Deadly Adversaries (Mapleton Mystery, #12)

Deadly Adversaries is the twelfth offering in Terry Odell's Mapleton Mystery series. Reconnect with familiar faces, and meet some new ones.

Gordon Hepler, Mapleton's Chief of Police, has his hands full. During the groundbreaking ceremony for expansion of the community center, he discovers a dead body. Shortly afterward, the center's CEO is assaulted. Does someone have it in for the community center and its new programs designed to benefit the homeless? Or does it have something to do with the highly contested upcoming mayoral election?

Frustration builds as clues and suspects fall into other jurisdictions, effectively tying Gordon's hands. The investigation soon resembles a giant bowl of spaghetti. Can he follow the rules and still protect his city?

Although it's part of a series, this police-procedural cozy-mystery blend—and all the Mapleton books—can be read as small-town stand alones.