Untitled Book 2 in the series is being written even as you read this

May 2024

Dear Reader,

In the second book in the series, Leni joins forces with a childhood friend to help save the family’s private cemetery from being demolished for a wind farm. The death of the family matriarch under suspicious circumstances brings home the immediacy of the problem.

The only way to save the cemetery is to complete the matriarchs’ efforts to register it as a historic site. Family lore says a formerly enslaved ancestor who moved to Benton County was the first freedman to purchase land here, which is sufficient. However, the review committee needs proof, so Leni and the matriarch’s daughter go to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to find it.

Leni is convinced the matriarch was murdered to derail her efforts to save the cemetery. The suspects include members of a commercial conglomerate that has expressed interest in the land to build the wind farm, a local town official who may have a financial interest in the land, and a family member who speaks in favor of saving the cemetery but is quietly buying up surrounding land parcels.

Leni’s investigation puts her in danger as she fights both time and an unknown enemy.

I am having a great time writing this book. I lived in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley for several years. Writing about it brings back some wonderful memories. And as Leni and her friend research the ancestors, my experience researching my own and my husband’s genealogy is a useful resource.

The goal is to publish in 2025. Stay tuned here for updates.

—Kathie Bennett