But on the very first day, it all goes horribly wrong. The apartment is less “young professional” and more “young offender,” as the only furnishing is a handsome squatter with roving eyes. Even worse, Ben Kosina, her predecessor at The Chronicle, has returned to claim his former job, leaving Shayne nothing but the obituary column and a simple choice: take it or leave it. Her first assignment should be easy: eulogizing the accidental death of washed-up former child-star, Chucky Barnard, and filing her column. Yet when Shayne interviews the people closest to Chucky, his sister claims Chucky had everything to live for, suggesting his untimely death could only be murder. Convinced this could be the perfect headline to put her life back on track, Shayne vows to find the truth, persuade a reticent homicide detective to investigate, and bring a killer to justice, all before Ben grabs her story and the killer makes Shayne his or her personal deadline.

    Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Her best friend and co-worker, Paula, dyes her blond hair brown, hides from everybody and insists on always having an emergency exit from any room. Secrets from Paula's past have come back to put lives in jeopardy. Determined to help Paula and to save her own life, Lindsay enlists the reluctant aid of another neighbor, Fred, an OCD computer nerd. In spite of his mundane existence, Fred possesses tidbits of knowledge about such things as hidden microphones, guns and the inside of maximum security prisons. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos. Lindsay Powell's only secret is the recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, but she is surrounded by neighbors with deadly secrets. Suddenly Lindsay finds herself battling poisoned chocolate, a dead man who doesn't seem very dead and a psycho stalker. Lindsay needs more than a chocolate fix to survive all this chaos.

    When the chance to purchase the Cosset Cove Advertiser, a small weekly newspaper in the New England seaside town she'd spent many happy childhood vacations, it seemed too good an opportunity to turn down. Charlotte soon settles in to her new role as owner, chief reporter and general gofer of the Advertiser. Life is sweet, her new friends and colleagues Clara, Abigail and Amy, along with Barney, the huge Maine Coon cat, can both delight and frustrate in equal measure. This idyllic new life is disturbed when Charlotte has to interview a blast from her past. It is completely shattered when that interview leads to murder. Things only go from bad to worse as Charlotte is suspected of being the culprit. Can Charlotte, and her new found friends, clear her name and bring the real murderer to justice? Or will being on the trail of a cold blooded killer only put their own lives at risk? “A charming traditional cozy mystery in a modern day setting. Contains plenty of light witty humor and will keep you guessing right to the end!”