Quilt City: Safety Second: A Hadley Carroll Mystery

Quilt City: Safety Second: A Hadley Carroll Mystery

In mid-winter, Paducah is pushed to the breaking point. After a violent incident outside a law office leaves a bystander dead and her close friend Dakota injured, Hadley Carroll and the staff of Paducah Pulse begin covering a story that quickly taxes their limits. Then an ice storm descends on the city. Power lines fall. Cell towers freeze. Roads become impassable. With a shelter-in-place order in effect, Hadley and her colleagues hunker down in the newspaper office as Quilt City grinds to a halt. As mayor, Hadley must coordinate rescue efforts, oversee repairs, and keep her city functioning—while a building collapses, a family crisis erupts, and new crimes further strain her already-fragile mental health. Determined to protect her community and to hold the perpetrators accountable, Hadley rallies her friends and staff once more—all while planning her upcoming wedding. Quilt City: Safety Second is a gripping cozy mystery about responsibility, resilience, and the quiet heroism required to show up when everything is on the line. Perfect for readers who enjoy: Cozies with depth and real-world stakes - Strong, witty female protagonists who lead with empathy and intelligence - Small-town mysteries where relationships matter as much as clues - For readers who want more time with Hadley, see Quilt City Cookbook , a companion book narrated by Hadley herself. An edge of your seat read with humor - a rare combination. Read the first 4 books before you read this one, though. Enjoy! -An Amazon Review Wow! Another Hadley mystery filled with twists and turns! I loved this one as much as the first 4. When is Book 6 coming out? -An Amazon Review Yea! Another great Hadley adventure. Loved it. -An Amazon Review Bruce Leonard is the author of the Hadley Carroll Mysteries, a character-driven mystery series set in Paducah, Kentucky-known as Quilt City-and the award-winning private-eye novel Hard Exit.He earned a B.A. in English with a creative writing emphasis from UCLA and has spent more than four decades working as a professional writer and editor. Over the years, he has been a travel writer, an editor, a bakery owner, and-briefly-a guinea pig for the U.S. government.Bruce frequently visits Paducah, where he created Hadley Carroll: a smart, resilient journalist whose humor and determination help her navigate murder, grief, civic responsibility, and complicated relationships. The series explores real-world challenges with emotional honesty while keeping violence off the page and community at the center.Hard Exit, his hardboiled mystery set primarily in Malibu, is narrated by grieving private investigator Jack Drake and has won multiple awards. The novel pays homage to classic private-eye fiction while telling a deeply personal story about love, loss, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.Bruce is grateful for the thousands of readers who have welcomed his characters into their lives. He lives and writes with the support of his wife, Sedonia, who believes in his work-especially during those early-morning hours when the plot refuses to cooperate.