had run off together to hook up without their parents stopping them, but after this much time without contact, I feared the worst.

“Tell Dave I’m on my way,” I said. “And remind me where grid thirteen is again.”

Trisha gave me directions and warned me that the National Weather Service said we had nasty weather coming in. I groaned and cleared my throat.

“If you haven’t already, call the boss and let him know about the weather. We’ve got almost fifty volunteer searchers out here. If we get a severe storm with this many civilians out here, we’ll be in real trouble.”

“Will do,” said Trisha. “Good luck, Joe.”

I thanked her before hanging up. Already, mud and sweat caked my shirt and jeans, making them stiff and uncomfortable, while rainwater from crevices and nooks along the forest floor had long since soaked through my cheap hiking boots. Every muscle in my body ached, and every inch of my skin itched from mosquito bites. This wasn’t how I had envisioned spending my Sunday afternoon.

👉FROM: The Girl in the Woods, the second book in the Joe Court series. 😋

WHAT’S THE JOE COURT SERIES ABOUT?

Joe Court is a young detective in fictional tourist town and county of St Augustine, Missouri. The streets are well-swept, the surroundings are gorgeous, and the people are friendly—except for the murderers, of course.

Beneath its beautiful exterior, St. Augustine is a county built on poison and lies. Its murder rate is astronomical, its government is corrupt, and drug use is out of control.
Joe’s there to clean the place up. It’s not going to be easy, but she’s exactly the right person or the job. 


The books are gripping, gritty murder mysteries. In each book, Joe Court investigates a crime—usually a murder, but not always—and takes that crime to a thrilling conclusion. I don’t like cliffhangers. The main story is resolved in each book. You’re going to find out what happened to the bad guys in each story. That said, there are side stories that continue from one book to another. A rumor in one book might turn out to be a far bigger deal than anyone anticipated in later books. Because of that, it’s best to read the story in order.