Showing results by author "Denise Grover Swank" in All Categories

Rose Gardner is trying to build a new normal. One that leaves the Fenton County crime world - including James "Skeeter" Malcolm, the current king - behind. Her best friend and roommate is a big part of that effort, but Neely Kate is busy building her own life anew. She disappeared for a few days, scaring the spit out of Rose - which is why Rose finds it impossible to deny her when she suggests they look for a missing parrot. Only this time Neely Kate isn't interested in the reward money - she's set them up to work with a cranky private investigator.

Megan Vandemeer meant to tell her parents about her broken engagement, but a month and a half later she finds herself boarding a plane home to her wedding. Having stretched avoidance to its limits, it's time to come clean - a terrifying prospect since her mother is sure to blame her rather than her cheating, emotionally frigid ex. A couple of drinks and two Dramamine later, Megan finds herself spilling her sob story to the tall, dark, and handsome stranger in the seat next to her.

Rose Gardner hates seeing her normally flamboyant best friend Neely Kate struggle with depression. So when Rose stumbles onto a piece of evidence indicating her birth mother might have been involved in a crime, she does the one thing guaranteed to cheer Neely Kate. She convinces her friend to help her solve a mystery. Though their penchant for investigating has gotten them into plenty of pickles in the past, what can go wrong?

Rose Gardner and Neely Kate Colson are thrilled with Mason's early present to Rose - a trip for the two of them to New Orleans for shopping, great food, and awesome seats to Wicked. Neely Kate plans to use the opportunity to visit a psychic and find out once and for all what her paranormal ability is. But when the psychic is murdered, and Neely Kate and Rose were the last people to see her alive, they find themselves the main suspects in a Christmas killing.

I left a big-city police department for a fresh start in a smaller town. Less crime. Less murder. But three months later, I’ve been handed the murder investigation of the most hated man in town. The list of potential suspects is as long as Santa’s naughty list, but one name keeps popping up. Maddie Baker. She’s infuriating as hell, but is she a cold-blooded murderer? My instincts tell me no, yet I can’t exactly trust those. The last time I let myself presume someone was innocent, I ended up with a bullet wound and a broken heart.

Book eight in the New York Times and USA Today best-selling Rose Gardner Mystery series. Rose Gardner has survived plenty of close scrapes in the past, but her latest bit of trouble has landed her in the Fenton County holding cell on trumped-up charges. The most powerful man in Southern Arkansas, J. R. Simmons, is determined to put her behind bars for good and destroy everything she holds dear, including her boyfriend, Mason, and her friend, Skeeter, reigning king of the Fenton County crime world.

Trouble always comes to those who court it. Rose Gardner's ability to see glimpses of the future has gotten her into hot water time and again, but so have her curiosity and her sense of daring. Those very qualities helped her defeat the most powerful man in Arkansas - a man so adept at hiding his crimes there was no way to defeat him inside of the law - but her success came at a steep personal price. Now she's throwing herself into her landscaping business, trying to live a life that's as orderly as one of her gardens.

Rose is called into action when Neely Kate's cousin goes missing and the police refuse to take it seriously. But while the authorities - Rose's ex-boyfriend, included - are certain the missing woman has run away, mounting evidence points to foul play. Rose agrees to help her friend, even if it means partaking in Neely Kate's shenanigans, including an impromptu trip to a strip club.

Book Nine in the New York Times Best Selling mystery series by Denise Grover Swank.

Blogging about bad dates used to be fun, but a girl can only take so much foolishness. So I broke up with my job. Okay, full disclosure, I was fired. It’s a long, sordid tale, involving my sourdough starter - RIP, Fred! - and my ex-boss’ serious lack of humor. Newly funemployed and in need of a break, I go to Asheville to dogsit for my sister…and stumble onto a scoop big enough to put my fake-dating days behind me forever.

As the fallout from J.R. Simmons death begins to settle, some of the victims are still dealing with the results of that deadly night. Rose mourns the changes in her life and struggles to move on. Neely Kate is devastated when Joe leaves Henryetta two weeks after his father's death and refuses to speak to her. Joe is left dealing with his father's business and the consequent FBI investigation, while he wonders where he belongs.

I’m usually the first person on my block to decorate for Christmas. This year? Humbug. My six-year-old son, Aidan, just had a meltdown after learning some hard truths from a drunk Santa impersonator, and I can no longer deny we both need help. Change is hard for Aidan, and right now he’s dealing with several big ones, including A) his father abandoning us, B) our move to Asheville, and C) the Santa snafu.

Companion novella to the Rose Gardner Investigation series. This series provides insight into characters in the Rose Gardner world, but is not required to listen to the series.

Celia Burrows thought she had it all - a handsome husband, two successful children, and a gorgeous beach house on the northern coast of Maine. But her perfect life cracks apart when her husband of 30 years informs her that he's leaving. In a note. And since problems come in threes, her adult children reveal they've both been struggling with issues of their own.

One wrongly accused man. Twenty-nine reasons for Rose to clear his name. When Rose reports for Fenton County jury duty, she figures she’s lucky to get out of a morning working at the DMV. Instead, despite a disastrous encounter with the new assistant district attorney, Mason Deveraux, she’s picked as a juror on a murder case. As the trial progresses, she realizes an ominous vision she had in the men’s restroom proves the defendant is innocent. And there’s not a cotton picking thing she can do about it. Or is there? 

While Rose recovers from a broken heart, she finds herself at odds with her sister and business partner, Violet. Rose buries herself in her landscaping work but becomes worried when her employee and friend, Bruce Wayne Decker, goes missing. In the meantime Fenton County Assistant DA Mason Deveraux has been patiently waiting to begin a relationship with Rose, but she realizes she needs to confront the demons of her past before she can embrace a new future.

Divorce attorney Blair Hansen is convinced that marriage should be based on practicality, not passion. But as her own wedding approaches, she finds herself remembering her law school boyfriend, the only man she's ever loved, and regretting what might have been. Garrett Lowry is a divorce attorney who's ready to settle down. The problem is that he can't find a woman who suits him nearly as well as the one he loved and lost.

There's no denying trouble finds Rose Gardner like a divining rod finds water, especially when Rose finds herself in the middle of a bank robbery. But after the robbers steal her deposit bag - containing a large amount of cash - she soon finds out that thanks to her sister Violet's financial mismanagement, trouble is threatening her business as well. To top it off, Rose's ex-boyfriend Joe Simmons has moved back to Henryetta to fill the chief deputy sheriff position.

The sixth book in the Rose Gardner Investigations series. For months, Rose has suspected her ex-brother-in-law, has a foot in the criminal world, and she’s equally sure her deceased sister had the evidence to prove it - evidence stolen days just days after Violet’s death. Those suspicions turn concrete when a body shows up near one of Mike's construction sites, and the concrete cracks open wide when her niece and nephew go missing. Rose might be weeks away from delivering her own baby, but that doesn’t stop her and her best friend, Neely Kate, from looking for the kids.

Life in Drum, Tennessee has been quiet since corruption was uncovered in the sheriff’s department three months ago - too quiet. Still, Carly is shocked when she discovers one of her sweetest lunch customers at the tavern has committed murder in cold blood. Carly is certain the woman was fulfilling an infamous “favor” for the town patriarch, Bart Drummond, but now she has to prove it. In Drum, all things seedy lead back to two men - Bart Drummond and the local drug king, Todd Bingham.