Showing results by author "Cindy Davis" in All Categories

Can a yellow-throat toucan, and lyrics from Jimmy Buffett’s songs help Joy solve a month-old murder? The central Florida town of Uncertain looms as a mere distraction for Joy Wagner when the new-to-her motorcycle breaks down under a banner publicizing the annual mud festival. Why would anyone celebrate mud? Sounds disgusting, but she’s stuck here till her bike’s fixed. In less than an hour, her luck changes. She’s offered pizza-for-life and a job at Moore’s General Store. The job comes with two perks: a yellow-throated toucan, which is odd enough, but add to that the ghost of ...

Can a yellow throat toucan, and lyrics from Cat Stevens’ songs, help Joy solve the murder of the vice-principal in the middle of her marriage proposal? Joy is finally settling down. She’s bought a house but it needs work. No problem, as she has amazing friends to help out, but a kink in the plans arises when she enlists Trinity’s help ‘relocating’ Merrick’s ghost to the new address. Meanwhile, Joy, Anna, and Whitney are immersed in making a snowy Christmas wonderland in the high school gym, even though they live in sunny Florida. Things go well until a man in a ten-gallon hat, ...

Angie Deacon was the last to see Nolan Little alive. Which makes her a prime suspect in his death. Sure, he was gruff and insensitive. Treated his wife like dirt. But besides Valerie, why would any of the five strangers on board want him dead? None of them knew him before today. Or did they? Police detective Colby Jarvis storms the boat determined to unveil the killer before they get back to shore. What a feather in the widower's cap that would be. He falls hook, line, and sinker at his first sight of Angie, but she is married and off limits.

When strange voices fill the air, what do you do? RUN? Moving into our new home with my beautiful wife Cindy and daughter Naomi, we never expected our lives to change. I started noticing weird things, but I didn't tell my wife. Was I going crazy? Why were things with my family not good? Why weren't my prayers answered? I prayed to God for help. One day, while I was checking downstairs, my wife heard a voice in our room say, 'Hey, buddy.' It wasn't in her head; she heard it out loud. What would YOU do in my place?

Can lyrics from Tom Chapin’s songs help Joy solve the murder of her ex boyfriend, found in the debris of the Celtic Faire’s opening-night bonfire? Joy is hauled back to Uncertain, Florida in a police car. Her boyfriend, with whom she broke up three months ago, has been found dead in the ashes of the Annual Celtic Faire’s bonfire. She was miles away when he died. But a witness, someone she considered a friend, said she was in town. And no one can prove otherwise. Chief Wagner is being pressured from all sides to not only solve the murder, but also the rash of petty thefts that have hit...

Can a yellow throat toucan, and lyrics from Jim Croce’s songs, help Joy solve the murder of one of Uncertain Florida’s leading citizens? Joy and Diablo, the yellow throat toucan, return to the central Florida town of Uncertain to attend a friend’s wedding, and soon Xander and Amanda are zipping off to their honeymoon in Alaska. Joy is delighted the annual chili cook-off is happening that weekend also. Second to pizza and peanut butter, chili’s her all-time favorite—the spicier the better. Unfortunately, someone uses the hubbub of the cook-off crowd to poison Darcy, a popular ...

In 1979, Ian Merryweather's biggest dream is to be sheriff of a small town, but a disabling wound in Vietnam sidelines him. While he's on the mend, his best friend Chief Clement Baker is murdered, and Ian inherits the job. His first inclination is to refuse the position. He feels guilty getting the cherished position this way. But who else will dedicate himself to finding the killer? Especially when the State Police have taken the chief's son Barney into custody, and there's a killer on the loose. And what about the lovely Lucy? She deserves so much more than sly womanizer Eric Bremer.

Paige sees her fiancé murder his associate. And he knows she saw. Paige Carmichael must’ve had a premonition that her life was about to take a turn for the worse. One of the books she read was How to Change your Identity and Hide from Anyone. Then she saw her fiancé murder his best friend and associate. And call in one of his flunkies to remove the body. This wasn’t what she signed up for when she agreed to marry Stefano Santangelo. Sure, she knew he was in the mob, but he’d sworn it was numbers running and things like that. Not about to leave the four-year relationship without ...

A Picasso disappears en route from Chicago to New Hampshire. While the truck is moving. The multi-million dollar painting is there, then it’s not. It’s gone, but it can’t be.

Having just turned 65, officially, in the eyes of the government, I am an elderly person. The events in this book took place over one year’s time - 1/65th - of my life. A minuscule period in those terms. But that nanosecond of time changed my entire life.

Can a yellow throat toucan, and lyrics from Alan Jackson songs, help Joy solve yet another murder of a member of the local band Loco-Motion? It’s the Grand Opening of the Down ’n Dirty Brigade. The atmosphere is festive, the music loud, the crowd boisterous, and the April weather perfect. The joyful time seems too good to be true. The thought no sooner makes its way into Joy’s brain when Diablo flies in with a clue: a package of guitar picks. This isn’t unusual; he brings clues all the time, except they’re to murders that have already happened. Panicked, the girls realize ...

A priceless Egyptian vase disappears in front of six witnesses. And, of course, the thief.... It's there, then poof, it's gone. The ink is barely dry on snake-lover Phoebe Smith and Susie Homemaker Westen Hughes’ licenses. Their bank accounts are bursting from their previous windfall, yet they’re anxious to get back to work. Then the call comes. During the unveiling of a local college’s exhibit, the vase worth $1.75 million disappears in front of seven people. Smith and Westen dodge threats and physical attacks by the suspects.

A life-or-death secret can never remain secret. There’s always someone who knows. And tells. Jade and Luna thought their five-year-old daughter’s ability to manifest was a secret. But someone has found out, and they’re determined to use it to their advantage. K’iin K’aay is kidnapped from their home in Mexico. Luna manages to get her back, but it’s clear the perpetrator won’t stop with one attempt. The family is on the run. Somehow the men keep locating them. Miguel suspects K’iin K’aay’s ex nanny is providing information on their whereabouts. But it happens even after ...

Take $2 million in bank securities and a bank manager who moonlights as a magician. Blend well, then add: a nagging shrew of a wife, a high-maintenance daughter in debt up to her ears, a talk show host who foots too many of the family bills, a theater producer who's never around when people need him, and it's clear Gabe Heinz has two million reasons to disappear. He is in the middle of his vanishing act on stage when he does just that - vanish before a sell-out crowd, along with $2 million in securities from the bank where he's vice president.

How did 1500 residents of a village in India disappear practically overnight? Is there really a curse that’s endured for hundreds of years? Tate and Aria’s mission is simple: Find the energy portal in the long-deserted village of Kuldhara, and see where it goes within the earth. They dive eagerly into the task even though an archaic legend claims the place is both cursed and haunted. And things are simple…until the wife of a Danish ambassador requests—more like demands—their help recovering the Florentine diamond, missing since the end of WWII. The appeal is easy to ignore; after ...

Can a yellow throat toucan, and lyrics from Billy Joel songs, help Joy solve the murder of Loco-Motion’s lead singer?The entire Moore clan is celebrating Thanksgiving at Old Man Thompson’s barn. Though Joy’s not blood-related, they insist she be a part, which makes sense since months ago she uncovered the murderer of patriarch Merrick Moore, who now resides, in spirit, in the general store. The barn walls vibrate with the beat from the popular band Loco-Motion. Suddenly, the lead singer lights up like a roman candle on New Years Eve. Nona Williamson has been electrocuted and things ...

In real life, people make both good and bad decisions. Bad ones often cycle back to bite us when we least expect it. And sometimes people feel forced to make decisions contrary to their desires and beliefs. When Claudia Goodwin's father issues an edict--you'll marry David Van Buren so I can merge our two companies--naturally she balks. That's where the bad decisions begin, especially when she learns she's pregnant by David's brother. In a moment of panic, she gives up the baby for adoption, believing that, in 1954, it's best for him to grow up with two loving parents.Then she spends the ...

Can a yellow throat toucan, and lyrics from Neil Diamond songs, help Joy solve the murder of a local woman competing in the annual fishing derby? The phone rings at the butt-crack of dawn. Life for Joy, Whitney, and Anna rapidly spirals out of control. Within hours, the only fisher-woman at the derby is found crammed in her ex-husband’s smoker. Even though Ronnie’s less-than-sparkling personality offers up a voluminous number of suspects, her on-again-off-again relationship with the ex makes him the leading suspect. But was it possible for the 110-pounds-soaking-wet man to lift the 180-...

How can the number one thoroughbred in the country disappear while on a practice run at the track? Ocho Rios, the number one thoroughbred in the country, has just been sold for $10.7 million. The new owner watches him run a practice lap at the Lexington, Kentucky track—ears are back, mane flying, hooves pounding the dirt. But as the sweaty animal returns trackside, it’s quickly obvious another horse has taken Ocho Rios’ place. He was only out of sight for three seconds while he rounded the backstretch. How could a substitution be made with dozens of people looking on? And who is the ...

Running from problems does not solve them. It only changes the setting, Payton Winters is quick to learn when she flees the ghosts surrounding her husband’s murder in Minneapolis. In her new hometown of Sackets Harbor, NY, Noah Anderson latches onto her right away. And not in a good way. Years ago, Claire Baines ran also, by giving her son up for adoption. She watched Noah grow into a womanizer, cheat and blackmailer. In a heartrending moment, she decides that, to keep him from hurting anyone else, he’s got to die. She bakes monkshood into his favorite chocolate cake. The next day, ...