Showing results by author "Deborah Diaz" in All Categories

Miss Araminta pushes her shopping cart to the neighborhood market, but stops when she sees a well-dressed woman stealing from a blind man's cup. The beggar is well known in the neighborhood; Bill and his seeing-eye dog sleep in a derelict shed behind the grocery store. He just turned up one day from nowhere, and is fed and clothed by the community.

Araminta Elmore is a 67-year-old retired insurance adjustor. She is helpful and always finds herself in the middle of a police investigation. She has been invited to a piano recital at the Belle Meade home of Arthur and Beatrice Lyons. As she makes her way to the French doors of the drawing room, Araminta suddenly notices a glint in the grass. When she picks this up, it turns out to be a red stone - a real ruby. She shoves it into her bag until after the recital.

Miss Araminta enjoys taking a week's holiday every fall. She always goes to the Pioneer House Bed and Breakfast near Triune, Tennessee, which is owned by her good friends Mark and Felicia Rollins. This time, Miss Araminta finds a scene of consternation and turmoil when she starts to check in. Police Detective Davis is talking to her hostess, and both seem upset. They quickly tell her that a guest died in one of the upper rooms during the night.

Miss Araminta gets a call from her goddaughter, Francia Carter. The girl wants to come to Nashville for the weekend with her boyfriend, Roger Dumont. Miss Araminta is especially interested to hear news of Amina Carter, Francia's mother, whose maid of honor she was. Everything Miss Araminta hears makes her more concerned about her best friend. She decides to ride back down to Sewanee with the two young people and see Amina herself.

South, the Marquess of Southerton, is on quest to retrieve some love letters from a Duke's past lover. Bored to go through another season, he goes to the Lady's house and finds a way to be invited to stay. The Lady is married to a man who looks like a scholar and very genteel but she seems to be intensely unhappy. After a while, South finds out some strange happenings in the house. What is the mystery of the bleeding mirror?

The year is 2014. Rob Walsh is a 49-year-old retired chief petty officer and private investigator. She is a rising star as a PI. Following a certain incident with her client, she has decided to resign and spend her time writing books. These five books follow the adventures of Robin using her skills to solve difficult cases.

Miss Sophie Tennant was a girl of 19, of sweet, if a bit sickly, disposition, and golden curls. She had been confined to her invalid's chair since her childhood after a bad fall. Her health had deteriorated rapidly following her parents' deaths, and she'd hardly risen from it since. Sophie was waiting for her ladies' maid to wheel her to her bedchamber, when she screamed. In front of her she sees a dead body, white and pale in the candlelight. She reaches out a hand and touches its cheek.

A duchess has been stolen from her bed in the middle of the night. The Marquess of Southerton happens upon the scene, only to find the entire chamber bathed in blood. Who did this violence? And how is it connected to his own wife's near murder? Things are not what they seem in the dark, foggy, crime-plagued streets of Regency London.

Members of the House of Lords are turning up murdered in their beds all over London. Lord Southerton is investigating the connection that links them, when an orphaned girl turns up on his doorstep. Now South is now more determined than ever to find the killer, but he's always one step behind him. How will the killings ever stop, unless he catches him?

Araminta had gone shopping at the exclusive Green Hills Mall, a fairly long drive from Melrose, because she wanted to see what colors would be popular in knit goods and kitchen cloths this spring. Araminta was just leaving the upscale dress shop for the main mall area when someone cannoned into her in the crowd.This young woman helped Araminta right herself after the collision and started to apologize profusely. Looking up, Araminta spotted what she thought was a familiar young face.

The Marquess of Southerton is determined to catch the ruthless killer who has spread death and destruction in Regency London. But will his secret plan succeed? And who will save him if the criminal proves too clever, even for him?

The Prince Regent wants to consult South about a series of very expensive and rare paintings he wants to buy for his collection. South discovers they were forged. There are even more strange happenings in the city. Two seemingly unrelated happenings. Could the clue be in the gilded frame?

Hundreds of innocent lives are in danger, as a black tendril of murder and crime unfurls above the gloomy London skies. But the Marquess of Southerton has no idea where to look for the culprit. All he has is a note threatening his wife's life, and the whispers of a dying man. He doesn't even have a name.

South is 20 years old, studying at Eaton. His brother is nine. One day he is back on vacation from school, and he wakes up to find out his mother died in her sleep during the night. She was weak. She was ill and sad because of her husband's drinking and gambling, but South thinks something is wrong with her death.

When the Lord Killian Ware, second son of the Duke of Worthing, arrived from his country seat, he was in tears. His daughter disappeared two weeks ago. The Duke begged "South", the Marquis, to find her. Meanwhile, the Marquis' younger brother, Killian, who is rumored to be something of a rogue and a gambler, but is very kind-hearted, found an orphan boy in the streets and rescues him from a pair of ruffians. The boy swears he'll serve the Marquis' brother until he dies.

Miss Araminta has to run an errand for Bishop Hand: pick up a young pastor at the Nashville Greyhound Terminal. When Miss Araminta gets to the crowded terminal, the bus from Ft. Lauderdale has just come in. She begins anxiously looking for a young man in a clerical collar. Seeing him only in the distance, she follows him to the small cafeteria area, where he appears to be looking for someone. Just then a young girl leaves one of the tables and runs to him. She starts to speak, but instead falls at his feet.

When a prominent chemist disappears for more than a few days, the family hires Smith Investigations to find her. It is Rob's first official case. The members of the investigation team thinks the chemist may be dead, but Rob thinks otherwise. In the midst of this investigation, Rob has to deal with issues of her team. Is the chemist dead for sure?

Rob goes to Smith Investigations to gather her things and resign, but Smith's complaints about his team falling apart get her suspicious. He says that with her leaving and Robert MIA on some video game tournament, Smith has had trouble dealing with the recent wave of new cases.

When Richard Smith, her old colleague from her PI firm, invites her to solve a difficult case, Robin refuses outright. Smith pleads with Robin if she does not investigates this case, a life is at stake.

Robin is now a full time private investigator in Smith Investigations. A woman came to the agency and asked that they investigate the disappearance of her husband. Robin immediately senses something is amiss.