Murder at Spawning Run by Sally Simpson Roseveare

About the book

Travelogue producer Aurora Harris arrives at Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, for her mother's funeral and to face the emotional ghosts residing in the house at Spawning Run. With her Labrador retriever King for company, Aurora struggles to deal with the losses of the past year: a miscarriage, her father's accidental drowning three months ago, and now her mother's death from Alzheimer's disease.

A mysterious black boat frequents the family's boathouse; a speeding boat attempts to ram Aurora's smaller boat; Charles Lampwerth, a prominent D.C. business owner, is murdered in the house next door; and a bloated body bumps Aurora as she swims in the lake.

The Aurora's courage is tested when her husband Sam is kidnapped and held prisoner on a large houseboat. An unknown telephone caller instructs Aurora to deliver certain pictures or Sam will die. Aurora locates the pictures hidden by her dad in an N.C. Wyeth painting, and is horrified when she realizes her dad's death was not an accident. Her dad was murdered. Instead of freeing Sam, Aurora is captured when she hands over the incriminating photos. Now she must rely on her wits and her knowledge of Smith Mountain Lake to outsmart the killers, or she and Sam will die.

While captives, Aurora and Sam discover that Harold Johns, Sam's friend and business acquaintance, is the mastermind behind all the robberies and murders at the lake. When Aurora and Sam overpower their captors and jump into storm-tossed water at night, bullets are fired and Sam is shot twice. Towing Sam behind her, Aurora manages to swim to a small island. Just after sunrise the next morning, Harold Johns spots them on the island, but his murderous plans are thwarted by King and the police boat searching for Aurora and Sam. Johns and his cronies are later captured in the ingenious hideout.

About the author

A North Carolina native, Sally Simpson Roseveare grew up in Greenville, married her high school sweetheart, and worked to help put him through college. In the 1970s, the couple, along with their three children, moved to the Lynchburg, Virginia area, where they lived in the country with various dogs, cats, and horses for twenty-six years. During that time, the family bought a waterfront lot at nearby Smith Mountain Lake, and they skied, fished, and explored almost all of the five hundred squiggly miles of shoreline. In 2000, they built a home on the lake, and continued to discover the joys and mysteries of waterfront living that inspired Sally's first novel, Murder at Spawning Run.

Besides the many water-related activities the lake provides, Sally enjoys reading, dancing with her husband, playing with her dogs, horseback riding, spoiling her nine grandchildren, spending time with friends, traveling, and dreaming up new plots for future books.