Guided to Murder (Millcrest Falls #1)

Author This title has been fully revised and updated as of 19th of November 2025 to correct previous draft errors.

Her walking tour was supposed to showcase history, not a murder.

Six months into her role as Millcrest Falls' Tourism Director, Ellie Summers is finally finding her footing. Her historic walking tours are drawing visitors, and when venture capitalist Richard Jones joins the inaugural route, she hopes his interest means investment in the struggling town's future.

Instead, it leads to murder.

Jones is found stabbed with an antique mining tool at the restored miners' cabin—the final stop on Ellie's carefully planned tour. Suspicion falls on Tyler McKenzie, Ellie's childhood friend and the preservation expert who restored the cabin, after witnesses recall their heated argument about commercializing the town's heritage.

Certain of Tyler's innocence, Ellie starts digging. What she uncovers is far darker than small-town politics. Jones was blackmailing multiple officials. He had a secret connection to the mayor's daughter. His "first" visit to Millcrest Falls wasn't his first at all.

When her office is ransacked and threatening notes appear, Ellie realizes the killer is watching her every move. Worse, the murder weapon isn't just any artifact—it's a historical treasure worth a fortune, suggesting a motive that runs deeper than blackmail.

With help from sharp-tongued historian Eileen May, reluctant Sheriff Morgan, and ruggedly charming wilderness guide Finn Sullivan, Ellie must solve the case before the killer decides she's learned too much.

Her walking tour was supposed to showcase history. Now she's fighting to survive it.

GUIDED TO MURDER is the first full-length novel in the Millcrest Falls Tourism Mystery series. Each book features a complete, standalone mystery while building the relationships readers will follow throughout the series.