Showing results by author "Ellery Adams" in All Categories

Despite his trimmer waistline, his girlfriend Lucy's affections for him seem to have inexplicably cooled. So when Lindy suggests the supper club members join a Mexican cooking class, James leaps at the chance to try something new. The Flab Five's classmates include Shenandoah Star Ledger editor Murphy Alistair and twin sisters with supermodel physiques. When one of the sisters is murdered during a school field trip to Luray Caverns, the amateur sleuths set out to catch the killer.

As the owner of Miracle Books, Nora Pennington figures all the wet weather this spring is at least good for business. The local inns are packed with stranded travelers. Since a little rain never hurt anyone, Nora rides her bike over to the flea market one sodden day and buys a bowl from Danny, a Cherokee potter. But the next day, a little rain turns into a lot of rain, and the Miracle River overflows its banks. Amid the wreckage of a collapsed footbridge, a body lies within the churning water. Nora and the sheriff both doubt the ruling of accidental drowning.

Nora Pennington, the owner of Miracle Books, believes that a well-chosen novel can bring healing and hope. But she and the rest of the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society know that, sometimes, practical help is needed, too. Such is the case with the reed-thin girl hiding in the fiction section of Nora's store, wearing a hospital ID and a patchwork of faded bruises. She calls herself Abilene, and, although Nora and her friends offer work, shelter, and a supportive ear, their guest isn't ready to divulge her secrets.

Molly Appleby's career as a reporter for Collector's Weekly is finally taking off, as is her relationship with coworker Matt Harrison. But the more time she spends covering Southern antiques and collectibles, the more times she finds herself face-to-face with a new mystery. And when she's sent to Nashville to cover the famous Heart of Dixie auction, where all the major players in the world of collectibles gather, her hopes of steering clear of foul play are quickly dashed when a renowned and well-respected dealer is found murdered.

Desperate for a solution to their endless struggles with weight loss, the supper club members decide to sign on with Wellness Village, a new-age health center promising life-changing improvements through hypnotherapy. It's a mesmerizing experience, to say the least, but when the village's fresh food festival is disrupted by an angry mob of protesters and a local councilman is found dead, librarian James Henry and his friends trade in their newfound sense of calm for a tense hunt for a cold-blooded killer.

When an elderly Miracle Springs resident, Lucille Wynter, arranges for Nora to deliver an order of books to her creepy, crumbling Southern Gothic mansion, Nora doesn't expect to be invited in. An agoraphobic, Lucille doesn't leave Wynter House. Nor does she invite anyone inside. But when Lucille doesn't come to the door to collect her books, Nora begins to worry. Forcing her way into Lucille's dilapidated home, Nora is shocked to find rooms packed to the ceiling with decaying books and a lifeless Lucille at the foot of her stairs.

In the world of antiques and collectibles, it helps to have a sharp eye for quality, a good ear for gossip, and a nose for murder. When the female antiques dealer she was meant to interview turns up dead, Collector's Weekly reporter Molly Appleby can't help but wonder why anyone would kill a woman so new to the area. Before she can spend much time pondering means or motive, Molly discovers that the father she never knew is keen on a reconciliation. And while it seems unlikely that his sudden interest and the death of the dealer are connected, Molly soon learns otherwise.

When a scathing review by a prominent food critic threatens to ruin the career of local celebrity chef Anton Parsley, he turns to Cooper and her Bible study group for help. Cooper's boyfriend was once mentored by the beloved chef, and Cooper will do anything she can to support his struggling restaurant. But before she can figure out how to restore the chef's good reputation, the food critic is found murdered in his restaurant. Suddenly, Cooper and the gang must go from propping up the chef to tracking down a killer.

When a retired Hollywood A-lister decides to auction off part of his enviable collection of antiques, reporter Molly Appleby is thrilled to be covering the event for Collector's Weekly, and she's certain it will secure the reputation of the dealer handling it, a friend of hers. But soon after the final gavel comes down, the actor's secretary vanishes and the antiques dealer is found dead, apparently having taken his own life.

When star reporter Molly Appleby exchanged vows with her new husband, she also made a promise to give up sleuthing. But given her knack for stumbling onto murders, and murderers, she's realizing she never should have made a promise she couldn't keep. Molly's just finished an article on the Forget Me Not Doll Club for Collector's Weekly, but before the magazine even hits the newsstands, one of the club members is found murdered, and a stolen antique doll - purportedly haunted - is found in the victim's house. Police enlist Molly's help to solve this very odd case.

The Hope Street Community Theater is staging It's a Wonderful Life as a fundraiser, and Cooper and the Bible study group are all taking part. They've also managed to land the help of a famous Broadway director, and he travels to Richmond along with his star actress and staff. But the director's entourage epitomize the worst of theater personalities, with petty grievances and jealousies stirring up more drama off the stage than on. And when the assistant director is found murdered in her hotel suite, the list of possible suspects is longer than a red carpet.

Molly Appleby is on cloud nine. The talented reporter and senior staff writer for Collector's Weekly just got engaged to the man she loves. When she takes time off to plan her wedding and shop for a vintage gown, the spunky writer with a growing reputation for finding corpses and solving murders vows to her family and fiancé to avoid trouble at all costs - until the wedding photographer she visits turns up dead in his home, the victim of foul play.

Molly Appleby has promised her new husband that their honeymoon will be trouble-free - specifically, no sleuthing. Unfortunately, trouble seems to follow Molly wherever she goes, even to England. After a glorious week in London, the newlyweds have escaped the city to visit Molly's great-aunt in the quaint English village of Marlow Crossing. The setting is idyllic, as beautiful and serene as Molly could hope for, but, as the senior staff writer for Collector's Weekly knows, appearances can be deceiving.

Jane and her fiance, Edwin, are headed to the North Carolina coast for a much-needed vacation. Their harborside loft has floor-to-ceiling bookcases and breathtaking views, but Jane's hopes of exploring the town with her man are stymied when Edwin steps on a stingray. Things take an even less romantic turn when Jane stumbles across a dead body . . . Instead of taking leisurely beach strolls, Jane is suddenly on a literary chase through time, unearthing a dark secret in her family tree that threatens all she holds dear back in Storyton.

As the residents of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, select their costumes, plan parties, and get excited for a night of tricks or treats, Nora joins in on the festivities by hosting medium memoirist Lara Luz at the bookstore. Charismatic and compelling, Lara mesmerizes the audience with her life story. Struck by a bolt of lightning as a child, she was pronounced dead only to be resurrected with the ability to connect with those on the other side.

As Jane eagerly anticipates the wedding of her best friend Eloise Alcott, Storyton Hall is overrun with poets in town to compete for a coveted greeting card contract. They're everywhere, scrawling verses on cocktail napkins in the reading rooms or seeking inspiration strolling the Poet's Walk, a series of trails named after famous authors. But the Tennyson Trail leads to a grim surprise: a woman's corpse drifting in a rowboat on a lake, a crumpled copy of "The Lady of Shallot" in her lifeless fist.

Six chefs are preparing to compete in an outdoor tent at Storyton Hall for prizes that will boost their careers - but is there someone who can't stand the heat? It looks that way when one of the contestants is found dead in a pantry packed with two centuries' worth of cookbooks, among other treasures and rarities. Could there be a connection to other recent events in town, like tampering with the costume of a local mascot? Jane isn't sure, but after someone serves a second course of murder, the kitchen must be closed and the killer must be found.