Showing results by author "Chinle Miller" in All Categories

When Utah Sheriff Bud Shumway finds out that his friend Howie, who’s also the town’s mayor, has just sold his drive-in, he knows things are changing in his little town of Green River, and not necessarily for the best. And when he’s banned from the new cafe, he’s left with a hollow feeling in his stomach and not sure what to do next. But when his wife, Wilma Jean, also sells her cafe, and to a supposed serial killer, Bud soon realizes that his quiet life may be coming to an end, both figuratively and even possibly literally.

An old hermit has been killed in Utah’s wildlands, and Sheriff Bud Shumway knows it’s murder, even though some say it was a cougar kill. Others think it was done by a Bigfoot who has roamed the area for years, killing cattle and leaving people so traumatized that they never want to go into the wilderness again. But Sheriff Shumway can’t afford to believe in Bigfoot, given the huge area he’s responsible for, most of it wildlands. Set at the Ghost Rock Cafe, high on the wild and mysterious San Rafael Swell, this mystery will have you wondering if Bigfoot might really exist.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway and his wife, Wilma Jean, head to Montana to pursue Bud's dream of learning to fly-fish, Bud never guesses he'll soon be deeply involved in trying to solve the mystery of a missing lunch lady he's never met, as well as trying to stay off the radar of a strange religious cult that believes in immortality while plotting to kill people. Set in the magnificent Absaroka Mountains near Yellowstone National Park, this mystery will have you mystified and on edge.

The crusty owner of a local rock shop has been killed in Utah’s wildlands, and ex-Sheriff Bud Shumway has been asked to return to his hometown to solve the crime. He reluctantly agrees, never suspecting the case involves an old childhood friend and a pair of mysterious Incan skeletons known as the Malachites.

When Utah Sheriff Bud Shumway and his friend Mayor Howie decide to get out of town and go camping, they have no idea what kind of mayhem and intrigue they’re getting themselves into, from the death of the camp-host’s wife to finding rare jewels in the desert. Having their friends Shorty and Doc along just adds to the chaos, especially since they have a strange prescience that Doc is about to die.

Ever wish you had a local who could show you around? Someone who would steer you in the right direction without boring you to tears about how wonderful it's going to be? Someone who sees the value in letting you discover and experience things for yourself? Welcome to the Yellow Cat Explore Series. We believe that half the fun of seeing a new place is discovering things for yourself. We’ll tell you the basics, but we won't bore you with how great our own experiences were or how amazing you're going to feel. We get you there, then let you truly discover and explore for yourself.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway learns that his job is on the line, he knows that big changes are coming, though he has no idea exactly what kind. And with his wife’s new business running an air-based catering service, he knows she’ll be too busy to help him figure out his now uncertain future. Add in the invasion of his little Utah town by a group of wanna-be Vikings, and his employment woes soon take backstage to solving a murder - one in which the prime suspect is his friend, Sheriff Howie.

In this guide to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, after making sure you can find your way around the park, have a place to camp, as well as food and gas (and plenty of water), we’ll help you truly explore the park’s geology, history, prehistory, wildlife, plants, and people. For example, did you know that there was a major meteor impact in Canyonlands that left a crater three miles wide and had the effect of an 8.0 earthquake on nearby rocks, deforming them for miles?

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway agrees to help out his friend, Sheriff Hum Stocks, as a deputy for the winter, he never guesses he’ll soon be deep in the rugged and wild Dolores Triangle, trying to solve not only the mystery of a skeleton wearing knee boots, but also the murder of rattlesnake-hunter and wannabe rodeo clown, Chicken Bottoms.

Rancher Mack Murphy has been buying up land in Southwest Colorado, threatening those who won’t sell, including Junior, the uncle of ex-sheriff Bud Shumway. Bud agrees to visit his uncle to help defuse things, never suspecting he would get caught right smack in the middle of Mack’s murder. And it becomes the toughest case Bud’s ever had to solve, as almost everyone is a suspect. Set in the Paradox Valley, a beautiful and remote area with a wooly Wild West history, this mystery will have you laughing, scared to death, and wondering when the mysterious Wild Man will strike again.

When ex-sheriff and watermelon farmer Bud Shumway learns his wife, Wilma Jean, wants to sell her cafe and become a backcountry pilot, he senses his world is about to change, and not necessarily in a good way. But Bud never guesses he’ll soon be deeply involved in trying to solve the mysterious death of a crusty old Scotsman who, as he was dying, told Bud his killer was a witch’s tongue. Bud soon becomes an unwilling witness to the frenzy surrounding the hunt for the old man’s hidden treasure, and it soon appears Sheriff Howie is also getting involved.

When an old rancher visits Utah Sheriff Bud Shumway with a cryptic message and then immediately dies, Bud has no idea that he’s witnessing the beginning of a series of strange happenings, from an invasion of his little town by rodeo clowns to dealing with a curse from long-gone Natives.

For the first time in recorded history, the complete short stories of the infamous Chinle Miller have been compiled in a book that the publisher hopes won't get anyone arrested (especially the publisher). Come sit around the campfire with an archaeologist after he unwittingly brings a unique curse upon himself; watch Ernie, the county road supervisor, accidentally bomb his own highway shed; discover a cryptic form of rock art just in time for it to save your life.

The self-centered director of a small Shakespearean troupe has been killed on the flanks of a remote Utah bluff, and ex-sheriff Bud Shumway knows it has something to do with someone in the Witness Protection Program, even though his bumbling replacement, Sheriff Howie, suspects a mysterious prospector who has just arrived from the Superstition Mountains.

When a mystery writer from New York shows up in Sheriff Bud Shumway's little Utah town, he doesn’t think much about it, other than to note that she seems to be avoiding him. But when a famous opera singer, also from New York, shows up shortly thereafter, Bud begins to worry that fact might follow fiction after he discovers that the writer’s latest book is about the murder of an opera singer.

When a Mountie shows up in Sheriff Bud Shumway's Utah office and accuses him of aiding and abetting a possible murderer in Canada’s Yukon Territory, Bud is mystified, especially since he doesn't even know the guy. And when he receives a gold-mining claim transferred to his name and a cryptic message telling him to come to the Klondike Cafe, Bud is soon on his way, even though he has no idea where the cafe is or why his help is needed.

Is it impossible to be lonely, or is loneliness an impossibly difficult thing? In the first part of this book, Chinle Miller wanders the desert and mountains with her dogs, exploring nature and an inner life of solitude, until an event happens that shakes her life to its core - her best friend and cousin Janie is killed by a grizzly in Alaska.

When ex-sheriff Bud Shumway and his wife, Wilma Jean, decide to vacation in a scenic Colorado town near Aspen, they never guess they’ll soon be immersed in solving the murder of a famous country-western singer. And even though Bud’s bumbling replacement, Sheriff Howie, is far away in the small town of Green River, Utah, he still manages to play havoc with everyone’s peace of mind when his sheriff’s vehicle is stolen and he finds out he’s on the wanted list of Utah’s FBI.

When Utah Sheriff Bud Shumway gets a strange letter saying a perfect crime is about to be committed, he has no idea that it’s just the beginning of a series of cryptic happenings, from a body that goes missing to finding another that happens to belong to a popular local photographer.

When Sheriff Bud Shumway gets a call to fly into Utah’s remote and mysterious Maze District to help recover the body of a man wearing a tuxedo, he has no idea that it’s only the beginning of a series of strange happenings, from a missing symphony orchestra to a ragtag boatman who seems to be from the long-ago past.