The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
~ Oscar Wilde in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series
 Book 1: Penelope Pembroke and the Case of the Bogus Biker  Book 2: Penelope Pembroke and the Case of the Stubborn Schoolhouse Spirit  | Meet Penelope Pembroke, proprietress of the Shady Rest Bed and Breakfast in Amaryllis, Arkansas (population 5,679). Her ex-husband's family has owned and operated a profitable cotton plantation since 1849. Her son Brad is the lone detective with the Amaryllis PD. Her widowed father, Jake Kelly, enjoys retirement in a cozy first-floor apartment in the B&B where he can keep an eye on 'Nellie', his favorite--and only--daughter. Penelope's best friend from high school days, Lynelle Hargrove, helps out at the B&B when she isn't busy being 'Mrs. Mayor' for her husband Harry. Life is pretty bland and uninteresting until Penelope overhears two guests discussing a shipment at the Sit-n-Swill, a bar and grill run by Roger Sitton. Jake is always ready to visit the establishment for a Reuben and a beer, so they show up just ahead of four bikers. One of the bikers, 'Tiny', appears to hit on Penelope minutes before gunfire erupts, sending everyone scattering. He knocks her to the floor and shields her with his sizable body. Inevitably, the police show up, including Detective Bradley Pembroke, who is horrified to find his mother and grandfather in the middle of an unsavory situation and sends them home posthaste. Jake suggests they take the long way around Pine Branch Creek where roving bands of bikers typically hang out. They run into 'Tiny' again, but this time he isn't interested in seeing Penelope do anything but disappear. Later that night, he shows up bleeding under Penelope's window. She lets him in, patches him up, and tells him he can spend the rest of the night in an empty room. She and Jake agree that he isn't a biker, but they're not sure just what he is--or isn't. 'Tiny', now known as 'Sam', is still around a few nights later when the gin on the cotton plantation explodes, leaving two burned bodies to be identified. Suddenly, Sam stashes Jake in an unknown location and sends Penelope on an odyssey through two states. She alternates between the need to trust him and the instinct that tells her not to. And, she realizes she's attracted to him as a man, something she never intended to be again. All she wants to do is return to Amaryllis and her dull life, but she's not sure she's going to get there--at least, not alive. Book 3: The Case of the Lost Librarian Book 4: The Case of the Feed Store Floozy Book 5: The Case of the Not-So-Funny Farm Book 6: Heartbreak Comes to Town |
