A Case for the Yarn Maker
Spin a yarn…at your own risk
Everyone at Bless Your Art in Sweet River, Texas, is excited about the Yarn Goddess (yes, that’s her real name) coming to town. Ainsley McGregor has set up a special event at the local community center, but when old Mrs. Whedon doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Goddess about using quality yarn, a fight breaks out. Who knew the octogenarian had ninja moves like that?
It’s all fun and games until George Clooney, Ainsley’s Great Dane, finds Ms. Yarn’s dead body in a booth at Bless Your Art. Now the prime suspect is Mrs. Whedon, and while she’s not the easiest woman to get along with, there’s no way she’s the killer. At least, Ainsley doesn’t think so. As this yarn unravels, Ainsley and her quirky friends learn some interesting things about the case and the Goddess’s checkered past. But there’s a killer on the loose, and George may be the only thing protecting Ainsley from certain death.
More info →Preserving the Evidence
In this small town, not everyone is who they claim to be…
When amateur baker, and now amateur sleuth, Rosie Hart finds herself embroiled in another mystery in rural Airlie Falls, Texas, she can’t believe her bad luck. Soon the town is reeling from a murder, an unidentified body, a late mayoral challenge, missing town money, and a strange group of socialites gathered at a mansion out of town.
With so many of her new friends suspected of wrongdoing, Rosie can’t sit on the sidelines any longer. She’s convinced these strange occurrences are connected, but she’s running out of time to prove how. She’ll need to unmask a murderer before there’s another body to add to the tally.
Snooping around undercover is harder than it looks, and Rosie will be lucky to get out of this one without more casualties than a batch of burned Buried Treasure Cookies.
More info →Tuxedo Bravado
I’m Sunny Shaw and once again, catastrophe has landed at my front door.
Go figure.
I never thought a simple kitty rescue could take such a deadly turn, and that I’d end up smack dab in the middle of a murder investigation. Or that I’d have to worry about a one-eyed pirate, a flirty waitress, and a real live scarecrow at our pre-Halloween Tuxes and Tails fundraiser.
It’s not easy to solve a crime in an evening gown and heels. The race is on to untangle lies from truth, and I’m sure there’s a whopper in there somewhere.
Jasper, get your tiara in place. It’s up to us to follow the clues before they lead the cops in a great big circle . . . right back to us.
More info →Scooping Up Scandal
Turning thirty can be murder!Â
When a body is discovered next to the Little Dog Diner on her milestone birthday, Dani Mackenzie finds herself scooping up a scandal instead of cutting cake.
The prime suspect is the new owner of the Blueberry Bay Grapevine, but the victim’s stepbrother and ex-girlfriend also have means, motive, and opportunity.
With this trio of suspects, it will take a good nose to uncover whodunnit. At least Dani has her best friend—her Jack Russell, Pip—at her side to help sniff out the killer! But in the meantime, her kick-off to her thirties is turning into more of an upside-down cake than a celebration as she uncovers money, a business scandal, and thwarted love at the core of this crime.
It will take the victim’s black Labrador and finding a winning lottery ticket to solve this mystery, but Dani never throws in the towel. Will she and Pip once again use their experience at solving mysteries to bring justice to Misty Harbor, Maine, or will they be caught in the crosshairs of the killer?
More info →Crime and Cat-astrophes
Did the professor get what he deserved, or is murder on the prowl in small-town California?
As a late-summer heat wave scorches the sleepy town of Citrus Grove, the suspicious death of a notoriously unpopular professor puts Rebecca and her talking cat, Aneksi, hot on the trail of another cursed artifact and a killer.
Police Detective Nick Devon, her dashing new flame, is following the rulebook in his investigation, but the Cuthbert Exotic Antiques manager is trusting her instincts as she follows the clues. With her grandfather distracted by an unexpected visitor—who may not be what he seems—and Aneksi rekindling a bond with a long-lost sibling, Rebecca knows she’s on her own to search for the ancient scepter that may hold the key to the dead professor’s medical miracle…and the reason behind his demise.
In this twisty tale of hidden motives, intensifying danger, and a dash of magic, Rebecca must rely on her wits—and, hopefully, Aneksi’s sharp claws—to solve the case before she becomes the cunning murderer’s next victim.
More info →A Case for the Toy Maker
Ho. Ho. No…
It’s Christmas in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is feeling festive apart from Ainsley McGregor. Ainsley has never enjoyed the holidays and would rather ignore them, but with her shop Bless Your Art busier than ever and filled with happy shoppers, even she’s feeling some Christmas spirit. That is, until her Great Dane, George Clooney, sniffs out a dead body in the Santa House at the Christmas Festival.
When one of her favorite crafters becomes the prime suspect, Ainsley is determined to prove his innocence. The case is full of so many twists and turns that even Ainsley begins to fear the truth. Is she protecting a killer?
With help from her friends and some extremely nosey townsfolk, Ainsley and her dog hurry to find the truth—as long as they can outwit and outrun the killer first. Otherwise, this Christmas might just be her last.
More info →Candy-Coated Conspiracy
Every family has secrets, especially the sweet ones…
When talented baker Rosie Hart delivers cakes and cookies to her newest clients, The Sweet Treat candy store, she finds herself embroiled in yet another murder case. Will she ever catch a break?
Her elderly clients, The Percival sisters, are shocked when their long-lost great nephew appears with no warning. The sisters have never met nor heard of the man, but he’s family so they accept him with open arms. He immediately begins to tear up his aunts’ home, so when he turns up dead, Rosie feels only a sense of relief. Until she realizes the police suspect the sisters.
Rosie is as convinced of their innocence as she is of the deliciousness of her popular salted caramel cupcakes. But as the body count begins to rise and new secrets are unearthed, she begins to wonder if the sweet artisan candy makers are hiding more than their family recipes.
More info →Furgone Conclusion
I’m Sunny Shaw, and I can’t catch a break from disaster – not even at my own wedding.
It seemed like a picture-perfect happily-ever-after. After a gorgeous ceremony to the man of my dreams, the next stop is a romantic Christmas honeymoon.
Or so I thought. Unfortunately, catastrophe hits on day one of my new married life.
A murder outside my mom’s house, a missing wedding gift, and a beautiful cat in need of immediate care, turns my life into a tangled mess. And when a five-year old tragedy rears its ugly head, suspects are suddenly everywhere.
Throw in the new detective in town and, wouldn’t you know it, Mom lands at the top of that list. There’s no time to lose. This case needs a big break and fast or my honeymoon – and Christmas – will both be canceled.
And if I’m not careful, I might be too.
More info →Retirement Can Be Murder
What if retirement isn’t the utopia it’s cracked up to be?
Helen Rogers never imagined that she’d be bored at Sunny Days Retirement Village in lovely Peachtree Valley, Georgia, but she wasn’t expecting to start this phase of life as early as her fifties, either. Then fate gave her a hand in solving her friend’s murder, and the sense of accomplishment was heady.
But was it a fluke?
Fate answers again when she stumbles over her second dead body, the city’s deputy mayor.
The corpse is barely cold before the mayor’s wife is killed in a suspicious accident. Bodies are piling up—so Helen and her buddy, Carol Adams, take the next step: enroll in PI classes, apply for her license, and open an official investigation firm.
Helen has found her purpose, and it comes with new partners and a handsome assistant, Ted Morgan.
Yet business will grind to halt before it gets off the ground unless she can break open the truth. Plenty of folks have a motive, but which one of the suspects is desperate enough to plan such elaborate murders?
More info →Old Habits Die Hard
Meddling and murder can both be deadly sins
When retired nun and teacher Sister Bernadette returns with her fellow residents to The Abbey: Senior Living, she is the first to discover the body sprawled in the hallway of the converted school where she once taught English and now lives. Instead of freezing with horror, Sister Bernie has questions. Lots of them. Why does Toni Travi, the bedazzled and bejeweled resident from apartment 218, have so much chest hair? Did anyone at The Abbey know Toni was a man? Was Toni’s death related to allegations that she cheated at cards? Where’s the murder weapon? Who had motive? And did someone kill Toni, or the man hiding beneath the Revlon foundation and blonde wig?
Detective AJ Lewis is in charge of the investigation though Sister Bernie acts as if he is still her student. With unholy stubbornness, she dogs his every step, eavesdrops, sneaks beyond the police tape and offers unsolicited conjecture and clues. He wants to keep her safe, but she’s determined to lend a helping hand—it’s her habit, after all!
More info →A Case for the Candle Maker
Play with candles and you might get burned…
Ainsley McGregor has her hands full preparing for Sweet River’s Valentine’s Day celebration and her bestie’s wedding. So when a mysterious woman pitches selling her candles in Ainsley’s shop, Bless Your Art, Ainsley nearly blows her off. But the candle’s fragrance is evocative, and she can’t resist placing an order.
The candles are a hit, quickly selling out, but when Ainsley calls the woman to buy more, she’s unreachable. Hoping to connect, Ainsley and her Great Dane, George Clooney, stop by the local bed and breakfast. When George whines outside her room, Ainsley is afraid to look. She soon discovers that the candle maker is dead—in a room that was locked from the inside.
Although her brother, the town sheriff, is on the case, Ainsley believes the prime suspect is innocent. Intent to prove it, Ainsley once again drops into sleuth mode, discovering some surprising truths about the
More info →Murder Below the Mistletoe
It was going to be a Christmas wedding to die for…
What could go wrong when baker Rosie Hart heads to a snowy Colorado mountain lodge for a week of elaborate pre-wedding festivities at her friend’s wedding? The better question would be: what could go right?
Rosie’s fears for the nervous bride are confirmed when one of the wedding guests turns up dead. All evidence points to the groom being the intended victim, but with the guests dressed in Christmas-themed attire, and a dead Santa on their hands, Rosie’s not so sure. What if the killer did hit the right target all along?
Stuck in a blizzard with the wedding party being picked off one by one, Rosie’s investigative instincts kick in—only this time she’s acting without the support of her friends back in Airlie Falls. Until her four irrepressible card-shark mentors from Riverbend Retirement Village unexpectedly turn up to rescue her.
The more the merrier…right?
More info →