Granny Reid Mystery

As the Moonlight Magnolia Agency revisits old memories on Christmas Eve, Granny Reid takes the reins back thirty years to the 1980s-back when she went by Stella, everyone's hair was bigger, and sweaters were colorful disasters. But murder never went out of style... Christmas has arrived in sleepy McGill, Georgia, but holiday cheer can't keep temperamental Stella Reid from swinging a rolling pin at anyone who crosses her bad side-and this season, there are plenty. First an anonymous grinch vandalizes a celebrated nativity display. Far worse, the scandalous Prissy Carr is found dead in an alley behind a tavern. With police puzzled over the murder, Stella decides to stir the local gossip pot for clues on the culprit's identity... Turns out Prissy held a prominent spot on the naughty list, and suspects pile up like presents on Christmas morning. Unfortunately, the more progress Stella makes, the more fears she must confront. With a neighbor in peril and the futures of her beloved grandchildren at risk, Stella must somehow set everything straight and bring a cunning criminal to justice before December 25th...

The roots of the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency reach back to the 1980s in the little town of McGill, Georgia-where Stella Reid and her seven grandkids enjoy some spooky Halloween fun and stumble into murder . . . It doesn't take cash, just some good old-fashioned creativity, to turn a pillowcase into a ghost costume or a trashcan into a suit of armor. So even if she has to stick to a budget, Stella Reid always makes holidays like Halloween memorable for twelve-year-old Savannah and the rest of her grandchildren. After joining the other townspeople for trick-or-treating and the annual parade down Main Street, Granny Reid and the kids head to Judge Patterson's antebellum mansion, where a corn maze awaits. Most of the youngsters are too terrified to make it all the way to the middle. It's lucky for them, because when Savannah and Granny get there, it proves to be even scarier than they expected-half buried in the mud at the center of the maze lies a human skull. The grisly discovery uncovers a mystery that stretches back decades-and seems to be related to the long-unsolved murder of Granny Reid's own part-Cherokee mother. After all this time, the culprit may be long gone . . . or still hiding among them. It'll be up to Granny to dig into this Southern town's history and a mess of old family secrets . . .

Stella "Granny" Reid's youth wasn't the only thing changed by time in tiny, nondescript McGill, Georgia. Except even back in the 1980s, the Southern town still had a way of attracting downright dubious characters-some with a talent for murder. As quirky as McGill's residents can be, they usually welcome society's oddballs and outcasts into the community with open arms. But the three members of the Lone White Wolf Pack are a different story. Townsfolk aren't feeling the least bit neighborly toward the ignorant gang widely believed to have orchestrated several hate crimes in the area ... When the small group's irredeemable leader, Billy Ray Sonner, is found dead in an abandoned motel, most assume it was the result of an accidental overdose. An unfortunate yet predictable end for a man who lived the way Billy did. Only Stella and the sheriff have witnessed the crime scene in person, and the smell of cyanide means something more disturbing happened in that ramshackle room. Something like homicide ... While Stella wades through a flood of suspects, uncovered secrets link both Billy's closest allies and respected locals to the incident. One thing is certain-this wasn't an impulsive act of revenge. There's a sophisticated killer on the loose, and Stella must expose deep-rooted fears and dark pasts if she wants to crack a carefully planned murder and stop McGill from descending into chaos.

For Stella "Granny" Reid, the 1980s in McGill, Georgia could be seriously predictable. Gossip would flow, her grandkids would stumble into the kind of harmless trouble only encountered when growing up, and a deadly mystery was all it took to make the tranquil Southern town unravel. With a new grandbaby to care for at home, Stella has little time to spare. Her hands are especially full since Savannah, her teenage granddaughter, developed a crush on a boy guaranteed to break her heart. Gallivanting around with her best pal Sheriff Manny Goldford simply isn't an option-until a freshly murdered body is discovered . . . Holding a criminal record unlike anyone's in McGill, Dexter Corbin was a man who wouldn't be missed at Sunday school or the darkest local tavern. But he never deserved to meet his end so soon-so violently. When a gravedigger finds Dexter sprawled across the steps of a crypt, Stella and Manny launch into action to investigate who had motive to kill him . . . As the pieces start falling together, everything else becomes less certain. Manny soon realizes he could lose his position as sheriff, and there's the case of yet another shocking death. Now, Stella must protect those closest to her while unearthing the dangerous culprit and putting a real grave affair to rest.