Meet the Author - Melinda Wichmann
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Exercise Finished is a cozy mystery that follows the adventures of obedience trial chairman River Kincaid and her friends, all members of the Cedar Valley Dog Trainers, as they try to discover who killed a fellow club member.
Obedience trial chairman River Kincaid thought possums in the restroom would be the biggest problem she’d face at the Cedar Valley Dog Trainers’ spring show until an irascible club member turns up dead at the show site . . . and everyone from the chief ring steward to the trophy chairman has a motive.
All River wants to do is focus on finishing her Australian shepherd’s Obedience Trial Championship, but as she helps the authorities navigate the quirky sub-culture of competitive dog obedience in order to solve the murder, old grievances and unexpected secrets threaten the future of the kennel club that’s like her second family.
On top of it all, Ty MacAllan, a newcomer on the show scene, seeks her help after making an ill-fated show ring debut. She can’t resist a guy with a heart-stopping smile and an adorable rescue dog, never mind he’s a stranger in town with a shadowed past he doesn’t want to talk about.
Missing funds from the club treasury and an escape-artist Belgian Malinois looking for her forever home complicate River’s life beyond anything her emotional support coffee can hope to remedy. When the prime murder suspect disappears and the least likely suspect is arrested, River and Ty join forces to find the killer before the judge’s final show ring command of “Exercise finished” becomes a permanent condition for them both.
Melinda Wichmann is a former print journalist who writes women’s fiction, paranormal, and cozy mysteries set in her native state of Iowa.
She draws on over fifty years of dog training and show-ring experience to present the traditions and eccentricities of the sport of competitive dog obedience in her second novel, Exercise Finished. A trainer and handler since age nine, she has earned multiple Obedience Trial Championships and national rankings with her dogs, as well as serving as president, board member, class instructor, and trial chairman for the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University and is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Dog Writers Association of America, as well as the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club and the United States Australian Shepherd Association.
She and her husband operate a third-generation family farm near the Amana Colonies in Iowa. When she’s not writing or teaching dogs to do ridiculous things, she enjoys gardening, hiking, exploring old cemeteries and collecting antique inkwells.
Her other work includes How to Live with a Ghost, Pearl City Press, December 2025.
Obedience trial chairman River Kincaid thought possums in the restroom would be the biggest problem she’d face at the Cedar Valley Dog Trainers’ spring show until an irascible club member turns up dead at the show site . . . and everyone from the chief ring steward to the trophy chairman has a motive.
All River wants to do is focus on finishing her Australian shepherd’s Obedience Trial Championship, but as she helps the authorities navigate the quirky sub-culture of competitive dog obedience in order to solve the murder, old grievances and unexpected secrets threaten the future of the kennel club that’s like her second family.
On top of it all, Ty MacAllan, a newcomer on the show scene, seeks her help after making an ill-fated show ring debut. She can’t resist a guy with a heart-stopping smile and an adorable rescue dog, never mind he’s a stranger in town with a shadowed past he doesn’t want to talk about.
Missing funds from the club treasury and an escape-artist Belgian Malinois looking for her forever home complicate River’s life beyond anything her emotional support coffee can hope to remedy. When the prime murder suspect disappears and the least likely suspect is arrested, River and Ty join forces to find the killer before the judge’s final show ring command of “Exercise finished” becomes a permanent condition for them both.
Melinda Wichmann is a former print journalist who writes women’s fiction, paranormal, and cozy mysteries set in her native state of Iowa.
She draws on over fifty years of dog training and show-ring experience to present the traditions and eccentricities of the sport of competitive dog obedience in her second novel, Exercise Finished. A trainer and handler since age nine, she has earned multiple Obedience Trial Championships and national rankings with her dogs, as well as serving as president, board member, class instructor, and trial chairman for the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from Iowa State University and is a member of Sisters in Crime and the Dog Writers Association of America, as well as the Iowa City Dog Obedience Club and the United States Australian Shepherd Association.
She and her husband operate a third-generation family farm near the Amana Colonies in Iowa. When she’s not writing or teaching dogs to do ridiculous things, she enjoys gardening, hiking, exploring old cemeteries and collecting antique inkwells.
Her other work includes How to Live with a Ghost, Pearl City Press, December 2025.
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Host or PublisherBeaverdale Books
