Southern Women Sleuth

Madeline Brimley left small-town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many, but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore—and restart her life—Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges.

Novelist Anne George injects murder, mayhem, and laughs into her popular mysteries. Nominated for an Agatha Award, this hilarious tale of two “60 something” sisters reveals the deadly consequences of a hasty real estate purchase. Retired Alabama school teacher Patricia Anne thinks her older sister, flamboyant Mary Alice, has lost her cotton-pickin’ mind. On a whim, Mary Alice bought the Skoot ’n’ Boot, the local country western night spot where she and her boyfriend hang out. Mary Alice insists it will be easy to run the club - until the previous owner is found executed.

When Miss Julia burst on the scene in her debut, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this proper lady of a certain age found her orderly world turned upside down when Hazel Marie Puckett appeared with her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, who looked disturbingly similar to Miss Julia's late husband. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, with her sharp tongue and iron backbone intact, Miss Julia must tackle another disruption when Hazel Marie doesn't return from a dinner date. Miss Julia hires J. D. Pickens to investigate, despite her reservations about his taste for beer and women.

With the Mississippi sun beating down, An'gel and Dickce are taking a break to cool off and pet sit their friend Charlie Harris's cat, Diesel, when their former sorority sister, Rosabelle Sultan, shows up at their door unexpectedly, with her ne'er-do-well adult children not far behind. Rosabelle's selfish offspring are desperate to discover what's in her will, and it soon becomes clear that one of them would kill to get their hands on the inheritance.

Three sassy retirees. One dead developer. Zero patience for nonsense. Welcome to Conch Key, where the sun is hot, the gossip is hotter, and the local beach just coughed up a corpse in Gucci loafers. Daisy Picklesworth wanted nothing more than a quiet morning, a strong cup of tea, and to finish her mystery novel on the porch of The Barnacle. What she got instead was a bloated real estate mogul dead in the surf, a jellyfish charm that doesn’t belong, and the strong suspicion that someone in their sleepy seaside town just committed the most stylish murder Florida’s ever seen. With her ...

Series is finished! What do you get when you combine a coma-inducing career, an ardent academic, and a nefarious nemesis? A Vicki Bohanan hangover cocktail. Your favorite bartender babe is back and cutting a trail through a new vocation, with a college class tucked between briefs instead of sheets, and an alarm clock in two – er, tow. It’s no secret that a sleep-deprived Vicki is a volatile Vicki. Especially when a certain Texas Ranger goes MIA. And her first official case involves one pageanted Padget accused of killing her fiancé. Even as her recently resuscitated relationship with ...

Yes. I'm the daughter of the infamous couple, June Heal and Oscar Park. One teeny weeny problem, I'm a mortal. Yep. I guess I got my granny Darla's DNA. Good news! I might not have spiritual powers but I have a mean set of baking skills. I'm delighted to be moving out of Whispering Falls, where y'all know I can't live since I'm mortal, and to Celestial Falls, another small Southern town where I'm opening Heavenly Desserts. Of course, The Marys wouldn't let me leave unless I took my new kitten with me.

Blanche White is a plump, feisty, middle-aged African-American housekeeper working for the genteel rich in North Carolina. But when an employer stiffs her, and her checks bounce, she goes on the lam, hiding out as a maid for a wealthy family at their summer home. That plan goes awry when there's a murder and Blanche becomes the prime suspect. So she's forced to use her savvy, her sharp wit, and her old-girl network of domestic workers to discover the truth and save her own skin.

What is it about Halloween that makes people get a little nutty? Like, murderously nutty? All I wanted to do was set up a booth at the Halloween bazaar and help out my community. Proceeds go to local charities. But instead, I practically fell over the event coordinator. The very dead event coordinator. Then the new detective in town showed up and things went downhill from there. Until they went uphill. If you date a detective, he won’t suspect you of murder, will he? Who killed Diana Bowen? My best friend Lucy Gray and I decided to do a little detective work of our own. Can we catch a ...

Series is finished! Vicki Bohanan is back and sporting a whole new mystery. Blackmail lands at her feet on the eve of preseason football. And for a woman with an attitude the size of Texas, it’s gonna take more than a pigskin to plug her pie hole. A Texas Ranger, an undercover boss, and a hunky radio personality walk into the bar and keep Vicki’s head spinning like a ride at the state fair. The only score she wants to settle is with her renovated residence. But when a certain Aussie model invites her to San Antonio for a romantic Alamo shootout – cameras this time, folks – Vicki ...

Boxed set of the complete "Trailer Park Vampire" series of Paranormal Women's Fiction, including: SHOTGUNS AND SHIFTERS (Book 1) When the red fog swept through Windy Ridge, turning folks into wolfmen and me into a vampire, life went haywire. Our Ozarks town seemed to settle until two humans barged in. As one of the few looking human, I had to keep things hush-hush until they skedaddled. Turns out, one was Dean Hawke, my high school sweetheart turned 'Sheriff of Windy Ridge.' His gig? Investigating a streaker. Adding to the chaos, Hawke aged like Clooney, reigniting old sparks. Juggling town...

Everyone in Sugar Creek Gap has tried to fix up widow and beloved mail carrier Bernadette Davis on several dates. They say she has to be lonely. What they don't know is how Bernadette's life is filled...filled with everyone's hidden secrets and obsessions. After all, she does deliver their mail and hears all the dirty laundry southern folks love to sweep secrets under the rug. While on her route, Bernadette finds out the beloved Sugar Creek Gap Country Club is being sold and turned into condos. The developer is Bernadette's best friend, Mac Tabor, and right now he's not very popular.

Series is finished! When scandal is afoot and Vicki leaps in to solve a murder, you know it’s gonna be big. ‘Cause this here’s Texas. Don’t you dare call Victoria Bohanan a debutante. That cozy life is firmly in her rearview mirror after striking out on her own. Nowadays she’ll earn every penny of that twenty dollar tip by guessing your favorite drink faster than you can belly up to the bar. Sharp wits have gotten her out of more than one disastrous affair. Until the mouth sinks her right into another. When an old high school flame returns to town with a pastorate position lodged ...

One seasoned dog trainer. A mysterious death. And a French Bulldog who saw too much... When renowned mystery author Diana Blackwood is found dead in her Palm Harbor mansion, dog trainer Bea Whitman thinks she's just there to help a traumatized French Bulldog. But Diana's last act—leaving her beloved Max to Bea's care—was no random choice. As suspicious deaths multiply and old secrets surface, Bea realizes Max might be the key to solving a mystery thirty-five years in the making. With help from the town's handsome new veterinarian-turned-coroner, Dr. James Crawford, Bea must uncover ...

He spent decades destroying careers with a single review. Now that he's trying to make amends, someone's decided it's too little, too late. When celebrity food critic Preston Hargrave drops dead at Palm Harbor's Coastal Cuisine Festival, dog trainer Bea Crawford finds herself in the middle of another murder investigation—thanks to her French Bulldog Max, who has an unfortunate talent for sniffing out corpses. Preston came to town a changed man, trading his "Brutal Chef" reputation for apologies and second chances. But not everyone was ready to forgive. Now there's a deadly poison, a ...

Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she’s forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she’s dating and the life she’s worked hard to build. Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine’s Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She’s a member in a number of ladies’ auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival. Hanging on to ...

Southern girl Verity Long is about as high society as her pet skunk. Which is why she’s surprised as anyone when the new head of the Sugarland social set invites her to join the "it" girls. But this is no social call. Verity’s new client needs her to go in undercover and investigate strange happenings at the group’s historic headquarters. But while spirits are whispering hints of murder, the socialites are more focused on Verity’s 1978, avocado-green Cadillac. And when Verity stumbles upon a fresh body, she's going to need the long-dead citizens of Sugarland to help her solve the crime.

When Charity Penn receives a letter saying she won a trip to Camellia Beach, South Carolina, complete with free cooking lessons at the town's seaside chocolate shop, The Chocolate Box, she's immediately skeptical. She never entered any contest. Her former prep school friend offers to look into the phony prize - only to end up drowned in a vat of chocolate. Struck with guilt, Penn heads to the southern beach town to investigate why he was killed.

Attorney Avery Andrews has returned to her humdrum hometown of Dacus, South Carolina, leaving her job at a powerful law firm in the rearview mirror. But with her Donna Karan suits she's struggling to fit back in. Is it still a place she's able to call home now that she's swapped her prestigious clients for high school bullies and formidable aunts? She finds sanctuary in her grandfather's cabin on Luna Lake until police arrive to investigate a mysterious rumor. But more than secrets lie beneath the dark surface of Luna Lake.

Verity’s family tree has deep roots… and deadly secrets. Some families pass down antiques or china. Verity’s family? They can’t seem to pass up a good mystery. So when Verity’s dearly departed grandmother drops by unexpectedly, Verity is overjoyed—until she learns Grandma Didi is back with a chilling request tied to a cherished family heirloom.