There's No Place Like Home for Henny Wiley

Killer Cache, book 2 in the Hazardous Hoarding series is releasing tomorrow. For those not familiar with the series, it's about a hoarder who lives with her husband's ghost. This hoarder, Henny Wiley, becomes entangled in solving various crimes in the small town of Plumridge, Kentucky.

In the first book, Dumpster Dying, we learn that not only is Henny struggling with a hoarding problem, she also has one collection very special to her: The Wizard of Oz.

For Henny this collection is where nostalgia and magic collide, where the ordinary rules of space and storage bend to accommodate a singular obsession.

Henny doesn’t just collect Oz memorabilia—she curates an entire universe. One room in her house is devoted to the Emerald City and its inhabitants--well, mostly. Other items have found their way into this room since her husband, Walter died. But, once upon a time, this room, which was once going to be a nursery, became dedicated to her Oz collection. Under the growing pile of other collectibles, the shelves overflow with porcelain figurines of Dorothy, Toto, and Glinda. Framed posters of the 1939 film line the walls, their colors still vibrant despite the decades. Ruby slipper replicas glitter under glass domes, catching the light like enchanted jewels. There are board games, lunchboxes, sheet music, and even a rare first edition of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

But behind this dazzling display lies a story rooted in childhood. Henny grew up in a household where she often felt invisible. Her parents worked long hours, her siblings were more demanding--especially her brother Cash, who never could behave himself. Henny learned early on to carve out her own quiet corners. One rainy afternoon, her grandmother—one of the few people who truly saw her—pulled out a worn VHS tape and said, “Let’s watch something special.” That tape was The Wizard of Oz.

For Henny, the film was more than entertainment. It was revelation. Dorothy’s journey mirrored her own feelings of displacement and longing. The idea that courage, friendship, and determination could carry you through the strangest of lands resonated deeply. And when Dorothy clicked her heels and whispered, “There’s no place like home,” Henny felt something stir inside her. Home wasn’t just a physical place—it was a feeling, a sanctuary, a world you could build for yourself.

That rainy afternoon became her anchor. Whenever life felt overwhelming, she returned to Oz. As she grew older, she began collecting small tokens—first a paperback copy of Baum’s book, then a thrift-store poster, then a figurine from a yard sale. Each item carried with it a spark of childhood wonder, a reminder of that moment with her grandmother.

Over time, the collection grew. Friends teased her about being a hoarder, but Henny embraced the label with pride. “Yes, I hoard Oz,” she laughs. “But it’s not clutter—it’s magic.” For her, every piece is a thread in a tapestry of memory and meaning.

Walking into her Oz room feels like stepping onto the Yellow Brick Road itself. The colors are vivid, the atmosphere electric. Visitors often gasp, overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it. Some see eccentricity, others see devotion. Henny sees sanctuary. Well, at one time she could see those things. Now, she's seeing a lot of plastic containers, bags of clothes, stuffed animals, craft supplies, and other items that have called out to her at yard sales.

Her favorite item? She couldn't possibly pick just one thing. However, there is one special shoe, a glittering red sequined ballet slipper once owned by her friend Jenna

Lawson. Jenna was gone now. The shoe served as a reminder of their friendship. After all, her collection has nothing to do with things. Her collection is about preservation—of memory, feeling, people she couldn't hold on to.

For Henny, the real magic of Oz isn’t just about witches and wizards, or lions and scarecrows. It’s about finding courage in unlikely places, carrying a piece of childhood wonder into adulthood. It's about resilience, imagination, and the courage to face life’s storms.