Extreme gardening often involves gnomes and planted bodies…

It’s just an ordinary day for octogenarian sleuth Myrtle Clover—until her yardman discovers a dead body planted in her backyard. This death isn’t cut and dried—the victim was bashed in the head with one of Myrtle’s garden gnomes.

Myrtle’s friend Miles recognizes the body and identifies him as Charles Clayborne… reluctantly admitting he’s a cousin. Charles wasn’t the sort of relative you bragged about—he was a garden variety sleaze, which is very likely why he ended up murdered. As Myrtle starts digging up dirt to nip the killings in the bud, someone’s focused on scaring her off the case. Myrtle vows to find the murderer…before she’s pushing up daisies, herself.

You never know what you’ll find at yard sales.

Myrtle’s friend Georgia finally reached a breaking point with the knick-knacks and collectibles in her cluttered home. When book club hosted a collective yard sale to benefit the local library, Georgia decided the time had come to pare down her possessions at long last.

Most discouragingly, one of her yard sale customers had the poor manners to be murdered on her property. This alarming development was witnessed by both Myrtle and Miles, who’d come by the yard sale to take a closer look at Georgia’s uncommon memorabilia.

Upon investigation, the victim seemed to have a fair number of enemies in Bradley. But which one was responsible for his demise? Myrtle and Miles must figure it out to clear Georgia’s name . . . and before anyone else before anyone else gets a final bill of sale.

The best-laid plans can fall to pieces.

What could be more fun than a quilt retreat with friends? The Village Quilters and the Cut-Ups guilds decided to head out of Dappled Hills for a relaxing retreat at a lakeside conference center. They happily headed on their quilt trip, delighted at the prospect of the advertised sewing room that stayed open all day and night. There was also a promised campfire the last night with s'mores.

However, what wasn’t on the agenda was murder. Nor a winter storm that isolated them from any help. When one quilter comes to a mysterious end, Beatrice works behind the scenes to find out who's responsible before someone else is permanently stitched up.

Sometimes a novel idea can turn out to be a bad one. 

Sally Simmons was rather misunderstood in the small town of Whitby, North Carolina. An awkward woman with a sly countenance, she became a regular at the library, spending a good deal of time scribbling in a notebook and staring vacantly off into space.

It turned out, to everyone’s surprise, that Sally had been industriously penning a novel. To their greater surprise, it became something of a sensation, even landing itself on the bestseller lists.

Since much of the novel had been written within the hallowed walls of the Whitby Library, reference librarian Ann and other staff members decide to hold an event to celebrate Sally’s accomplishment and learn more about her book.
Sadly, it soon becomes evident that Sally’s book was inspired by actual residents of Whitby—and that she concealed their identities poorly.

When Sally meets an unfortunate demise, it’s up to Ann to figure out the killer so the police can throw the book at him.

Someone will be getting coal in his stocking . . . 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the small town of Bradley, North Carolina. Wreaths adorn doors, halls are decked, and candles cheerfully glow in windows. Adding to the Christmas excitement, there's also a lovely local wedding with many guests to wish the couple well.

The wedding becomes a bit too exciting, however, when octogenarian sleuth Myrtle discovers the bride's rather outspoken aunt, mysteriously murdered.

Myrtle and her senior sidekick must find the killer before someone else doesn’t make it home for Christmas.

This crosspatch is at cross purposes with everyone.

Summer, despite her cheery name, was hardly a ray of sunshine in the small town of Dappled Hills. She had a crabby personality and was constantly looking for ways to insert herself and her opinions into other people’s business. In fact, when most people saw Summer approaching, they fancifully imagined storm clouds heading in their direction.

Perhaps it wasn’t much of a surprise then when Summer was discovered, dead.

When one of Beatrice’s friends is suspected in Summer’s murder, the retired art curator and amateur sleuth starts nosing around to clear his name. Can she find out who killed Summer before the murderer strikes again? 

Diners can prove hazardous to your health.

Although Palmer Baxter hasn’t lived in the small town of Bradley long, she’s already become a force to be reckoned with. She’s joined all the clubs in town and has effected a takeover of many of them. Palmer is married to a handsome banker, is perfectly coiffed and outfitted, and volunteers for groups that serve the needy.

Needless to say, Palmer is extremely unpopular in her new hometown.

Unpopularity doesn’t ordinarily equate to murder, but it does in this instance. When octogenarian sleuth Myrtle and her senior sidekick Miles venture out for an early breakfast at the local diner, they make the startling discovery of Palmer’s demise.

Will Myrtle and Miles find the killer before disaster strikes again?

Unintended snooping can mean getting into someone's bad books.

The Whitby Library has been a busy place lately, between book clubs, children’s storytimes, and students working on research projects. Ann has been busy, too, which is why she’s so glad to see some new volunteers to help the staff out.

One of the volunteers is worried, though, and comes to Ann with a problem. She’s seen something odd . . . maybe even suspicious. Ann tries advising her, but the volunteer still seems troubled. The next day, the woman meets her own suspicious end.

Can Ann, with the help of her friends, help solve the mystery before someone else is permanently checked out?

Life gets stressful when someone takes a notion to murder. 

Lester Dawson is a wealthy man. Unfortunately, he believes his wealth gives him certain rights—especially when it comes to his family. He meddles, coerces, and bullies. This means his children and his long-suffering wife aren’t the fondest of him sometimes. But for Lester, being popular isn’t as important as being influential . . . and controlling.

When his 80th birthday rolls around, the family grudgingly plans a celebration. However, the festivities are cut short when Lester is found in his library—quite dead.

Beatrice becomes pulled in since one of Lester’s children is a quilting friend of hers. Can Beatrice figure out who killed Lester before someone else takes a notion to murder?

Food for thought: seasoning with these berries results in a dash of murder.

It's been a quiet autumn so far in the small town of Bradley, North Carolina. Or, as Myrtle would put it, a boring one. The slow pace and lingering post-summer heat are making life in Bradley very slow-paced, indeed.

That all changes when a local resident is poisoned by what looks like a scrumptious pie. The victim is a boorish man who has plenty of enemies in Bradley. Despite this, suspicion falls heavily on Myrtle and Miles's friend—a botanist who grows the deadly nightshade the man was poisoned with.

Can Myrtle and Miles solve the case and help their friend before the killer strikes again?

Small towns + gossip = friction

No one in the town of Whitby, North Carolina was excited when Jonas Merchant returned to town. Jonas was an effective muckraker; an expert at uncovering secrets, rumors, and undercurrents. Even worse, he’d fallen on hard times and was desperate for easy cash. It was a decidedly dangerous combination.

It was perhaps not the biggest surprise when Jonas was discovered dead one day. More shocking, at least to local librarian Ann Beckett, was the fact that her straight-arrow director Wilson was one of the suspects in Jonas’s death.

Will Ann be able to track down the killer and clear Wilson’s name before he strikes again?