Showing results by author "Joanna Campbell Slan" in All Categories

Being a divorced career woman in the late 80s isn't easy. Cragan Collins finds the friendship of other working singles invaluable, especially as she learns the ropes of selling. When Cragan finds a saleswoman unconscious in the mall parking lot, she runs for help. But being a good samaritan means taking the blame when the other woman dies. Later Cragan learns the woman lied to her . . . repeatedly. Cragan is left wondering if she really knew her friend at all!

A nasty divorce leaves Cragan Collins with a mountain of bills and her grandmother to support. She takes a job as an ad salesperson for the Gazette. The market is tough, but Cragan finds a mentor in business reporter, Robert Smithson. One icy January day, Robert is found dead in a city park. His murder is dismissed as gay-on-gay crime. Cragan asks The Friday Night Mystery Club to find justice for Robert. Will Cragan's quest for the truth land her on the obituary page?

When his brother Mycroft disappears, Sherlock Holmes is drawn into the most thrilling case of his career, one that puts his powers to the test as he goes up against the Father of Lies, the Lord of Evil himself. The stakes couldn't be higher as Holmes and Watson are sent by leaders all over the globe to battle for the very survival of mankind. An international chase will lead them from the serene rooms of London's Diogenes Club to a scenic, frozen wasteland in upper New York.

The world was not prepared for this story, a conspiracy hatched in the highest levels of the British government. A rogue Minister of Defense plans to turn soldiers into blood-thirsty animals—and Holmes and Watson may be among their first victims. The adventure starts when Holmes is warned away from investigating Jack the Ripper’s heinous crimes. Despite Holmes’ well-known skills, he is sidelined. He must content himself with a straightforward case, finding a bolting beau, the result of a simple lovers’ quarrel. But that “romance gone wrong” is really the key to a nasty secret.

A weekend at a squire’s country home was intended to be a relaxing visit for Jane Eyre and her husband Edward Rochester. Jane looked forward to meeting the squire’s bride and the artist who’d been hired to paint portraits of the newlyweds. However, the household is anything but joyous! The squire’s new marriage has infuriated those who hoped to inherit his holdings. Then their host turns up dead. A tweeny—a maid who assisted both the Cook and the housemaids—is immediately blamed for the crime.

The Confidential Files of John H. Watson collection contains the following titles: Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Sumatran Rat, Sherlock Holmes and the Father of Lies, Sherlock Holmes and the Nefarious Seafarers, Sherlock Holmes and the Time Machine.

An old enemy has put out a contract on Kiki. She's worth a lot more dead than alive, which isn't surprising given the state of Kiki's finances. This would be a good time to focus on work at the scrapbooking and craft store—except Kiki can't shake the memory of those sniper shots raining down. While creating a memorial album for the murdered heiress, Kiki discovers murky family politics that could be a motive for murder. With help from friends in high and low places, including hunky beau Chad Detweiler, Kiki finds herself facing a grave ultimatum.

When Time in a Bottle, St. Louis's premiere craft store, is slated for demolition, Kiki is forced to confront her deep-rooted aversion to change. But before she can move, the new building must be made ADA compliant. When a long-sealed wall is breached during renovations, a grim secret is revealed. Determined to uncover the truth and provide closure for the innocent life lost, Kiki becomes entangled in a whirlwind investigation that spans decades. With her unyielding spirit and tenacious curiosity, she unravels a web of secrets, deceit, and heartbreak that has haunted this house for years.

Cara Mia thought she found a sculpture of a mermaid in the sand . . . and then it moved! Rescuing a half-drown immigrant was not what she wanted on her morning walk. Stuart, Florida. Was it the right thing to do? Will the woman survive? And if she does, will she be okay? Or was she better off dead? And where are all the other immigrants who made the perilous ocean voyage with her?

Stuart, Florida. Her ex-husband is refusing to pay their son's college tuition (as promised), her sister is pulling mean pranks, and her old boyfriend has broken her heart . . . again. And that's just the personal stuff. She's also concerned about keeping the cash register ringing at the Treasure Chest, her store specializing in upcycled, recycled, and repurposed goods. An important media event goes sadly wrong and Cara's famous temper gets the better of her. Then a prying reporter turns up dead, practically in Cara's backyard.

Stuart, Florida. With her parents deceased and her son away at college, Cara Mia Delgatto longs to reinvent herself. And a sentimental purchase of a fixer-upper in a small, coastal town seems ideal for a new business selling repurposed relics. But when she trips over a corpse at her rundown building, she flips from renovator to prime suspect. Desperate to clear her name, it shocks Cara to discover that her property once housed a multi-million dollar art collection—stolen after the original owner's death. And when her first love shows up, her whirlwind life upgrades to a hurricane.

As the mother of an active toddler and the wife of an often absent husband, Kiki Lowenstein already has both hands full. But when the Lowensteins move into their new house on the same day the construction crew leaves, Kiki must learn to juggle boxes, baby, and big expectations. Her determination to be a good neighbor hits a roadblock when she angers the Nordstroms, the couple who live next door. Then things come to an ugly climax when Sven Nordstrom dies under mysterious circumstances. Sadly, Kiki becomes a suspect.

When her husband’s damaged vision grows worse, Jane Eyre Rochester suggests a trip to an ocular specialist in London. But a night at the opera changes everything! And what seemed like a healing journey becomes a deadly puzzle that Jane must solve if she wants to protect those she loves.

Yorkshire, 1820. Happily married to a country squire and the mother of a young son, Jane Eyre Rochester enjoys an enviable life, one that as an orphan, she could have never dreamed would come true. But when a cryptic letter from her former student arrives—the writer begs for help—Jane will risk everything to save the life of an innocent child.

Cara Mia Delgatto is doing historical research when she visits the House of Refuge, a way station for shipwrecked sailors, on Hutchinson's Island, Florida. But Cara gets a dose of historical reality when another visitor is stabbed—and she's called upon to administer first aid. The subsequent death of the victim weighs heavily on Cara. The police are stymied, but Cara is spunky and determined. Until she finds out whodunnit—and why—she's haunted by the senseless murder.

Cara's life is spinning out of control. A double-wedding is canceled at the last minute. A baby comes early. Her son decides he hates college. But none of that is as upsetting as the death of a young acquaintance, a food service professional with her whole life ahead of her. The drive-by shooting has left the cops without a suspect. Maybe it was simply a random act of violence. But Cara's curiosity, and her innate sense of humanity, drive her to keep asking questions. Who killed the girl with the purple hair? And why?

In this continuation of a new twist to the Sherlock Holmes’ canon, Holmes and Watson reluctantly search for a missing sailor…and stumble on a sinister plan to embarrass and de-throne Queen Victoria. The two friends must work together as never before, in an adventure that takes them under the seas on a wild and harrowing chase to unravel a deadly mystery.

Sherlock Holmes and his friend, Dr. John Watson, are no strangers to danger—but a visitor’s claim that they are to be the targets of an assassin is unsettling. Moreover, the man says he has created a time machine that has whisked him away to the future. Astonishing! The idea is so outlandish that the great detective considers tossing the man out on the street. But there’s more.

First they warned Jocelyn Johnson. Then they ticketed Jocelyn Johnson. Then someone murdered Jocelyn Johnson. Cara Mia Delgatto was looking for a lost ball when she found Jocelyn "JJ" Johnson face down in a sand trap. It wasn't a surprise. The neighbors hated JJ for the reckless way she drove her golf cart. Sure, she lived on the grounds of a swanky golf club, and yes, she had tons of money, but JJ ruined flowerbeds, terrorized grandkids, and made a nuisance of herself. Except . . . except . . . she's quiet now.

As the holiday season approaches, Kiki over-schedules herself and winds up running herself ragged. To make life even more stressful, she must fend off a stalker, a man determined to possess the object of his affection. Kiki's ace full-time employee, Clancy, has HUGE decisions to make. How do you put aside your hurt and disappointment when you've been betrayed? Is it selfish to think of yourself first? As Clancy ponders questions, Kiki stands on the sidelines, knowing this is not her choice to make.