The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries

Donna's dream of running a Victorian bed and breakfast is almost a reality. Her lack of inn keeping expertise, a shabby house in need of dire renovation and lack of money has slowed her down a bit. The murdered man in the upstairs parlor is her biggest obstacle. Less determined people might give up, but not Donna. No killer is going to stop her from serving apple crumb cake to high paying guests.

The Painted Lady Inn is open for business and limping along in the B and B world. A high school reunion package assembles Donna's least desirable classmates, including the backstabbing cheerleader, her narcissistic high school crush, and Arnie, whose cheesy poem had everyone calling her Hot Mama. It's all something she liked to forget. These are the normal guests.

A ruthless food critic's appearance in Legacy has all the local chefs on edge, not knowing whom she intends to skewer next. Donna and staff turn cartwheels to keep the reviewer happy. Her friend, Janice, begs her to spy on the critic. A difficult guest has Donna call in the cavalry in the form of her mother. Now that mom's foot is in the door, she won't leave and is determined to help Donna with the inn and her love life. The first thing they need to do is find the missing critic, right after their double date.

A drive-by murder signals the end of a relaxed Christmas. Donna refuses to accept that organized crime is moving into town, but to do so, she must find the murderer. In the meantime, she needs to host a Victorian tea, pin down a certain detective's romantic intentions, keep a boozy Santa sober, deal with a cursed clown doll, and hide a hunky underwear model. It's just another holiday at The Painted Lady Inn.

Strained relationships, lurkers in the dark, open windows in the dead of winter, and a séance gone wrong is only the beginning. Too bad the help has gone south leaving Donna dependent on her overzealous mother and a questionable fan.

Donna needs a getaway, and fast. After some gentle nudging from her best friend Janice, they set sail on the high seas with visions of sipping exotic drinks and relaxing under the sun. But just as Donna begins to unwind, she discovers half the town is coming along for the ride, including her mother, brother, and her very pregnant sister-in-law. Less than 48 hours later, a guest inexplicably plummets to his death, and you-know-who has a whole other case on her hands.

Their hearts intent on a private ceremony, Mark and Donna are days away from saying I do. But the discreet location they’ve chosen for the wedding of the decade might not be as private as they initially believed. The picturesque inn offers more than a quaint backdrop. The accommodations include a covey of eager wedding planners clamoring for the opportunity to assist. Complicating matters even further, meddling family members, nosy guests, and a swarm of Civil War re-enactors are also vying for their attention.

The town of Legacy unexpectedly scores a major financial windfall when the regional Gen Conference is relocated to their small burg, but their good fortune is short-lived when one of Donna’s guests dies mere hours after arriving at the inn. And that’s only the beginning of what will turn into a full-fledged disaster as she, Mark, and the uncooperative police commissioner wrangle with a suspicious death, the identity of a human skeleton, and a mysterious box that could be the origin to Legacy’s most famous urban legend.

Detective Mark Taber and his new bride Donna, an amateur sleuth, are ready to take a much-needed break from crime-solving and finally enjoy their long-awaited honeymoon in the quartz-rich mountains of Arkansas, but unfortunately for them, crime never takes a break. When their car breaks down at the site of the first murder the county has seen in a century, they find themselves in a bind. Will they temporarily forgo their plans to find a murderer, or will the possibility of netting quartz clusters and county fair-winning recipes pull them in another direction?

Bake-off fever is in full-swing and Donna can’t help but have visions of becoming the next great baking star, but the competition is stiff, and someone is willing to kill to win. When one of the contestants is found dead, a twist of fate puts Donna at the center of the competition. That’s the perfect position to unravel the mystery, but only if she doesn’t get caught in the crosshairs.