My Funny Mayfair Valentine

A newcomer to Mayfair charms the socks off of Susanna Mayfair, the sheltered niece of the town's elderly matriarch. In a panic, the aunt turns to service dog trainer Marcia Banks to dig into the man's past. What Marcia finds, with her detective husband Will’s help, is disturbing—a trail of broken hearts and outstanding warrants. But when the older gentleman is arrested, he claims it’s a case of mistaken identity. While Will attempts to untangle the truth and Susanna struggles with her feelings, Marcia is worried about her friend’s mental health, unaware that Susanna may be in physical danger as well. Will Marcia figure it out in time to protect Susanna...and herself?

A Christmas extravaganza in Mayfair, Florida, complete with an ice skating rink. What could go wrong? When excavation for the skating rink uncovers a decades-old skeleton, its secrets threaten more than the town’s Christmas plans. Worried about her friends in her adopted town and feeling responsible since the let’s-attract-more-tourists idea was hers initially, dog trainer Marcia Banks is determined to help her police detective boyfriend solve the mystery—whether he wants her help or not. Perhaps she can wheedle more out of the townspeople than he can. But will she and her Black Lab, Buddy, be able to keep the ghost of Christmas past from destroying what is left of Mayfair’s founding family, or will her meddling make matters worse? If you like books by Annie Bassett, B.R. Snow, and Mary Hiker, you may also enjoy the Marcia Banks and Buddy Mystery series! The Marcia Banks and Buddy Mystery Series: To Kill a Labrador Arsenic and Young Lacy Call of the Woof A Mayfair Christmas Carol Patches in the Rye The Legend of Sleepy Mayfair Keywords: cozy, mystery, mystery books, cozy mysteries, murder mysteries, dog mystery books, dog mysteries, cozy mystery books, female detective, amateur sleuth, female sleuth, good mystery books, murder mystery books, therapy dog, PTSD, veterans, fiction books, mystery novel, first in series, crime fiction, pet sleuth, animal mysteries, private investigator, series books, cozy mystery series, dog mystery series, service dog, combat veterans, dog training, ptsd, sexual assault in the military, dogs

Should auld acquaintance be forgot… The last year has been eventful for Marcia and husband Will. They've successfully launched their private investigation agency and completed their family with an adorable but creatively energetic baby girl. Now, they're about to ring in the New Year with friends and neighbors, but there's something more than champagne bubbling in Mayfair, Florida. The octogenarian matriarch of the town is always looking for ways to boost the community's economy. Her latest scheme is the addition of a row of shops along Main Street. But a few of her new tenants have something more nefarious in mind than simply selling their wares. When old hostilities set off New Year’s fireworks, a shopkeeper ends up dead, and two friends of Marcia’s are prime suspects. Determined to clear them, Marcia and Will—with Buddy’s help, of course—set out to uncover the real Grim Reaper.

Even small towns can harbor a killer! Another collection of Books 8 to 10 in this fun cozy series, starring service dog trainer, Marcia Banks and her four-legged best friend and mentor dog, Buddy. In A Star-Spangled Mayfair, an impulsive fiancé, a “Mob Killer” Roman candle, and a bison bull named Tarzan are a recipe for disaster for Marcia’s introverted friend Jess Randall, owner of the Mayfair Diner. When Dan, her fiancé, offers their farm for the Mayfair Independence Day Extravaganza, then ends up with a Roman candle through his chest, Jess is the prime suspect. Marcia feels compelled to investigate to clear her friend…and to make sure Jess isn’t the next target. In Lord of the Fleas, Marcia’s agenda while staying with her best (human) friend, Becky in Williston, Florida is simple: spoil her godchildren and train her newest dog’s veteran owner, a vendor at the local flea market. But when the flea market’s owner is killed, her client is among the suspects. Marcia believes he’s innocent, but she soon finds that the flea market is hiding dangerous secrets. In My Funny Mayfair Valentine, a charming newcomer makes a play for Susanna Mayfair, the sheltered niece of the town's matriarch, and Aunt Edna begs Marcia to investigate the man’s past. Turns out he’s a wanted criminal, but he claims it’s a case of mistaken identity. While Marcia’s detective husband attempts to untangle the truth, Marcia worries about her friend’s mental health, unaware that she may be in physical danger as well. Will Marcia figure it out in time to protect Susanna…and herself?

A newcomer to Mayfair charms the socks off of Susanna Mayfair, the sheltered niece of the town's elderly matriarch. In a panic, the aunt turns to service dog trainer Marcia Banks to dig into the man's past. What Marcia finds, with her detective husband Will's help, is disturbing--a trail of broken hearts and outstanding warrants. But when the older gentleman is arrested, he claims it's a case of mistaken identity. While Will attempts to untangle the truth and Susanna struggles with her feelings, Marcia is worried about her friend's mental health, unaware that Susanna may be in physical danger as well. Can Marcia figure it out in time to protect Susanna...and herself?

A second collection of Books 5 to 7 starring service dog trainer, Marcia Banks and her four-legged best friend and mentor dog, Buddy—including a Halloween romp with a seriously scary twist and a visit to a tropical island that turns deadly. In Patches In The Rye, service dog trainer Marcia goes a bit off the rails for a while, as she’s tempted to try her hand at being a private detective. Nothing about her new client is what she expected—from the posh house that says family money to his paranoid preoccupation with his sister’s love life—but when he dangles a fat retainer check under her nose, she can’t resist. The deeper she digs, however, the more questions arise. The most pressing one being…who’s driving the black SUV that keeps trying to turn Marcia and Buddy into roadkill? In The Legend of Sleepy Mayfair, Marcia’s adopted town is once again driving her a little nuts. No sooner has she moved her horse into the new Mayfair Riding Stable than its eccentric owner, Edna Mayfair decides to turn the barn into a haunted house for Halloween. Meanwhile, an anonymous prankster is haunting Mayfair and the local postmistress has a strange request for Marcia. All this, along with her new role of godmother to her best friend’s adorable twins, is a bit overwhelming. But it’s nothing compared to what’s coming as Halloween approaches…. In The Sound and the Furry, a tropical paradise turns deadly. Marcia thinks it will be the perfect arrangement—stay on her client’s beautiful private island while conducting the human phase of the training. But a tranquil getaway this is not, thanks to two resident ghosts, a sour-puss housekeeper, and her client’s shaky marriage. Then Mother Nature ups the anté when a freak late-season hurricane traps her and her dogs on the island…with a killer. Each story is a complete mystery, but the characters are best understood and enjoyed if the stories are read in order.

Family can save you...or destroy you. With accusations flying between her client and the client’s parents, psychotherapist Kate Huntington is caught in the middle. And when the parents sue her for planting “false memories” in her client’s head, she ends up a murder suspect. Plus, someone is sending her anonymous and vaguely threatening notes. There is one bright spot though; she’s falling in love. Now if she can just get her dead husband's ghost out of her head. As the romance heats up, the note sender ups the anté, threatening to “destroy” Kate’s family. Her closest friend, Rob, has misgivings about her too-handsome-to-be-trusted suitor. But now the two men must work together, to help the woman they both love find a killer…and protect her baby girl. female sleuth, child sexual abuse, false memories, romantic suspense, private detective, women detectives, mystery & detective, women sleuths, women sleuths series, mystery series

A story ripped from real-life headlines. A police detective is found in an alley, standing over the body of an unarmed African-American boy. Groggy from a concussion, he has no memory of what happened, and he is literally holding the smoking gun. To the Baltimore County Internal Affairs division, it’s a slam-dunk. But various forces push psychotherapist Kate Huntington and her P.I. husband to investigate behind the scenes, and what they find doesn’t add up. Why did the boy’s oldest brother disappear on the same day? And did the third brother, who’s on the autism spectrum and nonverbal, witness something relevant? When seemingly unrelated events emerge as a pattern of intentional obstruction and diversion, it becomes apparent that what happened in that alley was more than just a bad shoot by a stressed-out cop. For Kate, the case has become personal as she’s connected with the grieving mother, whose dead son was the same age as her Billy. The answers may come from unexpected sources, but she and Skip better find them soon... before another life is lost.