Showing results by narrator "Darlene Allen" in All Categories

When it comes to solving cold cases, nothing is ever cut and dried…. Quilter Beatrice Coleman is enjoying the sleepy peace of a tranquil afternoon…until it’s interrupted by her friend, Miss Sissy. The elderly lady is making wild claims about narrowly escaping an intruder. And intruders are unusual in tiny Dappled Hills.

Transplanted Boston Brahmin, Mercy Allcutt, has had some very exciting times as secretary to private investigator, Ernie Templeton. While it’s true she’s been in what she considers a wee bit of trouble (and Ernie considers out-and-out danger) a time or two, she’s determined to continue learning the ways of the “real” world. However, when she sets out to find her wandering boss, Ernie, one hot September afternoon, she not only discovers a corpse, but she also finds Ernie, bound and gagged. Worse, when the police arrive to investigate the crime, they peg Ernie as the killer.

WARNING: Gertrude can be a bit cranky! She shoots from the hip, is unburdened by tact, and likes things done her way. Yet, the people who know her adore her. It's a mystery. Speaking of which, Gertrude never set out to be a sleuth. But when one of her many cats goes missing, she goes out searching and learns that one of her neighbors has also disappeared. And when she starts poking around, Gertrude finds out she's got quite a knack for snooping.

Twenty years ago a teenager drowned in Clearwater Lake. Now her ghost is haunting its shores. Gertrude knows there's no such thing as ghosts, and she's going to prove it—even if it means spending some time in the water herself.

After being thrown in the clink for private investigating without a license, she's fled the state to go where her talents will be more appreciated: South Dakota. She has big plans to set up shop, but an injury halts her journey shortly after crossing The Sunshine State's state line. She and Calvin are forced to hole up in a struggling campground, and when Gertrude finds the body of the campground owner, she is certain the man has been murdered.

As Beatrice’s wedding day approaches, murder finds a way to make her pressed for time. Beatrice and Wyatt’s days are spent planning their cozy, chapel wedding. Both widowed, they mean to keep their wedding an intimate, family affair. But everyone in Dappled Hills still wants to celebrate the happy couple. Beatrice and Wyatt find themselves at dinners, picnics, and barbeques in their honor.

When a quilting event falls to pieces, Beatrice works to patch things up. Dappled Hills quilters are eagerly anticipating new events at the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop. The shop’s owner, Posy, has announced "Sew and Tell" socials and a mystery quilt group project. But one day, instead of emailed quilt instructions, the quilters receive a disturbing message about a fellow quilter. When that quilter mysteriously meets her maker, Beatrice decides to use her sleuthing skills to find the killer before more lives are cut short.

It's Halloween, and Maria Dolores is hoping for a trouble-free weekend, the last one before the Lighthouse Farmers' Market closes for the winter. But her hopes are dashed when a state agricultural inspector threatens to shut down the market prematurely...right before a young woman falls to her death from the lighthouse cliff! The local homicide detective thinks it was suicide and won't listen to Maria's extensive list of possible suspects for foul play or the fact that the victim was known for getting into fights that went beyond mere words. Now, it's up to Maria to unearth a secret.

Labor Day weekend starts with a bang in Danger Cove when a dead body is found in the orchard of Maria Dolores' mentor and maybe-boyfriend, Merle! While it's clear the murder took place long ago, the police are still keeping Merle tied up, leaving Maria on her own to run the local farmers' market. She's prepared for the petty squabbles, disorganized vendors, and even a rowdy group of costumed pirates - it comes with the territory. But she isn't prepared for the fresh body found in an isolated corner of the market!

It's Independence Day weekend, and Maria Dolores is the new manager of the Lighthouse Farmers' Market. From the very beginning, though, events conspire against her. Her mentor and attractive local farmer, Merle Curtis, fails to show up to introduce her to the vendors, the stalls are all in the wrong place, and an earthquake shakes up everyone in the market! In its aftermath, Maria realizes the flower vendor is more than shaken up.... She's dead.

In modern day Chicago, deja vu draws together a handsome mounted policeman and the beautiful young woman who saves his life. This tender love story pulls the reader back to previous lives and a time richly elegant. Yesterday is also a harrowing tale of escape through the American Civil War and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. A life of tragedy is Amanda's destiny, or so she believes. But, in this historical romance, Mark fights through Amanda's rejection to prove that she will love again as she once loved - Yesterday.

The Wright family's homeschooling adventure continues on to South Dakota as their RV hits the road again. The kids wonder what all those motorcycles are doing in the small town of Sturgis. Nadia learns how newspapers are created. Aidan gets to lead the way on a daring round of follow the leader. Prince Pumpkin the Third, their pet turtle, stumbles across something that he probably shouldn't have. Meanwhile, what startling new secrets of the Time Tuner are revealed?

Announcing Book #1 in the first series about a homeschooling family. The Wrights travel the USA in an RV. Each month brings them to a new state with a new educational theme to explore and play with. They prove that learning can happen all the time, anywhere, and that being with family is fun!

Young detective, Annie Tillery, wins a series of art lessons at a prestigious art gallery, plunging her into the New York City art world and a brutal murder. At the gallery, Annie discovers her instructor, Francesca Gabrielli, engaged in a volatile argument with John DiCristiani, the gallery's director. He demands that Francesca make forgeries of masterpieces for him. When the gallery director is found murdered in cold blood, Francesca becomes the prime suspect and calls upon Annie to help clear her name.

Join Aidan and Nadia as they continue their roadschooling adventures in Wyoming! The Wright family visits geysers, tours a hydroelectric plant, flies in a private plane, visits a wind farm, and more! What will they find and what will they learn about their mysterious Time Tuner?

Amateur sleuth Annie Tillery has been warned to stay away from Nevshehir, Turkey, where she is heading to meet her boyfriend Ty Egan, and Cedric Zeeks, Ty's best friend. Intent on helping the two excavate an archeological site where they hope to link human remains to the first African ancestors, Annie does her best to shakes her foreboding feelings as her plane lands in Istanbul and she prepares to embark on her next adventure.

Nadia and Aidan continue their RV adventure with a trip to visit cousins in their dad's home state of Iowa-just in time for Halloween and Nadia's birthday! Nadia loves having time to document their discoveries about the Time Tuner. Aidan wants to sword fight with corn.

Irrepressible. Different. Tenacious. Meet Lucy James, PI in training. Lucy can't seem to finish college and seems stuck in her movie theater job. But she's always been good at figuring out puzzles and a big one drops right in her lap in the shape of an umbrella left behind one rainy night. It turns out something's very wrong at the local art museum and with her best friend, Cindy, and trusty dog, Baskerville, she attempts to find out what.

Wright on Time: Collection 1 includes the Wright family's journey through Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota. This is a collection of the first four children's chapter books in the Wright on Time series. This series is about an RV-living, homeschooling (or, rather, roadschooling) family who travels the USA. Each book (four in this collection) takes the Wright family to a different state with a new and fun educational adventure, with a fun sci-fi thread throughout the series.

Historical cozy mystery set in Los Angeles, CA, in 1926. Mercy Allcutt, Boston Brahmin, wants to experience life in all its grittiness. How better than by working for a down-on-his luck PI in Hollywood? Once she discovers what PI actually stands for, she knows Mr. Ernest Templeton is the boss for her. Together, they must cope with a stray child, kidnapping, blackmail, murder, a toy poodle, a vamp, a stalker, Mercy's overactive imagination and Ernie's strong protective streak.