Joan Hess’s humorous cozy mystery series takes place in the small and colorful town of Farberville, Arkansas, where widow and single mother Claire Malloy struggles with keeping her small local bookstore in the black.

But she also must deal with the drama of her young teenage daughter Caron (WHO SPEAKS IN ALL CAPS), being married to Deputy Police Chief Peter Rosen, and murder.

Strangled Prose
Mildred, author of a smutty new romance, is found murdered after a party at Claire’s bookstore. Claire is left wondering who could have hated Mildred with such passion, but soon finds that the romances contained as much fact as fiction—and perhaps hold the clue to the killer’s identity!

The Murder at the Mimosa Inn
Claire brings her petulant daughter Caron along to a mock-murder weekend at the charming Mimosa Inn. But fiction becomes alarmingly real as the mock-victim isn’t just playing dead—he’s really been murdered. More determined than ever to find the killer, Claire combs the grounds of the country inn for this most unwelcome guest.

Dear Miss Demeanor
The scandals mount in Farberville when a respected teacher is fired for pilfering petty cash and suggestive letters are sent to the local advice columnist. Claire Malloy, working undercover to investigate the possible embezzlement, finds herself in the thick of it all when the high school principal is murdered and the killer is still on the loose.