Cozy Mystery Review & Author Guest Post: Something Prowling in Paradise Park

Something Prowling in Paradise Park:
A Kate Tessler Amateur Sleuth Mystery
(The Accidental Detective Book)
by Kris Bock

About Something Prowling in Paradise Park

Something Prowling in Paradise Park:
A Kate Tessler Amateur Sleuth Mystery (The Accidental Detective Book)
Humorous Mystery
7th in Series
Setting – Arizona
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tule Publishing
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 2, 2026
Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1969218965
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0G32HDV59

Three cases. One body. Zero chance of staying out of trouble.

Kate Tessler may have thought her days of chasing danger were over. But the former war correspondent’s “retirement” in sunny Paradise, Arizona, is anything but quiet. With her eccentric circle of friends and colleagues, Kate has built a new life—full of mysteries, mayhem, and the occasional stakeout—as she works towards earning her PI license.

After wrapping her last case, Kate wonders what’s next when three cases—all brought by friends—fall into her lap. Squatters in a snowbird’s house, local pedigree dogs disappearing, and smash and grab burglaries at local pot shops. Kate juggles the cases with help from her usual cast of amateur crime solvers, including the teen sons of Paradise’s mayor. As she digs, Kate suspects at least two cases are connected.

But things turn deadly when a late-night stakeout leads Kate and one teen sidekick, interested in investigative work, straight to a body. Was it a gruesome accident—or something far more sinister?

With humor and high stakes, The Accidental Detective mysteries prove that danger and friendship don’t retire quietly.

My Review:

This is my third visit to Paradise with Kate and the crew, and I am still enjoying the series. The story is a great romp through what could (even should?) be some serious situations that are always tinged with a hint of the absurd that I find highly pleasurable.

Kate is a great heroine, in my opinion. Fiftyish, a bit disabled, and utterly unwilling to give in to either fact, she matches how most of us feel about aging: it's not really happening, is it? The onset of symptoms of menopause and her decision not to treat them like something shameful, but another fact of life (like her injured leg?) is a much-needed counterweight to the preponderance of young women in the cozy genre--and to our society's way of ignoring women's needs and particularly the realities of aging.

The three mysteries quickly morph to two, which balance nicely off each other. With each of them, I did feel like I was left with some things to figure out and fill in on my own, suspicions and questions raised that weren't wholly settled. But the story is complete, no worries there. (I pay special attention to clues that may not turn into anything, and am contemplating how that works, for good or otherwise. It's a hazard of the profession.)

Kris Bock does a nice job of creating a set of friends who have strengths that help each other. And running through it all is a reminder that old people aren't just "old people." They are people with knowledge and skills that sometimes come in very handy, along with their quirks and crotchets.

My Recommendation:

This series, including this book, is a great one to have handy for vacation reads or those times when you need a good distraction from the world around us, into one where justice prevails and most people are generally good.

And now, a visit from the author herself!

Behind Something Prowling in Paradise Park (The Accidental Detective Book 7) by Kris Bock

One of the fun things about being a mystery writer is coming up with new ways to kill people. During a visit to Sedona, Arizona, the house we rented had this dangerous looking plant out front.

In the Southwestern United States, everything in nature wants to hurt you. Even suburban landscaping can be dangerous, as people often choose drought resistant cacti, agave, and yucca plants. My research for Something Prowling in Paradise Park (The Accidental Detective Book 7) had me investigating just how dangerous these plants can be.

While most people know that cacti have sharp spines, hikers in the Southwest also have to watch out for yucca and agave plants. Agaves are succulents with thick, fleshy leaves, which have spines on the tips and sometimes along the leaf edges. Some die soon after flowering, like the century plant, which can shoot up a stalk that looks like a giant piece of asparagus. The century plant is also known as the needle and thread plant, because its sharp spines served as needles, with the plant fibers acting as thread. The spines could even be used as nails.

Many yuccas have swordlike leaves. You can tell them apart from agave because yuccas have thinner leaves with curly white hairs along the edges instead of spines. That doesn’t mean they’re less dangerous. Some yucca species have leaves that end in spikes so sharp they can pierce down to bone. If that wasn’t enough, the stab wounds can deliver toxic chemicals, called saponins, that damage red blood cells. Some Navajo used the sap from leaves as arrow-tip poison, according to one source. Bumping into a yucca spike can literally inject this toxin under the skin and cause a large welt.

But are they deadly? Well, in a mystery novel, you can make almost anything deadly – especially if a killer is trying to cover their tracks.

Thanks, Kris, for stopping by! Fun that you got your inspiration in Sedona, where I just visited. And as someone who has had close encounters with yucca and agave, I can testify that it's no fun to get poked even a little bit by one of those swords! --RD

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About Kris Bock

Kris Bock writes mystery, suspense, and romance, often with smart, snarky heroines finding adventure (sometimes against their will) in the Southwest. She lives in New Mexico, where she enjoys hiking with her spouse and playing with their ferrets.

In the Reluctant Psychic Mystery series, a quirky loner who can read the history of any object with her touch gets drawn into mysteries at the museum of oddities where she works. In the Accidental Detective humorous mystery series, a witty journalist solves mysteries in Arizona and tackles the challenges of turning fifty. Kris’s romantic suspense novels include treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue. Readers have called these novels “Smart romance with an Indiana Jones feel.” She is also the author of the Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series and the Accidental Billionaire Cowboys series.

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Website https://www.krisbock.com/