Showing results by author "Dianne Harman" in All Categories

A murdered guest at her first catering event? Definitely not good for DeeDee’s fledgling business. So much for post-divorce new beginnings. When Lisa, a well-known Seattle art gallery owner, is murdered at the event, shock waves ripple through the local Seattle art community. The following day, newspaper reports indicate the cause of death might have been poison in the food DeeDee served. She has to find the killer to save her business and her new life.

Holly knows nothing about her biological family living in Missouri. When her aunt invites her to stay with them for two weeks after her mother’s murder, she has mixed feelings, but decides to accept the invitation. Once she’s there, she’s determined to find out why her mother chose to live alone and at a distance from her family. What happened, and why won’t her aunt talk about it? Does the diary she finds hold the key? And who’s been vandalizing the high school? Her cousin’s friend has been accused, but is she guilty?

What would you do if your sister’s husband of 12 hours was a suspect in connection with his rich Uncle Vinny’s murder? And the rich uncle just happened to be a member of the Mob? DeeDee has no choice but to enlist the help of her boyfriend Jake, a private investigator, as well as Al, Uncle Vinny’s scary bodyguard, to help her find the murderer and clear her brother-in-law’s name.

A luxury train tour in Europe. A dysfunctional family. A murdered matriarch. When a long-awaited vacation ends in murder for one of the tour guests and passports are confiscated by the authorities, the dream trip turns into a nightmare. DeeDee, Jake, Al, and Cassie find themselves stranded in a luxury hotel in Venice, Italy. Sounds great, but they can’t leave until the murderer is found. They have no choice but to help the local police so they can return home to the United States.

Marty's a recently divorced antique and art appraiser who moves from the Midwest to live with her sister in High Desert, California, just outside of Palm Springs. Since their early childhood days, her sister has always possessed unexplained psychic abilities that often enable her to predict future events. An antique appraisal in the home of a recently murdered woman puts Marty at the center of a search for the killer.

Sheriff Rich got the call every lawman dreads – a relative’s murder. And it’s even worse when it’s your sister. Brigid moved back to Cottonwood Springs to be with friends and family when her marriage and her publishing company both ended. When her best friend’s murdered, she’s determined to find the killer. A new romance and an adopted big Newfoundland are pretty comforting at times like these.

When DeeDee and her boyfriend, Jake, head to Whistler, British Columbia, to vacation, the last thing they expect is to become involved in a murder. Particularly when it’s her former neighbor and good friend’s husband. Join, DeeDee, Jake, their husky dogs, Balto and Yukon, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as they try to figure out who murdered Johnny and why.

When she moved back to Cottonwood Springs after a divorce and the publishing company she was working for went bankrupt, Brigid never thought she’d have a ready-made teenage daughter, a huge Newfoundland dog, and a hunky neighbor who wants to get to know her better, a lot better. But first she has to solve Maggie’s murder. When a woman has stolen money and someone else’s husband, finding her murderer is not everyone’s top priority.

Florence, Italy, and a wedding. Sardinia, Italy, and a murder. Is there a choice? For Kat and Blaine, there wasn’t. A romantic trip to Florence to take part in a wedding becomes a search for the groom’s best friend’s murderer in Sardinia.

An elderly spinster murdered. Thirty dogs in the house. Shelter overwhelmed. Help! When Maggie Ryan, a retired schoolteacher, is murdered, and over thirty dogs are discovered living in her home, the Cedar Bay Animal Shelter is stretched beyond its meager resources. Join Kelly, the owner of Kelly's Koffee Shop, and her husband Sheriff Mike, along with a bulldog puppy named Max, and Sanyu, an Akita guard dog, as they literally have to sniff out the murderer before they become the next victims.

Death by chocolate, but it's the wrong person. Meant for the ex-Mafia man or his bride, a food critic? Could it have been an act of jealousy by Al De Duco's ex-girlfriend, Kitten Knight, or an act of revenge by Mario Carlucci, a long-time enemy of his from Al’s days with the Mafia in Chicago? Or was the intended victim Al’s wife of two weeks, Cassie, the very popular food critic who writes the Food Spy column for The Seattle Times? But who would want to murder Cassie?

Walking to the mailbox can be deadly, but sometimes, things aren’t what they seem. Join Marty and her dog, Patron, as they eliminate suspects in the murder of a beloved rock star in Palm Springs, California.

When you’re a tycoon and you sit on top of the business mountain, seems like a lot of people want to see you fall. And Cooper was at the top, but he’d made a lot of enemies in order to get there. Then there were the women in his life, and he’d be the first to admit he’d wronged a few. When it became clear that someone was out to destroy Cooper by ruining his reputation and the companies he owned, he hired Jake and Al, the retired ex-mobster, to find out who it was. But sometimes there’s nothing better than a dog to save the day!

When the curtain falls, the show is over. Unfortunately, it was opening night, and when it fell, it was definitely over for Angel Bridges! Affairs and jealousy, not to mention old resentments, are all good motives for murder. But just which one brought the curtain down on Angel? Join old friends from the Seattle area - DeeDee, owner of Deelish Catering; her husband, Jake, a private investigator; Cassie, a food critic for the leading Seattle newspaper; and her husband, Al, a reformed Mafioso with a sometimes questionable way of handling things, as they search for the murderer.

An editor murdered. A midlife romance. A small-town writer with the pen name of Sexy Cissy. Did someone hate steamy novels enough to commit murder? The secret life of Kat, a widow, falls apart when her true identity becomes known, and she’s the one who finds her murdered editor. Will she be the next victim?

Poor Maureen. Was she just collateral damage? She had an ex who wanted to reconcile, a chef she’d broken up with, and a salesman from Kansas who’d fallen in love with her. Her brother-in-law had ties to the Mafia as well as some interesting business deals. Was she simply a pawn in their game? And what about her ex-husband’s fiancée? Plenty of suspects, but who’s the murderer? Al, a retired mobster, has taken over a friend’s private investigation firm. Mobsters have a different way of dealing with murderers. Sometimes they revert to old habits.

The caterer had a photographic memory. The murdered art dealer had secrets. His wife had a lover. You’re in Provence, France, and happen to see the same painting for sale by the same artist your best friend just bought from a gallery in Seattle. What would you do? DeeDee discovers the murdered art dealer’s body and knows she needs Jake’s help. Having a private detective as your fiancé is a good thing when you’re looking for a murderer. So is having a husky dog.

There’s just something about “bad boys” that fascinates people. But there’s a reason they’re called “bad boys”. Is that why Kade, the one with the “bad boy” reputation, was murdered? Of course, there were a lot of people who had a reason to want him dead. Like Harper, his ex-girlfriend, whose parents told her no more partying with him and put her on a short financial leash.

Holly decides to run for Junior Class President to do something positive for her fellow students. What she hadn’t planned on was having someone hate her so much that they’d destroy everything she was trying to do. Throw in an emergency trip to the vet when her dog, Lucky, is poisoned and a massive foul-up at work which she’d caused. Definitely not a good week for Holly.

Marie Moorhead looked like a million bucks, even at the age of 84. In Hollywood, you never outgrow the need to prove your relevance. Too bad she was murdered on the eve of her book launch. Marie knew secrets about everyone in Hollywood. And when you’re 84, why save them? Because those who are outed might just kill to keep those secrets from going public. Join Kat, the ghostwriter and amateur detective, and her dog Rudy as they search for the murderer before Kat becomes the next victim.