Peril by Ponytail

August 24, 2015
In Cohen’s elaborate 12th Marla Vail mystery (after 2014’s Hanging by a Hair), the perky (and nosy) South Florida hairdresser finds herself in the middle of a feud. Marla and her new husband, Dalton, a police detective, are taking a belated honeymoon trip to Arizona, where they are guests at a ranch owned by Dalton’s relatives. The two branches of the Dalton family have not been in contact for decades, for reasons nobody will talk about, so there’s plenty of domestic drama for Marla to poke around in. Meanwhile, vandalism plagues both the ranch and the nearby ghost town that Uncle Ray is trying to restore; he blames another landowner, who in turn blames Ray for poisoning his cattle. With the suspicious death of a park ranger, the stakes get higher. Fortunately for Marla, people inexplicably tell her things that common sense suggests shouldn’t be shared with a stranger. Still, cozy fans will have fun.

August 1, 2015
Hairdresser Marla Vail (Hanging by a Hair, 2014, etc.) spends her honeymoon at the dude ranch from hell. Marla is annoyed when her handsome husband, Dalton, accepts his cousin Wayne's offer of a post-wedding stay at the Last Trail Dude Ranch in Arizona. She'd rather be lounging by the pool in a Caribbean resort than riding ponies up dusty trails and learning the mysterious ways of saguaro cactuses. And she's even more annoyed to learn that Wayne and his wife, Carol, have asked Dalton to check out a string of mishaps at the ranch, ranging from a fire in the kitchen to a flood caused by an open valve on the water heater. She's somewhat mollified when she sees their beautiful mountaintop hacienda. And she enjoys sharing meals with Wayne, Carol, and Wayne's sister, Annie, a nutritionist with a keen sense of purpose. Dalton's Uncle Ray, Wayne and Annie's father, is a different story. He seems obsessed with restoring the ghost town of Craggy Peak, just outside the ranch, claiming that making the town a tourist attraction will enhance the ranch's business. Uncle Ray's connection to the past is complicated: something happened years ago that caused Dalton' mother to break off relations with her brother entirely, and neither sibling will discuss the issue. Ray also has a history of ill-feeling with neighboring rancher Hugh Donovan. Now Hugh is accusing Ray of poisoning his cattle and causing a drought at his ranch, while Ray thinks Hugh might be to blame for a series of accidents at Craggy Peak. But when experienced forest ranger Garrett Long falls to his death on a trail he knew well, Marla and Dalton begin to think that the troubles at Last Trail are more than a series of pranks. As usual, it's just a matter of time before Marla risks life and limb to help her husband solve a case that's bigger than either of them anticipated.

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