THE SCIENCE TRAVELER SERIES of Mysteries and Thrillers
ESCAPE FROM A DARK CAVE
An environment that pleases one individual may be a nightmare to another. Sara Almquist, an FBI science consultant, confronts this truth as she investigates the murder of a young man near a historic cave in New Mexico. As she reconstructs the victim's final days , she learns the autistic victim found the cave to be soothing. She finds the cave to be depressing. Or Is it her love life is making her sad?
ISBN: 9781735421483
Bug Press in 2023.
BUNGLE IN THE JUNGLE
The U.S. consular office in Manaus, Brazil is a "bungle in the jungle." Can Sara Almquist and the new active ambassador to Brazil figure out the staff in this remote office in the middle of the Amazon jungle became so enmeshed in the illegal international trade of drugs and cultural artifacts?
Finalist for New Mexico/Arizona Book Award
ISBN: 9781735421445
Bug Press in 2023.
FAIR COMPROMISES
Sara Almquist and her FBI colleagues rush to find the culprits who endangered the lives of a hundred attendees at a political rally by poisoning the food with botulism toxin in order to kill their target—a woman candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Finalist for New Mexico/arizona Book Award.
ISBN: 9781735421421
Bug Press in 2022.
GAMES FOR COUPLES
Scientist Sara Almquist is investigating the death of a man in a clinical trial conducted by a biotechnology company making cultured meat products—meat made in a test tube. Did lethal compounds in the cultured meat product kill the man in the clinical trial? Or did the toxic competition among biotechnology companies and spite of battling couples cause his death?
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award.
ISBN: 9781735421407
Bug Press in 2021.
DIRTY HOLY WATER
Sara Almquist is about to become engaged and leave for a vacation in India when she becomes the chief suspect in the murder of a friend. Only the friend and her family, well to put it politely, have a couple of dark secrets. Sara soon realizes the difference between a villain and a victim can be alarmingly small, especially in a dysfunctional family.
The Kirkus review is: "A thought-provoking, disturbing, and engaging mystery with a likable, strong-willed female lead."
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award.
ISBN: 9780960028580
Bug Press in 2020.
A POUND OF FLESH, SORTA
A ticking package with the guts of animals is delivered to Sara Almquist. The police doubt it's a prank and think gang leaders are trying to prevent Sara from testifying at their upcoming trial. Sara thinks it might be a plea for help from a rancher after she learns the package is contaminated with the bacteria that causes the plague. However, she’s afraid the police might be right.
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award
ISBN: 9780960028566
Bug Press in 2020
RIDDLED WITH CLUES
A hospitalized friend gives a puzzling note to Sara Almquist. He received the note signed "Red from Udon Thani" while investigating the movement of drugs from Cuba into the U.S. However, he doesn't know anyone called Red, and the last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. After Sara listens to his rambling tales of all the possibilities, both are attacked. He is left comatose. As she struggles to survive, she questions who to trust: the local cops, her absent best friend, the FBI, or a homeless veteran who leaves puzzling riddles as clues.
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award
ISBN: 978-1938436239
Aakenbaaken & Kent in 2017.
I SAW YOU IN BEIRUT
A mysterious source of data on the Iranian nuclear industry sends an email from Tabriz. "Help. Contact Almquist." As Sara Almquist is drawn into the plan to identify and rescue the agent, known only as F, from Iran, she is forced to remember and re-evaluate characters from her student days at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and from her career as a globe-trotting epidemiologist. Which of her past decisions put her in jeopardy? Or is her current friendship with Sanders, a secretive State Department official, the real reason she's being attacked as she tries to rescue F?
ISBN: 9780960028542
Oak Tree Press in 2015. Revised. Bug Press in 2019
MALIGNANCY
Men disguised as police officers shoot at Sara Almquist twice in one day. The Albuquerque police suspect a drug czar who Sara tangled with in Bolivia will order more hits on Sara. Thus when colleagues in the State Department invite Sara to arrange scientific exchanges between the U.S. and Cuba, she jumps at the chance to get out of town and to see the mysterious Xave Zack. Maybe, she should question their motives.
First place in the 2015 Public Safety Writers Association (PSWA) competition
ISBN: 978-0960028528
Oak Tree Press in 2014. Revised. Bug Press in 2019
IGNORE THE PAIN
Sara Almquist couldn't say no when invited to be the epidemiologist on a public health mission in Bolivia. Soon someone from her past in New Mexico is chasing her through the Witches' Market of La Paz and on to the silver mines of Potosí. Unfortunately, she can't trust her new colleagues, especially the sexy Xave Zack, because any one of them might be under the control of the coca industry in Bolivia. Worse still, she's not only put herself in danger, but also her sister back in New Mexico.
ISBN: 978-0960028504
Oak Tree Press in 2013. Revised. Bug Press in 2019
MURDER...A WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT
Dieting is hard. So is fitting into a new job where you aren't wanted. Dr. Linda Almquist is trying to do both as she investigates two diet doctors who are recklessly endangering the lives of the obese patients in their current research study. When she finds one diet doctor dead, the police suspect the other diet doctor. Then Linda receives a series of threats and the search for the killer widens to include a number of characters in the medical school.
First place in 2016 Public Safety Writers Association (PSWA) competition.
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award
ISBN: 9781978377288
Oak Tree Press as Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight in 2012. Rewritten. Oak Tree Press in 2016. Bug Press (second edition) in 2017
THE FLU IS COMING
A new flu virus kills half of the residents in an upscale community in New Mexico in one week. The rest are turned into virtual prisoners in their homes when a quarantine is imposed. Sara Almquist, a medical epidemiologist, uncovers dark secrets about the residents as she finds promising scientific clues to stop the spread of the flu.
Finalist for a New Mexico/Arizona Book Award
ISBN: 978-0578423258
Oak Tree Press as Coming Flu in 2012. Rewritten. Bug Press in 2018