The HOA Hit List

THE HOA HIT LIST A Sunset Manor Mystery Whispering Palms has manicured hedges, color-coded mailboxes, and exactly one rule for every occasion — courtesy of HOA President Arthur Pendelton, tyrant-in-chief of clipboards and citations. So when he's found face-down in his own prize-winning birdbath, half the neighborhood has a motive, and the local police have already picked their suspect: an angry landscaper with an unpaid invoice and a very bad temper. Violet Hartwell isn't buying it. A retired high school principal knows a frame job when she sees one, and Arthur's spotless little kingdom was built on pettiness, power, and — she suspects — a great deal more. Armed with her vintage leather "investigation kit" and the finest team of amateur detectives Sunset Manor has to offer, Violet sets out to clear an innocent man before the wrong person pays for someone else's sins. Retired Navy plumber Frank Morrison declares total war on HOAs from the seat of his souped-up mobility scooter. Gossip queen Agnes Pemberton runs a whisper network that could rival the CIA. Former Vegas showgirl Dolores Martinez still remembers a trick or two from Reno. Retired Ambassador Viktor Kozlov reads the whole board like a chessboard, three moves ahead of everyone else. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a very tired nurse tries to keep them from getting arrested. The deeper Violet digs, the clearer it becomes: Arthur's death wasn't about a birdbath, or even about him. It was about who gets to keep their home — and who's been quietly deciding that for everyone else. The clock is ticking toward an emergency election that could hand a killer permanent power over the whole neighborhood. Violet has one shot to expose the truth before the gavel comes down. Because in Whispering Palms, breaking the rules can get you fined. But… Breaking the wrong person's rules can get you killed.