A quiet mountain town. A historic inn. A death no one wants investigated.

Freelance journalist Avery Mitchell comes to Prospect, Colorado to write a feel-good feature about a former mining town reinventing itself. Nestled among towering peaks and old Victorian buildings, Prospect seems like the perfect place to catch her breath—and remember why she became a writer in the first place.

Then one of the inn’s guests disappears.

When his body is discovered near an abandoned mine high on Eagle Ridge, authorities quickly rule the death an accident. But Avery knows the man was meticulous, experienced, and chasing something important—proof that a powerful family built its fortune on a stolen mining claim.

As Avery investigates, she uncovers a web of buried secrets tied to Prospect’s past and a controversial resort development that could reshape the town’s future. With the help of Cole Barrett, a reserved mountain guide with his own reasons for keeping watch over these peaks, Avery follows clues that lead from historical records to dangerous terrain where one misstep can be fatal.

In Prospect, silence protects secrets—and the truth comes at a steep cost.

Fatal Elevation is a cozy romantic suspense novella blending atmospheric mountain settings, slow-burn attraction, and a mystery rooted in the sins of the past.