About Cool Change
Music-Infused Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting - Minnesota
Publisher: Windbreak Press
Publication date: June 1, 2026
Print length: 249 pages
Paperback
ISBN-13: 979-8950715006 / ASIN: B0H25LGJMC
Digital
ISBN-13: 979-8950715013 / ASIN: B0GXBT5WXY
After ten years as a Military Police investigator, Tony DeLucca thought coming home would mean peace and quiet. He was wrong.
Days after returning, Tony finds himself at the center of a murder investigation—not as an investigator, but as the last hope for his new landlord's son. When local musician Derek Paulson is found dead and Ryan White is arrested for the crime, Tony can't shake the feeling that the wrong man is behind bars.
What starts as a favor to a desperate father quickly unravels into something darker. Gambling debts, a missing guitarist with a violent past, and someone who seems just a little too helpful all point to secrets worth killing for. With Ryan's preliminary hearing looming and the deputy chief determined to shut him down, Tony must navigate a tangled web of lies, grudges, and secrets. The evidence points one way, but his instincts say another. Trusting the wrong one could cost an innocent man his freedom.
A small-town mystery where solving a murder becomes more than a case—it's the beginning of everything Tony didn't know he was looking for.
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Enjoy an Excerpt
Welcome to Flat Rock (From Chapter 3)
I drove slowly down Jefferson Street, scanning for a parking
spot near the Bear Claw Bakery. Saturday morning in downtown Flat Rock meant
the usual challenges. Farmers in town for supplies, families heading to the
lake, and locals grabbing coffee and pastries before starting their weekend
errands.
The morning air was already warming up, promising another
hot day. I walked back toward the Bear Claw, passing storefronts I'd known
since childhood. Peterson's Five and Dime, Klein's Pharmacy, and the Flat Rock
Gazette office. Some things never changed in small towns, and sometimes that
was exactly what you needed.
I pushed through the door, and a brass bell announced my
arrival with a cheerful chime. The place buzzed with activity. Nearly every
table was occupied, and a line of customers waited at the counter. The air was
thick with the scent of fresh bread, cinnamon, and coffee, creating an
atmosphere that made you want to linger even if you were just grabbing something
to go.
"Tony!" Brenda's voice called from behind the
counter. She emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. Her smile
was bright enough to compete with the morning sun streaming through the front
windows.
Stacy Macy — yes, her parents actually named her that —
looked up from the register. She had an alert, no-nonsense expression and quick
hands that never seemed to stop moving. When she smiled, her whole face lit up
with mischief.
"Thank goodness you're finally here," she said.
"Brenda's been talking about you nonstop for months."
"Stacy," Brenda said with a warning tone, though
she was trying not to smile.
"What? I'm just saying, you've been giddy as a
schoolgirl every time he calls." Stacy rang up another customer, then
looked back at me. "So, you're the boyfriend taking our girl apartment
hunting, huh?"
"He's not my—" Brenda started to protest, then
caught my eye and seemed to think better of it. "We'll be back soon."
The apartment was on Monroe Street, a block off Jefferson,
and we decided to walk. We passed a few shops on Jefferson, turned on 3rd
Street, walking by the volunteer fire department and City Hall, and then made a
left onto Monroe. The small park where the town held its summer music sat on
our right. I'd driven these streets countless times growing up, but seeing them
through adult eyes after ten years away was strange. Everything seemed smaller
somehow, but also more detailed, like I was noticing things I'd been too young
to pay attention to before.
A car drove past and honked its horn. We both waved
automatically, though neither of us could see who was driving.
"Do you have any idea who that was?" I asked.
"None whatsoever," Brenda said with a laugh.
"But that's small-town life for you. When in doubt, wave and smile."
"I'd forgotten about that." I looked up and down
the street. "It's nice, though. Feeling connected to a place."
"Sometimes it drives me crazy," Brenda admitted.
"Everybody knows your business. But then something happens — someone gets
hurt — and you remember why community matters."
We stood on the sidewalk, waiting for Mason White, her
landlord friend, to show up with the keys. Monroe Street was quieter than
Jefferson, lined with a mix of commercial buildings and older houses converted
to offices or apartments. It felt peaceful, settled. The kind of place you
could imagine actually living, not merely existing.
"It's got potential," I said.
"And you'd be right downtown. Walking distance to
everything."
"Including the bakery," I pointed out.
She smiled. "Including the bakery."
A red pickup truck turned the corner and pulled up to the
sidewalk. The driver looked tired, older than his years, with the kind of
exhaustion that came from more than just a sleepless night. Mason White climbed
out slowly.
"Sorry, I'm late," he called. "I was… I had
to…" He trailed off, looking like a man who'd been carrying too much
weight for too long.
"Mr. White, are you okay?" Brenda asked, concern
in her voice.
He looked from her to me, then back again, his face pale and
drawn. "I was at the police station," he said quietly. "They've
arrested my son Ryan. For murder."
About Kevin Zelenka
Kevin Zelenka is an avid reader, amateur chef, and expert procrastinator. A former parenting writer and editor, he’s had an unfinished manuscript (or three) rattling around in his head for decades. Originally from Minnesota, he eventually escaped the cold and settled in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he lives with his wife and their twin sons. Cool Change is Book 1 in the Originally Pressed Series.
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