At the River's Edge

A Mountain Mystery #1

by D.R. Shoultz

Sunset Peak, North Carolina is cursed by murder and captivated by moonshine money.

The unsolved shooting death of Mayor Hank Richards has a five-year curse hovering over the historic mountain community. Townspeople look over their shoulders in fear as neighbor accuses neighbor.

Rumors of buried moonshine money captivate those seeking unearned riches, but haunt Emily Edwards, the strong-willed granddaughter of the purported moonshiner.

Shortly following the murder of Mayor Richards, James Wolsey returns from college to help his mom manage the family’s hardware business. James and Emily are traveling diverse paths when they meet, but quickly align on a common course. If not for obsessed treasure hunters convinced Emily possesses a map, it seems their future together is promising.

The couple's attempt to dispel rumors of buried treasure leads them to the gravesite of Emily’s ancestor beside the New River. What they uncover at the river’s edge propels them into the path of the mayor's killer, and unleashes a chain of chilling events that forever changes Sunset Peak.

Mayor Richards’ murder will not be the last in the previously peaceful town.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

273 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2018

About the author

An author of mystery/crime novels, D.R. (Donn) Shoultz hails from Delavan, a small town in central Illinois, but has resided in the Southeastern U.S. most of his adult life. Donn and his wife Claudia have recently moved from their longtime residence in the Carolina Mountains to a home atop the Cumberland Plateau in Crossville, Tennessee. Claudia continues to share her considerable editing experience in shaping Donn's novels. In their free time, they both enjoy traveling and hiking nearby wooded trails with their dog, Milo.

Donn began writing fiction more than a decade ago following a sales and marketing career that took him across the world. His early work featured Miles Stevens, a time-traveling CIA agent, sent back from 2050 and his home in Langley, Virginia to intercept historic tragedies already in the history books.

Donn’s recent focus is adding stories to his Mountain Mystery Series. In each Mountain Mystery, tension rises quickly. The mystery (usually a murder) makes an early appearance. Hometown heroes spring into action, searching for clues, often competing with local law enforcement as they move closer and closer to danger. The stories are set in fictitious mountain communities with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Clues are sprinkled throughout with twists keeping readers off balance. These books are great for weekend reads, offering crisp, fast-moving chapters and up-all-night suspense.

If you’re looking for a mystery series with legs, this is it. Your favorite sleuths from the initial stories return in future novels, making them a series within the Mountain Mystery collection of novels.

In order of publication, his books include:

Miles Stevens Series
* Melting Sand
* Cyber One
* Gone Viral

Mountain Mystery Series
* At the River's Edge (Emily Edwards #1)
* Butcher Road (Jack Fowler #1)
* Fallen from Sight (Ryan Nelson #1)
* A Town Divided (Luke Maxwell #1)
* A Town in Fear (Luke Maxwell #2)
* Dark River (Emily Edwards #2)
* Road to Justice (Jack Fowler #2)
* Rising River (Emily Edwards #3
* Border Town (Luke Maxwell #3))

Donn's short stories, which he interweaves between writing novels, are an eclectic collection of tales looking at the lives of lovers, schemers, everyday people, and even pets. Each includes a twist and is designed to bring a tear and/or a smile to the reader. His stories have received national contest recognition, including from Writer's Digest magazine. His short story collections include:

* It Goes On
* Most Men

You can find more about Donn and his writing at DRShoultz.com.

Reviews

[Joshua Grant]

Adventure and mystery are abound in D.R. Shoultz’s At the River’s Edge! Years after the unsolved murder of Sunset Peak’s mayor, the town is still on edge. This only gets worse as Emily and James make a discovery that dangerous people would kill to have for themselves. Shoultz blends the thriller, adventure, and mystery genres together in a marvelous way that allowed At the River’s Edge to keep me on the edge! This book is exciting, the setting is rich and deep, and the characters are very likeable, making it perfect for any adventure lovers out there!

[Mary Jo Patterelli]

Exceptional

Well written and exciting story. Read it in on sitting. More twist and turns than the roller coaster at Busch Gardens.

[Katy]

2019 Book Hoarders Challenge: Oh, No! Someone died!

I've not read this author before, so it was. a pleasure to find a new one. Its setting in Appalachia and especially in the New River area intrigued me even more.

Emily's family has its own legend: since they live far onto the mountain and granddad was a moonshiner, there is a hidden treasure he was supposed to have. James, a local man who went to college but came back home to help his mom continue the family business, and Emily develop a relationship that definitely has baptism by fire moments. A five-year-old mystery of the murder of the mayor is reopened, putting the young couple at unknown danger in addition to the harassment by the local bullies looking for old treasure. And so it begins as the secrets of a small rural town unravel and change

I appreciate the clear writing and good plot. I love a good mystery. It was a great plus that this story does not have the stereotypes of who live in Appalachia, but the characters could be our very human neighbors.

I will read other books by this author, based upon this book.

[Chris Angelis]

I am a great fan of novels that don't involve plots that are larger-than-life, involving a small group of people in a relatively limited area. I wish authors remembered that simplicity can be the key to a successful, sense-making narrative. With these in mind, it's perhaps no accident that I enjoyed At the River's Edge.

Although the location is fictitious, it is based on reality, as the author informs his readers at the beginning. This facilitates the rendering of highly authentic settings, vivid descriptions, and recognizable characters - albeit, somewhat exaggerated ones, but within the limits considered acceptable by poetic licence.

The plot itself is simple, occasionally a bit naive perhaps (especially the outcome), but interesting nevertheless. It revolves around the murder of the mayor of this small town. Years after the unsolved crime, there is a push to seek new evidence and discover the killers. Old romances and acquaintances have to gauge the situation again, while new faces also must balance between loyalty and honesty, emotions and integrity.

The pace is very good, highly suitable for the genre. The chapters are concise, flowing effortlessly, and the length of the novel is suitable for a quick weekend read - the narrative succeeds perfectly in keeping the reader's interest, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were people who'd finish it in one sitting.

In terms of suggestion for improvement: Descriptions of nature were so realistic and inspiring that more of those would've been appreciated - though that would perhaps have an effect on pace, so maybe the author was right to keep them trimmed. At the same time, deeper analyses of the characters would offer added value in terms of realism and motivations but, again, this would probably not be suitable considering the genre. A third pace-related comment has to do with the somewhat improbable rapidity at which events unfold. Plans are devised, executed, and fail, all in the span of a couple of pages or so. It appears to be a conscious decision by the author, and although realism and introspection suffer, pace is assisted - probably fans of the genre prefer it that way.

All in all, it's a nice book to read, and I expect most crime fiction fans will enjoy it.

[K.T. Munson]

Character: 

James and his mother are good main characters. James is a good person if not a little vanilla. Emily is a live wire. Unpredictable for sure but I liked her gutsy demeanor. You also get to meet the two law enforcement personnel trying to solve the murder. The story has POV switches. 

Plot:

The story just drops you in without much explanation or set up. Beyond that I hesitate to say more because there are lots of twists and turns. A good murder mystery that doesn't stop there. When you think you've figured it out there are two more twists. I think I can say that a pair of bumbling idiots for side villains. 

Overall:

This story was interesting and I struggled with the writing style of this story: was it narrative or third person? It was never clear. Furthermore this story needs clearer breaks! Beyond that it was a very enjoyable read with very vivid characters and believable sequences of events. The author kept it a great length. Easy to read in a few sittings. 

Rating:

4 stars

A solid mystery with interesting characters. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing!

Where did I get it?

I was gifted a copy from the author. This is a voluntary review. More reviews at creatingworldswithwords.wordpress.com.

[Goldngirl]

A suspense-filled novel of an unsolved murder intertwined with romance,malice, and corruption. The book reveals an array of characters with motives for murder. The unsolved murder causes a myriad of emotions and unrest among the small town residents.
I enjoy suspenseful mysteries.At the River's Edge certainly fulfilled my expectation of suspense.

[K]

Loved the book

I love a fast paced book and this one was great! Kept me in suspense right till the end! Can’t wait for more of your books!!

[Dee Baker]

At the River's Edge by D.R.Shoultz

I liked this fast.moving story. The characters were believable and I couldn't put it down. I'm going to read more books by this author.

[Judy G Spivey]

A story of greed and it's effect on a small North Carolina town.

Emily has lived as an outcast, in her Grandfather's remote cabin. Years after his death, rumours of his buried treasure haunts her and her town. A five year old murder of the two a Mayor, finally brings everything to ahead. James, Emily, his Mother Karen find love, but the old mystery brings distrust and more murders. Greatread.

[Laurel Heidtman]

At The River’s Edge is an entertaining mystery set in the small town of Sunset Peak. The setting was very well done. I liked the references to the Amazon distribution center where one of the characters works and to the Lowe’s and other big box stores that have sprung up on the edges of Sunset Peak, upsetting the local merchants. That’s definitely the story of life in small towns in the U.S.

I also liked the characters, including Rufus the dog. You know what they say—who cares who dies in a book as long as the dog lives? :-)

After the murder that starts the book, I had a little trouble getting into the story, mainly because the dialogue between James and Emily when they first got together seemed stilted to me. After that, though, I had no complaints about the dialogue—and in all fairness, dialogue between people on their first date is often stilted.

I also had a problem with Wyatt being referred to as Sunset Peak’s sheriff. Sheriffs are typically the head law enforcement person in a county or parish, not a town. I checked online, and that applies to North Carolina, the setting of the book, as well. Not a big thing, though, and easily ignored.

The book had a lot of action, with the main characters often finding themselves in danger. I enjoy books like that. I was surprised by the twist near the end, and I just love books that surprise me like that.

[Alistair Potter]

All is not well in Sunset Peak!

An unsolved murder, rumours of a moonshiner’s buried wealth, romance, intrigue and suspicion, the little town of Sunset Peak in North Carolina seems to have it all.

After the death of his grandfather, the central character in this tale, James Wolsey, comes home to help his widowed mother Karen run the local hardware store. It doesn’t take long for James to meet Emily Edwards, the surviving granddaughter of a notorious moonshiner, rumoured to have hidden his illicit earnings somewhere around the family’s mountain retreat. James and Emily’s romance blossoms, and from then on the story unfolds with more than a few surprises along the way. To say more would spoil the journey.

This is a book with significant plusses, but also a few minuses. On the plus side, there is a wonderful directness and economy to the storytelling, which pulls the reader along, and there are all the plot elements of a good mystery. The minus side, for me, was the handling of the characters. It was a little too impersonal for my tastes, which was disappointing considering the book’s other strengths.

[Marla]

A cold case murder is revisited in a 5 year anniversary. Romance, murder and investigation is woven into this book.

The red herring missing wife was a good tangent, but I wish it had a conclusion rather just reopening the case.

When the killer shot Reeder in the kitchen but told the police that he hit the ground and shot Reeder, I thought the ME would discover the discrepancy and the killer would become a suspect. It would be unlikely that a man being shot at would calmly stand there and shoot back without finding cover.

I think I would've preferred a main character (or two) and following their POV throughout the story rather than a 3rd person narrator who had limited omniscience and jumped between multiple characters. I felt like we knew some about lots of characters, but didn't know any one person more than the others. Though I must say that I read lots of mysteries and this was an unusual POV, but not my preference.

My book club friend's husband has the same name as a character in the book. I wonder if the character is named for him.

[Hannah Lawson]

At the River’s Edge by D.R. Shoultz is a small town mystery set in Sunset Peak, North Carolina, a quiet mountain community still shaken by the unsolved murder of Mayor Hank Richards. Five years later, fear and suspicion linger as neighbors quietly turn on one another.
The town is also obsessed with rumors of buried moonshine money, believed to be hidden by Emily Edwards’s grandfather. Emily wants no part of the legend, but treasure hunters are convinced she holds the key. When James Wolsey returns home from college, his growing relationship with Emily pulls them both into the center of the town’s secrets.
A search along the New River leads to a discovery that connects the buried money to the mayor’s death, placing Emily and James in real danger. As the truth comes to light, Sunset Peak is forced to confront the past it has tried so hard to bury.
Suspenseful and atmospheric, At the River’s Edge blends mystery, romance, and Southern grit into a compelling read that keeps you guessing until the end.

[Donn]

It has been nearly 4 years since writing AT THE RIVER'S EDGE, my first Mountain Mystery. As preparation for writing the sequel, DARK RIVER, I returned to read this original story cover to cover. I am very critical of my writing, and no matter how many editing passes I make before releasing a novel, I still find elements I would change. That said, ATRE remains my favorite Mountain Mystery.

Murder, lost treasure, and greed collide in this suspense-filled novel. The pace is steady, building to a series of events where unforeseen villains appear, tossing Emily Edwards and James Wolsey into the center of the deadly drama. Most importantly, I believe Emily, James and Sunset Peak provide a foundation for future Mountain Mysteries. DARK RIVER will not be the last book featuring the fearless hometown sleuths.

[Sheena Macleod]

This murder mystery opens with the murder of Mayor Richards. The reader is left wondering - Who killed Mayor Richards and why? Along the way to finding out we meet a rich cast of characters and enter the daily lives of the residents of a small town, Sunset Peak—a fictional town at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
This is a multilayered book filled with past secrets, old stories and old and new relationships which brings this fictional town alive. The plot has lots of twists and turns, and the reader is kept guessing about what happened that fateful day. Once old secrets are revealed to the reader, concern turns to those who are at risk from this discovery.
A good murder mystery that kept me turning the pages. I would definitely be reading more of this author’s work.

[David E. Blaker]

AT THE RIVER’S EDGE is an extremely well written mystery. It definitely fits the bill as a novel that is difficult to put down until finished reading. The author weaves a story that is difficult for even a most seasoned mystery reading aficionado to successfully solve until nearly the end of the book. To say that the plot reminds me of the famous quote, which goes, “A riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma” is an understatement. Also, kudos to the editor for ensuring an error free publication. I’m looking forward to reading more of Shoultz’s books.

[Joy]

Wonderful small town feel to the story with a twisty unexpected ending. Didn’t see it playing out that way which was great. Highly recommend it because of the ease of reading and no offending language.

[pam moore]

Enjoyed this book

I loved the setting, the characters and the mystery. It just goes to show that a novel can be entertaining without the use of profanity. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

[Dana Webster]

Goodreads needs an option for DNF. I gave up at 30%. This one just wasn't for me.

I didn't care for the writing and the story did not hold my interest. I'm sorry, because it looks like I'm in the minority here.

[Trishknight7]

Loved the book. The author kept me hooked all the way to the end. His writing style made you feel as if you were these peoples neighbor. Thanks for a good clean read.

[tamcordingley]

Real page turner

Loved the characters. Just the right mix of suspense, action and romance. The geographical references we're accurate. I'll follow this author.

[Kathy Schouten]

After reading the Luke Maxwell books I went back and read this one. It was a fast read with a solid story involving Civil War treasure.

[Lana L Fiems]

Wonderful setting

This is my first time reading Shoultz. I started it at bedtime. Was still reading at 2A.M. Interesting setting, great descriptions of the mountain country.

[Marilyn]

Good

A book where a young women who lived on mountain cabin with her dog.she had been raised by her grandparents. who are both dead.

[Janice Chamberlain]

Took Awhile to get Started

Decent read. Slow to get the plot started but became a bit of a page turner after that. Recommend as a quick easy read.

[Janis McGinness]

Good clean mystery

Good clean mystery. Held my attention the entire book. Good won out. Just enough romance but not too much and not too descriptive.

[Debbie Reeder]

A very suspenseful mystery with many plot twists! It will keep you guessing until the very end!

[Pat Leland]

At the River’s Edge was a thrilling and excellent reading ride. The characters were so expertly detailed that I could “see” them as I read page by page. Mr. Shoultz is an accomplished writer. I have enjoyed all of his books thus far and look forward to his next great book.
Pat

[Jessa]

What a story! Immediately sucked in and finished it in one setting. It’s a quick read, but satisfying and kept me interested til the very end. Great job Donn!