Chesapeake Bay Mystery (Murray)

Real estate rule #1: A dead body creates buzz. A dead body in a house for sale is never the buzz you want. It isn't the first time real estate agent Helen Morrisey has found someone naked in bed while showing a house. But this one is different. One glance at the bluish cast around his lips and the vacant, staring eyes, and Helen knows developer Al Capelli is never going to sign another sales agreement. His death is big news for a small Chesapeake water town where a family empire is built around secrets and their brash money style is resented by locals. Within days, his lover, her old friend, begs Helen to find the killer before she's arrested for murder. Helen quickly realizes that solving a murder mystery in real life is a lot more dangerous than reading one. She decides to create her own Detection Club of expert sleuths-Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, Nora Charles, Agatha Raisin, and, yes, Nancy Drew to help unearth the truth. Detective Joe McAlister recognizes Helen's insight into back office real estate deals and local players. And for the first time since her husband's death, Helen meets a man who might return zingers as quick as she tosses them out. Mystery lovers hungry for a smart gutsy woman, a fast-moving plot, and an insider's look into a business everyone talks about, but few understand, will devour this first in a series.

A bed & breakfast haunted A guest stabbed A couple's future in ruins Real estate rule #3: It's the rare buyer who wants to buy a haunted house. A grand opening for Captain's Quarters Bed & Breakfast on the outskirts of the little Chesapeake Bay town of Port Anne is creating quite a stir. Real estate agent Helen Morrisey sold the neglected Victorian to state senator candidate Eliot Davies and his wife, Alison. Despite rumors of ghostly images, they've toiled for months to bring the painted lady back to its prime. Now, the couple is ready to celebrate and the whole town is invited. A piercing scream cuts through the chatter as their party winds down. Helen bolts toward the pool house with her on-again, off-again love interest, Detective Joe McAlister, steps behind. A hysterical Alison is standing over the motionless body of one of their guests. A nine-inch pair of antique fishing shears juts from the woman's back. Helen takes in the shocked expressions of guests gathered at the pool edge. Why would someone want this woman dead? Has the tale of a ghost roaming Captain's Watch returned to haunt Eliot and Alison? Getting involved in another local murder investigation could be the kiss of death for her relationship with Joe. Yet, she knows a murder in her friends B & B might cut their future to ribbons. Is it time to consult the expertise of her infamous Detection Club sleuths? Or should she look the other way before her own reputation is bloodied? Peril in the Pool House is the third book in the award-winning Chesapeake Bay Mystery Series.