Until Our Last Embrace — Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene

By all accounts, it looked like Darva Richmond's death was simply a tragic accident. Her body, mauled by a bear, was found by her husband, Donald, near their campsite in Diamond Springs, North Carolina. To everyone's shock, the dead woman was the sister-in-law of the town's most recent homicide victim, Beau Richmond. For Sheriff Sharyn Howard, surprise turns to suspicion when the medical examiner learns the body was laced with poison and covered in bear attractant. Suddenly Sharyn's looking at a cover-up for murder.

And where there's murder, there's usually money. Beau Richmond's will was being contested by his brother Donald, who had the motive and opportunity to kill his wife. But the grieving widower doesn't live long enough to prove Sharyn's theory. Soon, a story of greed, betrayal, and murder emerges, and with it, a clever mastermind determined to get away with millions…and murder.