Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Lise McClendon
Page : 268 pages
File Size : 30,72 MB
Release : 2008-05-19
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1419681338
Art dealer Alix Thorssen follows a trail of mystery, moonlit rituals, and legendary artifacts to a chilling confrontation with a killer in this first novel of the Jackson Hole mystery series.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 297 pages
File Size : 26,56 MB
Release : 2023-05-22
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Mystery, romance, adventure, and more are in store for the youngest of five sisters, lawyers all, when she signs up to work at a lavender farm in Provence in Lost in Lavender, a Bennett Sisters Mystery. Facing a crossroads-- both career and personal-- the youngest of the five Bennett Sisters, Elise, does what she does best: she runs away to think. This time she runs to a farm in Provence that produces heaven-scented lavender for oils. The area is famous for the beautiful purple flower, the symbol of this southern region of France. Her sisters are stumped. Elise never seemed like the farming type, or even gardening, for that matter. But she's signed up for a farm stay vacation, an idea she got from an unlikely source, the trophy wife of one of her law partners. When she arrives, courtesy her older sister Merle who drives her to the Luberon from the Dordogne, she discovers she is the only guest at the picturesque family farm who is not a college student. The rest are all doing a French language exchange program and are 20 years younger than Elise, leaving her feeling like an outsider and wondering about her life choices. Not only is her judgment in men and careers awful, but she can't even plan a decent vacation. Meanwhile in the Dordogne, Merle's niece, Willow, arrives for some R&R before she starts law school. But she brings a few surprises with her, a boyfriend plus Elise's fiancé. Or is it ex-fiancé? It will take several sisters-- and of course Pascal-- to unravel the facts as all descend on southern France for July in the heat and lavender. Suspense, romance, intrigue, and humor as the summer heats up for the Bennett Sisters again. Another delicious adventure in international travel and cozy mystery as the Bennett Sisters fight their way to truth, justice, and a perhaps a summer fling, deep in the French countryside. A summer fling in France never hurt anyone, now did it?
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 20,77 MB
Release : 2023-03-30
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
FRANCE, ROMANCE, TRUFFLE DOGS…AND A SOUPÇON OF DANGER! A bit like Eat Pray Love meets murder mystery, Lise McClendon’s second Bennett Sisters mystery chronicles the traditional hunt for priceless European truffles, the unexpected thrill of romance overseas, the ups and downs of sisterly bonding rituals, and murderous intrigue in the heart of France. Law practice is in the Bennett sisters' blood—along with designer suits and stilettos. But they've decided to ditch the more predictable Caribbean cruise or spa weekend at a five star hotel to celebrate Merle Bennett's 50th birthday hiking the French countryside of Dordogne. Merle, for her part, could use the break from her boyfriend James back in New York City. Plus there’s the endless horizon of roses and vineyards, the scent of lavender, the delicate karma of sisterhood—resplendent with its bickering and gossip—and, oh yes, the wine. There’s just one catch: Merle’s little sister Francie has decided to bring along a sixth wheel: a work colleague named Gillian Sargent, whose utter aloofness wouldn’t be so bad were it not peppered by constant singing, an unwanted accompaniment to the idyllic French landscape. It’s not just that Gillian throws off the finely tuned five-spoke Bennett sister spin: truth be told, Merle can’t seem to find a single redeeming quality about her. Somewhere along the walking trail, Gillian stumbles upon an injured dog— possibly a missing truffle hunter--and after several days of puzzling behavior, she and the pooch disappear without a trace. As if this weren’t drama enough, Merle’s boyfriend shows up unannounced—as does her French lover. Zut alors! And yet…Vive la France! The Girl in the Empty Dress is a delicate mix of sisterly laughs and international intrigue, sure to delight cozy mystery fans and armchair travelers alike.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 370 pages
File Size : 25,80 MB
Release : 2023-01-02
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Book 1 of 18: Bennett Sisters Mysteries * An Enchanting Series! Such a delightful read. Fell in love with the characters, especially Merle and Pascal! Ms. McClendon has the exceptional ability to perform the magic of transporting this reader, and I'm sure others, to a place both familiar and foreign, but known deep down in one's psyche. I'm so very glad to have discovered the magic. Winsome and a bit addictive Had no idea what to expect when began this first series but became quite caught up in it all. The characters and mystery, the enchanting descriptions and personal struggles drew me into feeling as if these people are my friends. * Excellent author and story teller--Found her stories hard to put down. They were so human, suspenseful and darn good. The sisters become your sisters and their experience become yours. The authors description of person places and circumstances are so real you feel them. A great author. Delightful Sisters and Adventures --This is one of the most delightful series I have ever read... filled with adventure and excitement. Romance, joy of living and dead bodies accompany their adventures! You will be amused and mesmerized by this delightful series! * Highly recommended-- One of the best of the 50 or so books I've read during the pandemic stay at home. When Merle Bennett's husband suddenly dies, she is left adrift to deal with parenting their son, dealing with a mess of finances, and some of his sordid secrets. She decides to chuck it all for the moment and go to France, where he's left her a rundown cottage in the Dordogne. Once Merle gets there, she finds...well, France! An unexpected romance! Mystery galore! Murder! And not just murder, but the unnerving experience of being a suspect. Once her passport is confiscated, what can she do but stay and restore her ancient battered house? While enjoying the tender attention of the unusually well-educated, handsome and...yes, quite mysterious roofer she's hired. Particularly recommended for those who love France, whether you visit in reality or virtually, enjoying a glass of wine, this journey of self-discovery, and the power of sisterhood. Mystery lovers, chick lit fans, and cozy fanatics will all find it très chouette— more prosaically, simply awesome. Not to mention formidable!
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Lise McClendon
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 17,13 MB
Release : 2009-05
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0981944280
A tale of art fraud in Wyoming. It begins when an art gallery exhibiting the works of Ray Tantro goes up in flames with the painter inside. Or, so everyone thinks until it is discovered that the charred body is not of Tantro. So where is he and who is the victim? Art dealer Alix Thorssen tries to get to the bottom of the mystery. By the author of The Bluejay Shaman.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 49,97 MB
Release : 2023-07-29
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Pascal d'Onscon, once terrorizing wine fraud scammers across southern France, is now pushing papers for the French bureaucracy in the modern Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. But not for long. He dreams of being a vintner, his hands in the dirt, the grape on his tongue, blending his very own creation: a bottle of wine with his own label. Pascal has spent his life surrounded by French wine and winemakers. The idea that he could run his very own vineyard is tantalizing and keeps him up at night, dreaming of finding a small vineyard he can afford, somewhere in southwest France. His companion, Merle Bennett, the middle of five lawyer sisters, has her own aspirations. Two tiny cottages are begging to be renovated for summer rentals. Will the person camping in the back garden scuttle her plans? When Pascal puts an abandoned vineyard in his sights, he doesn't want to let go. But Château des Corbeaux, owned by two Brits, has a complicated history. Not just recently with vandalism and hostile neighbors, but long ago secrets that resurface. Reluctant sellers, his own finances, and more threaten to derail him as he struggles to work out a way to make his dream a reality. The second Pascal d'Onscon spinoff from the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, following DEAD FLAT in 2020. Read all the novels-- click on the series highlighted above.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Lise McClendon
Page : 284 pages
File Size : 41,88 MB
Release : 2009-05-05
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0981944256
Halfway around the world, war has begun, but for Dorie Lennox, a newly-minted private eye on her first tail, danger is more immediate. The dark streets of Kansas City of 1939 offer swing music, fast cars, gangsters, and the chance to forget about the Depression and her own murky past. Dorie is thrown into a quickly unraveling scam that offers salvation to few - and misery to plenty. With vivid prose and sharp dialogue, the world of Dorie Lennox comes alive, behind the wheel of her Packard, into the packinghouses, race tracks, and mansions of jazz-age Kansas City. The landscape of America and the homefront of World War II are evoked in a thoughtful mystery that lingers for the force of characters and keen sharpness of a slice of history seen through the perceptive, compassionate eyes of Dorie Lennox.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 132 pages
File Size : 13,27 MB
Release :
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE--FESTIVITIES, FUN, FOOD, AND FRAUD! It’s Bridget Jones does Christmas in Manhattan--plus a dash of international espionage--in this romantic cozy mystery that mixes sisterly love with a world famous drag queen, a shameful family past, and an irresistible French investigator. Christmas in the Big Apple promises to be especially festive, as all five Bennett sisters are in town for a very special occasion: Annie, the oldest Bennett, is engaged at the tender age of fifty-five—to a charming Scottish man who’s crazy about her. But while Bohemian Annie is securely and happily in love with a devoted fiancé, Merle-in-the-middle is navigating the roller coaster of her own love life: Pascal, her one-time French summer fling, has unexpectedly flown to New York for the holidays—and now she’s waiting for him in the bustling lobby of the New York City Hilton Hotel, the very same venue as her family’s engagement festivities. Pascal says he’s come to see Merle (and her son, Tristan), and he’s staying in town through the New Year--but why? A relationship ultimatum? Or is there something more mysterious in the works? Because Pascal is a very mysterious dude. On the walk back from engagement cocktails at a romantic bistro, Pascal asks Merle, Annie, and her fiance to accompany him to a little-known club where he promised his brother he’d look up a friend of his. Intrigued, Merle and company follow him to the village, where they’re treated to … a drag revue. Turns out the “friend” is a drag queen, a Marilyn Monroe look-alike who goes by the name Bosom Drearie. But later, Francie, the next-to- youngest Bennett sister, says she’s seen Bosom Drearie before –and she looked different from her sisters’ description—plus, Francie’d heard the performer got fired and had to reinvent herself. That gets the sisters’ sleuth-sense up: Could it be the Bosom Drearie Pascal was searching for is an imposter? Perhaps a wanted one? The truth starts to come out when Pascal admits to Merle that Bosom Drearie is a person of interest to the French Police Nationale—and Merle begins to question his intentions. Is he in New York solely on police business? But it may not be so simple—her own family may be involved. She learns the French police are reopening the investigation into a defunct wine business once owned by her late husband's father—50 years after a questionable deal—and can’t help but worry her family’s shameful past is tied to her romantic interest... A romantic interest she can't seem to resist... Festivities, fun, food, and fraud—not to mention mystery and romance—abound in this delicious holiday installment of the Bennett sisters’ cozy adventures.
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 1973 pages
File Size : 37,60 MB
Release : 2023-05-27
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Five sisters. Five lawyers. Eight adventures in international travel, romance, mystery, and intrigue. The tales of these five sisters begins when the middle sister, Merle, finds that her late husband has left her a property in France that he never mentioned. So off she goes on her first adventure in France with her teenage son in tow, desperate to start a new chapter in her life. This is Blackbird Fly. The stories here, eight in all, continue, mostly in France but all featuring one or more of the five Bennett Sisters. • Blackbird Fly • The Girl in the Empty Dress • Give Him the Ooh-la-la • The Things We Said Today • The Frenchman • Odette and the Great Fear - a novella by Merle Bennett • Blame it on Paris • A Bolt from the Blue Fire up your E-reader! Your virtual tour of Europe awaits, complete with murder, wine, small town eccentrics, picturesque villages, truffle dogs, Parisian art, and a smidge of romance for these midlife sisters. A cozy series for grownups. It’s Eat Pray Love meets murder mystery in Lise McClendon’s deliciously cozy chronicles of sisterhood, international travel … and a soupçon of danger. The delicious underpinning of this sprawling, exuberant, generous-spirited cozy mystery series with a yummy side of international adventure. A little bit chick lit, a touch of cozy mystery, a whole lot of humor, romance, suspense—all in one box set!
Author : Lise McClendon
Publisher : Thalia Press
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 24,38 MB
Release : 2023-05-27
Category : Fiction
ISBN :
Ooh-la-la, who doesn't love a Frenchman? Merle Bennett goes back to France -- and her Frenchman -- in this fifth installment of the Bennett Sisters mysteries. Sure that La Belle France will cure all her ills, and help her write a novel about the French Revolution, she sets out to prove her theory correct. Pascal, her Frenchman, scoffs at this. As a policeman he knows France is pretty to look at but not all that pretty under the surface. While Merle writes and renovates her stone cottage, Pascal encounters an old enemy, a man he put in prison years before. When Pascal disappears Merle isn't sure if their relationship is over, or something terrible has happened. 'The Frenchman' includes chapters of Merle's novel, a glimpse into life during the turmoil of the Revolution. With goats and a handsome stranger! Read the finished version of Merle's novel, 'Odette and the Great Fear.' A soupçon of danger, a brush with 'madame guillotine,' and the quirky characters of the French countryside, all collide in this new installment of the Bennett Sisters Mysteries, set in la belle France-- where, obviously, wine, sunshine, sunflowers, and Frenchmen cure all ills. Or do they?
