Foreword Indies Finalist
Pinnacle Book Achievement Award
Incipere Awards – 2nd Place
Survival Can Be Deadly (#1)
An unemployed single mom reinvents herself by taking a job as an investigator at a discount detective agency located in a shopping mall – “Vigilance You Can Afford.”
Cameron Chandler’s first assignment at Penny-wise Investigations is to locate a runaway girl. The trail leads to a survivalist camp on a remote island in northern Puget Sound. Armed with only a Swiss Army Knife and her quirky on-the-job training as a suburban sleuth, Cameron uncovers more than she bargained for. She soon finds herself in a fight for her own survival in this lighthearted mystery set in Seattle and the San Juan Islands to the north.
“Survival Can Be Deadly introduces mystery lovers to a delightfully relatable and refreshing novice detective, Cameron Chandler, whose first case for Pennywise Investigations delivers a rich payoff of a plot along with a generous dollop of wit, a cast of engaging characters, and a crash course in how to survive survivalism.”
—Jeanne Matthews, author of the Dinah Pelerin mysteries and award-winning Devil by the Tail
Firebird Award 2nd Place for Humor
Campaigning Can Be Deadly (#2)
What begins as a political prank ends in murder . . .
Funded by an east coast family in the oil business, the out-of-state Congressional candidate takes the state by storm, marrying the daughter of a local prestigious family, and flooding the airwaves with negative ads.
Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency located in a shopping mall, is hired to find who is stealing the local candidate’s political signs. Two of their investigators not only catch the thieves, they find a body next to a pile of stolen signs, proving that . . . Campaigning Can Be Deadly.
“This is a tale of good folks involved in others’ bad behavior, and how it turns out just might surprise you.”
—Joe Kilgore, The US Review
Global eBook Award – Gold
RHONE Finalist
Book Excellence Finalist
Pacific Book Award – 2nd Place
NN Light Finalist
Global Book Award Finalist
Book Fest – 2nd Place
Shopping Can Be Deadly (#3)
When gunshots echo off the shopping mall walls, the phrase “shop till you drop” takes on new meaning . . .
Single mom Cameron Chandler is an investigator with Penny-wise Investigations, a discount detective agency conveniently located in a suburban mall. She is approaching her office with a cup of Guatemalan dark roast in her hand when she hears a gunshot and and sees a young man collapse just a few feet away. Chaos breaks out in the packed mall as people try to escape. Cameron runs over to the gunshot victim and kneels beside him, but before she can help, she is grabbed from behind and forcibly dragged toward a mall exit.
“. . . fans of Janet Evanovich’s work will likely enjoy this book. An often fun and suspenseful mystery.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Chanticleer International Mystery & Mayhem Finalist
Book Excellence Award Winner
Moonlight Can Be Deadly (#4)
Ritual human sacrifice. Ecofeminists. Jealousy. And a “dateworthy” handsome professor.
A full moon re-enactment of an ancient human sacrifice ritual turns deadly. An ecofeminist group causes a panic at a climate rally. And a woman involved with both events is kidnapped.
When PI Cameron Chandler and her colleague are hired to protect a client’s niece at a full moon ritual, they think it’s a simple one-night assignment. But they soon find themselves enmeshed in a far-reaching investigation. As the full moon wanes, Cameron confronts a murderer and must choose between doing things by the book or saving herself.
Cameron lives with her mother, her two children and a dog called No-name in a carriage house in Seattle. For the most part, it’s a good arrangement. But her kids are subject to typical adolescent ups and downs, and her mother has strong opinions about how Cameron should be living her life. Cameron’s family life adds a lighthearted distraction to the dangers she faces as a PI.
Moonlight Can Be Deadly is Book 4 in the Discount Detective Mystery series, in which a single mom reinvents herself and ends up working as a PI with quirky colleagues, a mysterious boss with a secret past, in an agency whose motto is “Vigilance You Can Afford.”
Unicorns Can Be Deadly (#5)
A young homeless boy witnesses a kidnapping in an encampment and flees for his life.
After rescuing a young boy trying to escape from two men who are chasing him, PI Cameron Chandler is repeatedly told that “you can’t save everyone.” Nevertheless, she takes on several clients who want her and her partner Yuri to find their missing homeless relatives, including a three-month-old baby.
Challenged by an investigation that ventures into a complex world of homelessness, camaraderie, and hardships where no one is safe, Cameron finds solace in her quirky but supportive family, her partner’s trivia rants, her dog’s obsession with stuffed endangered species toys, and a handsome detective who may or may not be interested in more than a professional relationship.
“Unicorns Can Be Deadly is a humorous mystery that blends a lighthearted tone with a twisty investigation and plenty of suspense.”
—Liz Konkel for Readers’ Favorite – 5 Stars
“There’s witty dialogue and even a gun-toting grandmother. … I’m hoping there will be a book six. I’ll be there for it.”
—Socrates’ Book Reviews