Showing results by author "Julie Mulhern" in All Categories

Thanksgiving night in Kansas City means the Plaza Lighting Ceremony. When Ellison Jones and her family go to her great-aunt's apartment to see the lights come on, she doesn't anticipate a murder (she never does). But when a shirt-tail relative falls from a seventeenth-floor balcony, she and Anarchy are drawn into the investigation. Can they catch a killer before anyone else dies?

It's 1974 and Ellison Russell's life revolves around her daughter and her art. She's long since stopped caring about her cheating husband, Henry, and the women with whom he entertains himself. That is, until she becomes a suspect in Madeline Harper's death. The murder forces Ellison to confront her husband's proclivities and his crimes - kinky sex, petty cruelties, and blackmail. As the body count approaches par on the seventh hole, Ellison knows she has to catch a killer.

With his dying breath, Bobby Lowell begs Ellison Russell, "Tell her I love her." Unable to refuse, Ellison struggles to find the girl the murdered boy loved. Too bad an epically bad blind date, a vindictive graffiti artist, and multiple trips to the emergency room keep getting in the way. Worse, a killer has Ellison in his sights, her newly rebellious daughter is missing, and there's yet another body in her hostas. Mother won't be pleased.

Poppy Fields has a movie-star mother, 84 million Instagram followers, paparazzi following her every move, and a problem. Her Mexican vacation just went sideways (abducted-by-a-drug-lord sideways). Suddenly her life resembles one of her mother's movies, except the bullets are real, people are dying, and there's no guarantee of a happy ending. Surrounded by trained killers and unsure who she can trust, only one thing is certain - if Poppy doesn't escape, this vacation will be her last.

Ellison Jones is used to sirens in the night (unfortunately, they're usually coming to her house). So, it's a surprise when the sirens that wake her from the dead come from across the street. Nosy neighbor Marian Dixon's house is on fire. Luckily, the Dixons are out of town. Unluckily, there's a body found in the ashes—a body not killed by the fire. With Ellison's husband, Detective Anarchy Jones, investigating, the neighbors are eager for a quick resolution. But a cunning killer has other plans.

Ellison Russell wanted a decorator, not a corpse. Too bad she finds Mrs. White in the study killed with a revolver. Things go from bad to worse when she finds Mr. White in the dining room killed with a candlestick. With so many bodies, is it any wonder Detective Anarchy Jones' new partner considers Ellison a suspect? With the country club gossips talking a minute, an unexpected cocktail party, a visit from Aunt Sis, and a romantic decision, Ellison hardly has time to think about murder. Unfortunately, the killer has plenty of time to think about her.

Get me to the church on time! Not so much the church as the patio. And not if Ellison can’t stop finding bodies. She’s finding corpses in pairs now, and planning a wedding, and trying (truly, she is) to steer clear of the murder investigation. But when she finds a third body, Ellison becomes a suspect.

It isn't easy having Hollywood's biggest, brightest star for a mother - especially when her Russian oligarch boyfriend has been kidnapped. When Poppy Fields flies to London to be with her mother, she finds nothing but fog, danger, and phenomenal shopping. Too bad half the city wants Poppy dead, and she has no idea why. The odds against her are high, the menace is real, and if she doesn't find answers quickly, a dirty bomb will send global financial markets plummeting.

When Ellison Russell is nearly killed at a benefactors' party, she brushes the incident aside as an unhappy accident. But when her house is fire-bombed, she's shot at, and the person sitting next to her at a gala is poisoned, she must face facts. Someone wants her dead. But why? And can Ellison find the killer before he strikes again? Add in an estranged sister, a visiting aunt with a shocking secret, and a handsome detective staying in her guesthouse, and Ellison might need more than cream in her coffee.

Ellison Russell Jones's best friend Libba has a questionable track record when it comes to men. But finally—finally—she's selected a good one.

Frances Walford's daughter, Ellison Russell, has developed the truly deplorable habit of finding bodies. And Frances can't help but scold her about it. But when Ellison goes to Europe, Frances finds a corpse of her own. Can she help catch a killer and keep her involvement a secret?

Haunted houses are scary enough without knife-wielding clowns. Especially murderous knife-wielding clowns. So thinks Ellison Russell, single mother, artist, and reluctant sleuth. Now death wears a red nose, and Ellison is up to the blood-stained collar of her new trench coat in costumes, caffeine, and possible killers. Who stabbed Brooks Harney, and why? Money? Jealousy? Drugs?

Ellison Russell is planning the event of the season - and she's stressed. Why not yoga? Because the yoga instructor gets murdered during class - and Ellison's stress level rises exponentially. Now, in addition to raising a ridiculous amount of money, she's babysitting a deranged cat (named after the devil himself), taking 10 million phone calls (most of them from Mother), and finding more bodies (they're popping up like dandelions after a spring rain). There's no such thing as balance when the killer makes it personal. Can Ellison catch a murderer or will her next namaste be her last?

When Poppy Fields, Hollywood IT girl and super-secret agent, agreed to be a bridesmaid, she anticipated gallons of Sazerac, memorable parties, and handsome groomsmen. Instead, she's dodging bullets. Juggling wedding showers, exploding buildings, picnics, black magic, lunches in the Vieux Carre, and murder can be tough on a girl. Good thing Thor is there to escort her - until he disappears.

All Ellison Russell wanted was an update on her stock portfolio. Instead, she found her broker dead. With an unexpected out-of-town guest at her house, Ellison is too busy for a murder investigation. Only this time, Detective Anarchy Jones wants her help, and she can't deny the handsome detective. Can Mr. Coffee supply her with enough caffeine to keep her brain sharp and everyone else happy?

Hollywood influencer and super-secret spy Poppy Fields is finally taking a well-deserved vacation with her partner Thor. A woman. A man. A private Greek island. What could go wrong? When a storm washes six teenage girls onto the island, trouble comes knocking. The men who trafficked the girls will do anything to get them them back, including killing Poppy and Thor.

When Detective Anarchy Jones investigates a friend's husband's murder, Ellison can't help but get involved. Now she's waist-deep in toxic gossip, struggling with the soaring heights and nocuous lows of her teenager's mood swings, fending off the advances of her first love, planning a wedding, and (of course) tripping over fresh corpses. With her life a whirlwind of conflict, can Ellison unmask a devious killer, or will death poison her future?

The trouble started in Greece with a favor for her new father-in-law. When Poppy Fields picked up a package in Athens, she had no idea how many people were interested in its contents. Desperately interested. Murderously interested. Now she's on the run, racing across Turkey in a cat-and-mouse game with multiple killers. Because what's in the package could change the world.

Ellison Russell's life resembles a rollercoaster ride. And rollercoasters make her ill. Her daughter Grace has a crush on a boy Ellison doesn't trust and she's taken to hosting wild parties when Ellison goes out for the evening. Worse, the bank which represents Grace's inheritance from her father may be in trouble. When a meeting with the chef at the country club leads to the discovery of a body, Ellison can't afford cold feet. She must save the bank, find the killer, and convince Grace (and herself) that powerful women don't need men to rescue them.

Visiting a psychic is outside the norm for Ellison Russell. Finding bodies is not. Unfortunately, the psychic's crystal ball says she'll soon be surrounded by death. Again. Drat. Now there's a corpse in the front drive, a witchy neighbor ready to turn Ellison and her (not so) little dog into toadstools, and a stripper named Starry Knight occupying the guest room. How did 1975 go so wrong so quickly? Ellison must handle Mother (who's found a body of her own), make up with a certain handsome detective, and catch a killer, or the death surrounding her might be her own.