Sanctuary

A Gripping Mountain Mystery That Will Keep You Turning Pages

"In these hills the rivers keep secrets"

A wealthy developer is found dead. A Black Cherokee herbalist faces a lifetime in prison. And a former drug smuggler turned dog treat baker holds the key to the truth.

Mary Susan Baade thought she'd buried her past as a marijuana kingpin when she opened her charming dog treat bakery in Franklin, North Carolina. But when Atlanta developer Hollis Blackwood arrives with plans to bottle and sell sacred Cherokee spring water, her peaceful mountain sanctuary explodes into deadly conflict.

When Blackwood turns up murdered, seventy-three-year-old Eliza Whitaker-who publicly threatened him with ancient Cherokee justice-becomes the obvious suspect. But Mary knows better. As she and Walter Allen, a former congressman with his own hidden government connections, dig deeper into Franklin's secrets, they uncover a shocking web of corruption that reaches from local pharmacies to corporate boardrooms.

Because some secrets are worth killing for... and some are worth dying to protect.

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"Sanctuary" delivers everything mystery lovers crave: a puzzling murder, complex characters with hidden depths, and a setting so vivid you'll taste the mountain air. But it's the moral questions-about justice, community, and protecting what's sacred-that will stay with you long after the final page.

From the Author of Confluence

Walter A Cook brings his experience with Florida marijuana smuggling, politics, and even dog bakeries to create this authentic tale of murder, corruption, and redemption in the Smoky Mountain hollows.

What Readers Are Discovering:

Authentic Appalachian Setting - Experience the real Franklin, NC, from Main Street's dog bakery to hidden mountain hollers where meth labs operate alongside sacred Cherokee springs

Complex Murder Mystery - Multiple suspects with deadly motives, from corrupt pastors and pharmaceutical conspirators to environmental activists with fake identities.

Moral Dilemmas That Matter - When the legal system fails and justice conflicts with law, how far would you go to protect the innocent?

Environmental Thriller Elements - Corporate water theft, contaminated watersheds, and the fight to preserve Cherokee sacred sites from modern exploitation