Mud Run Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #5
Ex-CIA Agent turned small town Girl Scout leader, Merry Wrath, thinks she has her hands full getting her troop ready for the Mud Run out at scout camp. But a trip to the movies, where she sees her whole career played out on the big screen, turns her world from little girls to great big lies. Turns out her former handler, Riley, is hiding something and the Agency is on the warpath, thinking Merry has leaked classified intel.
From a bizarre organization called Coats for Cats to redecorating her guest room with bullet holes, her life is turning into a Merry-go-round of misdirection, miscreants and misdemeanors. Can she clear her name, or will the Mud Run turn into a run for her life?
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Motto For Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #6
For ex-CIA Agent turned Girl Scout troop leader, Merry Wrath, planning a wedding is infinitely more terrifying than the time she was a mole in Carlos the Armadillo's drug cartel. To make matters worse, while plagued by insomnia (brought on by diabolical details that include bizarre things like "boutonnieres") Merry and her cat, Philby, witness a midnight murder next door.
Or do they? With her record of sleeplessness, everyone from her fiancé, Rex, to her Girl Scout troop are questioning her sanity. And when strange incidents of arson start popping up all over Who's There, Iowa and a mysterious woman vanishes, Merry begins to believe her neighbors are foreign spies.
Throw in meeting her fiancé's odd twin sisters, late night visits with Mr. Fancy Pants—the King Vulture at the zoo—and a scary sleep study, and Merry wonders if she's in danger of losing her mind...or her life.
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Map Skills Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #7
Summer is moving fast for ex-CIA Agent turned Girl Scout troop leader, Merry Wrath. Wedding plans are underway, with the groom's twin sisters on a mission to decorate the festivities with taxidermized animals and a full troop of flower girls with terrible taste in dresses.
If that wasn't enough to deal with, the Girl Scouts dig up a treasure map in Merry's yard. A century ago, the mysterious axe murder of Mad Mimi and the secret of her missing treasure were never solved. Merry thinks this map could be the key...but unfortunately, the investigation of this cold case—complete with a secret diary, gold bullion, and a llama named Tinkles—yields a modern day murder!
Are these crimes connected? And more importantly—who has an axe to grind with Merry Wrath?
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Mean Girl Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #8
The Halloween Parade is coming up, and former CIA agent-turned-suburbanite Merry Wrath's Girl Scout Troop hopes to repeat a 1st place trophy for the 3rd year in a row. But when they find a dead woman dressed as a witch, a mysterious treasure, and face a ruthless kidnapping, it looks like Merry's in for a different kind of triple threat.
To add fuel to her bonfire, Mom's in town—meaning Merry has to replace all that bullet-riddled furniture in the guest room—and with her wedding date approaching, her groom-to-be's twin taxidermist sisters are insisting on doing the decorating.
Between her family fiascoes and a dead witch who was loathed by everyone in town, Merry's head is spinning faster than an apple in a bobbing barrel. Who wanted this mean girl dead? Will this Halloween end with a treat? Or has Merry been tricked?
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Marriage Vow Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #9
Wedding Traditions as good as gold…Let’s start out with Something Old…
When this creepy message is found with an elderly, murdered florist in the first pew of a church the day before Merry Wrath's wedding, her hopes wilt like day old, discount flowers. And when the groom, Rex, vanishes into thin air, she can only assume the worst—and she’s not talking about the ugly, Vegas showgirl-like flower girl dresses her Girl Scout troop have picked out.
Weddings make a family of two…Let’s add in Something New…
The clues come with diabolically difficult puzzles, so Merry enlists the help of her former 4th grade teacher—a champion puzzler—while she turns the town upside down, in a frantic search for her fiancé. Once a surprising past is revealed, it doesn’t take long for the investigation to spin out of control faster than ten fourth-graders high on Pixy Stix on a merry-go-round.
With many suspects, few leads, and the clock ticking, will Merry find her groom in time for a happily ever after?
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Mystery Night Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #10
Mrs. Gable in the Conservatory with a noose?
It was supposed to be a fun weekend of pretend murder. Girl Scout Troop leader Merry Wrath and four of her scouts play an important role at the Murder Mystery Night Fundraiser on a secluded island in the middle of Dead Otter Lake. The guests, major donors, have all arrived in period costume, are eager to play, and can’t wait for the "killer" to strike!
Mr. Blunt in the Ballroom with a lead pipe?
Unbeknownst to them, a very real murderer roams the mansion’s halls, and the first victim falls with the first round of cocktails. A violent storm leaves the guests stranded and cut off from the outside world, as our cast of characters, one by one, are dying off in a very real mystery in a very unusual house. Of course, people aren’t who they seem and red herrings abound, throwing a wrench into the investigation.
Did the Butler do it?
With a nod to a mystery classic, can Merry solve this case and catch a killer before there’s no one else left to play the game?
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Meerkats and Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #11
Just as Merry Wrath’s former career as a CIA agent seems to be fading into a distant memory, the agent turned Girl Scout troop leader discovers that her beloved little suburban ranch house may not be what it seems. When a masked gunman breaks in to demand the return of "Nye," she fears that she may not have been the first spy to live there. What…or who is "Nye?"
And when Merry trips over the dead body of that same gunman later at the zoo, she realizes that her favorite king vulture and his mouthy scarlet macaw friend may be witnesses to a murder. Suddenly this becomes much more personal, and her list of suspects grows from a cosplaying teenaged demigod zookeeper, to a possible plot by the Russians... which may even include Merry's old arch-nemesis.
Things aren’t going well for her Girl Scout troop either, as a new addition causes trouble, and the girls begin to turn against each other—sparking way more than just preteen angst. From a dangerous close encounter with a mythical red wolf, to a jovial, geriatric group of Russian expats who brew their own mind-bending vodka, Merry Wrath worries that if she doesn’t find the killer soon, this case may be her last.
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Make Believe Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #12
Merry Wrath’s summer plans didn’t originally include an unexpected visit from her old friend, Hilly—a quirky CIA assassin who’s been forced by HR to take her first vacation in…forever. The fact that Hilly chose a small town in Iowa for vacation doesn’t bother Merry or her scout troop (especially since Hilly’s teaching them how to kill a man with one punch), but her former handler, Riley, believes something sinister is afoot.
After all Lana, Merry’s arch-nemesis, is sighted all over town, and when a Chinese operative ends up murdered in her backyard, Merry starts to wonder if Riley is right and Hilly is secretly on the job. It doesn’t help that a group of cosplaying teenage druids have targeted Merry for a misguided ritual sacrifice, or that Medea Jones, cub reporter, constantly harasses Merry, seeing the former spy as her Pulitzer Prize winning vehicle out of Who’s There, Iowa.
Merry wonders if her strange friend really is on vacation, or if she's after another target? Is it Lana? Was it the Chinese operative? Or is it Merry Wrath?
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Maltese Vulture Murder
Merry Wrath Mysteries book #13
What’s better than one King Vulture? Two, of course!
Merry Wrath, former CIA turned Girls Scout troop leader, is over the moon when her wacky taxidermist sisters-in-law present her with a stuffed King Vulture named Nellie Lou. But while the bird is beautiful, the deceased vulture has a secret past that leads to unanticipated trouble—ranging from a bad LSD trip to actually tripping over a dead body in Merry's garage!
When a bizarre pair of men named Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon start lurking about, and Central Iowa is plagued with a rash of taxidermied animal thefts, Merry wonders how she’s once again managed to get in the middle of it all. It doesn’t help that she has to mentor a younger troop with two unmotivated leaders and a kid who experiments with napalm.
With an arrogant mayor causing trouble, her house being trashed, and a dangerous kidnapping, Merry has to figure out who the killer is before Nellie Lou isn’t the only dead thing in her life.
Coming January 14!
Preorder coming soon!
Limited Releases
Available for a limited time only... then they go back in our vault until next year!
Rhinestone Ransom
a mystery novella
Jewelry designer Logan Moretti thought her day would be a walk in the park—literally. But while relaxing on a park bench, Logan makes the mistake of volunteering to watch a stranger's blinged-out Shih Tzu for just a few minutes. As she's walking the precocious pooch, Logan inadvertently lets go of its leash long enough for the four pounds of fur to run off and disappear behind some bushes. Unfortunately when Logan catches up to the sparkly leash, she realizes the pup isn't on the other end. The tiny creature has been dognapped!
When a ransom note is delivered, Logan offers to put her jeweler's skills to work creating a fake diamond tennis bracelet for the drop. But one hiccup leads to another, and soon Logan is facing dognappers, dark-clothed men down by the docks, and more danger than she ever imagined! Will the fake be found out? Will the dog be returned unharmed? Or is this one bad day that Logan won't live to see the end of?
Only available until July 31!!
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Murder of a Misfit
a Jamie Winters Mysteries novella
When legal secretary Jamie Winters’ boss lets her use his swanky home at the Jersey Shore for her vacation, she naturally expects to share relaxing days full of sea and sun with her very significant other, Curt Emerson. But during a romantic walk on the beach one night, the mood is ruined when Jamie falls over a dead body buried in the sand. Worse—the body belongs to Annie Hollander, the class misfit from Jamie’s high school days. And even worse—somehow, before the police arrive on the scene, the body disappears!
And when a mysterious stranger shows up at their door with a gold locket, claiming that Sasquatch stole Annie’s body, Jamie and Curt are suddenly dragged into an investigation involving some shady characters in a town past its prime. Can they solve the mystery of Annie’s death? Or is this one vacation Jamie won't be coming back from?
Only available until July 31!!
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Scout Camp Mystery
a Merry Wrath Mysteries novella
It's a hot, Iowa July and ex-CIA agent turned Girl Scout Leader Merry Wrath and her pregnant co-leader Kelly decide to take their troop to Girl Scout camp. While the girls flirt with pyromania and gasp at the stories of the haunted Ghost Badger Bridge, Merry's spydy senses tell her something is off. She feels that someone at this camp isn’t who they seem to be.
It takes a middle of the night blow to the head for her to realize she's right. A mystery is unfolding at camp, and between a secret, hidden road and a sabotaged, runaway horse, Merry needs to find out what’s going on and put a stop to it...before the last campfire goes out!
Coming June 13!
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A Killing in the Market
a Danger Cove Mysteries novella
Maria Dolores is the descendant and namesake of the first lighthouse keeper in the seaside town of Danger Cove—even though she's never visited the quaint cove in person. Maria's mother had always discouraged her from investigating her heritage, telling her to stay away from Danger Cove completely! But when Maria is invited to be the guest of honor at the opening of a new farmers' market on the lighthouse grounds, her curiosity leads her to accept.
And then the farmers' market manager is murdered.
Maybe her mother was right about Danger Cove after all. While Maria can't make up her mind about the town and its role in her family history, she's convinced the key to everything lies in uncovering who killed the market manager and why. With the help of handsome lawyer-turned-farmer, Merle Curtis, Maria sets out for some sleuthing.
Can she figure out the truth before there's another KILLING IN THE MARKET?
Coming June 27!
Preorder now exclusively at Amazon:
Queenie Baby: On Location
a Queenie Baby Mysteries prequel novella
What does a wannabe rock star do when her sister turns up on her doorstep with their 90 year old aunt for a "girl's weekend"? If Diana "Queenie Baby" Hudson had been thinking clearly it would be: run! Instead, she reluctantly agrees to let the ladies tag along to her latest gig. Rookie mistake.
While Diana is busy entertaining the crowds at the Pirates' Cove tiki bars, she fears her married-with-children sister, Ashley, is entertaining the idea of a summer fling with the band's lead singer. Between keeping Ashley from making a move that she'll regret, and keeping her Aunt Pearl away from the wine boxes and porn channels, Diana's summer vacation isn't turning out exactly as she'd planned!
Coming July 18!
Preorder now exclusively at Amazon:
Cookies, Chamomile, and Corpses
a Cookies & Chance Mysteries novella
After her disastrous marriage comes to an end, Sally Muccio decides that she's unlucky in love and returns home with hopes to start a novelty cookie shop. There’s only one thing stopping her—money.
Sal's loveable and all-knowing grandmother agrees to help with the financial situation if Sal will do her one small favor—find out who killed her sister, Luisa. The police have already deemed Luisa's death an accident, but Grandma Rosa is unconvinced since a valuable family teapot has disappeared as well.
Together with her best friend, Sal sets out to discover the truth. But trouble is brewing, and the hunt to find a killer might bring everything crumbling around her.
Includes a recipe for delicious tea biscuits!
Coming August 15!
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Mystic Mojo
a Mystic Isle Mysteries novella
Melanie Hamilton works as a fantasy tattoo artist at the Mansion at Mystic Isle, a getaway in the Louisiana bayou dedicated to all things paranormal, supernatural, and fantastic. Mel loves her job, loves her dishy boss Jack Stockton, and also loves the struggling resort. The Mansion at Mystic Isle is having its first-ever Annual Summer Jazz Festival, an event everyone hopes will showcase the resort’s many entertaining possibilities and put the place “on the map." The Dixieland jazz performances feature an antique upright piano once owned by Booker Jones, a 1920s New Orleans legend. Rumor has it the ghost of the famous ivory-tickler, Jones himself, haunts the decrepit eighty-eight—Nah, that’s crazy, right? Or is it? The old instrument jumps all over the stage on its own. It falls out of tune for no reason and howls like a rougarou under a full moon. It even attacks the piano players! Mel and Jack try everything to rid the piano of the haunting and save the festival. But they’re running out of keyboard artists and nothing’s working, not even voodoo! Will the haint ever make like Elvis and leave the building, or will this be the final curtain call for the jazz festival and the Mansion at Mystic Isle?
Things aren’t always what they seem in the Louisiana bayou, so come on along and get your creep on.
Coming August 29!
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Limited Releases
in the Vault
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