It's the most wonderful time of the year, but Private Investigator Liz Talbot is struggling to feel festive. She hasn't seen her best friend, Colleen, in weeks and fears, she may never see her again in this life. Meanwhile, Nate, Liz's husband and partner is spending money as he prints it in the attic on a mysterious family Christmas celebration. Liz's nerves are shot, and she hasn't even decked a single hall. But there's simply no time to fret. On a morning beach run, Liz spots a wooden rowboat run aground with Santa inside. Did Old Saint Nick have too much eggnog at the boat parade? No indeedy—Santa's been shot. And he's none other than C.C. Bounetheau, patriarch of one of Charleston's wealthiest families. Liz and Nate already unwrapped quite a few family secrets while searching for the Bounetheau's missing granddaughter last year—enough to make them swear to steer forever clear of the entire clan. But as Mr. Bounetheau's body is found in Stella...

Private investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews are all set to enjoy some quality time on the beach. That's until they get the news about Darius. Darius DeAndre Baker, star of the hit TV show, Main Street USA, has had enough of the Hollywood highlife. After ten years of visiting everyone else's hometown, he returns to his own—Stella Maris, South Carolina. But the moving trucks have barely unloaded when Trina Lynn Causby, Darius's high school girlfriend, turns up dead, and the entire town reels as Darius is arrested. Despite the mounting evidence against him, Liz and Nate believe Darius is innocent. They dig through a scandalously long list of suspects, including Darius's three ex-wives—who have all arrived in Stella Maris—and his love child with Trina Lynn. But Trina Lynn led a complicated life. She had at least one stalker and two suitors—one with a jealous wife who recently made a deliciously outrageous scene when Trina Lynn...

For Fans of the Liz Talbot Mystery Series... Postcards From Stella Maris is a collection of five short stories for fans of the series who might be interested, for example, in Colleen's backstory. I wrote the short story "Common Knowledge" for myself years ago, as a way to explore what happened to Colleen. As you might imagine, it's not as light as the series in general. This story has never been published anywhere before. "Eviction" is the story of how Liz first met Rhett, her golden retriever, back when she was married to Scott the Scoundrel. This story is also not lighthearted, and it likewise has never been published before. "Hogwash" originally appeared in Spinetingler Magazine. This is a fun little case which introduces the character of Zeke Lyerly, who appears in Lowcountry Bonfire. "Highlights and Hot Lead" originally appeared in The Petigru Review. This is a Stella Maris slice of life story featuring Shannelle Johnson, a...

From the author of the bestselling Liz Talbot Mystery Series comes a novel about family and secrets, and the lengths we'll go to in order to protect both. Can this charming do-gooder carry the day? Charleston, SC. Hadley Cooper has a big heart. So when the easygoing private investigator gets a request from a new friend to stake out her husband's extramarital activities, she immediately begins surveillance. And when her client is discovered dead on her kitchen floor, the Southern spitfire is certain the cheater is the culprit ... even though he has the perfect alibi: Hadley herself. Flustered since she observed the cad four hours away in Greenville at the time of the murder, the determined PI desperately searches for clues to tie him to the crime. But when her ex-boyfriend, who happens to be the lead detective on the case, arrests a handy suspect, Hadley fears a guilty man is about to walk free. Can...

"Susan M. Boyer gets it. And by 'it,' I mean 'the Southern voice.' And by that I do not mean she throws "Y'all" into every other line of her dialogue. I mean she understands deep down how Southern people talk and can replicate the cadence and music of that speech on the page as delicately as a master chef adding a last pinch of sea salt to a batch of Hollandaise sauce." – CriminalElement.com Private Investigators Liz Talbot and Nate Andrews have worked their share of domestic cases. So when Tammy Sue Lyerly hires them to find out what her husband is hiding, they expect to find something looney but harmless. After all, this is the guy who claims to have been a DEA agent, a champion bull rider, and a NASCAR driver. But when he turns up dead the morning after Liz and Nate deliver the incriminating photos, Tammy is the prime suspect. Questioning the truth of Zeke Lyerly's tall-tales, Liz and Nate race to uncover small town scandals, long buried secrets, and the...

Lowcountry PI Liz Talbot returns to the streets of Charleston in the seventh installment of Susan M. Boyer's USA TODAY bestselling mystery series. Between an epic downpour and a King Tide, those historic streets are flooded—and dangerous. A late night tragic accident along the Lower Battery leads Liz Talbot straight to her next case. Who's the client? Well, now, therein lies the first puzzle. When the police arrive at the scene of the accident, Poppy Oliver claims she's only trying to help. But the dent on the front of her Subaru and the victim's injuries provoke a certain Charleston police detective's suspicious nature. A wealthy, anonymous benefactor hires Liz and her partner Nate Andrews to prove Poppy Oliver's innocence. What exactly was Poppy Oliver up to? Is she a random good Samaritan who happens upon the accident scene? Or perhaps this tragedy wasn't an accident. She just might be his abused wife's accomplice. Why does everyone...

A Liz Talbot Mystery

A Liz Talbot Mystery

USA TODAY Bestselling Author - The AGATHA AWARD-WINNING Liz Talbot Mysteries "Has everything you could want in a traditional mystery: a credible and savvy protagonist, a meaty mystery, and setting that will make you want to spend time in South Carolina. I enjoyed every minute of it." – Charlaine Harris, New York Times Bestselling Author of Day Shift "Where is Kent Heyward? The twenty-three-year-old heiress from one of Charleston's oldest families vanished a month ago. When her father hires private investigator Liz Talbot, Liz suspects the most difficult part of her job will be convincing the patriarch his daughter tired of his overbearing nature and left town. That's what the Charleston Police Department believes. But behind the garden walls South of Broad, family secrets pop up like weeds in the azaleas. The neighbors recollect violent arguments between Kent and her parents. Eccentric twin uncles and a gaggle of cousins covet the...

A Liz Talbot Mystery #2