Park Princess

Courtney finds a body in the park early in the morning just after completing her paper route. She calls her father, Calvin Connor, the local sheriff, from the home of Marjorie Wilson, a widow who lives across from the park entrance. Her father does not really believe his daughter's excited phone call until she starts crying - Courtney never cries.

Courtney Connor is a precocious preteen who lives with her father, a single parent, in a small southern town. Much of Courtney's life is a mystery. We do not know (until disclosed in another book - although hinted at in this one) exactly what happened to her mother. Courtney is independent, adventuresome, and has a penchant for finding trouble.

The title of the book comes from the impression the victim's mother, Mrs. Parker, has of her daughter's personality. She shares her sorrow about her daughter's death when Courtney sets up a "chance" meeting with both parents at a local motel when they come to Connor's Station to pick up the body). The meeting ends with Mr. Parker's foreboding statement, "If you ask me, she was in Connor's Station because of a man."

Courtney and Mrs. Wilson decide the mystery if they can make a connection between Nancy Parker and a local resident. Courtney's father does not want her involved; it is, after all, a murder. However, Courtney subtly pursues the truth - a truth that will surprise everyone involved as well the reader.

This novel introduces characters that play a role in Courtney's life and stories:
Courtney's father, a rock of a man who Courtney is constantly trying to match with the few available single women in town; Courtney's boss and the local newspaper publisher, Mr. Gallagher; gossip columnist, Grace Glisson; Mr. Ferguson, the undertaker and funeral parlor owner; absent-minded Professor Finch; and Courtney's confidant and guide, Preacher Sherwood.
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