Romaine Wilder Mystery Books

Romaine Wilder, big-city medical examiner with a small-town past, has been downsized and evicted. With few other options, she's forced to return to her hometown of Roble in East Texas, leaving behind the man she's dating and the life she's worked hard to build. Suzanne Babet Derbinay, Romaine's Auntie Zanne and proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home, has long since traded her French Creole upbringing for Big Texas attitude. She's a member in a number of ladies' auxiliaries and clubs, including being in charge of the Tri-County Annual Crawfish Boil and Music Festival. Hanging on to the magic of her Louisiana roots, she's cooked up a love potion or two--if she could only get Romaine to drink it. But her plans are derailed when the Ball Funeral Home, bursting at the seams with dead bodies, has a squatter stiff. Dead Guy is a problem. Auntie Zanne can't abide by a murderer using her funeral home as the dumping grounds for their crimes, and Romaine doesn't want her newly elected cousin, Sheriff Pogue Folsom, to fail on his first murder case. Together, Romaine and Auntie Zanne set off to solve it. With a dash of humor, a dollop of Southern charm, and a peek at current social issues in the mix, it's a fun romp around East Texas to solve a murder mystery of the cozy kind. - - - - - - - - - - - - - SECRETS, LIES, & CRAWFISH PIES by Abby L. Vandiver A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you'll probably like them all. Praise: "The amusing narrative zips along, providing a multilayered plot with loads of plausible suspects and possible motives. Cozy fans will look forward to Romaine's future exploits." - Publishers Weekly

A wedding and a murder...Star football player and NFL hopeful, Michael "Bumper" Hackett is getting married. Word's going around that it's a shotgun wedding, and there just might be some truth to it, seeing that the bride-to-be is showing a baby bump. But before the ceremony can even get started, the poor groom collapses from what appears to be an asthma attack. Unfortunately, things aren't always what they seem. Romaine knew it was a bad idea to have a wedding at the funeral home, but newly elected justice of the peace and sole proprietor of the Ball Funeral Home & Crematorium, her Auntie Zanne, thought it was a perfect way to advertise her business. Instead, it's another murder that's been dropped on her doorstep. That can't be good for business! Add to that, Romaine's beau from up north shows up out of the blue and has her hoping for her chance at happily ever after and escaping her tiny hometown of Roble. First, though, a murder has to be solved and Romaine pairs up with her Auntie Zanne (against the direct order of Romaine's first cousin, Sheriff Pogue Folsom), and aims to catch the killer before the Friday Night Lights go on. - - - - - - - - - - - - - LOVE, HOPES, AND MARRIAGE TROPES by Abby L. Vandiver A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you'll probably like them all.

It's another murder in the little town of Roble. But not to worry, Romaine and Auntie Zanne are on it! It's the 100 th Boule of the Distinguished Ladies' Society of Voodoo Herbalists. They've gotten together to eat, drink, be merry and vote for the next Lesser Mambo, a lifetime appointment second only to the Most High (bet you'll never guess who holds that position). But the second in command spot keeps becoming vacant--that's because the women who fill it keep dying off. This time though, it looks like murder. During an alcohol-infused dinner and a tall glass full of absinth, a seemingly innocent drink is spilled in the lap of Mrs. Eugenia Elder, the Lesser Mambo Elect. A quick drying off and change of clothes were thought to be all that was necessary, that is, until Miss Eugenia turns up dead. And while the server seems remorseful for her "accident," it's soon discovered that the whole thing was planned. Vivienne "Miss Vivee" Pennywell, Logan and Mac from Yasamee, Georgia (and the Logan Dickerson cozy mystery series) make an appearance and help get the murder investigation underway, one that Romaine and Auntie Zanne have decided to figure out together. It's fun and mayhem, as the Voodoo herbalists of the distinguished society go on a mad romp all around town to figure out whodunit. - - - - - - - - - - - - - POTIONS, TELLS, AND DEADLY SPELLS by Abby L. Vandiver A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you'll probably like them all.