Beverly Laborde & Adam Dutton Mysteries

A bitter con woman and a jaded detective reluctantly join forces to stop a killer...When Beverly Laborde becomes a con artist extraordinaire to extract vengeance on the man who shut down her grandmother's antiques business and sent her to an early grave, she comes face to face with the handsome but haunted Vermont police detective, Adam Dutton, who doesn't know whether to arrest her or ask her out on a date.But Beverly and Adam soon face an even worse problem than their inconvenient growing attraction toward each other: they have both incurred the wrath of the wealthy and formidable Reginald Forsyth. Forsyth's criminal tendrils seem to reach into all areas of Vermont politics and the Northeastern Antiquities League, and he'll do anything to keep his dark secrets safe.Beverly is sighted in Forsythe's crosshairs for getting the best of him when she scams him out of a valuable Paul Revere heirloom. Adam also becomes a target for covering up for Beverly and working to take Forsythe down. Separately and together, Beverly and Adam enlist the help of a sympathetic antiques dealer and the mysterious "Mr. X," but will it be enough to prove that Forsythe is guilty not only of theft and bribery but of possible murder?Forsythe throws his best at them, from threats and kidnapping to near-drowning, but Beverly and Adam prove that even though they may not be able to outgun their nemesis individually, together they may just have a fighting chance.Winner of the Virginia Indie Author Project from Biblioboard and Library Journal Past career hats BV Lawson tried on include maid, super-speedy typist, classical musician, radio announcer, being in TV commercials (for all of one day), research assistant, TV features writer and working for the Discovery Channel. Now a full-time freelance writer, she's penned articles for various publications and won awards for her many published stories and poems.Thanks to the influence of library genes handed down from her mother, she created the blog In Reference to Murder which contains over 3,000 links for mystery readers and writers. She's working on a series of crime fiction novels set in various locations in and around the mid-Atlantic, and when time permits, BV and her husband enjoy flying over Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake in a little putt-putt plane. Visit BV via her web site, bvlawson.com. No ticket required A bitter con woman plots to take revenge on the man she feels responsible for her grandmother's death. Standing in her way is her growing attraction for a handsome, but jaded, Vermont police detective and the efforts of her nemesis to silence her ... forever. But if she can allow herself to trust her instincts-and the detective-she might just have a fighting chance.

What's a cop to do when his best friend is accused of murder?Vermont Detective Adam Dutton has to make one of the hardest arrests of his life-his friend and godfather, Harlan Wilford, who stands accused of murder. Meanwhile, slightly reformed con woman Beverly LaBorde has returned to Ironwood Junction to take her first tentative steps toward a more normal life and maybe romance with a certain handsome detective.Neither Adam nor Beverly believe for a minute that honest Harlan is capable of murder, but who framed him and why? Was it a disgruntled former customer of Harlan's antiques business or another attempt by the crooked members of the Northeast Antiquities League to get back at Adam?With Adam and Beverly's nemesis, Mayor Titus Lemann, piling on the pressure, and his wife-who also happens to be Adam's ex-piling on the seduction, Adam and Beverly must dodge personal and professional land mines before they blow up in their faces. Harlan's freedom may not be the only thing at stake, as Adam and Beverly begin to wonder if they'll ever be able to take their relationship to the next level. Past career hats BV Lawson tried on include maid, super-speedy typist, classical musician, radio announcer, being in TV commercials (for all of one day), research assistant, TV features writer and working for the Discovery Channel. Now a full-time freelance writer, she's penned articles for various publications and won awards for her many published stories and poems.Thanks to the influence of library genes handed down from her mother, she created the blog In Reference to Murder which contains over 3,000 links for mystery readers and writers. She's working on a series of crime fiction novels set in various locations in and around the mid-Atlantic, and when time permits, BV and her husband enjoy flying over Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake in a little putt-putt plane. Visit BV via her web site, bvlawson.com. No ticket required A bitter con woman plots to take revenge on the man she feels responsible for her grandmother's death. Standing in her way is her growing attraction for a handsome, but jaded, Vermont police detective and the efforts of her nemesis to silence her ... forever. But if she can allow herself to trust her instincts-and the detective-she might just have a fighting chance.

When a series of arsons target Vermont antiques stores, Detective Adam Dutton and con woman Beverly Laborde worry the shop owned by a friend of theirs, Harlan Wilford, might be next. But when a body is found inside one of the burned buildings, the stakes take an even deeper and darker turn.Adam and Beverly thought they'd seen the last of a crime syndicate operating under the Northern Antiquities League in the state and could finally put those dark memories behind them. But are the arsons the group's last gasp or the sign of a new mob threat rising from the ashes?With the help of the mysterious Mr. X, Adam and Beverly race to get to the bottom of the fires before any more lives are lost...including their own. Past career hats BV Lawson tried on include maid, super-speedy typist, classical musician, radio announcer, being in TV commercials (for all of one day), research assistant, TV features writer and working for the Discovery Channel. Now a full-time freelance writer, she's penned articles for various publications and won awards for her many published stories and poems.Thanks to the influence of library genes handed down from her mother, she created the blog In Reference to Murder which contains over 3,000 links for mystery readers and writers. She's working on a series of crime fiction novels set in various locations in and around the mid-Atlantic, and when time permits, BV and her husband enjoy flying over Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake in a little putt-putt plane. Visit BV via her web site, bvlawson.com. No ticket required A bitter con woman plots to take revenge on the man she feels responsible for her grandmother's death. Standing in her way is her growing attraction for a handsome, but jaded, Vermont police detective and the efforts of her nemesis to silence her ... forever. But if she can allow herself to trust her instincts-and the detective-she might just have a fighting chance.

When Beverly Laborde becomes a con artist to exact revenge on the man who shut down her grandmother's antiques business and sent her to an early grave, she comes face to face with the handsome but haunted Vermont police detective, Adam Dutton-who doesn't know whether to arrest her or ask her out on a date.What started as a personal vendetta for Beverly against whose a man whose criminal tendrils reach far into Vermont politics and the Northeastern Antiquities League grows into something more. The quirky town of Ironwood Junction, a sympathetic local antiques dealer, and the mysterious "Mr.X" start to chip away at Beverly's hardened outer emotional shell.But can she push past her issues with trust and betrayal to settle down? And will her quest for vengeance ever truly be over? As Beverly and Adam come to terms with their inconvenient growing attraction toward each other, they have to dodge bribery, theft, extortion, and murder ... to settle old scores and to keep each other safe.Includes:STEAL AWAY: A con woman hoping to take revenge on the man she feels responsible for her grandmother's death has to fight her growing attraction for a handsome Vermont police detective and the efforts of her nemesis to silence her ... forever. But if she can allow herself to trust her instincts-and the detective-she might just have a fighting chance.HIDE AWAY: Vermont Detective Adam Dutton has to make one of the hardest arrests of his life-his good friend and godfather, Harlan Wilford, who stands accused of murder. Once again teaming up with con woman Beverly Laborde, Adam and Beverly must find the real killer before it's too late for Harlan...and for them.BURN AWAY: When a series of arsons targets Vermont antiques stores, Detective Adam Dutton and con-woman Beverly Laborde worry a shop owned by their friend might be next. But the stakes take an even deeper and uglier turn after a body is found inside one of the burned buildings. Was it an accident, suicide ... or murder? Past career hats BV Lawson tried on include maid, super-speedy typist, classical musician, radio announcer, being in TV commercials (for all of one day), research assistant, TV features writer and working for the Discovery Channel. Now a full-time freelance writer, she's penned articles for various publications and won awards for her many published stories and poems.Thanks to the influence of library genes handed down from her mother, she created the blog In Reference to Murder which contains over 3,000 links for mystery readers and writers. She's working on a series of crime fiction novels set in various locations in and around the mid-Atlantic, and when time permits, BV and her husband enjoy flying over Northern Virginia and the Chesapeake in a little putt-putt plane. Visit BV via her web site, bvlawson.com. No ticket required