A Hiss of Murder — Susie Gayle

Back from vacation, pet shop owner Will Sullivan and his girlfriend Sarah return to their hometown of Seaview Rock, Maine. Will has a brand-new resolve to definitively extricate himself from a blackmail plot between his best friend, Sammy Barstow, and the Seaview Rock town council, which will be tricky but has to happen for his safety and sanity.

Not even back for a full day, Will discovers that his ex-wife, Karen, is missing, and that just prior to her disappearance, she'd been asking way too many questions about certain council members. To make matter worse, an extremely venomous snake, Petunia, has escaped from Will's shop, threatening not only lives, but his livelihood as well.