Welcome to the Salon. Don't Mind the Shadows.
The Story Behind the Scissors
Most people think a grooming salon is just about shampoo, conditioner, water, and a tidy clip. They see the surface. They hear the bark. But they aren’t really listening.
I’m Anjie Coates, and I’ve spent my life behind the grooming table. I know that a perfect result depends on precision and maintenance; that’s why my clipper blade drives were replaced monthly, without exception. In this trade, if the "hum" is off, something is wrong. But more importantly, I’ve learned that if you’re willing to stand in the silence with a dog, they’ll eventually tell you everything.
My debut mystery, The Grooming Witch, was born from that silence. It’s a story about Evanjeline, a groomer who doesn’t just guess what dogs are thinking; she hears their exact words.
In the town of Hillsdale, everyone has something to hide. While Senior Officer Jed McNally and the local police department work the visible leads and follow the evidence by the book, there are layers to this mystery that even the most seasoned investigator can’t reach.
While the humans focus on what can be proven, the dogs watch from the shadows. They see what people think they've hidden. And in the quiet of the grooming salon, they’ve chosen Evanjeline to be their voice.
What You’ll Find Here
This site is the headquarters for the Grooming Witch Team. To the rest of the world, the wise G and the soulful Cricket are gone, memories of companions who have passed on. But here, their voices are still as vital as the day they were beside me.
AnjieCoates.com is where the truth comes out, usually one paw print at a time.
The Investigation Begins February 2026
The first part of Evanjeline’s journey arrives in Hardcover. Paperback, Kindle, and Audible this February. Stay tuned as we reveal the dossiers on the pack and the secrets that Hillsdale has tried so hard to bury.
Watch the shadows. Listen to the pack. The truth is closer than you think.
In the heart of the Iron Ledge, silence isn’t the absence of sound; it’s a vibration you feel in your bones.
Evanjeline “Anj” Cooper has spent her life navigating a world of muffled rhythms. Living with profound hearing loss, she has learned to listen not through her ears but through the pulse of the earth and the heartbeat of the animals she grooms. In the rugged, iron-rich hills of New England, she has finally built a sanctuary where her intuition is her greatest strength.
But the harmony of the Ledge is beginning to fracture.
When a tragic accident shakes the local community, Anj feels a shift in the town’s frequency, a low-humming dread that suggests some secrets are never truly buried. In the heavy silences of the forest and the cold corners of her mind, an uninvited presence begins to emerge. It is a shadow that shouldn’t be there, a cold resonance from her past that she can feel in her very marrow, stalking the periphery of her life.
As the atmosphere grows heavy and the shadows begin to close in, Anj must rely on her unique connection to the world around her—and the instincts honed in her former life—to survive a threat she cannot hear. In a place where the ground holds memories and the air is thick with unspoken history, she’ll have to decide whether the vibrations she feels are a warning to stay or a desperate plea to run.
In this gripping supernatural thriller, the most dangerous predator is the one you never hear coming, and the truth is hidden in the frequencies only the quiet can feel.
Get your copy of The Grooming Witch of the Iron Ledge on Amazon now!
Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, and Audible versions