That's the last time Amy agrees to do a favor for a stranger...
Down South Cafe owner, Amy Flowers is in over her head. Operating a cafe while hosting the first Farmers' Market in Winter Garden has her swimming in apples. And when an elderly woman calls the cafe, pleading for a delivery for her upcoming party, Amy relents, feeling compelled to help the desperate customer.
But when she arrives, the woman is slumped over her kitchen table, and Amy is catapulted into the middle of a small town crime. Guilt-ridden for not arriving earlier to save the woman, she sets out to unravel the mystery surrounding the woman. Now, between running the cafe and dealing with the chaos of the farmers' market, Amy is squeezing in a murder investigation, a run-in with her boyfriend's mom, and her own mother's quirky life decisions. Life can't get any worse...or can it? This cafe owner needs a break--in the case.
What if you discovered your lively new friend wasn't really...alive?
Amanda Tucker is excited about opening her fashion design studio in Shops On Main, a charming old building in historic Abingdon, Virginia. She didn't realize a ghost came with the property! But soon Maxine 'Max' Englebright, a young woman who died in 1930, isn't the only dead person at the retail complex. Mark Tinsley, a web designer with a know-it-all attitude who also rented space at Shops On Main, is shot in his office.
Amanda is afraid that one of her new 'friends' and fellow small business owners is his killer, and Max is encouraging her to solve Mark's murder a la Nancy Drew. Easy for Max to want to investigate--the ghostly fashionista can't end up the killer's next victim!
?In DESIGNS ON MURDER, Gayle Leeson sketches a stylish plot accessorized with a spectral fashionista sidekick. This series debut is a delight!' -Diane Vallere, national bestselling author
?'As a sucker for a fun ghost story, I can say Gayle Leeson's DESIGNS ON MURDER scores on many levels including a spunky entrepreneur and a charming setting. Now that I've read the first one, I'll be counting the days until the next in the series arrives.' --Lorna Barrett, author of the New York Times Bestselling Booktown Mysteries
It's fall in Winter Garden, Virginia, and business at the Down South Cafe has never been better. So when struggling beekeeper Stuart Landon asks Amy to sell some of his honey, she's happy to help. The jars of honey are a sweet success, but their partnership is cut short when she discovers his body outside the cafe early one morning.
It seems unlikely that someone would have wanted to harm the unassuming beekeeper, so Amy worries that she might have been the intended target. She decides to investigate and discovers an ever-expanding list of suspects-all of whom are buzzing mad! Now Amy will have to use all of her skills-and Southern charm-to make the most of this sticky situation.
It's Independence Day in Winter Garden, Virginia, and the residents are gearing up for their annual celebration. The Down South Cafe is open and flourishing, and Amy Flowers is busy making pies and cakes for the holiday. The only thorn in her side is the Chamber of Commerce director George Lincoln, who is trying to buy the cafe so he can tear it down and build a B&B on the site. When George collapses while eating at the Down South, everybody assumes it's a heart attack-until the autopsy declares it to be poisoning. Now, it's up to Amy to prove her innocence before her liberty is lost.
Tired of waiting tables at Lou's Joint, Amy Flowers doesn't just quit-she offers to buy the place from her bully of a boss. Amy has dreamed of making the kind of Southern, down-home treats and dishes that her grandmother always loved to serve the kooky cast of regulars at the restaurant. At first Lou refuses to sell, but when she seems ready to make a deal, she tells Amy to come see her. Showing up at the eatery ready to negotiate, Amy is shocked to find her former employer murdered. As the prime suspect, Amy will have to clear her name by serving up the real killer-and with Lou's stack of enemies, that's a tall order.
