A Ginger Barnes Cozy Mystery Series

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

It was such a good idea on paper. Ginger Barnes would chauffeur her mother's dear friend, fierce floral competitor Iffy Bigelow, to the world-famous Philadelphia Flower Show in time to perfect that day's "Sew What?" entry. In return, Gin and mother Cynthia would tour the magnificent displays with scarcely anybody else in the aisles. Heaven! No such luck. Iffy gets herself strangled behind the Tastee Freeze booth, and pandemonium ensues. While Iffy's co-competitors pretend not to be overjoyed that their cantankerous old rival is out of the picture, Cynthia Struve is raising a ruckus. The police favor the victim's mentally unstable niece for the crime, but Gin's mother is having none of it. "You solved a murder for your husband," she admonishes the amateur sleuth she raised. "Now you can solve one for me." 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.   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 swiftly 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?   Writer's Digest Award Winning Author

Ginger Barnes knew escorting Bryn Derwyn Academy's most infamous student downtown to be "scared straight" by a Federal judge would be tough. She did not expect to discover her childhood babysitter, Professor Charlie Finnemeyer, on trial for fraudulently aging an oriental rug. As witnesses against Gin's dear "Uncle Wunk" conveniently suffer natural deaths, fears about Charlie's guilt force the amateur sleuth to make some judicious inquiries. Unlikely suspects include a TV craft show host; the president of a college; 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. Gin would love to unravel the murderous scheme in time to persuade the jury of Finnemeyer's innocence, but first she must convince herself.  Writer's Digest Award Winning Author

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 Doug's only alibi is Michelle. 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.  Writer's Digest Award Winning Author

Spunky amateur sleuth Ginger Barnes faces her greatest challenge—MEN! Good ones, bad ones, and detecting which is which.   While working on a DIY project at her newlywed daughter's house, Gin sees a bag of bricks being dropped from the neighbor's third-story window. Soon what sounds like muffled gunshots sends 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, The National Indie Excellence Awards