Murder at the Summerland Rig
An 1890s Cozy Mystery in Two Timelines

About this book:

When archivist Olivia Vance uncovers a salt-stained diary and a payroll ledger with a violently crossed-out name in the archives of the Santa Barbara Historical Society, she discovers a century-old connection to her own family—and a murder the oil barons buried with the tide. In 1896, Summerland, California, is a boomtown built on wooden piers stretching into the Pacific, where the world's first offshore wells bleed black gold and secrets alike. Lighthouse keeper's niece Clara Vance watches the derricks from the cliffs, recording the warnings of Albert Gallatin, a tool dresser who claims the company is falsifying safety logs and bribing the law. When Albert promises to bring proof to the light at midnight, Clara keeps watch—only to witness the rig become a tower of flame, swallowing the man she loves and the evidence he carried.

A hundred years later, Olivia follows the missing pages Clara hid, threading through corrupted land deeds, a coroner's verdict that doesn't match the wounds, and a blueprint for sabotage that powerful families still kill to protect. As the modern-day investigation mirrors the historical nightmare, Olivia realizes the cover-up didn't end in 1896—it just went deeper. With the rhythm of the surf and the smell of kerosene in every chapter, *Murder at the Summerland Rig* delivers a lush, dual-timeline cozy mystery where the past isn't buried—it's waiting in the archives for the right light to reveal it.