About this series
Claire Malloy, for as long as she can remember, has been the local bookseller and owner of the Book Depot and the widowed mother of teenage Caron, who frequently speaks in ALL CAPS. But her life has changed dramatically in recent years. Claire has married her longtime beau, Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen. Still the owner of the Book Depot, Claire has passed the day-to-day running of it on to her very efficient employees. With Caron inching ever closer to college, there's but one thing that remains steadfastly unchanged—Claire's astonishing ability to attract, find, or even just randomly stumble across trouble.
Summoned for jury duty, the prosecutor on a murder case, harboring a grudge against her husband, decides to humiliate Claire and dismiss her. Having done so in spectacular enough fashion to make the local news, Claire decides that revenge will be the next dish she serves. She hunts down the defendant in the case, a woman accused of murdering her husband, and offers to help prove her innocence. And not just because Claire wants to humiliate the prosecutor. There are only two problems. One—the defendant is looking guiltier by the minute. And two—the worst day imaginable has finally come: Claire's dreaded new mother-in-law is coming to visit and life in prison is starting to look good.
Titles in the series (2)
- Strangled Prose: A Claire Malloy Mystery
1
She would have killed for a bestseller--but someone beat her to it... Professor of Passion, the smutty new romance from Mildred Twiller--a.k.a. Azalea Twilight--isn't the kind of book Claire Malloy likes to hock at her bookstore, but Claire agrees to host a book party for her friend's trashy tale. As torrid as the novel is, it's nothing compared to the evening. After the party, poor Mildred is found dead in her home--stranged with a tightly knotted silk scarf. Now it's up to Clair to find Mildred's killer, and it won't be easy--the two-bit author had offended nearly every faculty member she worked with at nearby Faber College. But who could have hated Mildred with such smoldering passion? Find out in Joan Hess' first Claire Malloy mystery novel Strangled Prose.
- Busy Bodies: A Claire Malloy Mystery
10
Since his recent arrival, avant-garde artist Zeno Gorgias has been turning heads and attracting gawkers in the otherwise tame college town of Farberville Arkansas. Zeno's "interactive" art—featuring an undressed woman lounging beside a coffin on his front yard—is neither welcome by the community nor punishable by law. But as local bookseller and amateur sleuth Claire Malloy is about to find out, sometimes there's a dark side to one's freedom of artistic expression… Strange things keep happening to Zeno and his oeuvre. First, his estranged wife comes to town, demanding he be committed to a mental institution. Then Zeno's house mysteriously goes up in flames. And if that's not enough, a dead body is found inside of the infamous coffin. Now that Zeno has been arrested for murder, it's up to Claire to figure out what on earth is going on in Farberville…while the real killer remains on the loose.
Joan Hess
Joan Hess is the author of the critically acclaimed Maggody mysteries, including Muletrain to Maggody, Maggody and the Moonbeams, Misery Loves Maggody, and [email protected], nominated for the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award. She has received numerous awards, including the American Mystery Award, the Agatha Award, the Drood Review Readers' Award, and the Macavity Award. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, she is currently president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance, as well as a member of Sisters in Crime. Joan Hess lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Read more from Joan Hess
Muletrain to Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Big Foot Stole My Wife: And Other Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Malpractice in Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Arly Hanks Mysteries Volume One: Malice in Maggody, Mischief in Maggody, and Much Ado in Maggody Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaveat Emptor: And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Claire Malloy Mysteries
Related ebooks
The Curse of the Holy Pail: Odelia Grey Mystery, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsToo Big To Die: Odelia Grey Mystery, #12 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrangled Prose: A Claire Malloy Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dead Days of Summer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Cat Caliban Mysteries: Books 1-4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cozy Up to Murder: The Cozy Up Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Ghost Blows a Kiss Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bookmarked for Murder: A Scrappy Librarian Mystery, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Mystery For You
The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Short Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hallowe'en Party: Inspiration for the 20th Century Studios Major Motion Picture A Haunting in Venice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Under a Red Moon: A 1920s Bangalore Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Iron Lake (20th Anniversary Edition): A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night in the Lonesome October Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The People Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Claire Malloy Mysteries
691 ratings0 reviews