Laurel London is one tough cookie. Orphaned and with one heckuva checkered past, she’s grown street smart and no one is going to tell her different, even if it means getting tangled up with the wrong side of the law. After terrorizing Walnut Grove, Kentucky all her adolescent life, she’s back and she’s ready to go on the up and up. Make something of herself. Prove the citizens of Walnut Grove wrong and make them admit she’s somebody.
But when mobster Trigger Finger Tony Cardozza jumps in the back of Laurel London’s car mistaking it for a taxi, she’s up to her ears in no good.
Recently fired and checkbook in the red, when Trigger offers to pay Laurel large wads of cash to drive him where he needs to go and keep her mouth shut, she’s all in. That is, until FBI agent Jax Jackson jumps in the back of Laurel London’s car threatening to take her to jail for her past crimes if she doesn’t cooperate with the FBI by going undercover to help bring down the mob.
Laurel finds herself battling the past and good vs evil and she’s not sure which is more deadly.
Small-town cozy mystery with a wrongly accused sleuth
Sugar Creek Gap looks like the kind of small town where everyone shows up with casseroles during hard times and celebrates together during the good ones. But it’s also the kind of place where gossip spreads faster than facts—and once suspicion takes hold, it’s hard to shake.
Bernadette knows this all too well.
After a heated argument with a cantankerous man on her delivery route, Bernadette tries to make peace the only way she knows how—by bringing him a batch of homemade biscuits. When he later turns up dead, that simple gesture makes her the prime suspect in his murder.
Determined to clear her name and get back to the life she loves, Bernadette teams up with her best friend Iris and her outspoken neighbor Revonda Gail. As the trio digs into small-town grudges, long-simmering resentments, and secrets no one meant to share, they discover that Sugar Creek Gap has more than one motive hiding behind friendly smiles.
With the clock ticking and suspicion closing in, Bernadette must uncover the truth before gossip turns deadly—and before she loses everything she’s worked so hard to protect.
A warm, small-town cozy mystery filled with friendship, community, and a dash of danger, perfect for readers who love amateur sleuths, Southern charm, and mysteries where family comes first.
Southern cozy mystery small town murder.
Sugar Creek Gap is the kind of Southern town where neighbors gather on front porches, gossip travels faster than the mail truck, and the community always comes together when someone needs help.
But when local citizen Jeff Faulkner disappears during the annual Sugar Creek Gap High School fundraiser, the rumor mill starts churning. Some say Jeff skipped town to avoid paying an old gambling debt. Others whisper he ran off with another woman.
Those theories fall apart when Rowena—Bernadette Butler’s curious feline—discovers Jeff’s lifeless body.
As the town mourns, Bernadette “Bernie” Butler, the local mail carrier, can’t ignore the whispers she hears along her route. Delivering the mail means hearing everyone’s stories—and sometimes their secrets.
Heartbroken for Jeff’s family and remembering what it felt like to lose her own husband, Bernie begins piecing together clues hidden behind friendly smiles and small-town manners. With gossip flowing faster than she can deliver the mail, Bernie soon finds herself right in the middle of an investigation full of twists, turns, and suspects.
In a town where everyone knows everyone, the truth may be closer to home than anyone wants to admit.
Perfect for readers who love:
🔎 Southern small-town cozy mysteries
🏡 Tight-knit communities and front porch gossip
🐾 Clever pets and quirky neighbors
🕵️ Amateur sleuths following the clues
📚 Clean whodunits with heart and humor
Welcome back to Sugar Creek Gap—where the tea is sweet, the gossip is strong, and murder always finds its way to the front porch.
Welcome to Normal, Kentucky where NOTHING is normal.
Alicia Becker shows up at the screen door of The Milkery beaten, bruised, and claims to be one of Mary Elizabeth Moberly’s foster children.
Mae West’s suspicion of why Alicia is there turns to an investigation after Alicia is found on a nearby hiking trail standing over the lifeless body of Craig Sutton. Who is Craig Sutton?
Craig Sutton is Alicia Becker’s con-ex-boyfriend.
Mae and the Laundry Club Ladies can’t help but wonder if Craig’s death was self-defense, though Alicia swears she didn’t kill him. Or was Alicia set up?
Grab your bug spray and camping equipment. Mae West and Laundry Club Ladies are ’bout to put their sleuthing skills back to the test.
