A Deadly Hook (Rocky Nelson Boxing Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – Sierra Nevada Mountains of California
Publisher ‏ : ‎ River Rock Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 5, 2026
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Synopsis

What do Bigfoot and boxing have in common? Meet Raquel (AKA Rocky) Nelson, a retired single woman with a big heart and a deadly punch!

Rocky was looking forward to a carefree camping trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with her fraternal twin sister, Bridget, and their two favorite men. A recent Bigfoot sighting lures Bridget’s new boyfriend, Jeff, into a search for the elusive beast, but the weekend turns deadly. When Jeff becomes the prime suspect, Bridget pleads for Rocky’s help. Reluctantly, Rocky is pulled back into the role she thought she’d left behind, and once more heads back into the wilderness—this time hunting not a myth, but a murderer.

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Guest Post

About the Author Karen A. Phillips

I love reading. My mother read to me, and my three brothers, at an early age. As I grew older, I gravitated to the mystery genre. My favorite authors were Carolyn Keene, Agatha Christie, M.C. Beaton, and later Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton.

I joined Sisters In Crime back in 2010 and learned the craft of writing. I literally started small—with short stories and with the support and encouragement of fellow authors, I submitted a story to an anthology. To my surprise, and delight, it was accepted! I was so excited! I was now a published author!

After having many more short stories published in other anthologies, I decided I was ready to try a novel. It took me five years to write my first book, A Deadly Combo. A Deadly Match took one year. And, A Deadly Hook, was released in February, 2026.

Authors are always asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” The idea for A Deadly Combo came to me after I attended my first vintage trailerfest. A trailerfest is where old trailers like Airstreams, Shastas, etcetera—think of the old trailer in the 1954 movie “The Long, Long, Trailer” with Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball—are on display to the public. I had so much fun going inside each trailer and talking to the owners, I thought, “What a great place to find a dead body!” Around this time, I had started taking boxing lessons. So I decided my amateur sleuth, Rocky Nelson, would take boxing lessons. I gave her a fraternal twin sister and their parents are former Hollywood actors.

For the book A Deadly Match, I’d heard about the first person to escape from Folsom Prison and I decided to have a movie made at the prison. The actors are Rocky and Bridget’s estranged aunt and uncle from Los Angeles. In this story, a man dies at the gym where Rocky takes boxing lessons and his death is tied to Rocky’s family.

For book three, A Deadly Hook, the idea came from my fascination with Bigfoot. I once took a road trip and stopped at the town of Willow Creek, California, where I bought a Bigfoot board game, which I still have (see photo). In A Deadly Hook, I gave Bridget a new boyfriend, Jeff, who has a podcast about Bigfoot. Jeff finds out there has been a Bigfoot sighting in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and he wants to hunt for the elusive beast. And so Rocky agrees to go camping in the woods with her former fiancé, Angelo, Bridget, and Jeff. Unfortunately, instead of finding Bigfoot, they discover a dead man wearing a Bigfoot costume. When Jeff becomes a suspect in the man’s murder, Bridget begs Rocky to prove him innocent. And thus Rocky, once again, is involved in another investigation.

We Solve Murders meets Death in the Dark Woods

About the Author

Karen A. Phillips lives in Northern California and writes humorous, fun, action-packed mysteries. Her characters are engaging and fearless. She has several short stories published in various anthologies. The Rocky Nelson Boxing Mysteries combine her love of boxing and the mystery genre.

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