The Path of the Crooked
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 1 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Cooper Lee was at a crossroads. Her boyfriend of five years had just left her for another woman, she was living in an apartment above her parents' garage, and her job as a copier repairperson was feeling a little, well, repetitious. Hoping for a fresh start and a new outlook on life, she joins the Bible study group at Hope Street Church. The last thing she expects while studying the Bible is a lesson in murder. When Brooke Hughes, the woman who first invited Cooper to Hope Street, is found murdered in her home, all signs point to her husband as the culprit. But Wesley Hughes was an elder at Hope Street Church, and the members of the Bible study are filled with disbelief that such a kind and loving man could take a life, much less his wife's. Unwilling to let an innocent man and friend be railroaded into prison, the Bible group decides to investigate on their own. As Cooper and this humorously diverse group of people-including a blind folk artist, a meteorologist with a taste for younger women, and a soft-spoken web designer who might be out to catch Cooper's eye-dig deeper into the clues, they're about to discover that finding the truth sometimes takes a leap of faith.
The Way of the Wicked
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 2 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Cooper Lee and her friends in the Hope Street Bible study group have just volunteered for a local charity, delivering much-needed food and cheer to shut-ins in their community. It seems like the perfect way for the group to do good, and to Cooper it offers the welcome opportunity to get out of the house and spend more time with her new boyfriend, Nathan. But when one of the charity's recipients is murdered, the police have no choice but to single out the church group and their fellow volunteers as the prime suspects.Determined to make sure no evil deed goes unpunished, Cooper and her friends decide to discreetly interrogate each volunteer in their search for the killer, even if it means putting themselves at risk in the process. And as serving the needy becomes more treacherous than any of them could have imagined, they just might discover that the road to murder is paved with good intentions.
The Graves of the Guilty
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 3 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Cooper Lee is on top of the world, thanks to her great friends at Hope Street Church and the satisfaction of having solved two perplexing mysteries. And with Valentine's Day just around the corner, she's hoping that love is in the air for her and her new boyfriend, Nathan. But Cooper's faith is about to be tested when her sister, Ashley, discovers a corpse and is implicated in the gruesome murder. And just as troubling, a darkly handsome and exciting man has come into Cooper's life and just might tempt her to stray.As Cooper and her friends from the Bible study group once again spring into action to root out a killer-and Cooper digs deep to solve a more personal mystery-she discovers that following the clues is raising more questions than answers. But one thing's for certain: when cold-blooded criminals mess with Cooper's family and friends, the killers haven't got a prayer.
The Root of All Evil
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 4 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Cooper Lee has never been happier. She has terrific friends at Bible study, a great boyfriend in Nathan, and best of all, a new niece or nephew on the way. But storm clouds are gathering when a string of church robberies comes to Hope Street and an art teacher is found dead in what appears to be a robbery gone wrong. With Halloween approaching, Cooper's beginning to think there are far more tricks than treats coming her way. No sooner do she and her friends step in to help the police unearth a killer than they discover a con artist among their flock. Lost in a morass of confusing clues-and even more confusing signals from Nathan-Cooper's not sure which way to turn. With the stakes so high, she sends up a prayer for some divine guidance, because Cooper knows that sometimes it takes the help of a higher power to bring down the lowest form of evildoer.
Fate of the Fallen
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 5 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Cooper Lee and her friends in the Hope Street Bible Study Group are enjoying a glorious summer day in the park, complete with a picnic, hiking, swimming, and a local bluegrass band. But Cooper knows that no good day goes unpunished, and when a man turns up dead in the nearby woods-and the sister of Cooper's fiancé is named as the prime suspect-the group may have to trade in their prayers of thanks for pleas of divine intervention. Cooper knows her future sister-in-law is innocent, so when the police arrest her for the murder, the Bible study group must step in to catch the real killer and prevent a grave injustice. Following a twisted trail of clues that leads to a hit-and-run driver, a homeless veteran, and a park full of suspects who may hold more secrets than solutions, Cooper must hold firm to her spiritual convictions before an innocent woman faces a conviction of a more earthly nature.
The Deeds of the Deceitful
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 6 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Welcome back to Hope Street Church, where friendships are formed, fresh starts are encouraged, and mysteries are solved...
It's June in Virginia, and the scent of flowers and the sound of wedding bells are in the air, an unwelcome reminder to Cooper Lee of the long-distance relationship she recently ended. When Cooper and her Bible study group are invited to spend a weekend at a newly renovated historic inn, it's the perfect chance to get away with friends and put her bittersweet memories behind her-until the inn's pompous co-owner is murdered and one of the suspects is Cooper's own mother.
Certain that someone on the inn's staff must have done the cruel deed, the Bible study group begins piecing together the clues, only to learn that everyone there has a motive for murder. When they discover that a valuable painting has also been stolen from the inn, they know they're up against an especially cunning evildoer. Determined to bring the culprit to justice and save her mother, Cooper and her friends devise a risky scheme to trap the killer, because even the Bible study group must sometimes work in mysterious ways...
Methods of Malice
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 7 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Welcome back to Hope Street Church, where friendships are formed, fresh starts are encouraged, and mysteries are solved . . .
The Hope Street Community Theater is staging It's a Wonderful Life as a fundraiser, and Cooper and the Bible study group are all taking part. They've also managed to land the help of a famous Broadway director who's trying to clean up his image after a scandal, and he travels to Richmond along with his star actress and staff. But the director's entourage epitomize the worst of theater personalities, with petty grievances and jealousies stirring up more drama off the stage than on. And when the assistant director is found murdered in her hotel suite, the list of possible suspects is longer than a red carpet.
Unwilling to stand by with a murderer in their midst, Cooper and her friends get to work ferreting out clues and surveilling the staff, including a dangerously inept set technician as well as the director's current and former love interests. Despite inexplicable and terrifying stage "accidents" threatening to derail their investigation and the play, the intrepid amateur sleuths know the show must go on. Their only prayer is to set a trap and successfully catch a killer before it's curtains for Cooper . . .
A Taste for Crime
by Ellery Adams
read by Cris Dukehart
Part 8 of the Hope Street Church Mystery series
Welcome back to Hope Street Church, where friendships are formed, fresh starts are encouraged, and mysteries are solved . . .
When a scathing review by a prominent food critic threatens to ruin the career of local celebrity chef Anton Parsley, he turns to Cooper and her Bible study group for help. Cooper's boyfriend was once mentored by the beloved chef, and Cooper will do anything she can to support his struggling restaurant. But before she can figure out how to restore the chef's good reputation, the food critic is found murdered in his restaurant. Suddenly, Cooper and the gang must go from propping up the chef to tracking down a killer.
It's well known that the food critic had built a lucrative career with her bombastic reviews, but as Cooper and her friends look into her background, they discover that she may not have been who she appeared to be. Suspecting that secrets from her past will lead them to whoever wanted her dead, the Bible study group cook up a scheme to trap the culprit. The risks are high and may just get them burned, but they're dead set on catching the killer before the chef's career is toast . . .