Bøker av Renee Kumor

"Take a chance on reading the River Bend Chronicles. You won't be disappointed. They are both intriguing with the mystery of the story with a little romance thrown in..."-A Reviewer"Perhaps the best romance/mystery series I have ever read ..." -Pamela Paige, former feature writer, Florida Times-Union"I'm hooked ..."-Martha Griswold, Online Critics CornerRiver Bend is coming back from pandemic lockdown. Life is blooming. But life gets serious when Detective LaMont and her husband find a drug operation in the forest. And Mars and Trina Healey learn about criminal activity in the local health clinic, discovered as Trina tries to publish a local magazine. The FBI becomes involved and several prominent citizens are arrested. Lynn and others help some friends cope with the aftermath of arrests. It's a Spring of revelations and family celebrations. Everyone gets caught up in the magic and mayhem of River Bend.

"Perhaps the best romance/mystery series I have ever read ..." -Pamela Paige, former feature writer, Florida Times-UnionThe long lazy summer of the pandemic finds the gang in River Bend adapting to the new normal. Lynn and Dusty both maintain home offices. Lynn declares her back yard a mask-free zone allowing friends to gather face-to-unmasked-face while social distancing. Crime seems to have surrendered to covid until Teniquia gets involved in a murder in Des Moines and Dusty and Danny organize to protect Emily Jacobs and her great-grandchildren from another murder attempt. The story wraps on the promising note that a vaccination is expected soon.

In this third book in the River Bend Chronicles, Lynn Powers, a fortyish widow with a teenage son, continues to build her new life in River Bend. It's two weeks before Christmas and the holiday season is going full tilt -- except for Lynn and her son. In an effort to rekindle their slow starting romance, chief detective Dusty Reid pays a visit and finds Lynn's household untouched by holiday cheer. Dusty takes Jason on a routine call and starts a series of events that mirrors the death of Lynn's husband two years ago. In addition to grieving on the anniversary of her husband's death, Lynn has been advised by one of the board members of the River Bend Philanthropies that his review of a local nonprofit, River Bend Reads, has revealed embezzlement. This story weaves through the Christmas holidays, with Lynn and Dusty's big New Year's Eve date spent in the morgue identifying the body of a staff member of River Bend Reads. And then another body turns up.

This second entry in the popular River Bend Chronicles gives us a growing relationship between Lynn Powers and police detective Dusty Reid -- along with two murders. It begins with a battered woman being taken to the local woman's shelter, and Lynn recognizing her as a potential donor to the River Bend Philanthropies. What's going on in this peaceful little town?

This holiday season in River Bend includes family gatherings, snowmobile races, and a little romance. And murder. Lynn Powers and her family begin celebrations for Christmas with the first big party, Dusty's birthday. However, on Christmas Day Dusty is called to a murder scene where a young man is found dead in his bathtub. And returning from a school administrators Christmas gathering Pam finds a hit-and-run victim in the icy road. Is she under suspicion of the crime?

Jason is a victim of a fight in the park and is thrown into a fishing boat and set adrift on the river. Dusty organizes a search for the youngster. Blaming himself, Dusty begins interviewing friends and family about parenting. During this hectic period, Sean Hennessey returns to River Bend to claim his inheritance. His father died before he and Sean could heal the breach in their relationship. As he spends time in town trying to learn more about the man his father really was, Sean becomes a suspect in Dusty's investigation. Lynn is injured in a truck accident. Sean inherits a fortune. And sons reconcile with their parents. A typical happenstance in the little town of River Bend.

Lynn Powers is facing the month of May caught up in the activities driven by a son who is graduating from high school. But that doesn't stop her from becoming embroiled in mayhem as she discovers an elderly black woman who has been assaulted. Throughout the story Lynn and her family learn about the history of many people in town, including the simmering feuds and sad stories among members of River Bend's African-American community. In addition, Lynn learns more of her own family history as she discovers a small diary belonging to her mother. Mix all this in with the usual antics of Lynn, Dusty and their family and it adds up to another installment of the River Bend Chronicles.

Sonny Bosco, one of the actors who came to River Bend for a community project last spring, stayed to die. She is a friend of a local physician. Dr. Rita Rutledge, and the River Bend gang, led by Lynn Powers and her family, have rallied to help with Sonny's care. A sick child is also facing death as his mother, an environmental attorney, and her team investigate water quality issues on the river. One of the environmentalists is murdered at the same time detectives find another body. The inhabitants of this small town explore love and loss while learning from Sonny to celebrate life well lived.

An introduction to the River Bend Chronicles series, you will encounter fascinating characters, three murders, a marriage, and the beginning of a romance between Lynn and a detective known as Dusty. The story takes place over several weeks from May to August. Lynn learns from her father that she has a half -brother, a man whom she has known all of her life. She learns of this relationship on the eve of their 25th high school reunion. As she deals with this new wrinkle in her life, two classmates are murdered, then the sister of a benefactor of the River Bend Philanthropies, her employer, is kidnapped and murdered. New family relationships thread through this mystery, as Lynn works with a local detective to provide moral support to families of the murder victims.

In this fourth book in the River Bend Chronicles, Lynn Powers and Dusty Reid have broken off their engagement to the consternation of both families. But Lynn gets drawn into a murder that requires Dusty's intervention. An actor who has come to town to help with the production of an Arts Council play is found murdered. Two days later another actor is also found dead. During the investigation, Dusty pleads with Lynn to elope, but the killer has other plans for Lynn. Murder and marriage - what a combination!

"Perhaps the best romance/mystery series I have ever read ..." -Pamela Paige, former feature writer, Florida Times-Union"I'm hooked ..."-Martha Griswold, Online Critics CornerThe gang in River Bend is enjoying an early spring after a January filled with snow. As everyone enjoys life, they hear ominous reports of an impending world-wide pandemic. As most people prepare for and complain about the challenges of lockdown, masking, and hand sanitizing, one fellow, Heath Dawson, sees this as an opportunity to commit a few crimes. To his thinking masking for health will allow him to move through the community unidentified. With his masking plan in place, he prepares to murder several relatives and ease the way for him to inherit a substantial amount of money.Lynn, Dusty, and their friends deal with a pandemic, attempted murder, and arson while adjusting to the new normal with online schooling, online meetings, and online shopping.

"The folks of River Bend have become like family. I love following their adventures from book to book. Renee Kumar has found a winning recipe for an ongoing romance series that is peppered with mystery and murder."- Marcy Birdweather, Marcy's MusingsIt's the beginning of a new year. Lynn Powers is still recovering from witnessing her friend Susan Carmichael die in an explosion. Polly, Susan's teenage daughter, has agreed to stay in River Bend for the rest of her freshman year of high school. She is having some difficult periods of adjustment. As Lynn and her friends cope with Polly, Yolanda Valeri receives a bequest from an elderly admirer. She is given a half-a-million dollars to distribute to local nonprofits as she sees fit. However, Lynn and her friends are drawn into a mystery as a nonprofit tries to intimidate Yolanda into granting it all her money.

Readers have this to say about The River Bend Chronicles:"Take a chance on reading the River Bend Chronicles. You won't be disappointed.""Renee gets better with each book she writes.""I love this series of books. I feel like I am visiting a town I grew up in when I read another volume."The gang in River Bend find themselves dealing with aging parents and with a local nonprofit taking advantage of the elderly in the community. As Piper's father undergoes knee surgery, her mother, Glenda, is left alone at the farm seeming to suffer from a mental decline. Lynn and Dusty discover a dead man on the farm and the folks in River Bend become concerned with safety for the community's elder citizens when the investigation into the man's death leads to evidence of a local nonprofit cheating and scamming elder citizens. Strokes, surgery, scams and murder focus concern on the aging citizens and their safety with a little romance thrown in.

"As helpful a book about the world of nonprofit boards as you'll ever come across ..."- Shirrel Rhoades, Board President, KWAHS Custom House MuseumMost communities rely on services provided by nonprofit organizations: a shelter for victims of domestic violence; safe afterschool programs; emergency support for victims of fire or flood from the American Red Cross and local groups; and social need support from groups such as food pantries and homeless shelters. In addition local nonprofits augment the life of a community through arts and theater programs as well as support for the local libraries, museums and schools. There is always support to be found for animals and the environment as well. In fact, many of us find ourselves ready and willing to support an array of local nonprofits because of the work they do in addressing concerns close to us. This book does not address issues that relate to multimillion-dollar agencies, but to the challenges faced locally by staff and board members - from bylaws to human resource issues to the always necessary fundraising.

"I nearly swoon every time I pick up the next book in the River Bend series. The love story of Lynn and Dusty, the mysteries, and the interaction of the inhabitants make me want to move to River Bend!"- Marcy Birdweather, Marcy's MusingsRiver Bend is alive with spring blossoms and Lynn Powers is doing her best to trade, barter or steal samples of some of the best perennials for her garden. Dusty, her husband, interrupts her spring fever as he draws her into helping with his new assignment. He has been named to a local county board by the sheriff to work with early release felons. According to a new state law, each county is to create a new local nonprofit to help the early release prisoners as they update their education, enroll in job training, find work and create a stable life in the county. Dusty, a law enforcement professional, has no expectations for success of the program or the early release felons. His suspicions are proved valid as two of the three felons rob a bank and kidnap Lynn and her friend, Amelia Shipley. The River Bend gang muddles through spring with robbery, dancing lessons, Memorial Day parades and unexpected romance.