Ocean State Libraries

In Palm Springs, California, Breda Burrows, a brash, good-looking, tough-talking ex-policewoman determined to make it as a private investigator, teams up with a soon-to-be-ex-cop and a young policeman in a search for a fugitive.

The troubling message from Serena Charters's late grandmother appears in a package containing four pages of a centuries-old illuminated manuscript -- a strange inheritance that hides many secrets...and has already cost many lives. Seeking answers, Serena turns to Erik North of Rarities Unlimited, a reclusive manuscript appraiser with a passion for the past. Without warning, they are thrust together into the center of a lethal firestorm that rages...

A woman heads to Palm Springs to stay with her great-aunt, a Hollywood star with a mysterious past, in this romantic suspense novel by an Edgar Award winner. Ever since New York journalist Carol Hamilton was a young girl, her great-aunt Monica Arlen has been for her the stuff of glittering, starry-eyed fantasy. Now, the reclusive movie star offers Carol an escape of another kind. In flight with her son from an abusive marriage, she's come to Monica's...

After 30 some odd years of success as a director on Broadway, Claire Gray has accepted her first academic position, that of a theatrical director at the richly funded Desert Arts College in Palm Springs. Having lived a largely peaceful life in Manhattan, she is stunned to find herself in the midst of the second murder, and murder investigation, in a matter of months in Palm Springs. This time it's a local aged and ailing collector, who frequently...

"Poppy never planned on speaking to her old acting rival Serena Saunders again, let alone accepting her as a client. But familiar drama barges back into her life when Serena requests an urgent background check on Ned Boyce, her fiancé, before tying the knot. And the flighty film star is behaving out of character by wishing to start over with Poppy--this time as friends . . . Wealthy, connected, and the owner of a breathtaking mountaintop home, Ned...

Private investigator Poppy Harmon likes the anonymity of working behind the scenes for the hottest names in Palm Springs. But when solving a case demands dragging her old acting career out of retirement, it's lights . . . camera . . . murder! Cast in her first role since the 1980s, Poppy has never been more rattled or unprepared on a film set. It's an embarrassing but necessary cover to keep an eye on client Danika Delgado, a rising starlet and social...

"Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), loves his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for visits. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, Patrick is honestly out of his league. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick's brother has a health crisis, Patrick finds himself taking on the role of primary guardian. Quickly...

"Private Investigator Poppy Harmon can see through the charms of Southern California's trickiest criminals. But when she and the Desert Flowers Detective Agency go up against a dashing dating show killer, they may have finally met their match! While sidekick Matt Flowers shoots a film abroad, Poppy dusts off her own acting chops to break up a Gen Z crime ring targeting seniors in Palm Springs. Tanya Cook and her gal pals have been swindling susceptible...

"Harry Tabor is about to be named Man of the Decade, a distinction that feels like the culmination of a life well lived. Gathering together in Palm Springs for the celebration are his wife, Roma, a distinguished child psychologist, and their children: Phoebe, a high-powered attorney; Camille, a brilliant social anthropologist; and Simon, a big-firm lawyer, who brings his glamorous wife and two young daughters. But immediately, cracks begin to appear...