Madeline Maclin

After solving her first big murder case in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina, Madeline Maclin hopes at last to be taken seriously as a private investigator. She has opened an office in the home of her best friend, Jerry Fairweather, a man haunted by his past who enjoys running harmless scams. Jerry doesn't feel worthy of anyone's love, which is bad news for Madeline. Secretly, Madeline has questions about the accident that killed Jerry's parents and suspects that Jerry's sister Harriet knows more than she's willing to admit. But for now, Madeline is occupied with finding Kirby Willet, an eccentric inventor who left behind boxes of his belongings, including one filled with money. Meanwhile, the town is hopping with “Pageantoids,” rabid fans from Madeline's days as a beauty queen who have come to Celosia to produce more pageants. And then there's Rick Rialto, one of Jerry's shady con-artist friends. Josh Gaskins, the director of Voltage Films, is also in town and thinks Jerry's old house is the perfect setting for his horror film about Celosia's mythical beast, Curse of the Mantis Man. When there is a murder on the set, Madeline uncovers several suspects and is forced to investigate some hard bargains—at least one of which is with Jerry.

After Madeline Maclin, former beauty queen and fledgling private investigator, married her best friend, Jerry Fairweather, and settled into his old house in the small town of Celosia, North Carolina, she becomes involved in a mysterious death. Amelia Lever, an unpopular teacher at Celosia Elementary School, went on a cigarette break that turned out to be fatal. Grumpy, uncooperative Amelia was despised by the faculty, and Maddy suspects it was no natural death. Then there's her latest case. Nathan Fenton has hired Madeline to help solve a riddle left to him by his uncle, a man who loved to play games. Madeline has a hunch that the teacher's death and this mysterious riddle are somehow related.

Murder by witchcraft? Private investigator and former beauty queen Madeline Maclin thought she'd seen it all in her small North Carolina town of Celosia. Yet Evil Turns, fifth in the lively series by Jane Tesh, opens with a young man's body covered in strange occult symbols found in a local vineyard, putting Mac on notice that there is more than one witch in the neighborhood. Years ago, a group of women in town formed Darkrose Coven, a practice now taken up by younger residents who insist that their dark rose tattoos only honor their favorite character from the popular Pagan Desires books and movies. Has the old coven reappeared? Is the new coven responsible for the ritualistic murder? Intrigue unfolds as Celosia prepares for its centennial. The Women's Improvement Society, led by wealthy, obnoxious Amanda Price, plans to create an outdoor musical drama, Flower of the South, extolling Emmaline Ross, one of the state's first vintners. Amanda steamrolls past City Councilmember Harold Stover, who fears Celosia cannot afford this costly venture, and Nathan Fenton, who refuses to let her use his Camp Lakenwood land for the production. When Harold is murdered, Amanda is the prime suspect and she hires Mac to prove her innocence. Are the two murders connected? What about Megan Underwood, a local Wiccan from the defunct Peaceful Meadow commune, which had ties to the Darkrose Coven?Megan complicates Mac's inquiries, drifting in and out of town claiming she is Emmaline reborn. What is the secret the Darkrose Coven is so desperate to hide? Mac is stretched to the limit. Not only is she juggling her time investigating murder suspects, feuding locals, and a long-ago missing infant, she also has to fend off threats by a disreputable goon from her husband's past. Her talented and charming spouse, Jerry Fairweather, had once been a con artist, and now their current life together, committed to the straight and narrow, could be totally wrecked. Madeline needs magic of her own to unravel the twists and turns of tangled relationships and to find one singular lost soul.