A New Lease on Death
In this darkly funny supernatural mystery about an unlikely
crime-solving duo that launches a commercial, unique, and genre-blending
series, death is only the beginning.
Ruby Young's new Boston apartment comes with all the usual perks. Windows
facing the brick wall of the next-door building. Heat that barely works. A
malfunctioning buzzer. Noisy neighbors. A dead body on the sidewalk outside.
And of course, a ghost.
Since Cordelia Graves died in her apartment a few months ago, she's kept up her
residency, despite being bored out of her (non-tangible) skull and frustrated
by her new roommate. When her across-the-hall neighbor, Jake Macintyre, is shot
and killed in an apparent mugging gone wrong outside their building, Cordelia
is convinced there’s more to it and is determined to bring his killer to
justice.
Unfortunately, Cordelia, being dead herself, can't solve the mystery alone. She
has to enlist the help of the obnoxiously perky, living tenant of her
apartment. Ruby is twenty, annoying, and has never met a houseplant she
couldn't kill. But she also can do everything Cordelia can't, from interviewing
suspects to researching Jake on the library computers that go up in a puff of
smoke if Cordelia gets too close. The roommates form an unlikely friendship as
they get closer to the truth about Jake's death…and maybe other dangerous
secrets as well.
Addie Greyborne loved working with rare books at the Boston
Public Library—she even got to play detective, tracking down clues about
mysterious old volumes. But she didn't expect her sleuthing skills to come in
so handy in a little seaside town . . .
Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved
murder of her fiancé and her father's fatal car accident. After an unexpected
inheritance from a great aunt, she's moved to a small New England town founded
by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor,
on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her
countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start
her own store.
But there's trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs
the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy
of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie's friend Serena, who owns a
nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police
seem pretty sure they've got the story in hand, but Addie's not going to let
them close the book on this case without a fight . .
ILL THIS KILLER DEAL LEAD TO A DEAD END?
Meet Whitney Whitaker. A hopeless romantic when it comes to real estate, she
knows what it takes to find—and flip—the home of one’s dreams. A fixer-upper is
like catnip to Whitney: she can’t resist the challenge of turning an eyesore
into a priceless work of art. So when one of her clients decides to liquidate a
crumbling property, Whitney seizes the opportunity to purchase it for a song.
But soon a curious incident of the cat in the night-time leads to a change in
tune. . .
Sawdust is the name of Whitney’s cat—of course. Whitney’s passion for
gut-renovation may be a mystery to him but one thing Sawdust knows for sure is
this: Dead bodies don’t belong in flower beds. So why is there one in this new,
albeit old, house? Now it’s up to Whitney, along with the help of hot-and-cold
Nashville Police Detective Collin Flynn, to find the truth about what happened
before the mortgage property forecloses and Whitney loses her investment. .
.and maybe her own life.
Late summer 1933. After a quarrel with
too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army
captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when
there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder. The
body of aspiring actress Pearl Bright has been found, strangled with one of
Matt’s own bootlaces, and the evidence seems to be stacked against him.
The local constabulary might have locked Matt up, but before they can throw
away the key, Kitty hears the news and hies to his aid, determined to prove his
innocence. And when her investigations lead her to the home of retired theatre
impresario Stanley Davenport, and the local amateur dramatics society, Kitty
uncovers a web of deceit that stretches far beyond the stage make-up. But
Kitty’s digging is bringing her to the attention of the killer. Without her
partner in crime-fighting, can Kitty expose them and clear Matt’s name? Or will
it be curtains for them both?
