The Secret of Sunset Ranch


Nancy Drew meets X-Files in this YA mystery series with a sci-fi twist featuring teen podcaster and wanna-be investigative reporter Darby Todd


Ambitious teen Darby Todd wants to take her podcast to the next level, and turns to a summer internship at a local TV station to hone her reporting skills. But after a disappointing month of running errands, logging video, and answering viewer’s emails, Darby is desperate to go out on a real story.

When local ranchers begin calling in with reports of mysterious cattle mutilations, and the know-it-all assignment editor won’t take them seriously, Darby decides to launch an investigation of her own. She persuades photographer intern Neil to borrow some equipment and help her investigate for her podcast.

If Darby’s instincts are correct, her videos will launch her online following into the stratosphere—and expose a bizarre truth that may be out of this world.


THE SECRET OF SUNSET RANCH is the first in a planned series of YA mystery novels featuring Darby Todd, a tenacious, teen podcaster bent on exposing injustice and corruption in her small New Mexico town, but stumbles onto something other worldly. Author Marie McKoy brings authenticity with her experience as a TV news reporter and her love for unsolved mysteries and all things extraterrestrial. The novel is currently in development.