Miss Fortune World: The Mary-Alice Files

Mary-Alice Arceneaux has decided to make her home in Sinful! Mayor Celia's sweet-natured and curious cousin is eager to settle into small-town life after moving from the big city (Mudbug, Louisiana). But before Mary-Alice can even unpack her bags, a man of the cloth dies under mysterious circumstances, a device with strange powers turns up in the glove box of her Oldsmobile 88, and her new friends, Ida Belle, Gertie, and young Fortune, are behaving oddly...even for Baptists.

Sinful's newest resident, Mary-Alice Arceneaux, is thrilled when Gertie introduces her to famous romance author Almira Galvez-Whitbread. But then Gertie and her friends have to leave town, and the very next day, Almira's husband disappears. With Gertie, Fortune, and Ida Belle gone, Mary-Alice finds that she's Almira's only friend... and that Almira's storybook marriage had been far less perfect than advertised. By the time Mary-Alice realizes she may be in danger, she's already in too deep. Now she has to find out what really happened to the faithless Geoffrey Whitbread-and prove she has what it takes to be a real Sinful Lady.

Sinful's newest resident, Mary-Alice Arceneaux, is starting to catch on to the fact that the Sinful Ladies' Society does more than brew 100-proof cough syrup to sell at the church bazaar. So, when Ida Belle gets into serious trouble, Mary-Alice wants to help the SLS in their quest for justice. But, this means that the sweet-natured Mary-Alice will have to endure a visit to the Swamp Bar (where decent ladies don't go) and go up against her vindictive cousin, Mayor Celia Arceneaux. Will Mary-Alice's sweet nature and unshakable faith in humanity endure?

CIA operative Fortune Redding crossed a ruthless arms dealer. Now she's hiding out in remote Sinful, Louisiana, with a fake identity, fake hair, and a real price on her head. But just as she thinks she's safe, her handler warns that Ahmad's men are getting close. She has less than 24 hours to clear out and make it to the safe house in Hawaii. What's more, they'll be looking for a woman traveling alone, so Fortune needs a companion. A respectable, low-profile, non-trigger-happy companion. Which rules out Gertie and Ida Belle. Mary-Alice Arceneaux just got a big surprise for her 70th birthday-a trip to Hawaii, courtesy of young Fortune Morrow. But with bounty hunters on their trail, and family secrets lurking in the unlikeliest of places, the southernmost state has a few more surprises in store.

Professor Gwendolyn Jackson's husband sends her a voice mail from the road, telling her he'll be home soon. Just one problem...by the time the message was sent, he was already dead. When the police dismiss her concerns, Professor Jackson turns to her former student, Fortune Morrow, for help. Naturally, Fortune, Mary-Alice, and the rest of the Sinful gang are eager to solve the mystery surrounding the death of Professor Jackson's husband, who owned the French Quarter's premier joke and novelty shop, Jape & Jest. But the ladies soon find that nothing is as it seems in this case, and an unseen killer might have the last laugh.

Young men have been disappearing in Black Valley, New York-which now has the misfortune of being known as "Black Widow Valley. " As it happens, Mary-Alice Arceneaux has a personal connection with the tiny community, and is called in to help. Mary-Alice is thrilled to be a part of the investigation-but by the time she arrives at the forbidding Kilmer House where she will spend the night, she realizes she may be in over her head. This modern retelling of Lost Man's Lane takes the action from the sultry bayous of Southwest Louisiana to upstate New York's remote Black Valley. Mary-Alice is challenged to keep her wits about her when she gets herself invited to stay in the forbidding old mansion that appears to hold the key to a string of unspeakable crimes. Fortunately (or not), Sinful's Sheriff Robert E. Lee is on the case too!

When a young woman vanishes from a roadside motel, Mary-Alice and the gang leave Sinful and head across the border to find her. They soon find that the unprepossessing McCully Inn holds some Texas-sized secrets, which the influential McCully family would prefer to keep hidden. But with the missing woman's life at stake, the ladies decide to keep poking around the McCully family closet and let the skeletons fall where they may. And with their technical know-how, decades of experience, and relaxed attitude about rules and procedures, they might just get to the truth.

The Sinful Ladies' Detective Agency has just scored a cushy gig: Doing surveillance for a businessman who claims business rivals are after his trade secrets. But just as Fortune, Gertie, Ida Belle, and Mary-Alice are deciding how to spend their easy money, the unthinkable happens. The Sinful Ladies find themselves teaming up with the bewildered Sheriff Robert E. Lee... only to find that what looks like a ritualistic murder is far from the strangest thing about this case. In this modern adaptation of the classic tale The Circular Study, the Sinful ladies encounter a bloody business, a haunted plantation, and an unspeakable family secret.

Local businessman Buford Fontleroy Deale III is found shot dead in front of Harriet's Books in downtown Sinful. A blood-soaked pajama top is tied around his chest. And he's wearing only one shoe. The sheriff wants to talk to Harriet. Sinful's beloved bookseller was one of the last people to see Deale alive. Fortune, Ida Belle, Gertie, and Mary-Alice need to get to Harriet before the sheriff does. They want to clear Harriet's name, and stop whoever was behind the bizarre murder. Except no one can find Harriet...

Mary-Alice Arceneaux has started a new career at age 70 as the newest member of the Sinful Ladies' Detective Agency. She is happily learning the principles of detection from Ida Belle, Gertie, and Fortune-and of course, picking up tips from her beloved mystery novels. But Mary-Alice finds herself on the wrong side of the interrogation table when her cousin Celia accuses her of a shocking crime. Unfortunately, Celia's story looks plausible-at least to a sheriff under intense pressure to make a quick arrest. Now Mary-Alice and the Sinful Ladies have to find out what Celia's hiding, and find it fast... or Mary-Alice will pay with her freedom.

This box set contains four licensed novellas in the Miss Fortune universe. Mary-Alice Moves In Bayou Busybody The Vanishing Victim Aloha, Y'all Includes Recipes.