beatrice

Wollie Shelley is a greeting card artist struggling to keep afloat financially and to pursue - despite a series of recent disasters - the search for the love of her life. She reluctantly agrees to be a contestant on the reality television show Biological Clock. The show's premise: six eligible singles date each other, and the audience votes on which couple would make the best parents.

When David Zetrakis, the producer of a popular soap opera, is found shot to death, Wollie Shelley finds herself caught up in the murder. Zetrakis was one of the many Mr. Wrongs in Wollie's career as a serial dater, and her friend Joey has emerged as the media's prime suspect. A hot-tempered celebrity who had dated Zetrakis and was fired from his show some years ago, Joey has inherited a million-dollar Klimt painting from him. But Joey is not the only potential suspect.

What happens when a small-town girl moves to Hollywood to pursue her dreams and winds up in the middle of a murder investigation, haunted by dead celebs, and sought after by the dark side? Introducing Evie Preston: Small-town girl and under-the-radar healer, currently trapped in a po-dunk Texas town but yearning for something more.

This series looks sharply at those who perceive themselves as the rich - the elite, and revolves around expensive cars, clothes and posh country clubs. Fans of Sue Grafton, J.A. Jance, and Sara Peretsky will find Shelton's female sleuth captivating. Devout in her dedication for the underdog, Charlie Parker gets drawn into perilous predicaments while sticking her neck out for friends and clients in trouble. She proves a wily opponent for the evil she discovers.

When Betsy Devonshire arrived in Excelsior, Minnesota, all she wanted was to visit her sister Margot and get her life in order. She never dreamed her sister would give her a place to stay and a job at her needlecraft shop. In fact, things had never looked so good - until Margot was murdered. In a town this friendly, it's hard to imagine who could have committed such a horrible act, but Betsy has a few ideas. There's an ex-employee who wants to start her own needlework store. And there's the landlord who wanted Margot out. Now Betsy's putting together a list of motives and suspects....

When Lucie Montgomery finds the body of prominent wine merchant Paul Noble hanging from a beam in his art studio not far from her Virginia vineyard, she is unwittingly dragged into Noble's murky past. Once a member of the secretive Mandrake Society, Noble might have aided in a cover-up of the deaths forty years ago of a disabled man and a beautiful young biochemist involved in classified government research.

Dotsy Lamb, history professor and recently divorced empty nester, is ready for culinary delights and sun-drenched piazzas on her group tour of Italy - but murder wasn't part of the package. Snide Meg Bauer was loathed by everyone, but even an obnoxious tourist deserves justice after being stabbed to death with a souvenir knife. When a local gypsy is arrested, Dotsy believes he's an innocent scapegoat. Suspecting that the killer lurks among them, she discovers that within the twenty-odd mix of tourists and guides, there are a few dark secrets.

A body in a pool of skim milk. An unsavory discovery at any time, but especially inconvenient when the milk puddle is in front of the espresso machine the very morning you're scheduled to open your chic suburban coffee house, Uncommon Grounds. AND the body is one of your partners, leaving you and your other partner - the one who's still alive - as suspects. Which would all be bad enough, even if your husband HADN'T just dumped you for his dental assistant....

A call from a distraught wife, and another from Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD Special Investigation Unit makes Harry believe things are looking up, but they are about to get worse, much worse. Someone is harnessing immense supernatural forces to commit a series of grisly murders. Someone has violated the first law of magic: Thou Shalt Not Kill. Tracking that someone takes Harry into the dangerous underbelly of Chicago, from mobsters to vampires....

Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is Chicago's only openly practicing wizard. He is also dead broke. His vast knowledge and magical skills are unfortunately matched by his talent for making powerful enemies and alienating friends. With little more than his integrity left, he accepts an offer of work from Lt. Karin Murphy of Chicago's Special Investigations Unit. He wants to redeem himself in Murphy's eyes and make enough money to quiet his rumbling stomach.