Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens
USA Today bestselling authors Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens, are partners in crime—crime writing, that is. They live in Scottsdale, Arizona, awesome for eight months out of the year, an inferno the other four. They write bloody murder, flirty romance, and wicked humor all in one package. When their heads aren't together over a manuscript, you'll probably find them at a movie or play, a hockey game or the mall, or at one of the hundreds of places to find a great meal in the Valley of the Sun.
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Mystic Isle Mysteries
Mystic Mayhem
Mystic Isle Mysteries book #1
Melanie Hamilton is not your average artist. She brings home the bacon by inking tattoos at New Orleans's Mansion at Mystic Isle, a resort in the middle of the bayou that caters to fans of the peculiar and paranormal, but her true passion comes alive when she volunteers restoring Katrina-ravaged landmarks. Between her day job, her restoration work, and selling her paintings in Jackson Square, Mel's life is more hectic than Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday. But when a guest of the resort, a millionaire's widow, is poisoned, and Melanie's close friend is arrested for the murder, things go from hectic to downright dangerous.
Mel joins forces with the resort's delish manager, Jack Stockton, to prove her friend's innocence. Soon they find themselves dealing with séances, secret passages, the ghost of the millionaire himself, gators, swamp rats, and a sinister killer who proves that not everything is what it seems in the Louisiana bayou.
Come on along, and get your creep on.
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Mystic Mistletoe Murder
Mystic Isle Mysteries book #2
'Tis the season at The Mansion on Mystic Isle, and Melanie Hamilton, resident tattoo artist at the resort renown for its supernatural atmosphere, can feel the holiday spirit everywhere in the Louisiana bayou. The festive mood runs deeper than just the tinsel, mistletoe, and twinkling lights, as the milk of human kindness is flowing with gift giving, good cheer, and donations. But when Papa Noël turns up as dead as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and all the bounty from a recent charity drive is stolen, Melanie turns to Jack Stockton, the resort's handsome general manager, to help her find the killer and get it all back.
Who wanted Papa Noël dead and why? Was it the bag of loot they were after, and Papa just got in the way? Or was it a more personal attack on the jolly man in the red suit? Not only does Mel find herself in a fight to prove one of her co-workers innocent, but she's also in a race against a ticking clock to save the life of a sick child. Before long, she closes in on the killer—or maybe it's the killer closing in on Mel!
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Mystic Mischief
Mystic Isle Mysteries book #3
Just when Melanie Hamilton thought things couldn't get stranger at The Mansion at Mystic Isle, she finds herself in the middle of a true pirate treasure hunt! Fortune hunters have arrived Indiana Jones-style at the New Orleans resort where she and boyfriend Jack Stockton work, with their eyes on the prize of a long-lost and priceless letter stolen from the famous pirate Jean Lafitte. Two archeologists, a Hollywood camera crew, and a marauding gator suddenly have Melanie so busy she almost doesn't even have time to quarrel with Jack over the arrival of his ex-girlfriend... Almost. But her romantic issues take a back seat when a dead body shows up at the home of the resort's owner. Now it's up to Mel and the rest of the odd crew at Mystic Isle to bring order back to the bayou and solve the murder. But if someone would kill once for a piece of parchment, would they kill twice? And could Mel wind up at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker?
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Mystic Deception
Mystic Isle Mysteries book #4
There’s magic in the air at The Mansion at Mystic Isle where Melanie Hamilton works—magic everywhere. The Federation of Magicians has contracted to hold their annual show at the resort on the bayou, and Melanie's excited to join in the fun—nothing like a little hocus pocus to liven things up, right? The winner’s own show and a huge cash prize guarantees stiff competition. And speaking of stiffs, when the contest frontrunner turns up dead, Mel, Jack Stockton, and the staff at the resort rally to chase down the culprit. Is one magician so desperate for fame and fortune they’d kill for it, or is there another reason to work some black magic? Mel conjures up several suspects, but the adept sleight of hand conceals the identity of the murderer. Will an abracadabra and the wave of a magic wand catch the killer, or will it be Mel who disappears?
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Mystic Wedding Bell Blues
a Mystic Isle Mysteries novella
It's springtime on the bayou—flowers bloom, the days are warm, and romance is in the air, especially at The Mansion at Mystic Isle resort outside New Orleans, where resident tattoo artist Melanie Hamilton's best friend is about to tie the knot.
Catalina Gabor is looking forward to becoming Mrs. Chief Deputy Quincy Boudreaux, and, in Mel’s opinion, making him the luckiest man in the universe. The wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner go off without a hitch, overseen by the Reverend Bocephus Jones, semi-famous courtesy of his come-to-meetin' revival program on local TV. But the festivities end in disaster when the reverend suddenly drops dead at the bottom of the grand staircase—poisoned!
Who would want the reverend dead? Mel is determined to find out in order to save Cat’s wedding. But can she catch a killer in time? Or will the murderer be looking for a second victim in one petite strawberry-blonde tattoo artist?
This title is only available in the Spring! Get it before it goes back in our vault for another year...
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Mystic Mojo
a Mystic Isle Mysteries novella
Melanie Hamilton works as a fantasy tattoo artist at the Mansion at Mystic Isle, a getaway in the Louisiana bayou dedicated to all things paranormal, supernatural, and fantastic. Mel loves her job, loves her dishy boss Jack Stockton, and also loves the struggling resort. The Mansion at Mystic Isle is having its first-ever Annual Summer Jazz Festival, an event everyone hopes will showcase the resort’s many entertaining possibilities and put the place “on the map." The Dixieland jazz performances feature an antique upright piano once owned by Booker Jones, a 1920s New Orleans legend. Rumor has it the ghost of the famous ivory-tickler, Jones himself, haunts the decrepit eighty-eight—Nah, that’s crazy, right? Or is it? The old instrument jumps all over the stage on its own. It falls out of tune for no reason and howls like a rougarou under a full moon. It even attacks the piano players! Mel and Jack try everything to rid the piano of the haunting and save the festival. But they’re running out of keyboard artists and nothing’s working, not even voodoo! Will the haint ever make like Elvis and leave the building, or will this be the final curtain call for the jazz festival and the Mansion at Mystic Isle?
Things aren’t always what they seem in the Louisiana bayou, so come on along and get your creep on.
This title is only available in the Summer!
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Mystic Isle Mysteries Boxed Set (Books 1-3)
From USA Today bestselling authors Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens comes a boxed set of the first three tantalizingly fun mysteries from the Bayou in the Mystic Isle series, including:
Mystic Mayhem (book #1)
Mystic Mistletoe Murder (book #2)
Mystic Mischief (book #3)
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Aloha Lagoon Mysteries
Murder on the Aloha Express
Aloha Lagoon Mysteries book #2
Travel agent Gabby LeClair, a divorced big-city transplant trying to find some aloha spirit in her soul, prides herself on working hard to give the Aloha Lagoon Resort guests a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But that turns out to be more than anyone bargained for when the body of a client is found dead during one of Gabby's island tours. The victim is a lawyer who's escorted a small group to Aloha Lagoon for distribution of a deceased billionaire's estate...but it looks like someone believes the only good lawyer is a dead lawyer. Between the bad press causing her phone to go silent and the police working on "island time," it's up to Gabby to find the killer before her business goes belly-up. With the help of her good friends, and a hot helicopter pilot with a flirtatious streak, Gabby turns sleuth to figure out just which member of the lawyer's party had it in for him. But before long it's clear there's way more at stake than her livelihood, and if Gabby isn't careful, she and her friends may find themselves on an island getaway to death.
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Beachboy Murder
Aloha Lagoon Mysteries book #11
Just as travel agent turned reluctant sleuth Gabby LeClair is starting to gain some of the Aloha spirit, a business consortium from Chicago breezes into the Aloha Lagoon resort and offers to buy her business. The offer is tempting...but so is hot helicopter pilot Rick Dawson, making it a difficult decision.—one that becomes even more complicated when a dead body is discovered in Gabby's own backyard, and she's suddenly thrust in the middle of a murder investigation!
The dead man is a former beachboy attendant from the island. But as Gabby and her friends quickly learn, his colorful past as a professional escort extends from Hawaii all the way to the women of Chicago—including those in the business consortium. With a trail of broken hearts—not to mention jealous rivals—leading up to the beachboy, Gabby tries to uncover just who had it in for the late lothario. Is the female of the species really more deadly than the male? Or has he scorned one too many women for some other man's liking? Gabby treads a fine line as she seeks the truth behind the beachboy's shady past to come face to face with a killer!
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Danger Cove Mysteries
Passion, Poison & Puppy Dogs (A Danger Cove Pet Sitter Mystery)
Danger Cove Mysteries book #9
In this dog eat dog world, it's people you have to keep your eye on.
When Lizzie Jones, pet sitter extraordinaire, is asked to watch over her best friend's two spoiled dogs at the posh gated community of Craggy Hill Estates, the last thing she expects is to wind up in the middle of a homicide. But that's exactly what happens when she finds her best friend's cheating husband and Danger Cove's celebrity bodybuilder champ, Mr. Jupiter, floating facedown in his hot tub. To make matters worse, the police aren't looking any further than the wife for a suspect—isn't it always the wife? Well, not in this case—at least Lizzie refuses to believe it.
Between dealing with Craggy Hill's hot security guard, Tino Morales—who also just happens to be the man who broke Lizzie's heart in high school, caring for her grieving friend, and watching three rambunctious dogs, Lizzie has her hands full. So she recruits her famous granddad, retired network field correspondent, Jimmy John Jones, to help her put two and two together to find the real killer. Was Mr. Jupiter murdered by one of his women on the side? A jealous, disgruntled employee? Or someone with a bitter and deep-seated hatred of the superstar? It's up to Lizzie, Jimmy John, and Lizzie's own pug, Vader, to crack the case before the killer claims another victim...this one much closer to Lizzie's own heart!
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Divas, Diamonds & Death (A Danger Cove Pet Sitter Mystery)
Danger Cove Mysteries book #15
This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. And this little piggy got kidnapped, and her diamond collar was swiped, and then there was a murder and false accusations...and...and...oh my goodness!
Pet Sitter turned sleuth, Lizzie Jones is excited about the upcoming Second Chance Animal Rescue fundraiser. The celebrity draw, Sabrina Ramirez, is a pet psychic famous for her TV show The Critter Communicator. Sabrina arrives with her entourage that includes Rosie, an adorable teacup pig that Sabrina treats like royalty, Sabrina's buff bodyguard, her devoted nephew, and unexpectedly, her estranged ex-husband.
When Sabrina needs a pet sitter Lizzie is thrilled to take on the job. That is until the little piglet is pignapped on Lizzie's watch—along with her diamond collar! But things go from bad to worse when the fundraiser turns deadly and Lizzie's granddad is high on the murder suspect list. Lizzie jumps headlong into clearing her granddad's name and finding the pignapper and the killer. Are they one and the same, or is she looking for two separate types of swine? And will she find them first...or will the killer be the one frying Lizzie's bacon?
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