Showing results by author "Connie Shelton" in All Categories

Women are flocking to invest in film producer Robert Williams' latest project, and Gracie's mother is no exception. She has sunk her life savings into his latest movie investment scheme. Big returns were promised, along with the chance to hobnob with famous actors. Now, the money's gone, the bank is threatening foreclosure, and Mama has also taken on the responsibility of Gracie's younger sister and her two kids. Left homeless, the whole brood may be showing up at Gracie's door!

Samantha Sweet's life is a little crazy right now, beginning with her daughter's wedding, which coincides with Sam's receiving a huge new contract for her chocolate factory. The day after the wedding, someone takes a shot at Sam, and she discovers the bad guys are back.

The weather turns to spring, and Charlie faces a pair of puzzles. Against Charlie’s better judgment Ron, her PI partner, takes a cheating-spouse case that turns into a comedy of errors involving a star football player and his wife’s petty vengeance. Meanwhile, Charlie’s neighbor Elsa has a bad feeling about a family up the street. Is it a case of the neighborhood busybody having too much time on her hands, or is there truly something sinister happening with twin teen girls who’ve been left with too much money and not enough supervision?

Samantha Sweet’s husband, Beau, gets a call from a cousin he hasn’t seen in decades. Cecelia’s husband was recently murdered, and the local cops in their small town haven’t come up with a single suspect. She knows it wasn’t the random act of violence they’re claiming; Mark had been digging into something mysterious at his workplace and no one knows what kind of secrets he may have uncovered.

When Emily Plankhurst is visited by the ghost of Gabriel Graystone, and learns he was murdered, she knows she must find justice for him. The only problem is, Gabriel was killed a hundred years ago, shortly after he broke off his engagement to the daughter of a prominent Taos family, and there aren’t many other clues to go by in finding his killer.

Upon returning to her New Mexico home after visiting her fiance in Hawaii, private investigator Charlie Parker discovers that her mother and father, a scientist at Sandia Labs, were killed in a suspicious small plane crash.

Charlie Parker is asked to look into a controversial series of miscarriages in a small town in New Mexico that's heavily populated by Mexicans. The town has one medical clinic. Her first assumption is to look for some type of environmental problem such as pesticides but that draws a blank. Then she shifts her suspicions onto the medical industry and finds herself embroiled in politics regarding health care among minorities. It's when the dead bodies start to show up that she realizes she's onto something far bigger than she imagined and far deadlier....

Samantha Sweet and her husband Beau have wrapped up a case in Oklahoma and returned to Taos, only to immediately receive surprising news from a friend. There’s been a shakeup in the Taos Sheriff’s Department and suddenly Beau has his old job back. Meanwhile, it’s Thanksgiving week and Sam’s bakery is busier than ever, as they’ve been asked to supply pies for the community Thanksgiving dinner. Plus, there’s a new event—the Harvest Feast. Chefs from around the state will compete to create and share fantastic ways to use holiday leftovers.

Amber Zeckis has just flown home to Phoenix after a dream vacation with her dream guy in Paris. But things go sour when she is stopped at the airport and US Customs finds a huge amount of undeclared cash in her luggage. The problem is, Amber has no idea where it came from. The authorities don't believe her and it's looking like she could be facing prison time and fines. She calls on her friends for help, and the Ladies are faced with their trickiest case yet.

Mary Holbrook and Sandy Warner are volunteering at Heaven Sent, a homeless shelter, and discover it has been the scene of some thefts. The Heist Ladies decide to investigate. At the same time there are some strange doings at the New Age establishment next door. The Temple of the Rising Moon is run by gurus Orion and Sunshine, a husband and wife team living in a converted school bus, who claim to be raising money to build homes for poor people. As the Ladies dig deeper, they discover the charity is suspect and the hippies aren't exactly who they claim to be either.

It's Halloween, one of the busiest seasons of the year for Samantha Sweet and the crew at her pastry shop, Sweet's Sweets. After baking a zillion pumpkin cookies, ghostly cupcakes, and an all-black cake for a young witch's wedding, the gang is looking forward to a gala costume party at the neighborhood bookshop. But when one of the guests is murdered and a rare book vanishes—practically in front of their eyes—the evening takes a whole different turn and Sam finds herself in the midst of another mystery.

Samantha Sweet is back at Sweet's Sweets, turning out her amazing cakes and pastries for the busy holiday season, when Emily Plankhurst, the new young librarian in town, stops in. Emily tells Sam a strange story involving a hidden niche in the library revealed to her in a vision, supposedly, by her dead grandmother. It turns out the hidden space contains a rare painting, The Ghost of Christmas, which was believed to have been destroyed in a fire twenty-five years ago at the luxury home of a hedge fund billionaire.

There's cash missing from a local charity thrift shop—lots of it. And when it looks like her surrogate grandma might be accused, there's nothing for Charlie to do but take a job there and try to catch the thief from the inside and clear Elsa's name. As she and Elsa begin tracking the missing money, it becomes obvious that the shop is a little goldmine and there are a number of people who could easily be after the money. She's narrowing down the suspects, but when the person who is tops on her list suddenly and mysteriously dies, well it looks like there's a lot more going on.

Samantha Sweet is back at Sweet's Sweets, her bakery with a magical flair, while husband Beau is now a full-time rancher. When he hires a young cowboy to help out, no one suspects that Danny Flores comes with a lot of baggage until Lila, the girl he left behind, shows up. She says she has romance on her mind, but Danny finds her manipulative and domineering. He changed his number and moved out of state, but she has managed to track him down.

It's Christmas in Albuquerque; Charlie and family are ready for a quiet holiday at home. But right away, her hopes fade when Charlie's brother and PI business partner, Ron, brings in two new cases, one of which made national headlines. Five years earlier, with the tide of media attention and public sentiment against her, Tali Donovan was acquitted of killing her two children and went into hiding. Now, on the anniversary of the children's disappearance, their father wants answers.

For John Carver, a simple Celtic woodworker, life is a struggle to feed his family. Then one summer day, as he walks past a near-dead alder tree, lightning strikes. With the shattered tree lying all around him, Carver pulls himself up and decides to make the best of it - he takes the usable pieces to his workshop. From the shards of that dead tree John creates three boxes. Then the unexplained happens - shortly after handling one of them, John's touch brings his young son back from the brink of death.

It’s a terrible case of mistaken identity when a gang of bank robbers think that Charlie is a famous movie star. Disappointed with their take from the bank, they decide that a hefty ransom will be their ticket to riches. But what will happen when the real star steps forward? Charlie knows that only her wits will save her from this band of desperate men. Meanwhile, in a race against the clock, Charlie's husband Drake is working with the FBI and local authorities to get Charlie back before her captors realize their mistake.

Charlie is invited to a plush Santa Fe spa, a week-long spiritual/nutrition retreat with her friend Dr. Linda Casper. The massages and spa treatments sound great, until she realizes that there is something darker going on at the mountain resort. Meanwhile, Drake has his own set of concerns. He's been asked to testify as an expert witness in a helicopter crash case and it's causing him more anxiety than any feat of flying ever did. It seems that they are each on their own but their two cases overlap and dangers abound, from all sides.

Charlie is on vacation. A cozy cabin, a diner that serves delicious guilty-pleasures, and Drake - all Charlie needs to relax and enjoy herself. But the town of Watson's Lake has a little unsolved mystery. Four years ago, a showplace home - beautiful and serene and tucked away on the mountain - blew sky high, due to an apparent gas leak. A young woman died. The owner disappeared. His gold-digging wife wants the insurance money, and his daughter wants to know what happened to her father.

It’s a New Mexico Christmas. The lights are strung, the luminarias are set along the sidewalks. Treats are abundant and Charlie Parker is getting ready for her mother-in-law’s holiday visit. But there is trouble in the neighborhood and when death shows up - right next door - Charlie’s bright, festive plans suddenly take a turn for the dark.