Showing results by publisher "Gemma Halliday Publishing"

Nani Johnson thought she had it made when she moved from Kansas to the resort town of Aloha Lagoon, Kauai. In spite of her certifiably crazy mom, Nani is determined that nothing will stop her from becoming a ukulele virtuoso! But when one of Nani's competitors drops dead right after a public feud, Nani becomes the police's main suspect. A missing murder weapon, mysterious threats, and a heck of a frame-up job all have Nani worrying she'll be trading in her flowery muumuus for prison orange.

Francesca "Franki" Amato is a tough-talking rookie cop in Austin, Texas - until an unfortunate 911 call involving her boyfriend, Vince, and a German female wrestler convinces her once and for all that she just isn't cut out for a life on the police force. So Franki makes the snap decision to move to New Orleans to work at her friend Veronica's detective agency, Private Chicks, Inc.

Private investigator Franki Amato has just turned 30, and she feels anything but festive. To add insult to birthday injury, she has to investigate a surreal strip club homicide - with her 60ish ex-stripper landlady. Adding to her troubles, she has to figure out what a missing amber pendant and a mysterious amaretto bottle have to do with the murder, not to mention why she's being followed. When a second dancer goes down and a third is threatened, Franki turns to a weird witch to crack the case and cancel a curse.

Jamie Winter loathes her job as a secretary in the sleaziest law firm in New Jersey. Trouble is, someone else loathes the whole firm - enough to kill one of the partners, the two-timing, 11-fingered king of lowbrow television commercial spots, Dougie Digits. Now, Jamie is being strong-armed into investigating by Dougie's frosty widow, Hilary. The suspect list is long, including the firm's bookish paralegal, embezzling bookkeeper, ambitious associate, and resentful senior partners.

For Franki Amato, life in New Orleans is anything but "The Big Easy". When she met handsome bank executive Bradley Hartmann, she knew she'd finally found a man she could trust. But she can't say the same for his sexy new secretary, who is about as trustworthy as Mata Hari and every bit as seductive. Meanwhile, Franki's best friend and employer, Veronica Maggio, has named her the lead investigator in the murder of a gorgeous cosmetics CEO who was found lying dead in the master bedroom of a historic plantation home.

Pet Sitter turned sleuth Lizzie Jones is excited about the upcoming Second Chance Animal Rescue fundraiser. The celebrity draw, Sabrina Ramirez, is a pet psychic famous for her TV show The Critter Communicator. Sabrina arrives with her entourage that includes Rosie, an adorable teacup pig that Sabrina treats like royalty, Sabrina's buff bodyguard, her devoted nephew, and unexpectedly, her estranged ex-husband. When Sabrina needs a pet sitter Lizzie is thrilled to take on the job. That is until the little piglet is pignapped on Lizzie's watch - along with her diamond collar!

There's no turning back now for temp-by-day and rockstar-by-night, Diana Hudson. She's left Annapolis, Maryland to take a chance on love and to track down the singer who's stolen her song. What starts as a romantic rendezvous with new love on the paradise island of Puerto Rico, quickly becomes a wacky cross-island adventure featuring a high speed guitar chase, a bull fight, and a swashbuckling pirate.

Sally Muccio's had her crosses to bear: a cheating ex-boyfriend, crazy Italian parents, and an unfaithful husband, just to name a few. After her divorce, she returns to her hometown to start a novelty cookie shop whose specialties include original fortune cookies, served with a sprinkle of foreshadowing. But there's no warning when her ex-husband's mistress drops dead on Sal's porch, and police confirm it's a homicide. Determined to stop her life from becoming a recipe for disaster, Sal takes matters into her own hands.

Alex Jordan is the owner of Finials and Facades Renovation and Restoration Services, making her able to pursue her love of restoring Victorian-style homes in the town of Danger Cove. But her recent acquisition of the stately Marlton House has led to a showdown with town real estate mogul, and now, she has needs to restore the old house and flip it for a profit as quickly as possible. But Alex gets more than she bargained for when a Hawaiian shirt-clad tourist with a bullet in his head turns up in the home's bathtub.

Tessie King has just inherited the biggest casino in South Lake Tahoe, Nevada: the Royal Lakeside. What she didn't bargain for are the problems she'd inherit with it. Having left Tahoe years ago, the underbelly of the casino trade is a far cry from the art world Tessie is used to. High-stakes cons, inside jobs, wise guys... Tessie quickly realizes she's in way over her head. And things go from bad to worse when questions start to arise about the nature of her father's death.

Riley Spencer is officially the new owner of the Cinnamon Sugar Bakery in the small town of Danger Cove. She's excited about the grand re-opening, but when she learns a hoax letter went out to the residents of Danger Cove informing them of free baked goods, she panics and does the only thing she can - quickly sets out plates of muffins, cupcakes, and cookie bars. Crisis seems to be averted...until the body of local recluse Nathan Dearborn is found in the bakery bathroom. The cause of death: peanut allergy.

When Amy Ridley decided to compete in the Kellerton Summer Festival Pie Contest, the last thing she expected was to find the reigning pie queen, Mandy Jo, dead - a raspberry pie smashed on her face! Mandy Jo made fantastic pies, but she accumulated more enemies than baking trophies. But when Amy receives a note threatening her own life, she decides to do some investigating herself.

Being overly kind isn't in Kylie Harrow's nature. This has never been more evident than when Kylie vents her frustrations to an innocent employee - and the whole scene is posted online, tanking her career and earning her the dubious distinction of "world's worst boss". But when she flees home to the South, Kylie finds her childhood home has changed. The high school quarterback is now the hot and handsome sheriff. Her mother has turned her home into a nudist colony.

After living in fast-paced L.A., Bree fears she'll be bored with small town life. However, it becomes anything but dull when she convinces her parents' hot handyman to expand the tiny closet in the living quarters...and a dead body falls out of the wall! Things get even more interesting when the medical examiner puts the time of death right around when her parents took possession of the B&B and started renovations. She's on the clock to prove her parents' innocence before they end up behind bars!

As the former governor's wife, Helen Binney is used to being in charge. So when illness and two pushy nieces force her to take on a visiting nurse, Helen uses every trick in the book to slip away from the annoying woman. Only someone must have disliked the nurse even more than Helen, because the woman's dead body shows up the next day in Helen's yard! Now it's up to Helen to prove that not only is she perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she's also perfectly capable of solving one cold-blooded murder.

Helen Binney's never felt better! Her lupus is in remission, and she's taking up gardening for its health benefits. Only her first day at the community garden is anything but relaxing when she finds a woman's body lying beside a bulldozer that belonged to the dead woman. Was the early-morning death an accident, as the police believe, or did it have something to do with a dispute over title to the garden's land? If she's not careful, though, there might be another death at dawn.

From USA Today best-selling author Mary Jo Burke comes the next deliciously deadly episode in the best-selling Aloha Lagoon Mystery series. After Simone Ryan is stood up at the alter by her fiancé, Elliott, she decides to enjoy her would-be honeymoon in paradise alone. She checks into the Aloha Lagoon Resort's bridal suite and promptly begins to drown her sorrows in champagne. But when Simone steps out onto the balcony to take in the glorious Hawaiian scenery, she gets an even better view. Hot local baker, Liam Bentley, is out for a stroll on the beach.

Hope Foster's motto is to let fate lead you - which it did in her case right to the quiet town of Danger Cove. But when the owner of the Smugglers' Tavern, where Hope tends bar, is murdered, suddenly fate puts Hope squarely in the role of "prime suspect" in her employer's murder. Not only is she the last one to see him alive, but a new will also reveals that her employer left his whole estate to Hope instead of his ungrateful daughter Elise and nephew Carter.

When Lizzie Jones, pet sitter extraordinaire, is asked to watch over her best friend's two spoiled dogs at the posh gated community of Craggy Hill Estates, the last thing she expects is to wind up in the middle of a homicide. But that's exactly what happens when she finds her best friend's cheating husband and Danger Cove’s celebrity bodybuilder champ, Mr. Jupiter, floating face-down in his hot tub. To make matters worse, the police aren’t looking any further than the wife for a suspect.

When Tessie King inherited the Royal Palace Hotel, Lake Tahoe's biggest resort, she inherited a cranky board of directors along with it. A board that is demanding higher revenues, or Tessie's out. Faced with the possibility of losing her father's legacy, Tessie turns to her staff to help her come up with a plan: film the season finale of Battle Buffet, the hottest cooking competition show on TV, at the resort. It's a scheme sure to bring in the big bucks. But is also brings big trouble.