Elsa Bonstein
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Golden sunrise over the golf course: a serpentine creek winding between green fairways and tall treelines, thin mist glowing in the low light

FootesCreek

A golf course murder mystery set at a prestigious private country club in New Jersey, with a love story woven in.

The cover of Footes Creek: an aerial golf course split by a dark creek, the title in tall condensed capitals

Releasing October 6, 2026

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The grounds at Footes Creek

The novel takes place at Footes Creek, a private club in Dunhill, New Jersey.

A series of murders brings the local police chief out of the grief that followed the death of his wife. The investigation reaches the club’s members, its employees, and the local police.

The club takes its name from the creek that runs through the course.

the club
Footes Creek
the place
Dunhill, New Jersey
built
1907

The deadline

The US Open is coming to the club. The chief is under pressure to close the case before it arrives.

The cover-up

A restricted membership, written and unwritten rules, and a club that tries in vain to keep the whole mess under wraps.

Early praise for Footes Creek

iGerald MaloneyCPA, retired partner, DeloitteAn enjoyable and captivating mystery novel. The location of the murders was very interesting, and discovering the inner workings of an exclusive private golf club was an additional treat. Well done.
iiAl ArrigoniPGA, Director of Golf, Chi Chi Rodriguez Youth FoundationA gripping mystery that hooks you early and never loosens its grip.
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October 6, 2026

Reserve your copy now.

Pre-order on Amazon

About the author

Elsa Bonstein

Writer · Novelist · Poet

Elsa Bonstein studied journalism at Syracuse and spent a freelance career in New Jersey newspapers before fourteen award-winning years writing the Golf Gab column on the Carolina coast. Today she is a full-time novelist in Richmond, Virginia, writing what she calls fact-based fiction: researched in person, face to face.

She researched Footes Creek the way she wrote about golf for fourteen years, from inside the clubhouse.

Elsa Bonstein, official author photo: smiling in a pink polo against a studio gray backdrop

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Additional writings updated weekly.

Coming soon

Essays and poemsEverything published so far.Find Edsell!The first novel, a mystery set in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.
The cover of Footes Creek: an aerial golf course split by a dark creek, the title in tall condensed capitals

A Novel by Elsa Bonstein

Footes Creek

Reserve your copy of Footes Creek now.