The Daphne Jones Mystery Collection


Book Description

Three cozy mysteries to delight your inner sleuth. At an age when most people are retiring, Daphne Jones starts a new career as a wedding and funeral officiant who travels from town to town with her husband, John, and cute camper, Bluebell. Daphne didn't set out to help solve murders along the way, but somehow she finds herself in the middle of local mysteries, murders, and mayhem. And she isn't someone who turns her back in an hour of need. After all, there's nothing like a spot of sleuthing. Between old family feuds, poisoned preserves, and murder on the menu at a mountain retreat, there's barely time for Daphne to bake her beloved cookies. Get your fill of Daphne and John with the three full length cozy mystery adventures in one fun collection. Till Daph Do Us Part The Shadow of Daph Tales of Life and Daph




The Secrets of Palmerston House


Book Description

Could an historic house hold the key to their happiness? The small seaside town of Rivers End is abuzz with an upcoming wedding, to be held at historic Palmerston House. Once home to Christie Ryan's ancestors but lost in a poker game in the 1850s, it’s now an inviting bed and breakfast. When a stranger arrives to stay at Palmerston House and starts asking questions around town, Christie begins to wonder about the history of the house. Do the locals know more than they are letting on and is someone hiding something? Christie decides to do some investigating of her own, determined to uncover the true story behind the house’s ownership. But it turns out she’s not the only one with suspicions and searching for the truth can be a dangerous pastime. The disappearance of two members of the wedding party turns into a race against time to locate a lost key and discover what really lies beneath the old home. The Secrets of Palmerston House will take you on a journey to the past and back, where enduring friendships warm the heart and the power of true love shines. Recommended reading order: The Stationmaster's Cottage Jasmine Sea The Secrets of Palmerston House The Christmas Key




The Stationmaster's Cottage


Book Description

Christie is happy in her life... or so she tells herself. Despite a tragic childhood, she has built a satisfying career and loves her city apartment. But deep down she yearns for a simpler life. Family. A garden. And a place to heal her heart. The decision to attend a funeral in a town she's never heard of throws her safe world into disarray, exposing the cracks in her life. As she deals with the fallout, Christie moves into a rundown cottage she's inherited and there, makes a discovery. A damaged painting. Unworn wedding rings. And a shoebox full of unopened love letters. Fifty years ago, a heartbroken young artist waited each dawn on a jetty for his true love to return. And each night, he wrote her a love letter. What Christie uncovers will change her life forever. This is a beautiful tale of love - sometimes lost, sometimes found and sometimes both. This is also a book with a mystery to solve which keeps your interest in the story. The author did an amazing job writing this book. The characters were well developed, the story was unique, and the descriptions helped you to feel the emotions, smell the scents, and visualize the persons, places and objects. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy romance with a bit of mystery and a HEA. Karen Thurmer. Recommended reading order: The Stationmaster's Cottage Jasmine Sea The Secrets of Palmerston House The Christmas Key




The Heart Match


Book Description

A long lost jade necklace. One chance to find it. And two hearts at risk. Izzie Davis might be broke but she will never accept charity. Which is a problem, because the cute guy she met visiting Maple Gardens Assisted Living could solve all her financial woes with a click of his fingers. Keeping her mom’s fees up to date takes almost all her meagre income but she's seen what money does to some people and will never seek out wealth. Bart Brown inherited more money than he knows what to do with, but the one person he’d love to spend it on happens to be a spitfire who sticks to her principles. The only way she’ll date him is if he promises he won’t ever spend money on her. His generous heart doesn't quite understand but she is worth the compromise. When the family heirloom Izzie's been desperate to buy back for her mom is up for auction, Bart wants to change the rules to help her. But will Izzie's principles mean more to her than love? Because suddenly there’s more at stake than a necklace. Part Cinderella retelling, part billionaire romance, and a touch of enemies to lovers... all wrapped up in a clean and sweet contemporary romance with a swoony happy ever after. About the series: Maple Gardens has the best of care for its residents. Staff who go the extra mile. And a small group of elderly friends who want nothing more than to see their loved ones find romance. Even if it takes a bit of a nudge sometimes. And a whole lot of meddling!




The Vanishing Girl (Daphne and Velma #1)


Book Description

It's the classic girl detectives like you've never seen them before! Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley have a terrifying new mystery to solve - and this time, the culprit is far more frightening than any man in a mask... Popular Daphne Blake and uber-nerd Velma Dinkley are not friends. They aren't enemies either, but they don't have any reason to speak to each other, and that's how they prefer it. The two girls grew up together - they'd been best friends since pre-K - but when they hit middle school, Daphne dropped Velma and never looked back. These days, Daphne's deep in the popular crowd, daughter of the richest family in town, while Velma's an outsider, hiding from the world behind her thick glasses. When they run into each other in the halls of Crystal Cove High, they look the other way. But then Daphne's best friend, Marcy - who happens to be Velma's cousin - goes missing. A century ago, there was a wave of disappearances in Crystal Cove, and many local people believe that supernatural forces were behind it. Now the whole town believes those same forces are back . . . and up to no good. Daphne and Velma may be the only ones who can solve the mystery and save Marcy-if they can trust each other enough to try. Especially since the truth might be stranger-and scarier-than either girl can imagine . . .




Tales of Life and Daph


Book Description

A retreat in the mountains sounds perfect with spa treatments for Daphne and fishing for John. Until a killer strikes... Daphne Jones is invited to an exclusive conference in the high country in Victoria. The annual meeting of wedding officiants is her first and she's excited to attend sessions with her peers. In between a bit of spoiling, of course. Within hours of John leaving for an overnight camping trip to the best fishing river in the region, Daphne is knee-deep in a fountain full of puzzles in the middle of the night. Literally. Was there really a body in the water feature or is this an elaborate hoax? A note arrives with a terrible warning. Murder is on the menu at the banquet. But who is the target? People are quick to point fingers at Daphne whose sleuthing reputation preceded her. She suspects there is a whole lot more going on in this Bridgerton-style hotel and between power outages, planted evidence, and missing diamonds, closes in on the killer. Until the only way down the mountain is blocked. Book three in the Daphne Jones Mysteries puts Daphne in the middle of someone's dangerous game and it might take more than her homemade cookies to get her out of this alive. A light and quirky story with a nosy main character.




Till Daph Do Us Part


Book Description

One wedding. Two feuding families. Three sneaky suspects. Daphne Jones has travelled with her cute-as-a-button camper Bluebell to the outback town of Little Bridges to officiate a wedding at a beautiful rural home. Such a perfect setting. But not so perfect people are determined to stop the union and before the day is done, a member of the bridal party ends up face down in the swimming pool. She's no detective nor a spring chicken, but Daphne does love a puzzle and her gut tells her this was no accident. Amid old family feuds, resentful relatives, and missing money, there are plenty of suspects, and none of them appreciates Daphne snooping in their business, but with a heart of gold and a way with words, this celebrant sleuth is not giving up. Unless the killer finds her first... The Daphne Jones Mysteries are later in life camping cozies with a travelling wedding officiant and a regional, small-town Aussie twist. A light and quirky story with a nosy main character.




The Christmas Key


Book Description

Some old secrets are better left in the past… A hot summer Christmas Day is just around the corner in the Australian seaside town of Rivers End. Beachside BBQs and sumptuous dinners are on the menu. But Martha Blake is like a dog with a bone, determined to solve the last of the mysteries surrounding the old stationmaster’s cottage. Knowing her husband won’t approve of her plans, she enlists great-niece Christie to join her in a secret investigation. Meanwhile, Thomas Blake is just as busy with his own clues and not wanting his wife to know what he’s up to, seeks the help of his reluctant grandson, Martin. At Palmerston House, loving new couple Elizabeth and Angus face their greatest obstacle, throwing their happy future into doubt. With everyone working at cross-purposes, who will find themselves in the middle, cast decades back into memories of a terrible mistake? Is love enough this time, as the beloved residents of Rivers End deal with the fallout of the old mystery? Who, or what, will bring them all together in time for Christmas?




Jasmine Sea


Book Description

Danger lurks in the sea... with a storm of the heart and a storm of the sky. Christie has never been so happy. She adores living in Rivers End and every day her relationship with Martin grows stronger. But a last-minute job in Melbourne puts her back in the sights of the one person she vowed to keep away from. A man who will do anything to ruin her future. Back home again, she works on the renovations of the stationmaster's cottage and discovers a hidden room whose secrets might heal the old hurts of someone she loves... or reopen past wounds. When a sudden crime spree affects the town, Christie finds herself at odds with Martin over her safety. Instead of the proposal she hoped for, she's now unsure of their future and loses focus on the danger closing in on her. In a heart-stopping series of events, Christie comes face to face with her greatest fear... and only one chance to save those she loves. Jasmine Sea follows on from The Stationmaster's Cottage, with heart-pounding suspense and heartwarming joy. HEA guaranteed and tissues recommended.




Posted to Death


Book Description

England has a new sleuth--Simon Kirby-Jones, who is not only a vampire, but an American to boot. Settling in the village of Snupperton Mumsley, Simon's preternatural senses are tuned for trouble as he looks into the mysterious death of the village's mean spirited postmistress.