The Peanut Butter Murders


Book Description

"Sawyer writes with wit, taste, humor and wisdom, and her plotting is impeccable." - The Drood Review of Mystery. "Sawyer's sly sense of humor and her feisty senior citizens will delight fans of the not-so-violent mystery novel." - Publishers Weekly. The dead man was a mere fifty – too young to have much in common with the well-heeled oldsters at the beautiful Camden-sur-Mer retirement community in southern California. His death looks like an accident, but when those ever-alert, seventy-something admirals' widows Angela Benbow and Caledonia Wingate discover that he was courting one of their neighbors, they stumble into a nice murder investigation. A second murder confirms their suspicions that a dangerous killer is on the loose. Between Angela's shameless curiosity and Caledonia's blitzkrieg, a mere murderer hasn't a chance. Unless, that is, he can eliminate them.




The Aiken and Burnettown Murders


Book Description

When Jessie Barnes' parents are seriously injured in a car accident, she takes a leave of absence from her investigator job with the Chicago Police Department to help care for them in their home in Aiken, South Carolina. While in town, she's tapped to help the shorthanded local sheriff's department. Just a week after her arrival in the sleepy southern town, she is called to investigate a double homicide. Tom and Carol Lowe have been shot to death in their spacious home on Mulberry Street. This isn't a typical crime for Aiken, which generally deals with much lesser-profile problems. Working with lead investigator Bill Hankinson, Jessie must leave her tough Chicago tactics behind as she adjusts to his southern ways. The job gets interesting when additional murders occur in nearby Burnettown. She is assisted through the investigations and her indoctrination into the southern lifestyle by William Bradford, a local entrepreneur who develops a romantic interest in her. As Jessie and the sheriff's department struggle to discover the truth behind these unlikely crimes, their investigation reveals shocking details that are highly unusual in these typically peaceful towns.




Peanut Butter Panic


Book Description

Dead by dessert . . . Thanksgiving is Bailey King’s busiest holiday weekend. This year promises to be even more hectic, since Bailey’s candy shop, Swissmen Sweets, is providing desserts for Harvest, Ohio’s first village-wide Thanksgiving celebration. Yet, even with a guest list close to seven hundred people—Amish and English alike—the event’s organizer, Margot Rawlings, is unfazed . . . until she discovers her mother, former judge Zara Bevan, will be in attendance. Zara’s reputation as a harsh critic is matched only by her infamy as a judge who has actively harmed the Amish community. So no one is prepared when Zara arrives with much younger boyfriend Blaze Smith and reveals their impending nuptials at dinner. That should have been the day’s biggest news, except shortly after the announcement, Blaze suffers an allergic reaction to something he’s eaten and dies on the spot. Now, Bailey’s desserts are prime suspects, along with Margot and nearly everyone who attended the meal. With such a cornucopia of possibilities, Bailey must dig in and get to the bottom of this murder, before the killer goes up for seconds… Recipe Included!




Good Murders and Bad Murders


Book Description

No descriptive material is available for this title.




The Orchestra Murders


Book Description

Superstar conductor Sir Gregory Langhorne and his globe-trotting, violin-soloist son Jonathan Langhorne are the best of friends—until a brutal murder shatters their lives and Jonathan becomes the prime suspect. Six years later, Sir Gregory is now the music director of the world famous Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and has finally reconciled with his son Jonathan, just as members of the orchestra are being killed off one by one. The challenge for brilliant young hotshot Philadelphia Detective Cynthia Masters is to solve not only the orchestra murders, but the question of why murder seems to follow the Langhornes. Has Masters finally met her match—a case that cannot be solved? Set in London and Philadelphia, this dramatic story of murder, infidelity, and the abuse of money and power establishes Cynthia Masters as a world-class detective in this thrilling and unusual mystery.




The BTK Murders


Book Description

A detailed account of the serial killer who terrorized Wichita, Kansas, for more than thirty years from the New York Times–bestselling author. From 1974 to 1991, someone in the midwestern city of Wichita was leaving behind slain tortured bodies and anonymously proclaiming himself to police and reporters as “BTK” for “Bind, Torture, Kill.” Then, for the next fourteen years, BTK was silent. But when he began sending letters again, investigators would not miss their chance . . . Stunningly, police arrested Dennis Rader, the president of his church board and the father of two. As a shocked community watched, evidence began to pile up. Then Rader coldly described how he went about “his projects” as the families of his victims relived the horrific scenes this supposed pillar of the community had unleashed on their loved ones. From the tricks he used to enter his victims’ homes to the puzzles he sent the media and the key role his own daughter may have played in his arrest, The BTK Murders is the definitive story of the BTK killer. He was, as one victim’s family member called him, “a black hole inside the shell of a human being”—and the worst American serial killer since Ted Bundy.




The J, E, D & P Murders


Book Description

First, Tucker's ex-wife turns up murdered on the very same day that he comes out of a four-year coma. For no apparent reason, she is found lying on the floor of her apartment strangled to death. No note, no nothing. Three months later a high society "escort" meets a similar fate. A cryptic biblical reference is left behind, signed only by "J." Within the week, two more bodies show up. First, liberal theologian Noah Templeton is found drowned in his bathtub after winning the prestigious Sophia award. Another biblical reference, this time signed by "E." Seventy-two hours later atheist extraordinaire Winston Caine turns up dead in his hotel room. Caine is bludgeoned to death beyond recognition with a note from "D" pinned to his chest. J. E. D. Three down and one to go. All that remains is P. Who's next? J, E, D, and P, short-hand names for the anonymous writers of the first five books of the Old Testament. J, the Yahwhist. E, the Elohimist. D, the Deuteronomist. And P, the Priestly writer. But what does it all mean? There is an "evangelical Christian whacko" on the loose, single-handedly trying to rid the world of persons with loose morals and those heathens who don't fall in line. That's what GOD is saying. Not that God. The other one. G.O.D. Garrett Osborne Donalty, the nighttime shock jock who comes to you every night from seven to ten over radio station W.O.R.D. The police don't seem tuned in to GOD, though. Nor do they seem to have a clue. In fact, incredible as it sound, they may be in on it. It's either a "whacko," or a cover up, or??? Whatever it is, one by one the pieces of the puzzle seem to be falling into the hands of none other than Reverend Tucker Tolliver. All poor Tucker wants to do is to bring Sarah's killer to justice and get on with his life in the peaceful serenity of a brand new seminary named in his honor. But like it or not, he seems to be the only one connecting the dots, and the picture he gets when he connects them isn't very pretty. Sometimes seminaries aren't as peaceful and serene as they are cracked up to be.




The Hawthorne's Murders


Book Description

After Hurricane Katrina, the Hawthorne family moves up north to Lees, New Hampshire. Their next-door neighbor, Mrs. Bessie Quitman, suggests using Steve Hardwick for their lawn service. Unbeknownst to the family, he is a serial killer of Ted Bundy. After the Hawthornes murders, Sarah Langcaster moved to Lees, New Hampshire, to set up Simplicity Gift and Flower Shop with her older sister, Aerial Langcaster. Does she have enough time to stop serial killer Steve Hardwick from murdering her?




The Pink Flamingo Murders


Book Description

From Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author of the Dead-End Job mysteries—a gritty series featuring a no-nonsense female journalist who follows her stories wherever they may lead...especially if they lead to big trouble. Francesca Vierling is always on the lookout for new fodder for her human-interest column in the St. Louis City Gazette. So she couldn’t be happier when a story unfolds in her own neighborhood. The grand—if slightly run-down—old houses of the South Side have become highly coveted overnight and renovators have sought to spruce them up. But one renovator—known as Caroline the Rehab Wonderwoman—is a little overzealous and has been making more than home improvements. She has enemies all over the South Side, from disgruntled neighbors to intruding drug dealers to anyone who she considers not up to her standards. When those enemies start turning up dead, Caroline comes under suspicion—that is, until her own lifeless body is found with a gaudy pink flamingo lawn decoration planted in her chest. With that many murders in a row, it doesn’t take Francesca long to discover that a tangled web of vendettas, backbiting, and gossip lies beneath the freshly painted facades. Note: The author has made some minor revisions to the original text for this edition of the book.




The Bookmark Murders


Book Description

On the night of October 12, 1913, a beautiful and popular high school sophomore was murdered in the peaceful community of Hagerstown, Maryland. Upon discovering that her mentally-disturbed sixteen-year-old son Emil was the killer, Gretchen Heider was forced to make a choice. She could turn her son over to the authorities. Or she could conceal the truth. Unfortunately Gretchen Heider made the wrong decision. However she had made her catch-22 choice out of love for her son. The murders continued. Eight years later Gretchen Heider was faced with a similar dilemma. Would she be able to save her son from a society ill-equipped to deal with the mentally-disturbed? This is the story of Emil Heider.