Katrina Faulkner hurts almost as much as the man in her life when he loses his bid to be reelected sheriff. But for the first time since she met Rick Formero, she’s not worried about him being in peril—until he’s drafted to help solve the fiery murder of the man who beat him at the polls. While the Serendipity Springs police department is in chaos, it’s up to Kat and her mah jongg pals to step in as Rick’s unofficial staff to unravel the crime. As the tips roll in and suspects multiply, it appears the late sheriff led a complicated life, with ties to the same sketchy gambling toughs he was supposed to be arresting. But no one’s taking bets on who’s to blame for his death. Syd is planning a mah jongg tournament, Marianne is writing a play and journalist Micki can’t wait to get her hands on the juicy story. But when the chips are down, they and the men in their lives are up to the task of helping Kat and Rick delve into the world of high-stakes gambling in pursuit of an elusive killer—even if they’re rolling the dice on danger.
Interior designer Rowena Summerfield is ready to add her festive flair to the reception for her Florida town’s first marathon, even if a local Scrooge turns down her request for a donation. But when he’s found dead under the wreckage of the race’s reviewing stand, it’s clear someone’s reindeer game has turned deadly. Former homicide investigator Ro is once again recruited to help her former partner, Herc Morgan, find the killer. All of their suspects could be on Santa’s naughty list. And given that the victim dumped coal on every life he touched, any one of them could have decided to frost him. Ro and Herc are eager to wrap up the case so they can get back to their yuletide fun. Herc’s agonizing over picking the perfect gift for his new girlfriend. Ro’s boyfriend, Chuck, hints that he has a very special ornament in mind. While Ro sorts through clues to discover the murderer, she must also sort through her loyalty to her late husband and her growing love for this new man in her life. Will the twinkle of the tree lights in her living room be outdone on Christmas Day by the sparkle of a rock on her finger? Maybe, but only if a killer doesn’t murder their merriment first.
Renovating a restaurant is hard enough. Renovating it for your boyfriend who thinks his million-dollar smile will make up for his ever-changing whims is even harder. But running the job when a woman is murdered in a house your colleague is renovating? It’s almost more than Rowena Summerfield can handle—especially when she’s once again pulled into her old role of homicide detective to find the killer. Ro dives in to clear her friend so she can go back to her real job, especially since the rocky renovation threatens to wreck her relationship with charming Chuck. But this mystery is anything but straightforward. The victim wore drywall stilts. Her nearest relatives are either uncooperative or dead. And everybody’s lying to Ro and her old partner, Herc. With support from her daughter and her finicky cat, Jason, Ro puts her new love and young company on the line to crack the case—even when the only solution seems to be a dangerous plot to entrap the murderer before the devious killer eliminates them.
Essential oils distributor Dorcas Wiley is the boss everyone loves to hate. So when she turns up dead, killed by her own trophy, disgruntled saleswoman Cathy Broderick is the obvious suspect in her murder. Despite opportunity, motive and incriminating evidence, Cathy declares her innocence and enlists her mah jongg pals—Sydney Bonner and her cronies Marianne, Micki and Kat—to help save her from the death penalty. Hot off a recent and nearly deadly investigation, the women are cautious about putting themselves in peril again. Syd’s spouse isn’t thrilled about another mystery in their lives, either, but he can’t resist the plea of Cathy’s husband. Soon, Syd is leading the way as they tangle with grumpy salespeople, the victim’s estranged husband and boyfriend, a mysterious housekeeper, a litigious customer, an annoyed sheriff and Cathy’s own arrogant lawyer. The women have their own issues to deal with in their central Florida town of Serendipity Springs. Kat faces a health challenge, Micki fields a mysterious inquiry from her ex, Marianne has a chaotic anniversary and Syd wrestles with her husband over who’s really in charge. But nothing puts everyday life into perspective like the moment when their investigation brings them face to face with danger.
Kat Faulkner is finally about to relaunch her singing career at Lombardi’s Supper Club. Even mystery man Roger Flower, the new owner of the restaurant, has brought an entourage to her packed opening night. But her triumphant return to the stage is scuttled when the much-hated Flower drops dead at his table. Her grumpy would-be boyfriend, Sheriff Rick Formero, has lectured her and her mah jongg friends every time they’ve delved into a homicide investigation. But with most of Serendipity Springs’ deputies under suspicion just for being in the same room as the victim, Rick finds himself in the unenviable position of asking Kat to help him expose a murderer. While Kat’s pals Sydney, Marianne and Micki conduct a sneaky parallel investigation, Rick is forced to rely on Kat’s skills of observation as they sort through dozens of witnesses. With his hands in so many pots, Flower attracted a lot of enemies, but it’s not easy to find a killer in the crowd. The tension threatens to wilt Kat and Rick’s budding relationship before it has a chance to blossom. Will their forced alliance bring them closer—or closer to death?
Ex-cop Rowena Summerfield would do just about anything for longtime friend Ryder Tompkins. When he discovers he has a half sister he never knew about and pressures Ro to use her investigative talents to help him find her, she can’t say no. But boyfriend Chuck Dawson’s offer to accompany her to Atlanta might complicate the search. Is she ready for so much togetherness? What begins as a simple missing-person case escalates to a danger-filled odyssey when they learn the woman has fled town, taking all her worldly goods except a bloodstained cocktail dress. The hunt is on as they follow clues cross-country from one town to another. But they’ve left a trail of their own, and the missing woman’s enemies now threaten Ro and Chuck—not to mention their friends and family back home in Florida. Ro is torn. If they go home to protect their loved ones, they’ll leave Ryder’s sister in danger, but without the backup of Ro’s police colleagues, they don’t have the resources to face a killer. As Ro and Chuck work their way through a labyrinth of challenges, their partnership evolves beyond attraction. Is it strong enough to withstand Ro’s sneaky moves to solve the case while keeping him out of danger?
Sydney Bonner overhears a fellow mah jongg player arguing on the phone with her husband and realizes the couple’s “perfect marriage” isn’t all it appears to be. When the husband is found dead a few days later, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him. Though none of these four take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders. Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them.
Marianne Putnam’s one-act play is about to come to life, if she can put up with the guidance of an egotistical New York director who seems to think his primary job is tormenting the cast and crew at the Serendipity Springs community center. Jason Newhall’s efforts might be working in more ways than one — while the play gets better, everyone hates him more and more, including a trickster playing jokes in the theater. Just when Marianne’s baby is about to have its moment in the spotlight, the director fails to show up for curtain time. Marianne and his wife rush to his house to find him dead. Though no one really liked him, who hated him enough to kill him? Everyone in the cast and crew is considered a suspect, along with the director’s wife and Marianne. Sheriff Formero plays a trick of his own when Marianne and her mah jongg friends want to investigate the case—he invites Syd, Micki and Kat to work with him and his deputies to interview a long list of potential suspects, but only under his conditions. But Marianne can’t resist getting involved too. She enlists the hapless husbands of her friends, and they set out to solve the crime on their own ... only to learn the hard way that independence can be dangerous.
Oh, her aching feet! Micki Demetrius questions her sanity for agreeing to compete in Serendipity Springs’ Annual Charleston Challenge when clearly she and her partner, Guy Whitney, have no chance of winning or even placing. Just ask the reigning champion, who points out their low odds of taking home the trophy every chance she gets. But then, Micki’s only dancing in this contest because Guy wouldn’t enter without her, and the poor man needs something to occupy his days. Retirement hasn’t come easy for him. Not that there’s anything special going on between them, as much as Guy would like or his daughter suspects. There isn’t, is there? Micki can’t wait to put their performance behind them—until one of the top competitors is found dead on the ballroom floor. The sheriff warns Micki and her three mah jongg pals not to play amateur sleuth again, but he can’t stop this persistent freelance journalist from pursuing her inside scoop, with a little help from her friends. The trouble with being on the inside, though, is that being so close to her sketchy subjects might just let the killer get dangerously close to her.
When the dragon lady down the street invites Sydney Bonner’s husband to join the block’s holiday lighting extravaganza, Syd figures the venture will distract him while she manages Sheriff Rick Formero’s election campaign. But Trip’s merry mission ends abruptly when the diva suffers a dramatic demise. Syd and her mah jongg friends Marianne, Micki and Kat see a chance to make their amateur sleuthing official with their contributions to Sheriff Rick’s campaign platform. But they’re just as interested in why the skipper of the spectacular light show met her shocking end. Putting their political proposal into action, Syd rides shotgun with Rick as they interview a stocking full of suspects. Serendipity Springs’ secrets come to light as they unravel the mystery against the backdrop of a contentious campaign. From the standoffish widower to the resentful volunteers, it seems everyone on the committee had a problem with the queen of Christmas. As the naughty list grows and the neighbors string the investigators along, can Syd and her friends nail the evil elf before a deadly decorator turns out their lights for good?
Welcome to Serendipity Springs and the first five books in the Mah Jongg Mystery series! Mah jongg can generate killer competition. But murder? The answer is yes when it comes to four retired Central Florida friends, who find themselves solving baffling homicides in between the games they love. Whether you know how to mah jongg or not, join these intrepid seniors as they take turns leading their own private investigations. It turns out the mental agility they use to strategize each play is the perfect tool for tracking down murderers.
How could a thirty-something man fall to his death from a fourth-floor balcony he knows is defective? That’s the question freelance writer Micki Demetrius is asked to answer by the man’s grieving mother, Clarissa White, who refuses to believe his death was an unfortunate accident. But when the authorities determine it was homicide, Micki is shut out of her investigative efforts. Giving up is easier said than done for Micki. She can’t resist a mystery, and suspicious characters won’t leave Clarissa alone, from the woman claiming a stake in the victim’s life to a cagey character who wants his business. As the threat to Clarissa grows, Micki feels compelled to help her in spite of the danger. Micki’s three mah jongg pals—Sydney, Marianne and Kat—are drawn into the mystery, but the retirees have their own challenges. Syd and husband Trip do grandparent duty while their daughter deals with marital issues. Marianne “finds herself” by writing a one-act play. And Kat must decide how public to go with her growing friendship with the sheriff. Together, they must connect the dots in a nefarious web of greed, neglect, secrecy and murder.
Beware the east wind! It’s hurricane season in Florida, and everyone’s attention is focused on preparing for the latest tempest. But in Serendipity Springs, mah jongg pals Marianne, Sydney, Micki and Kat are caught in a different kind of whirlwind—a mesmerizing murder case involving a slain hypnotist/chef and the woman police suspect of doing her in, her embittered catering partner, Portia. Tasked by Portia to help clear her name, and at the risk of infuriating Kat’s sheriff boyfriend, Marianne and her friends discover there are more than enough suspects—and secrets—to go around. Wary of getting themselves into more dangerous situations, Marianne and Syd agree to let their protective spouses join the hunt, even if their scheming husbands are really in it for the action, not bodyguard duty. As they dig into the hypnotist’s explosive files, more and more questions arise. Was she blackmailing her clients? Did her husband knock her off to gain access to those secrets? And is Portia telling them everything she knows? The sleuths pile their own deceptions on top of the suspects’ lies as a dangerous storm gathers steam offshore. When will the east wind strike, and will the hurricane’s merciless eye reveal a killer?
Ein packendes literarisches Länderporträt Spannende Geschichten herausragender Autor/innen Ein abenteuerlicher Roadtrip quer durch die USA »Eine bessere Kurzgeschichtensammlung ist schwer zu finden – egal in welchem Genre.« Publishers Weekly Von Küste zu Küste: 14 herausragende Autorinnen und Autoren – von den Superstars der Szene bis zu literarischen Geheimtipps – nehmen Sie mit auf eine abenteuerliche Reise quer durch die USA. Vom brodelnden New York und den dicht besiedelten Städten der Ostküste über die Berge und Städte des Landesinneren bis zu den mythendurchdrungenen und hitzeflimmernden Metropolen der Westküste. Starke Literatur, die berührend und spannend von den Schattenseiten des amerikanischen Traums erzählt. Von einer bunt schillernden Gegenwart voller ungewöhnlicher Milieus abseits der üblichen Touristenpfade. Von Tagträumern, Zockern, Kriegsveteranen, Aussteigern, Billigjobbern, korrupten Polizisten, Trickbetrügern, Drogenhändlern, Privatdetektiven und ganz normalen Menschen, die in Situationen geraten, die sie nicht mehr kontrollieren können. 14 kraftvolle, dichte Geschichten mit ungewöhnlichen Settings und Figuren – so abwechslungsreich und aufregend wie die USA selbst. Die Reihe: »USA Noir« ist nach »Berlin Noir« und »Paris Noir« der dritte Teil einer Reihe internationaler Noir-Anthologien mit exklusiv geschriebenen Originalgeschichten. Jede Story spielt in einem anderen Viertel einer Stadt oder einer anderen Gegend eines Landes. Es sind packende literarische Städte- und Länderporträts mit ungewöhnlichen, breit gefächerten Einblicken. Weitere Teile sind geplant. »Das Konzept der Noir-Reihe überzeugt.« TIPP Berlin
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