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THE PLOT IS MURDER by V.M. Burns After Samantha Washington’s husband dies, she decides to quit her job as an English teacher and follow through with their dream of opening a Mystery Bookstore. However, when the realtor who listed the building for sale, and tried to stop Samantha from purchasing, is found dead in the back courtyard, the police think Samantha is a good suspect. With the help of her grandmother and her friends from the retirement home, Samantha sets out to find the murderer.
Opening a mystery bookstore is only one half of Samantha’s dream. The other half of the dream includes writing a historic British cozy. This unique mystery series will include two mysteries – the one in the book, and the one being played out in real life.
Paperback ISBN: 9781496711816
eBook ISBN: 9781496711823
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READ HERRING HUNTMISU is undefeated thanks to Samantha Washington’s tenant, baker and local football hero, Dawson Alexander. When his ex-girlfriend, Melody Hardwick is murdered, Dawson is arrested. Samantha’s sister, and lawyer, Jenna Rutherford, agrees to represent Dawson. But it’s up to Sam, her grandmother, Nana Jo, and the girls from the retirement village to use their connections to find the real murderer. At jeopardy is more than just a winning season, a football scholarship, and Dawson’s freedom. Failure to catch the real killer could cost another life.
Edward the VIII abdicated from the throne to marry American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Germany has rearmed and is threatening Poland. Britain is on edge and the world is on the brink of war. Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor, attempts to help England avoid war and secure prominent positions for her and Edward by negotiating a diplomatic solution. When Wallis’ maid, is found murdered wearing the duchess’s clothes, the Marsh’s must determine not only, who the intended victim was, but must catch a cunning murderer and avoid a catastrophe that could send not only England but the entire world into another war.
Paperback ISBN: 9781496711830
eBook ISBN: 9781496711847
Available in Trade paperback, eBook, and large print: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Hudson Booksellers
THE NOVEL ART OF MURDERThe newest resident at Shady Acres Retirement Village, Maria Romanov, is a phony. From her fake Russian accent to her fabricated pedigree as descendant of Russian Royalty to her fictitious romance with the late King Edward the eighth; everything about her is a bogus fabrication. Gourmet meals and a giant leap to the top of the wait list for a larger apartment are just a few of the perks Maria has garnered for no apparent reason. Despite a lack of talent, she is awarded the coveted lead role in the Shady Acres Follies, a role which has Nana Jo has played for years, that’s the last straw and the ladies have a large, public argument where a number of people heard Nana Jo threaten to kill Maria. So, when Maria is murdered a few hours later in a locked room, Nana Jo is the prime suspect. It’s up to Sam and the girls to find the real killer.
Lady Daphne Marsh is expecting His Grace, James Browning the Duke of Kingfordshire, will propose marriage. Wanting to make a good impression on the duke’s mother, Lady Daphne travels with Lord William and Lady Elizabeth Marsh to Chartwell House, the home of their cousin, Winston Churchill, for a house party, where the duke’s mother, Lady Alistair is visiting. When the Churchill’s only son, Randolph, arrives with an unsuitable woman who decides to set her sights on the duke, the atmosphere becomes extremely strained and Lady Daphne’s behavior is odd, to say the least. When the young lady is found murdered in a locked room Daphne is the prime suspect. Can the Marshes clear Lady Daphne’s name and prevent scandal falling on the already beleaguered Member of Parliament, Winston Churchill?
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Paperback ISBN: 1496711858
eBook ISBN: 9781496711861
WED, READ & DEADSamantha Washington’s mother, Grace Hamilton and her fiance, Harold Robertson are planning to get married on Christmas Eve. The wedding is only three weeks away and Sam is up to her neck in bubble gum pink bridesmaid dresses. When Harold’s snooty sister-in-law enlists the help of a wedding planner, Lydia Lighthouse comes to North Harbor. Lydia is an abrasive southern belle who bulldozes everyone to get what she wants, including the brides. Its not surprising that she is strangled and stabbed. But is Harold the one who killed her? The police think so. Unless Sam, Nana Jo and the girls can find the real killer, Grace may be left at the altar.
In 1938 the first Kindertransport from Germany has arrived in England and the Marsh family is hosting three children. In the midst of holiday preparations, Lady Daphne Marsh announces her intention of marrying James Browning the Duke of Kingfordshire on Christmas Eve, just three short weeks away. Philippe Claiborne, party planner to the aristocracy, is hired to help. However, when Claiborne is found murdered after an argument with the duke, Lady Elizabeth must figure out who murdered the party planner if Lady Daphne and the Duke of Kingsfordshire are to have their happy ending.
Available in Trade paperback, eBook, and large print
Paperback ISBN: 1496718291
eBook ISBN: 9781496718303
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The week between Christmas and New Years finds mystery bookshop owner and aspiring mystery writer, Samantha Washington on a bus trip to Chicago with her grandmother, Nana Jo and their friends from the Shady Acres retirement village. After a weekend of theatre, shopping and fine dining, one of the group’s members is murdered on the return trip. Can Samantha follow the trail to uncover a murderer before her ticket is up?
Samantha continues to write British historic cozy mysteries set in 1938. In her latest book, Lady Elizabeth Marsh and her niece, Lady Penelope Carlston, are in London to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales when they encounter an acquaintance. Unfortunately, neither lady remembers the woman. The old dear has wandered away from her companion and seems befuddled, especially when she tells them someone is trying to kill her. Later, she falls onto the tracks of the underground, but before she dies she whispers something to Lady Elizabeth that has complete strangers wandering to the Marsh estate and asking a lot of questions. Is it possible the death wasn’t an accident? Can Lady Elizabeth discover the truth or will she meet an untimely end?
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Paperback ISBN: 9781496718310
eBook ISBN: 9781496718327
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Sam joins Nana Jo and her Shady Acres Retirement Village friends Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae on a week long trip to London, England, to experience the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour. The chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Sam—and a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.
But between visits to Jack the Ripper’s White chapel district and 221B Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes. Despite his employer’s unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on—until another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. Now it’s up to Sam and the Shady Acres ladies to mix and mingle among their fellow mystery lovers, find a motive, and turn up a murderer . . .
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Paperback ISBN: 9781496728951
eBook ISBN: 9781496728968
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Sam and Nana Jo are back in sleepy North Harbor, Michigan, where Sam is eagerly awaiting the publication of her first book. In search of more immediate excitement, Nana Jo hits the casino with her fellow Shady Acres Retirement Village gal pals—but they get more than they bargained for when they witness Detective Bradley Pitt decking mayoral candidate John Cloverton.
As Sam well knows, mystery novels are full of brilliant detectives, genius sleuths, and hero cops. Detective Bradley Pitt—aka “Stinky Pitt”—is another story. In the past, the dull-witted detective has mistakenly accused members of Sam’s family for crimes they didn’t commit. Now, it’s his turn: when Cloverton turns up dead, he’s arrested. With his predilection for polyester, Pitt has been wanted by the fashion police for years, but Nana Jo knows her former elementary school math student would never commit murder—it doesn’t add up. Somebody’s framed the flatfoot to take a fall, and Sam and Nana Jo must step in to restore the reputation and good name of Detective Pitt.
Available in Trade paperback, eBook, and large print
Paperback ISBN: 1496728971
eBook ISBN: 9781496728982
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After the local library in North Harbor, Michigan, is flooded in a storm, Sam offers her bookstore as a new venue for the Mystery Mavens Book Club. Unfortunately, she immediately runs afoul of the club leader, Delia Marshall, a book reviewer who can make or break careers–something Sam can ill afford with her debut historical mystery soon to be published.
But the next morning, Sam opens her shop to find the unpleasant woman dead on the floor, bashed with a heavy–apparently lethal–tome: the Complete Works of Agatha Christie. While Sam is busy writing her latest British historical mystery in which the queen mother is suspected in the murder of a London Times correspondent, a pair of ambitious cops suspect Sam of the real-life crime. When she gathers Nano Jo and their friends from the Shady Acres Retirement Village to review the case, they discover every one of the Mavens had a motive. With her novel about to hit the stores, Sam must find out who clubbed Delia before a judge throws the book at her . . .
Available in Trade paperback, eBook, audiobook, and large print
Paperback ISBN: 9781496739469
eBook ISBN:
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MURDER ON TOURWhile Sam wraps up her first whirlwind book tour, Nana Jo has kept Market Street Mysteries running smoothly. The last stop is a prestigious book festival in Sam’s hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. But not everyone thinks the guest of honor, bestselling author Judith Hunter, deserves stellar reviews. Sam witnesses nasty arguments between Judith and two different authors—who accuse her of plagiarism and sabotage . . .
When a publicist is poisoned during a cocktail reception, Sam wonders if the killer missed the intended target. It’s a twist that echoes the plot of Sam’s mystery, Murder at Wickfield Lodge. But fact can be stranger—and deadlier—than fiction. How much collateral damage is the killer willing to risk? With feisty Nana Jo and the girls from Shady Acres Retirement Village lending a hand, Sam tries to solve the case before the festival delivers another fatality . .
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Paperback ISBN: 9781496739483
eBook ISBN:
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