A Ginger Barnes Cozy Mystery Series

Writer's Digest Award Winning Author For successfully delivering her mother’s friend, fierce competitor Iffy Bigelow, to the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show in time to perfect that day’s entries, Ginger Barnes and mother Cynthia are rewarded with Iffy’s extra maintenance passes. Unfortunately, while they roam the amazing displays with elbow room to spare, Iffy is in a storage room behind the Tastee Freeze booth getting strangled with her own scarf. The remaining Grand Prize contenders seem relieved to have lost their toughest rival, but surely they aren’t all murder suspects! What about Iffy’s husband? The police favor the victim’s mentally unstable niece for the crime, but Gin’s mother will have none of it. “You solved a murder for your husband,” she reminds the amateur sleuth she raised. “Now you can solve one for me.”

Writer's Digest Award Winning Author A daylight burglary turns to murder when Ginger Barnes’s neighborhood friend returns home at the worst possible time. Thefts and threats and wild accusations follow, tightening tensions on previously peaceful Beech Tree Lane. When elderly eccentric Letty MacNair is mugged on her doorstep, the message is clear—anyone could be next. Gin’s discreet inquiries sped investigations along in the past, but this time crime is targeting the amateur sleuth’s safe haven. Does she have something more daring in mind?

Escorting an incorrigible student downtown to be “scared straight” by a Federal judge, Ginger Barnes discovers her childhood babysitter, textile professor Charlie Finnemeyer, on trial for fraudulently aging an Oriental rug. After a second witness against the defendant dies a little too conveniently, the experienced amateur sleuth initiates a private investigation she hopes will prevent her elderly friend from spending his retirement years in prison. Alternate suspects include a TV craft show host; a college president; a trendy art dealer; and Charlie’s suspiciously overprotective wife, whose skill at being in the wrong place at the wrong time isn’t helping her husband’s case one bit. As eager as Gin is to persuade the court that her beloved “Uncle Wunk” is innocent, she must first convince herself. Cameos by Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross.

When her cousin Michelle is hospitalized to save her pregnancy, Ginger Barnes rushes to Norfolk, Virginia, to help any way she can. A player for the Tomcat’s pro football team has been murdered, and Michelle is terrified her husband, quarterback Doug Turner, will be accused of the crime. The two men have been rivals since college, and Michelle is Doug’s only alibi. Gin tries hard to keep to the sidelines but soon gives in and tackles the case head-on. Why not? She’s a savvy football fan, an experienced amateur sleuth, and the goal is to save an innocent child’s life.

While working on a DIY project at her newlywed daughter’s house, amateur sleuth Ginger Barnes sees a bag of bricks being dropped from the neighbor’s third-story window. Soon pops resembling muffled gunshots send her racing for her phone. Eric, who lives in the house with his grandmother, claims the elderly woman is obsessed with mystery novels. Yet after she falls down a flight of stairs, she’s so frantic to keep Eric away Gin must intervene. Was the so-called accident attempted murder? In her husband’s eyes, Cissie Voight can’t do anything right. Gin occasionally helps the frazzled young mother, and when Cissie needs a dresser carried upstairs, Gin solicits Eric’s help. Bad move! The electricity between the two new acquaintances sparks a chilling premonition. This time Gin’s good intentions may produce grave consequences—for everyone involved. Finalist, National Indie Excellence Award in Mystery

Writer's Digest Award Winning Author On the heels of a nasty divorce, a dog trainer is blamed for her ex-husband’s suspicious death. Evidence suggests she programmed their jointly owned guard dog to attack the prominent diet doctor, but did she? As the accused is being led off to jail, she begs her friend and sometime sleuth, Ginger Barnes, to save the champion German shepherd’s life, an assignment that demands nothing less than the whole truth.

Tonight is Bryn Derwyn Academy’ holiday concert, and nothing dare go wrong. Ginger Barnes—headmaster’s wife and #1 volunteer—is painfully aware that bad publicity can kill a school’s reputation in a heartbeat. Which is exactly what happens when she discovers the academy’s attorney lying face down on the conference table, dead from a blow with the school’s ceremonial groundbreaking shovel. Desperate to save the struggling young school—her family’s home and livelihood—Gin initiates her own investigation. Why not? Her questions will sound harmless—to everyone but the killer! Will Gin’s amateur sleuthing succeed? Or will risking the wrath of a murderer prove to be the most dangerous thing she’s ever done? Writer's Digest Award Winning Author