Coming home is murder. After twenty-five years in Homicide, freshly-retired Detective Sergeant PC Donovan returns to her small hometown of Possumwood, Texas, when her aging mother breaks a hip. Somebody’s got to take care of Mama’s collection of rescue critters – a sassy donkey named Guinevere, with a hankerin’ for the neighbor’s prize-winning roses; Gwen’s best bud, a handsome one-eyed jack called Arthur; and Hazel, the cantankerous three-legged goat. Taking a break from the 24/7 action of the big city, PC is ready to relax and paint landscapes. But while she may have quit murder, murder hasn’t quit her. One of PC’s former high school classmates, who became an almost-Hollywood celebrity, breezes back into town and turns up dead at the Azalea Manor Nursing Home during a Thursday night church service. Can PC figure out who the real killer is before the crime gets pinned on her down-and-out brother?
No matter how far they wander, chickens always come home to roost. Retired homicide detective PC Donovan has returned to her small Texas home town to help out with her mother’s raucous barnyard rescue menagerie while she’s healing from hip replacement surgery. One flock of friendly chickens, two opinionated donkeys, and a three-legged goat rule the roost at her childhood home. PC’s old stompin’ grounds have changed in the decades she’s been gone. Possumwood has traded in the dusty icehouse for a craft brewery and the old five-and-dime for an art gallery. But even the best restoration projects can conceal more than they reveal. Romance is in the air when the detective and her family make a trip to the elegant Valentine’s Brunch in the lovingly restored Victorian mansion, now known as Happily Ever Afters. But when the other guests start hitting the floor, is the oyster bar to blame, or is it something far more sinister?
The end of winter brings a bouquet of murder.
Recently retired Houston Detective Sergeant PC Donovan is still in Possumwood, Texas, taking care of her mama and her collection of rescue critters. It seems like this small town has started taking a crime cue from the big city, keeping PC on her toes in this third installment of the Possumwood Mysteries.
Even as spring brings new life, death flowers in Possumwood.
PC and her mother explore the annual Azalea Trail Tour of Historical Homes on opening weekend. The detective is eager to see her friend, Drew, dressed in Regency elegance at his historic home open house. Everything is rosy, until an awful odor leads to a tragic discovery. Can she and her dog, Cordite, sniff out the real killer before an innocent man goes to prison?
Retirement isn’t all it’s brushed up to be. After her mama falls and breaks a hip, Detective Sergeant PC Donovan returns to her historic hometown of Possumwood, Texas, to nursemaid and help out with the critters—an assortment of rescued farm animals, semi-feral cats, and a ‘possum named Blossom. Even so, the former detective finally has a chance to relax and take a few painting lessons at The Best Little Art Gallery in Texas.
An antebellum mystery seeps into a weekend art workshop when the Lady in Blue makes an appearance. But that’s a horse of another color.
The annual historical re-enactment of the Battle of Mirabella Creek has started with a bang. And one of the actors is dead. Turns out he had a secret—had he discovered the legendary missing Lamartine treasure? The scoundrel trying to frame her mother’s boyfriend for the murder has PC seeing red. Short on evidence and long on suspects, she searches for the key to unlock fact from historical fiction so she can paint the culprit into a corner.
Decomposition Can Be Murder
Retired homicide detective PC Donovan is still in her historic hometown of Possumwood, Texas. Her mama is almost healed up from her hip replacement surgery, but needs help with the critters—an assortment of rescued farm animals and semi-feral cats. When PC’s friend floats the idea of riding in the annual MaiFest parade, she steps up to the opportunity with a regal wave.
But the float isn’t the only thing that comes with a hitch.
Mushroom mayhem brings a skeleton out of the closet, or tractor shed, as the case may be. PC tries not to let the mystery get her goat, but when her mother’s friend, the owner of Capre Leche Farm, is threatened, PC leaps into action to grab the case by the horns.
History can be murder.
Sometimes staying in her hometown of Possumwood, Texas, drives retired homicide detective PC Donovan a little batty. Her mama’s hip replacement surgery is a done deal, but she still needs help with her menagerie—an assortment of rescued farm animals and semi-feral cats. Mama Rose never misses a Settlers’ Day festival, and PC’s her designated chauffer and attendant. Admission is free with an authentic costume, so PC decides to dress the part to partake in the festivities.
But a little birdie tells her a deep, dark secret.
Before PC can even lace up her corset for Settlers’ Day cosplay, the mayor comes home from work to find a body in his living room. And not just any body. The who is as much a puzzle as the whodunit. PC digs into the case and excavates some evidence. She can’t nab the killer until she breaks the Blue Lady’s code and finds the missing Lamartine treasure. Will she be able to do it before the case goes as cold as a well digger’s elbow?
Museums can be Murder
July in Possumwood, Texas, starts with a bang when retired homicide detective PC Donovan’s niece comes to town. The jilted bride hopes to heal her shattered heart by connecting with her daddy’s family, who she hasn’t seen since she was little bitty. PC’s still in town, caring for her mama’s rescued farm critters, and dealing with the fallout from an on-going crime wave. Her long-lost niece gets a volunteer job at a local museum, and life seems easy as apple pie.
But Hope may not be the sweet little girl everyone remembers.
Sparks fly when the museum staff finds Hope standing over the body of the curator, murder weapon in hand, and covered in blood, and PC finds it a little hard to believe her unlikely story. The Possumwood PD shuts her out on this case, so she and her brother team up to smoke out the culprit. Explosive revelations send them rocketing down the path to revealing the killer and proving Hope innocent. Or is she?
Jury Duty Can Be Murder
As the sweltering dog days of August settle on Possumwood, Texas, retired homicide detective PC Donovan gets a slight reprieve from caring for her mama’s barnyard menagerie. A notice from the county clerk summons her back to Houston for jury duty, and she expects to be summarily dismissed, allowing her to spend a leisurely morning in the city.
But all of her plans go down the drain when a violent protest puts the courthouse on lockdown.
A controversial radio talk show host has been courting disaster, broadcasting his complaints about being called for his civic duty. When he drops dead shortly after arrival, PC suspects foul play. She dives into the deep end of the jury pool to tag the potential murderer before the riot is quelled, the doors are unlocked, and the suspects cascade back into the outside world. With a whole raft of enemies to investigate and only a thin trickle of clues, can she filter out the killer?
This County Fair is Murder.
September brings the Mirabella County Fair to Possumwood, Texas, and retired homicide detective PC Donovan gathers her nerve to enter the portrait she painted of her mama’s rooster in the art show. She’s still in her small hometown, helping out with the rescued menagerie. Now that the weather’s finally starting to cool off, PC’s looking forward to enjoying all that the fair has to offer. Just as soon as she finishes her shift at the dunk tank.
But her plans get intercepted when the high school football coach turns up dead in the cattle barn.
Despite being the winningest coach the Possumwood Panthers have ever had, red flags abound. There’s no love lost between PC and her ex-brother-in-law, but when he makes the first string in the suspect line-up, she and her sister team up to tackle the case. Can the detective block the killer, or will they make an end run around the law?
October is Murder
Fall brings Oktoberfest and Halloween to Possumwood, Texas, and retired homicide detective PC Donovan is there for it. She’s still caring for her mama’s critters and giving the PPD a helping hand as needed. Her dance card is filled with Oktoberfest at the Biersal Brew Pub, the famous ghost tour at Happily Ever Afters, and their lavish Halloween Ball at the end of the month.
But her beer tour goes off the rails when the newspaper editor ends up headfirst in a vat of lager, and no one has the ghost of an idea how he got there.
Even though he’s new in town, he’s been brewing trouble for a fair number of the townsfolk, leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth. PC hops into action, trying to bottle up the killer before the case goes flat. The newspaperman’s past is shrouded in mystery, and PC searches the skeletons in his closet to scare up some clues. Will this be the case that breaks the crime wave gripping Possumwood?
November is Murder
With most of the year gone and her mama getting around on her new hip better than the old one, retired homicide detective PC Donovan is still in her small hometown of Possumwood, Texas. When she isn’t feeding the farm animal rescues and working on cold case files for the Possumwood PD, she practices her painting skills. As the days wind down, the detective is looking forward to an all-day workshop with a famous painter at The Best Little Art Gallery in Texas.
But before she can even get her brushes out, the artist is found dead in the City Park gazebo.
Signs point to suicide, but PC isn’t so sure. There’s certainly a rogue’s gallery of suspects. Color her shocked when a painting from the artist’s early career is stolen and the investigation takes on a whole new texture. Something shady is certainly going on. Was PC’s local artist friend involved, or has she been framed?
December is Murder
The holidays are in full swing in Possumwood, Texas, and retired homicide detective PC Donovan is looking forward to hearing her mama sing in the multi-church cantata. She’s gotten into a routine, taking care of the rescue critters and helping out the Possumwood PD as needed, whether current cases or cold ones.
But before the herald angels can sing, the Christmas cantata choir director turns up dead.
Was it a tragic accident, or something far more sinister? PC has a list of who’s been naughty or nice, and she’s checking it twice, because things aren’t adding up. While investigating this case, she finds a stunning clue that may present the solution to her star cold case—the decades-old murder of her father. Will her bag of tricks come up empty, or can she deliver a lump of coal the killers?
Coming home is murder.
Homicide Detective PC Donovan had just retired when her mother fell and broke her hip, so the detective reluctantly returned to her home town to wrangle Mama’s critters—two opinionated donkeys named Arthur and Guinevere, a three-legged goat called Hazel, an assortment of chickens, and four semi-feral cats. It doesn’t help matters that the Possumwood Chief of Police is her ex-boyfriend from high school, and she tangles with him more than once.
From January to March, PC solves the case of the slain starlet, the Valentine’s Brunch Massacre, and sniffs out the culprit
This is a collection of The Possumwood Mysteries Books 1-3: Manor of Death, Death on the Half Shell, and Azalea Trail of Death.
History is murder.
Homicide Detective PC Donovan’s mama’s hip replacement surgery is healing up, and she’s getting around almost as well with the new parts as she did with the original equipment. The detective is still in her hometown of Possumwood, Texas, taking care of Rose’s menagerie of rescued critters while she finishes healing. A surprise discovery brings the state archaeologist to town, and in the historical hoopla, PC happens upon some eye-opening journals from 1851.
From April to June, PC is on the case of the not-so-friendly fire at the historical re-enactment, the sudden skeleton, and Francois de Lamartine’s long-lost treasure.
This is a collection of The Possumwood Mysteries Books 4-6: Death Re-Enacted, Death Rides a Bobcat, and Key to Death.
Summer is murder.
Things are heating up in Possumwood, Texas, and it’s not just the weather. Retired homicide detective PC Donovan is still in her hometown of Possumwood, Texas, taking care of her mama’s menagerie of rescued farm animals, even though her new hip is all healed and better than the old one. A crime wave has hit the community and PC and her friends at the Possumwood PD struggle to get to the bottom of it. From her jilted niece, to jury duty, to the art show at the fair, the detective has her hands full. But not too full to collar the killers.
From July to September, PC is on the case of the museum murder, the courtroom corpse, and the body in the bull pen at the county fair.
This is a collection of The Possumwood Mysteries Books 7-9: Death Curated, Pool of Death, and All Death No Cattle.
Fall is murder.
Fall is in full swing and the holiday season is getting underway in Possumwood, Texas. Retired homicide detective PC Donovan hasn’t left her small hometown, where she’s been caring for her mama’s rescued critters. As much as she wants to enjoy the festivities, she has to contend with a body in the brewery, a palette of pain in the park, and carnage at the cantata. The detective tries to keep her spirits up, thankful for her friends and family in Possumwood, as she bags a trio of killers and ties up the crimewave that’s been plaguing the town with a bright red bow.
From October to December, PC is on the case of the museum murder, the courtroom corpse, and the body in the bull pen at the county fair.
This is a collection of The Possumwood Mysteries Books 10-12: Death is Lager Than Life, Art of Death, and Little Town of Death-Lehem.