What happens when an ex-witch/medium, an ex-nun, a demon, and a dead British spy meet?
Murder!
After a really busy summer, things have settled down for my crew here in Ebenezer Falls. That is, until my favorite Spy-Guy, Win, has a crazy recollection of the night he was murdered.
His memory leads us to the new tattoo artist in town who just happens to be an ex-nun named Trixie Lavender. Sister Trixie has a gifted tattoo artist for a sidekick who just happens to be a demon straight from the bowels of Hell . . .
A demon who, coincidentally, is accused of murder, that is.
You know what that means-Stevie and the gang to the rescue!
Esther Williams Sanchez is busy living her life the way she's always done. Spending time with her pets, working as a divorce mediator, and enjoying her newly renovated cottage on the beach. She's also decided it's high time she learn how to swim to prepare for an upcoming cruise. It's time to let go of a horrible past experience and take some lessons. So at thirty-two, Esther enrolls in the only class at the Y with a spot left. A Mommy and Me class-which seems quite tame, considering her oldest classmate aside from her is three-years-old. Learn to swim with a bunch of babies and toddlers? Easy-squeezy, right? Er, no. As Esther leaves the pool after her very first lesson, she sprouts a magnificent tail and fins. Oh, and hair the color of a rainbow. Lots and lots of luscious hair. Lucky for her, the OOPS girls are on site, and as they set about finding out how this happened to Esther, they run into a hunky Australian merman named Tucker Pearson who happens to be the key to Esther's problem. But Tucker has problems of his own, and they include being kicked out of his family's bottled water company, booted from his pod, and accused of embezzling over a million bucks. Oh, and killing someone . . . OOPS, here we go again!
My name is Crispin Alistair Winterbottom, and I'm a British Spy . . . Or I was until my untimely, dare I say, suspicious demise. Now, I'm a ghost, living my afterlife on what I fondly call Plane Limbo. But I'm determined to return to the land of the living and while I try and figure out exactly how to do that, I spend my days with the ever delightful ex-witch, Stevie Cartwright, the only person in the world who can hear me, and her charming bat familiar, Belfry. We've seen some dark days, Stevie and I. Including, an unexpected family member attempting to steal all my worldly goods, a vengeful warlock, and plenty of murder. Yet, through it all, we've become great friends and adopted several new friends (alive and dead) along the way. So when a surprise shows up on our doorstep and claims to belong to me, our safe, happy world is bloody well turned upside down and threatens, to date, the most important relationship in my life!
There's almost nothing Wanda Jefferson wants more than a family to call her own, and she's almost got it all with her husband, Heath, a beautiful home in the suburbs, and her soul-satisfying work with her best friends as part of OOPS-a paranormal crisis hotline. Yet still, there's a tiny hole in Wanda's heart she longs to fill with a baby. As she and Heath explore adoption, and finally bring home a beautiful baby boy with the support of their friends and family, everything that can go wrong, does. First, no one, not even Nina the baby-loving vampire, can soothe the cranky infant. He cries constantly, bringing Wanda's insecurities as a new mother out in full force. Then banshee Sal Brice and sexy skinwalker Grey Hamlin show up, and yikes, do they have a tale to tell-one that involves a diabolical plan that threatens Wanda's newly formed family. You know what that means, right? Hell hath no fury like the OOPS women on a case! Contains mature themes.
My tiny town of Fig Harbor's just recovering from our last tango with murder, only to be faced with yet another-and this time, it sure looks an awful lot like a vampire's on the loose in the PNW. Vampires are just Twilight fiction, right? I'm not so sure after a murder victim is found in my koi pond right next to my favorite fish, Koi George, (not good!) with bite marks on her neck, and a gothic antique chalice next to her body with blood residue. By now, everyone knows I can't keep my nose out of a good mystery. But when I literally stumble upon an important clue linking a town official to the murder and what looks like a real live vampire cult, I decide it's time to gather up all the garlic I can buy and put my sleuthing shoes back on!
It's Christmas, and I, ex-witch, Stevie Cartwright declare this my favorite time of year. I love the decorations! The food! The Hallmark Channel holiday specials! This year promises to be better than ever because for the first time in a very long time, I'm going to have more than just Cheez Whiz, Triscuits, and the wish to be surrounded by family and friends. My carefully planned holiday bonanza includes all the usual suspects. My bat familiar Belfry, my dog Whiskey, my ever-present ghostly spy friends-dashing Brit Winterbottom, stalwart Russian Arkady, and my parents. However, nothing comes easy for this amateur sleuth, not even a neighborhood decorating contest. You know, the one I've been painstakingly prepping for months? Something goes horribly awry with my Christmas display (think bikini-clad carolers, pink flamingos and real, live turkeys) to start. But the worst? The dead body of the famous Chef Pascal Le June in my nativity scene! It becomes clear someone's trying to ruin my Christmas, and that someone must pay. But when Belfry goes missing, and the danger takes on a paranormal edge, I find I have more to lose than ever before. . .
My name is Lemon Layne, and if asked to describe myself, like maybe on a dating site (which is never gonna happen), I'd have to go with best convenience store/barbecue joint owner in the Pacific Northwest. I live in the tiny tourist town of Fig Harbor, Washington, with my adorably neurotic best friend, Coco Belinski, my a-little-left-of-center (read totally out there) mom, May, and my trouble-making pet monkey, Jessica Fletcher. Oh, and last but certainly not least, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool amateur sleuth. Yep. I'm literally incapable of resisting a good mystery. No matter how great or small, I love to help solve a crime. From the mysterious disappearance of Ho Hos in my store, to a lost piece of jewelry, I'm always ready to put on my Sherlock Holmes cap. When I find my mother's ex-boyfriend murdered in our convenience store bathroom with a piece of his skull missing, and my mom's a suspect in a murder investigation, my mystery solving goes from zero to a hundred. To really make matters worse, the town's local conspiracy theorist and official doomsday prepper, Cappie somehow finds out the victim isn't just missing a piece of his skull-he's missing a piece of his brain!
Desperate to pay the rent, Broadway star wannabe Poppy McGuillicuddy is the middle of DJ-ing a Halloween party when a mishap with a cat named Calamity changes her life forever. Suddenly, she's a familiar-as in, a witch's familiar. Or in her case, a warlock's. Even more specifically, a gorgeous warlock . . . who wants nothing to do with her. Thank God for the ladies from OOPs, who've promised their help as Poppy navigates her accidental paranormal powers. Despite his last familiar leaving him bitter and disillusioned, warlock Rick Delassantos still isn't heartless. He's agreed to give Poppy a few days before contacting Familiar Central and demanding she be reassigned elsewhere. But barely a day is all it takes for Poppy to become the target of some seriously bad magic, forcing Rick to keep her close to ensure her safety. Not exactly a hardship, when his new familiar is as sexy as she is sassy. With help from Marty, Nina, Wanda, and assorted other OOPs friends, Rick and Poppy learn some important lessons-fate works in mysterious ways; things aren't always as they seem; and sometimes the worst evil can be found close to home.
Just when you think you know your one-time International Man of Mystery turned ghostly confidant . . . When last we met, dear friends, a man had come calling, claiming to be Crispin Alistair Winterbottom, my dead British ex-spy. A notion I'd find ludicrous, if the handsome imposter didn't, in fact, look exactly like my dead British ex-spy. But there's no time for that mystery when a quiet walk on our private stretch of beach turns up something far more pressing-another tragedy in my beloved small Washington town. That's right. I, Stevie Cartwright, ex-witch turned amateur sleuth, have stumbled upon another murder. But this time it's closer to home, more personal, a victim who'd touched the hearts of so many in Ebenezer Falls, young and old. In fact, there's only thing more surprising than the victim . . . The good man who's become the number one suspect. Along with my Spy Guy Win, my bat familiar Belfry, our rescue dog Whiskey, and even an unexpected new friend or two, I'm jumping back into my Sherlock shoes to catch the cleverest killer yet!
It's been a while since Nina Statleon-ex-coffin lover, current chicken wing lover-lost her vampire mojo during a particularly brutal OOPS case. Her friends Wanda and Marty are worried. Nina clearly hasn't dealt with the emotional fallout caused by losing one's immortality. She's got issues. Big issues. And it's time to call in the Big Gun-paranormal psychologist January Malone. Her friends will get Nina to the therapist's office, even if they have to lure her with the last bag of Cheetos in Manhattan. Of course, the girls couldn't possibly know that Doctor Malone has an agenda. A forced agenda involving blackmail, which may just save one life while ending another. It goes against everything January, a white witch, has ever believed in, personally and professionally. But the alternative means putting her trust in a foul-mouthed ex-vampire, her werewolf and halfsie friends, a demon, a zombie, a bear, and their assorted mates . . .
I, ex-witch Stevie Cartwright, do hereby solemnly swear to avoid future murder-mystery shenanigans, nosiness, tomfoolery, and any further crazy killer-inflicted pain to my person, so help me goddess . . . Ha! Like I could help myself? But after busting my butt (literally!) on the last murder case in my beloved hometown of Ebenezer Falls, Washington, I could use a nice long break. I was determined to take the time to enjoy the company of my bat familiar, Belfry; my British ex-spy ghost, Win; our adorable St. Bernard rescue, Whiskey; and of course our gorgeous home, Mayhem Manor, freshly and lovingly renovated. Until shazam-a dead man invites himself to our fancy housewarming party! When my mother's husband number five ends up deep-sixed in my parlor, it's not like I can't not try to solve this mystery, right? But our work is definitely cut out for us this time. With Belfry's rascally bat family visiting and the two hundred or so guests, acrobats, mimes, cooks, catering staff, orchestra members-and a surprise guest who throws me for a loop in the house-suspects sure aren't a problem.
Hello again! It's me, Stevie Cartwright, ex-witch and new Madam Zoltar. I was fresh off the murder-suspect list and just settling into Madam Z's psychic medium shoes-with the help of my bat familiar Belfry and spirit spy Win-when another death rocked sleepy little Ebenezer Falls, Washington state. Tito Bustamante, my beloved purveyor of mouth-watering Mexican munchies, has been found dead in the food truck court. Rumor has it that Tito was stickin' his chimichanga where it didn't belong, and my gut-not to mention his less-than-natural death-says murder. No one is above suspicion. Not Tito's own wife and daughter, not his arch food truck enemy Jacob, and certainly not the son Tito didn't know about, newly arrived in Ebenezer Falls and getting cozy with my hired help. Do join me (and try not to point and laugh) as I juggle catching a killer, snooping for clues about Win's previous life, gabbing with and eavesdropping on the locals, and enduring a visit from my very unwelcome, very annoyingly gorgeous ex-coven leader-all while continuing to adjust to my new witchless existence.
