Snapshots and Secrets

Book 1: Juniper Valley Cozy Mysteries

by Cindy Bell

Genres: Mystery; Animal Cozy Mysteries; Craft & Hobby Cozy Mysteries

Synopsis

She came for the quiet. The quiet didn’t last.

Dani Reed came to Juniper Valley, Colorado, for a fresh start. A nature photographer with a conservation grant, an old ranger cabin to call home, and two dogs who couldn’t be more different. Maggie, a nine-year-old Irish Setter who treats every walk like a personal inconvenience. Jim, a young German Shepherd who washed out of police dog training but never got the memo.

Dani expected quiet mornings, golden light on the peaks, and peaceful walks beneath the aspens. She didn’t expect to find a body.

Now Dani is dealing with the murder of a local, a town full of secrets, and people who’d rather she put the camera down. But Dani’s never been good at minding her own business. And with Jim’s nose for trouble and Maggie’s talent for judging everyone they meet, she might just get to the truth, if the killer doesn’t get to her first.

Snapshots and Secrets is the first book in the Juniper Valley Cozy Mystery series. If you love small-town mysteries, mountain settings, lovable dogs with big personalities, and a sleuth who can’t leave a good mystery alone, you’ll fall in love with Dani and the world of Juniper Valley.

Release date: September 10, 2026

Sample

Chapter One

At the time, loading every book she owned into one giant plastic tub had
seemed like a time-saving idea. Now, as Dani Reed lugged it toward the front door of
the old cabin, she wondered what she’d been thinking. Though she spent a lot of
time running and hiking, she hadn’t been to the gym in quite some time, and what
muscles she had were protesting her attempt to use them.
With a sigh, she dropped the tub on the ground and set her hands on her
hips. The air carried a crispness that made her cheeks tingle, and the aspens
surrounding the cabin had turned a brilliant gold against the dark green of the pines.
“Well, I guess I could just take them in a few at a time,” she muttered to
herself. “They need to go on the shelf anyway.”
“What’s up, Beans?” Her older brother chuckled, using the nickname she’d
been trying to shake since childhood.
“Rowan. Aren’t you over that? Come on,” Dani groaned, though she couldn’t
quite suppress a smile as she watched her brother scoop up the tub without a hint of
strain and begin carrying it inside.
“Come on what? Come on, did I show up here to help you move into this
rickety old cabin and make the biggest mistake of your life? Sure.” Rowan Reed
grinned over his shoulder at her. “Isn’t that why you love me?”
Dani grabbed another box out of the trailer, hooked to the back of her aging
Outback, and followed him inside.
The old ranger cabin had been built decades ago as a base for forest rangers
and wildlife researchers, a small but solid structure of timber and stone perched on
the edge of the national forest, bordered by it on three sides. When the forest service
moved its operations down to town, the cabin and the land around it had been
passed to the foundation that ran a conservation grant, and the housing came with it.
It had sat empty for years, and it showed. The porch sagged in the middle,
and most of the windows stuck halfway, but the stone fireplace still worked, the
kitchen looked out over the valley, and on a clear morning, the light came through
the front windows in a way that made the whole place glow.

Dani had secured it through the conservation grant. A year on the mountain,
photographing the valley and everything that lived in it. It didn’t pay much, but it was
the work she’d been chasing for years.
Rowan set the tub down on the sturdy wooden table between the kitchen and
living area, then turned to look at her. His mop of unruly blond curls always made
him look younger than his thirty-one years, and his bright hazel eyes still had the
same mischievous glint they’d had when they were kids.
“I still can’t believe you’re living up here.” Rowan let out a low whistle as he
looked around the cabin. “You sure about this, Beans?”
“Don’t start.” Dani brushed her long, wavy blonde hair back behind her ears.
“And don’t call me Beans.”
“Fair enough.” Rowan studied her. “I guess I just miss being closer. Fort
Collins is a long way from here.”
“Four hours.” Dani knew that, beneath the teasing, Rowan worried about her
the same way she worried about him. They’d spent the last few years navigating
their own difficult paths, and the distance between them had been more than just
miles. “You could have visited. I had a couch.”
“Lucky me.” Rowan looked as if he had more to say, but instead he walked
back outside to get another box.
Dani breathed a quiet sigh once he was gone. She loved her brother, and
even when he got under her skin, she knew he never meant any harm by it.
While their parents had raised them in a suburb of Denver, she and Rowan
had spent every summer in Juniper Valley, tagging along behind their grandfather
who’d served as a forest ranger. The place had stuck with Rowan more than anyone
expected. He’d moved up to the valley for good not long after school, while Dani built
a life in Fort Collins after college.
Tucked in a quiet valley high in the mountains, and surrounded by juniper-
covered slopes, Juniper Valley had always felt like a peaceful refuge. It was the
place she’d been the happiest, and after the difficult year she’d had, it was exactly
where she wanted to be.
The main room of the cabin still smelled like dust and old wood, but she’d
already cleared a corner for her editing station.

Her monitors sat on a long table she’d found in the back room, powered by
the solar panels the grant had paid to install, and her lenses were lined up on a shelf
she’d mounted that morning.
She was just lifting her favorite lens from its case when a singsong voice
called out from the front door.
“Hello! Oh, dear, are you two at it as usual? I heard you all the way up the
trail!” A woman in her seventies, in a bright pink blouse paired with shiny silver pants,
made her way into the cabin without an invitation. “I just knew when your
grandparents told me you would be moving here that there would be fireworks
between the two of you.” She set down a large plate of chocolate chunk cookies on
the table. “That’s why I brought some sweet treats, to settle you both down.”
“Zelda, you know us too well.” Dani grinned as she hugged her, then eyed the
cookies. “And thank you so much for these. I’m starving.” She shot a playful glare at
Rowan as he stepped back into the cabin with another box. “I’ll share some with him
if I have to.”
“Like cats and dogs, I tell you.” Zelda rolled her eyes. “I remember when you’d
spend the summers up here at your grandparents’ house. You were always
squabbling over who could climb the highest, who could build a better fire. Anything
you could compete over, you did.” She looked between them, her soft brown eyes
full of hope. “But you’re all grown up now, so I’m sure you can get along better.”
“Sure we can.” Rowan grinned and snatched one of the cookies from the
plate. “Whatever it takes to get more of these cookies.”
Zelda had been a part of their lives every summer, always offering them treats
and advice. She’d explained once that she’d never had children or grandchildren of
her own, so she liked to take an interest in the local kids. At the time, Dani found it
annoying, but now she appreciated it and understood that Zelda wanted to feel
connected to others.
“Now, Rowan, you need to set an example for your little sister.” Zelda wagged
her finger at him.
“Little?” Rowan coughed as he glanced at Dani. “She’s nearly six feet tall.
She’s practically a giant.”
“Stop being so jealous, just because I gained an inch on you.” Dani crossed
her arms and offered him a smug smile.
“You were wearing heels!” Rowan narrowed his eyes. “I’m definitely taller.”

“No way.” Dani smirked.
“Zelda?” Rowan looked at her pleadingly.
Dani made herself as tall as possible and fixed Zelda with a sweet smile.
“Even though you’re three years apart, you could easily be twins. Same hair,
same eyes, same impish smiles, and the same height.” Zelda waved her hand at
them both. “Stop fighting and get to work. You’ve got plenty to do to make this place
livable.” She turned and walked back out of the cabin. “I have so many things to do!
There’s a mystery afoot!”
“There’s always a mystery with Zelda.” Dani laughed as she turned back to
the box she was unpacking.
“Where are my niece and nephew?” Rowan scanned the one-bedroom cabin.
“Oh, they’ll be here soon. I left them at Grams and Grandpa’s while I unpack
the trailer. But he’s driving them up now.” Dani looked over at Rowan. “Which means
you should grab some more boxes.”
“Sure, sure.” Rowan shoved another cookie in his mouth and hurried out the
door.
Relieved that she had help, she rushed to empty both the trailer and her car.
As she carried the last box into the small bedroom of the cabin, she heard a
familiar horn honk outside.
“They’re here!” Rowan shouted, sounding more like a five-year-old than a
thirty-one-year-old as he ran to the door.
Dani laughed to herself as she watched him bound out to greet the pickup
truck that had pulled up beside her car. It amazed her that the old Dodge still made it
up the mountain, but there it was, with her grandfather seated behind the wheel.
He’d taught her most of what she knew about nature and the mountain.
They’d spent countless hours debating the state of the environment and how
to improve things while protecting wildlife. He was the reason she’d become so
passionate about photography, as he’d told her so many times, you can tell someone
something, you can write it down, but until you can show it to them, they’ll never
understand. A picture tells a story in a way that words never can.
A head popped up in the passenger side window. Maggie gave a lazy bark,
then curled back up on the seat. The Irish setter was nine now and loved to grab a
quick nap whenever she could.

A German shepherd, barely older than a puppy, tumbled out right behind
Dani’s grandfather, barking so loud that his entire body shook. He took off at a run
straight toward Dani.
“Sit, Jim! Sit!” Dani gasped as she saw how fast he was approaching. ...

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