BUENAVENTURA BEACH MYSTERY SERIES
WELCOME TO BUENAVENTURA BEACH WHERE THE TEMPERATURE'S HOT, BUT THE DECEPTIONS ARE COLD.
She never should’ve let Mama out of her sight.
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The hot summer months used to be Avery Baldwin’s favorite time of year. After graduating from college, she wanted to move away from her hometown and make a life of her own, but the desire to be with her family, to return to the old, familiar haunts that were so comforting, stuck with her. As soon as the month of June rolled around, Avery enjoyed hopping in her car and driving to Buenaventura Beach where she readily embraced the salty ocean air and relished the feel of the sun’s rays as they kissed her hair.
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But everything about this summer is different from all those that came before. As soon as Avery arrives in town, she learns that her mother, Loti, has been suffering from bouts of forgetfulness and even though others are pushing her to sell her restaurant, Mama Baldwin’s Café, she’s reluctant to give it up. Avery vows to help her mother, but when she bumps into Chance Zabrowski and his son Cubby at the grocery store, she quickly learns that Mama has been struggling more than she admitted.
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When Avery, Chance, and Cubby all go to the café to check in on Mama, they find the doors wrapped in chains and padlocked shut. There’s even a sign on the door, announcing the closure of the restaurant. Stunned, the trio decide to ask Mama what happened and why she so suddenly changed her mind, but they can’t find her anywhere. Where did she go? What happened to Mama?
One sip won’t kill you…
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This summer has been a wild one for Avery Baldwin. She thought when she came back to Buenaventura Beach that she’d have time to chat with family members, visit with friends, and dip her toes in the ocean while soaking in the sun. But one lazy, Saturday morning, when she heads out to the Buenaventura Beach Country Club to visit her best friend, Jasmine Lowe, the owner of the place, she finds something quite unexpected.
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Chance Zabrowski isn’t much of a golfer. So, when Jasmine Lowe offers to let him and his son, Cubby, play a few rounds free of charge, he knows it’d be wise to turn her down. But he just can’t help himself. The urge to learn a new skill and give the game a try gets the better of him. While he and Cubby are out on the fairway, they hear a terrified screech. And suddenly, the leisurely outing they had planned becomes something else entirely.
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When Avery, Jasmine, Chance, and Cubby converge on the scene and find a prominent businessman lying face down in the grass and his son kneeling next to his body wailing for help, they immediately fly into action. Chance calls 9-1-1, but the man’s son is inconsolable. He’s sure his father is dead and swears somebody on the golf course murdered the old man intentionally.
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Will the whole incident be chalked up as a terrible accident or is there merit in the accusation? Did someone from Buenaventura Beach set out to kill their neighbor? And can Avery and Chance figure out what really happened before anyone else gets hurt?
They're not out to get you, unless you're the one holding the crown.
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The mindset of a pageant contestant is an enigma to Avery Baldwin. She never participated in them during her younger years. When she had the opportunity, she determined she’d rather sit on the beach and draw in her sketchbook. So, when her nephew, Noah Dixon, volunteers to serve the community by working as a stagehand for the local Miss Buenaventura Beach Pageant, she commends him for his thoughtfulness, and leaves the rest of her comments to herself.
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But when one of the contestants falls off the stage, and the girls accuse each other of committing acts of sabotage, Avery’s interest is piqued. When the finger is pointed at Noah, as if he could possibly want to hurt some of the competitors, Avery feels compelled to rush to his defense.
Can Avery figure out what’s really going on at the pageant before someone else gets hurt? Or will the contestants turn a friendly, local competition into a full out battle for the coveted crown?
At the beach, the only things scarier than the sharks are the witches.
Avery Baldwin is taking a minute to catch her breath. Now that the summer’s over and things have gone back to normal in the little town of Buenaventura Beach, she’s looking forward to spending her days teaching students how to create works of art and her nights cuddling with Chance and his son, Cubby. But on Halloween, when Avery, Chance, and Cubby go visit the coffee shop, The Witch’s Brew, they find trouble waiting for them.
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While standing in line to get a cup of Beatrix Weston’s signature pumpkin punch straight from the cauldron, a man takes a sip and immediately starts choking. Just before he dies, he warns others not to touch the drink.
Accusations fly. Most people think Beatrix poisoned the punch. But Avery can’t let her friend take the blame for this accident. So, she rises to Beatrix’s defense immediately.
Can Avery figure out what caused the man to keel over in the middle of the Fall Festival celebration? And…can she find who’s really at fault before the witch hunt turns serious?
There are some people you just can’t forget.
The town of Buenaventura Beach is experiencing a season of contentment. School is out for summer. Couples are falling in love. Even the local library book club is reading a cozy crime story that doesn’t overly frighten any of the members.
But when Brie Thornberg-Selvidge shows up to said book club complaining about having a sleepless night, Avery Baldwin is concerned. A barking dog is to blame for Brie’s fatigue, so the ladies decide to do the most sensible thing—sit up that night, listen for the dog, then contact the animal’s owner.
Everything goes according to plan, right up to the point where the little dog and its owner glide through Brie’s backyard, sending a jolt of terror straight through Avery’s core.
Is that a ghost walking around Buenaventura Beach with a yapping doggy trotting by its side? Or is some prankster intentionally trying to ruin the quietude of the town?
In this full house, you can't trust anybody.
This story starts with an omen.
Avery Baldwin and Cubby Zabrowski, Chance’s eleven-year-old son, are on the beach, enjoying a lovely, leisurely afternoon, when out of nowhere, a shrimp boat glides onto the shore. The unusual circumstance is shocking, but Loti Baldwin sees the arrival of the ship as an ominous sign. A hurricane is coming for them. Hurriedly, the people of Buenaventura Beach evacuate and seek shelter at a rental property in Orlando owned by Savanna Hautett.
With twenty people staying in one house together for three days, just about anything can happen. Old grudges fester, tempers flare, and before long, there’s a murder.
Will Avery and Chance Zabrowski figure out who committed the crime in time to stop another one from occurring? Or is the hurricane howling outside the least of their worries?
This story features three alternate endings. The reader may choose their own conclusion or peruse them all.
You don't have to go home, but you can't stay on this island.
Wedding bells are ringing for Avery Baldwin and Chance Zabrowski. The pair, and all their nearest and dearest, leave Buenaventura Beach, hop aboard a luxury cruise ship, and sail to the Bahamas so they can say their sacred vows and finally become man and wife.
But trouble follows them to paradise. An uninvited guest joins the wedding party at the last minute. The wedding ceremony is moved to the end of the week. And the new vacation friends they meet, Ramona and Harold, suddenly disappear.
Will Avery and Chance solve this one last mystery together and finally get the happily ever after moment they deserve?