Showing results by narrator "Stephanie Brush" in All Categories

Freddie O'Neal is hired by Joan Halliday to investigate the drug-dealing caretakers of Joan's elderly father. However, when Joan's sister is killed in a hit-and-run and Joan is named the prime suspect, Freddie must figure out if the crime was committed by the caretakers, by Joan, or by Joan's father, who appears to be involved in a shady real-estate firm.

The Chumash warrior Black Wolf is hunted by the commander of a Spanish Garrison at a Catholic Mission in Alta California. His people have been forcibly "converted" to Christianity and live in virtual slavery under Spanish rule and the supervision of the priests. Black Wolf has gravely wounded one of the mission guards, and while fleeing is seen by Lucita, the daughter of the new Colonel, a devout Catholic and loyal Spanish subject.

Lucy Walsh's heart remains with the struggling town of Paragon Springs, but she feels beholden to her husband, Admire, to make the Run to the Cherokee Strip for new land. Admire married her when few men would have, and raised her half-Sioux daughter, Rachel, as his own.

Two different peoples, each laying claim to the same territory. Dark Water, the keeper of her tribe's history, the Yiwiyawa, has no love for the whites. Barr Conner, a loner, an outcast among his own people, has no love for the Rogue's. Yet these two must work together, fighting treachery and bigotry, to reconcile two ways of life - while fighting their own growing love.

When Godiva winds up in the hospital after being poisoned on a TV cooking show, her twin sister Goldie hops on an Alaska Airlines plane and rushes to her side. The sisters' zany romp through the world of celebrity TV chefs begins when Goldie's daughter Chili is hired by the star of the show. Rivalry turns to murder in the midst of the glitzy Gourmet Gladiators Tournament . The cops arrest Chili's new boss, Chef Caesar Romano, but Godiva has other plans for the handsome chef....

It's 1924, and times are tough throughout the Midwest. Tougher even for 19-year-old Hallie Meredith. On her own and with a younger brother to care for, she is desperately in need of a job. She left her last job with rich Quentin Raford when his unwelcome romantic overtures became unbearable. When Garth Macleod offers her a job as cook, she jumps at it and finds a home with his nomadic outfit. But her security is short-lived when Raford decides he wants to put Macleod's outfit out of business.

Tragedy leaves Lesley Morland to fill her father's shoes as the train-station master in Bountiful, Kansas. She is overwhelmed by unexpected circumstances and responsibilities, with the future of Bountiful itself hanging in the balance.

When Ardis Cole’s colleague, Red Michels, meets with a fatal accident, she volunteers to take over his project. Ardis flies to Galveston, Texas, where in 1858 the old clipper ship, The Fortune, wrecked in a hurricane. Known to be aboard the sunken ship is a fabulous gem - the Sea Star Emerald - once stolen by the infamous pirate, Jean Lafitte. Ardis soon discovers that modern-day treasure hunters are determined to beat her to the jewel.

Freddie O'Neil is called in to solve the murder of the star from Lake Tahoe's hottest lounge act, Vince Marina. His ex-wife, Connie, swears she didn't do it, though things offstage weren't so great between them. Based on the obvious evidence, though, Connie looks like murder suspect number one. But no matter how guilty she looks, she's betting Freddie can help her prove her innocence. Together, they attempt to find out who really lowered the final closing curtain on Vince Marina.

It starts with a mysterious phone call, summoning homicide counselor Tally Whyte back to the hometown she thought she'd left far behind her. Almost as soon as she arrives, Tally hears that a young woman she knew as a child has been found ritualistically murdered and mutilated. The deeper Tally probes into the bizarre murder, the more chilling it becomes. Each glimpse into the killer's dark mind only unnerves Tally more.

Actress Morgan Taylor exchanges her hometown of Chicago for the open seas, agreeing to do a friend a favor by replacing a last-minute deserter in the cruise ship's entertainment cast. It's only after she meets the ship in Miami that Morgan learns her predecessor was murdered.

Cassiday Curran's wagon has just been hijacked by three bedraggled strangers on their way to Dodge City. On the run from an abusive husband, Cassiday agrees to share her wagon with the thieves as they search for their uncle.

Morgan Taylor, a 30-something struggling actress finally gets a chance to audition for a great role, but as luck would have it, her auditioning partner turns up dead. When a second death erases any doubts about the first being an accident, Morgan finds suspicions turning to her closest friends and decides to do a little detective work of her own. She finds support in her endeavors from police detective Roblings, a lumbering, bright, and endearing fellow who catches Morgan's eye.

Her cats, the occasional game of keno, and the odd solo flight in her private plane would be enough for Freddie O'Neal, if she could make a living that way. Instead, she's a private investigator hired to track down Darla Hayden. The missing woman left her therapist with a pile of unpaid bills, but the therapist is less concerned about money than murder.

Lara Radburn arrives minutes after a crime is committed. She finds her renter, Crystal Mar, a local artist, dead. She has been bludgeoned by one of her own works in progress, the sculpture of a fierce lion. Her four-year-old daughter, Karma, has disappeared. In a frantic search through the surrounding woods, Lara encounters a stranger who helps her find Crystal’s child. But she soon discovers that Dane Lanford is the man who has taken her late brother’s role as head of the local art retreat, a place shrouded in rumors and mystery, and has ties to Crystal through her artwork.

Ardis travels to China to help her elderly friend, Dr. Yong Po, locate a Han dynasty cave tomb. Her American associate, Grant Merlin, fails to join her as planned. Grant had fallen out of favor with the University when a small jade miniature was stolen from a traveling exhibit under his charge. Sheri, Grant’s ex-wife joins Ardis instead of Grant. When Sheri is attacked by someone wearing a crimson mask, she swears Grant has followed her to China to seek revenge.

They were on their way to the richest silver strike in human history. Six people who met in a Sierra blizzard enroute to the infamous Comstock Lode. Prim wallflower Holly York, and beautiful Julia Matson with a secret no one could forgive. Clayton James, hopelessly caught between the world of whites and Indians, and brilliant thwarted inventor Glenn Donovan. Fay Taylor, with a singing voice from heaven, and her brother Dade, evil enough to send them all straight to hell.

When Ardis is sent to South Dakota to handle a bequest of pioneer and Sioux artifacts left to the University of Chicago by wealthy private collector Anthony LaMoine, she gets a load of trouble that she hadn’t expected - a stolen ruby, a friend’s missing son, and a skeleton in the cellar! Ardis learns that Anthony had an adopted son. For reasons unknown to Ardis, his son ran away from home during his teenage years. “Find the son,” the housekeeper tells her, “and you’ll find the thief.”

In Book 2 of the Ardis Cole mystery series, Ardis travels to Scotland to do a facial reconstruction on a skull her friend Bruce McBrier has discovered in the woods outside his ancestral castle. Because of an ancient ax buried in the skull, Bruce presumes the skull to be a historical relic, possibly the remains of a medieval ancestor murdered in battle. When Ardis makes the shocking discovery that the remains are that of a more recent murder, Constable Mark Ridley asks for her help.

She would rather be flying her private plane, be at home with her cats, or playing Keno at her favorite Casino. Instead Freddie O’Neal has been hired by an unusual client: her own mother. Freddie is looking for Danny O’Neal, her real father, and tracking him down is her toughest challenge. The trail left by Danny and his biker buddies has grown cold with so many years passing. While Freddie tries to dig up her wayward father’s past, she may also be digging her own grave.