˃˃˃ Book 1 RESCUED BY A KISS You’d think Brandy might be a little self-conscious a suave Svengali in one of the gentlemen’s walking clubs mesmerizes her into a big fat Mardi Gras smooch right in front of her boyfriend. But not a bit. Because after all, it's Mardi Gras, and also for another good reason: that kiss was long, slow, hot, unlike any kiss she’d ever had in her life. She makes a date to meet Mr. Great Kisser after the parade but arrives just in time to see him get shot. Before he passes out, he pulls her close and whispers, “Save Isabella. And with that we’re off on a screwball chase all over town, from Lee Circle to the Lakefront, with a stop at Charity Hospital, and finally to the French Quarter’s favorite gay dance club, always accompanied by Schnauzers, one of them named Geaux Cup. ˃˃˃ Book 2 DEAD AND BREAKFAST When Brandy’s best friend Julia, the ex-stripper-turned hotelier, finds her first and only guest covered in blood, lying half on and half off a broken bed, with Julia’s panties swinging from the chandelier, she gets Brandy on the horn. And Brandy does the only sensible thing, makes coffee...with a shot of whiskey--then calls the police. And who should respond, but her recent ex-boyfriend, Dante, with a brand new daggers-looking female partner? But wait! This is not nearly complicated enough for Noo Awlins, where, after all, everybody knows everybody! Julia’s lawyer is none other than Jiff, Brandy’s new squeeze (and the reason Dante’s the ex-boyfriend). As the suspense mounts, the romance blossoms, and not just one. Jiff’s looking more and more like Mr. Right: a 100% Class Act, with his own Schnauzer and a soft spot for Brandy’s three. But Dante makes it clear that he doesn’t plan to go quietly; the former Mr. Right Next Door has a few very sexy moves he’s been holding in reserve, which knock Brandy’s socks--and truth be told, her panties --off! ˃˃˃ Book 3 DRIVE THRU MURDER When Brandy pulls into the drive-thru, she expects to order a box of CLUCK IT! CHICKEN BY THE BUCKET, not hear gunshots and see someone in high heels and a black leather miniskirt climbing out of the pick-up window dragging a body. Her boyfriend, New Orleans Detective Dante Deedler, is on this case and hers as bodies keep turning up and she knows about them before he does. Her neighbor--a palm reader who is also a phone sex operator--has visions of Brandy’s future and past leaving more questions than answers. Murders, family dilemma and a rescued Schnauzer named Jesus has Brandy distracted. Could she be the next victim? There's no place like New Orleans to have a good crime!> ˃˃˃ Book 4 DEATH BY RUM BALLS This will be Brandy’s first Christmas without Dante, but she is determined to enjoy the holiday going to parties and even a “Yappy Hour” with Jiff and both of their schnauzers. Brandy stops to deliver mistletoe for Julia’s party that night when Frank, Julia’s handyman, drags her into the mayhem surrounding the guest list. It seems everyone Julia invited has a grudge against her, and they all confirmed they are coming to her party.

    Claire Inn, no one is surprised. After all, Martha had a heart condition. But when her death is ruled a murder, the inn’s owner, Julia Applegate, becomes the prime suspect. Julia recruits her “sixty-something” group of friends to launch their own investigation. Together with the inn’s resident ghosts, including Julia’s recently deceased mother who has learned to use a cell phone, they go after the truth. Add to that a talking parrot who likes to quote old movies, a Harlequin Great Dane, two miniature Dachshunds, a very handsome detective (or two), and get ready for a romp down mystery lane!WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE 'OLD MAIDS'"This book had me riveted for hours.""I couldn't put my Kindle down until I finished the entire book.""Wonderful read. The characters soon become your neighbors.""I am not usually into paranormal books. But this one made me laugh out loud, often!"

    She’s a feisty, single mom living in the small town of Lakeside, Texas where money does buy happiness and keeping up appearances is much more important than the truth. Six months ago on her thirtieth birthday, her husband decided that married life, fatherhood, and his job as the Lakeside Chief of Police weren’t as exciting as a permanent vacation to Grand Cayman with his mistress and a million dollars in diamonds he stole from the police evidence lockup. Mustang is a pariah in a Lakeside full of piranha. But she refuses to leave—this is her home, and she figures that if she can’t join them, then she’ll beat them at their own game. With a little luck, some intimidation, and the help of her good friends Monica and Haley, Mustang presides over her own little slice of Lakeside, the Bee Creek Elementary Parent Teacher Organization. All is quiet in Lakeside until Molly Miars, the kindergarten teacher, is found dead. According to the new police chief, she overdosed on heroin. That doesn’t explain why her head was the only body part to make it to her funeral. Mustang and her follow PTOers don’t buy the heroin overdose for a second. Vowing to do right by Molly, the PTO decides to investigate. Quickly they find that Lakeside isn’t the quiet, sleepy town it appears to be. There is a dark side—money laundering and drug trafficking. When Mustang’s name turns up on a contract killer’s hit list, things go from bad to worse. Can she and the PTO stay alive long enough to find out who killed Molly Miars?

    As the stalker became more obsessive and threatening, her boyfriend Bobby went missing. The town assumed that troublemaking Bobby had been playing a trick and had decided to run away when he got in too deep—or that Mary Anne was behind all of it herself. They were especially suspicious when the stalker disappeared right after Bobby did. Fifteen years later, Mary Anne receives another note from her stalker. She knew exactly who to go to for help. VISIT WWW.CYANIDEPUBLISHING.COM AND DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CRIME / MYSTERY STARTER LIBRARY

    

    But I thought you should know....WARNING: Licensed to Thrill is a nefarious plot.How so? We want to entice you to read more of my books the way chocolatiers ply me with irresistible morsels and wineries waft swoon-worthy samples under my nose. Like the famous potato chips, we hope you won’t be able to stop after reading this collection of special gems not gathered anywhere else.Fiendishly clever, isn’t it? Exactly.We need to give you enough to whet your appetite and draw you in, but not so much that you’ll no longer be hungry for more. A fine line. Tricky. Challenging. Fun!Here’s what we selected for your reading pleasure in Licensed to Thrill: A Diane Capri SamplerFatal Enemy, featuring the new heroine I really love—Jess Kimball. A fiery woman, driven by her own past to fight for crime victims the justice system failed. Jess reminds me of Jack Reacher, only female, smaller, and nicer. Jess is alone in the world wherever she goes. But unlike Reacher, Jess's mission is one only she believes in and only she can complete. In Jess’s shoes, could you do what she’s done? I wonder....Jess Kimball’s story continues in the sample of Fatal Distraction, which opened as the Amazon #3 Bestselling Legal Thriller, behind John Grisham. What a thrill that was for me. (Why? Hang on — I’m getting to that.)Behind the Book scoop on my friendship with #1 worldwide publishing phenomenon Lee Child who calls my work, "Full of thrills and tension, but smart and human, too." Lee gave the Hunt for Reacher series an enthusiastic two thumbs up: “Kim Otto is a great, great character. I love her!”Don’t Know Jack garnered #1 Amazon Bestseller spots on the Mystery, Hard-boiled Mystery, Police Procedural, Women Sleuths, and Legal Thriller lists both in the U.S. and U.K. The sample here should whet your appetite to find out what happens when two F.B.I. agents are tasked with the mysterious and confounding task of hunting Jack Reacher.What does law have to do with justice? We lawyers are an odd bunch and the law is a very strange mixture of the best and the worst of times for heroes and villains alike in my Justice Series of witty legal suspense mysteries. All six of these are set in Florida, so if it’s a bit cold where you are right now, take a little trip with me to the Sunshine State where things are a whole lot warmer. Readers and reviewers alike love this series, but when the mystery reviewers at Romantic Times awarded Wasted Justice their coveted "Top Pick" -- well, all I can say is what a rush!

    And it does, as they enjoy trading thebustle of their Shanghai life behind for the idyllic tropical paradise.But while on a diving excursion, they're taken hostage by a group ofterrorists, who take them to a remote island and hold them there forransom. The longer that time drags on, though, the more doubts Marahbegins to have about their captors' true motivations.

    The sheriff, desperate for more positive press, makes Eve the youngest female homicide detective in the department’s history.Now Eve, with a lot to learn and resented by her colleagues, has to justify her new badge. Her chance comes when she and her burned-out, soon-to-retire partner are called to the blood-splattered home of a missing single mother and her two kids. The horrific carnage screams multiple murder—but there are no corpses.Eve has to rely on her instincts and tenacity to find the bodies and capture the vicious killer, all while battling her own insecurities and mounting pressure from the media, her bosses, and the bereaved family. It’s a deadly ordeal that will either prove her skills…or totally destroy her.

    Ruth Dyer is forging a role as doctor to their community of refugees and the rock around which the family revolves. But the family is haunted by memories of the journey north and the loss of their mother Sonia. And their community is under attack from the local population. When Jess answers a distress call at sea, she brings strangers to their village and puts Ruth in jeopardy. Jess has to calm the community, mount a rescue mission and keep her brother Ben from tipping into insanity. Will she succeed? 
And will she find Ruth before it’s too late? ‘Thicker Than Water’ is a gripping thriller about family, belonging and revenge. Previously published as 'Exile'

    She edits books from her small apartment. She occasionally goes out to the local diner for a tuna melt. She enjoys living in Worcester. It's where the Worcester Lunch Car Company made diners from 1906 to 1957. And now she gets to enjoy one in all its vintage glory. But her quiet, predictable evening at the diner is disturbed when four restaurant workers come in complaining about a theft. And her inquisitive mind soon notices something ... * * * Diner Deeds Done Dirt Cheap is the first book in the Diner Short Story Mysteries series. These short stories are about 15-20 pages each and feature authentic diners around Massachusetts. Author Lisa Shea goes to each diner personally to write up its sights, sounds, and aromas. That way you, the reader, can take a virtual vacation to these historic locations! Visit Lisa's webpages to see photos and write-ups of the diners. All of the Diner Mystery series contain no violence, no swearing, and no intimacy, so they are suitable for teens and up. You can read the books one-by-one as they are released, or you can wait for the boxed sets to be published once the series gets enough books in it. It's your choice! I try to write them right after I visit, so that's why there are sometimes gaps in the release schedule. It's not always easy to get to a diner when they're open! A portion of all proceeds benefits battered women's shelters.

    This left him unconscious on the floor of my home. Amazingly, this bullet did not kill him. Ten years ago I adopted Blue as a present to myself after I broke up with my boyfriend one hot, early summer night with the windows open and the neighborhood listening. The next morning I went straight to the pound in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Articles on buying your first dog tell you never to buy a dog on impulse. They want you to be prepared for this new member of your family, to understand the responsibilities and challenges of owning a dog. Going to the pound because you need something in your life that's worth holding onto is rarely, if ever, mentioned. I asked the man at the pound to show me the biggest dogs they had. He showed me some seven-week-old Rottweiler-German shepherd puppies that he said would grow to be quite large. Then he showed me a six-month-old shepherd that would get pretty big. Then he showed me Blue, the largest dog they had. The man called him a Collie mix and he was stuffed into the biggest cage they had, but he didn't fit. He was as tall as a Great Dane but much skinnier, with the snout of a collie, the markings of a Siberian husky, the ears and tail of a shepherd and the body of a wolf, with one blue eye and one brown. Crouched in a sitting position, unable to lie down, unable to sit all the way up, he looked at me from between the bars, and I fell in love. "He's still underweight," the man in the blue scrubs told me as we looked at Blue. "I'll tell you, lady, he's pretty but he's skittish. He sheds, and I mean sheds. I don't think you want this dog." But I knew I wanted him. I knew I had to have him. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Blue cost me $108. I brought him home, and we lived together for years. He was, for most of our relationship, my only companion. But when I first met Blue, a lifetime ago now, I had family and friends. I worked at a crappy coffeehouse. I was young and lost; I was normal. Back then, at the beginning of this story, before I'd ever seen a corpse, before Blue saved my life, before I felt what it was like to kill someone in cold blood, I was still Joy Humbolt.I'd never even heard the name Sydney Rye.P.S. The dog does not die.**Beware: If you can’t handle a few f-bombs, you can’t handle this series.**

    Then the attacks started.Detained in the hospital after an unusual accident, he dismisses the claim his new wife is trying to harm him. He’s convinced the property attacks are the childish pranks of locals annoyed by his plans for Clenchers Mill. As a successful property developer, he’s seen it all before. Mindful of Alicia’s reluctance to involve the police he instructs Kate and Simon to make discreet inquiries.Kate and Simon are keen to find the culprit, but are inexperienced and blissfully unaware they are dealing with a determined killer toying with their prey before they strike. Their first case may prove to be their last.

    And it is up to Dr. David Rothberg, the new prison psychiatrist, to determine whether Janko should be released. As David finds himself drawn into the psychological quicksand of a disturbed inmate, his manipulative girlfriend, and a brutal guard, David needs to confront his own demons as he decides if Janko deserves a second chance. This high-voltage thriller will keep you at the edge of your seat and guessing until the very last page.

    She’d known since the day she graduated from the academy that one day he’d wind up on her beat, and she’d have to arrest him… or kill him. She could accept the fact he’d been murdered. What she couldn’t accept was the massive torture he’d endured before his death. Someone would pay for that.A multilayered, fast-paced archaeological dig of a mystery.

    Owner of the Teasen & Pleasen Hair Salon in the heart of Louisiana, she’s used to big hair, Southern style, and tall tales of the latest town scandal. But her quiet life is turned on its head when Savannah finds an upstanding member of the community murdered outside her salon in cold blood. Savannah investigates, only to find that her pleasant, cute town is just a façade, and that there’s more deception than truth in the lives of its residents. As the case intensifies, Savannah finds herself dealing with a bad blowout, a man who might lose a limb, and a woman scorned, leading to a firefight the village of Knockemstiff will never forget. Desperate Housewives marries GCB in this exciting murder mystery full of humor, suspense, and moonshine. Readers will be laughing aloud and gasping in shock while enjoying A Hair Raising Blowout, the first book in a stunning new thriller series by Constance Barker.