X's and O's (Will Kilpatrick, DVM Mystery Series #1)

Written in a style of Carl Hiaasen meets James Herriot, this cozy mystery/romance is fueled by humorous veterinary vignettes and a cast of local characters dealing with the issues of destiny, pride, love, loss, fear, and forgiveness in the charming, rural Tennessee village of Iris Springs. Population fourteen hundred when everyone is home.
Will Kilpatrick, DVM, returns to Iris Springs, Tennessee, to settle his uncle's estate before moving to his new position as Surgery Professor at Auburn University. Instead, he faces a mystery and a rendezvous with romantic destiny.
Circumstances convince him his uncle's death had been a murder. In solving the mystery, a gubernatorial campaign is imperiled. Secrets and a body buried for twenty-five years are unburied, allowing several families to be reconciled.
During his duties as a vet, Will meets Liza Hall, whose cattle herd is threatened with disease. Will their relationship force him to reconsider his decision to not return to Iris Springs to practice, the dream he had carried for years? Will he overcome the traumatic event there during his sixteenth year and forego accepting the position of surgery professor at Auburn?