Bad Hair Day Books in Order
Find the Bad Hair Day books in order by Nancy J Cohen, with quick summaries, character notes, and where-to-start help for this Florida cozy series.
Last updated: June 30, 2026
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Publication Order
20 books
Permed to Death
by Nancy J Cohen
1999
Marla Shore's day turns disastrous when a difficult salon client dies in her chair and the police think poison came from Marla's coffee setup. To save her business and herself, she starts asking dangerous questions.
Hair Raiser
by Nancy J Cohen
2000
Marla volunteers at a charity food event and watches accidents, sabotage, and then murder tear through the guest list. With chefs dropping out and tempers rising, she has to sort through nonprofit politics before someone else gets burned.
Murder by Manicure
by Nancy J Cohen
2001
Trying to get in shape, Marla joins a fitness club and finds one of her salon clients dead in the whirlpool. The deeper she digs into the club's secrets, the clearer it becomes that the killer is still close by.
Body Wave
by Nancy J Cohen
2002
When Marla's ex-husband lands in trouble, she goes undercover as a nurse's aide in a wealthy household to help clear his name. Old emotions, family secrets, and a murder investigation make the case dangerously personal.
Highlights to Heaven
by Nancy J Cohen
2003
Marla's oddball neighbor disappears, leaving his pets behind and a dead man in his bedroom. Clues in the victim's hair send her back to beauty school memories, a former mentor, and a secretive pet fur business.
Died Blonde
by Nancy J Cohen
2004
When Marla finds her rival salon owner dead behind their strip mall, curiosity and justice pull her into the case. A pushy psychic, a missing lock of hair, and a brewing hurricane keep the pressure high.
Dead Roots
by Nancy J Cohen
2005
A Thanksgiving reunion at the haunted Sugar Crest Plantation Resort turns grim when Marla finds her Aunt Polly dead. Family history, ghost stories, and a fight over the property's future leave her digging into secrets some relatives would rather bury.
Perish by Pedicure
by Nancy J Cohen
2006
A beauty industry show looks like a career boost for Marla until a company director turns up dead in a foot bath. Clearing her former college roommate means untangling big egos, blackmail, and backstage grudges.
Killer Knots
by Nancy J Cohen
2007
Marla expects romance on her first Caribbean cruise with fiancé Dalton, not threatening notes and vanishing passengers. When their dinner companions are tied to a suspicious museum death, she realizes the killer may be sailing with them.
Shear Murder
by Nancy J Cohen
2012
Serving as a bridesmaid should be stressful enough, but Marla finds the matron of honor dead under the cake table. With her own wedding only weeks away, she has to sort out lies, rivalries, and family trouble fast.
Hanging by a Hair
by Nancy J Cohen
2014
Marla and Dalton settle into married life and a new neighborhood just in time for their combative HOA president next door to die. Since Dalton is too close to the case, Marla steps in to clear his name.
Peril by Ponytail
by Nancy J Cohen
2015
A belated honeymoon at an Arizona dude ranch turns messy when a run of accidents grows into murder. Marla and Dalton uncover buried family secrets while trying to save a resort, a ghost town, and themselves.
Haunted Hair Nights
by Nancy J Cohen
2016
Marla volunteers for her stepdaughter's Halloween haunted house project and finds a real corpse on the estate grounds. Between worried parents, stubborn school officials, and too many suspects, this short mystery packs in genuine chills.
Facials Can Be Fatal
by Nancy J Cohen
2017
Holiday bustle turns deadly when a wealthy client dies during a facial at Marla's new day spa. To protect her reputation, she digs into old secrets tied to local history, preservation politics, and another looming body count.
Hair Brained
by Nancy J Cohen
2017
After close friends are hurt in a suspicious New Year's Eve crash, Marla takes care of their baby and starts asking questions. Fraud, family strain, and hidden grudges make this one of her most personal investigations.
Hairball Hijinks
by Nancy J Cohen
2018
In this short between-novels adventure, Marla returns a friend's baby after her recovery and gets pulled into a search for a missing cat. A ransacked house and a string of local thefts quickly turn the errand into a case.
Trimmed to Death
by Nancy J Cohen
2018
Marla enters a charity bake-off and joins a scavenger hunt at a fall farm festival, only to find a food magazine publisher dead in the strawberry field. The suspects are all food-world personalities with grudges to stir.
A Bad Hair Day Cookbook
by Nancy J Cohen
2019
This companion cookbook gathers more than 160 recipes inspired by the Bad Hair Day mysteries. Along with easy dishes, it includes excerpts, cooking tips, and commentary from sleuth Marla Vail.
Easter Hair Hunt
by Nancy J Cohen
2020
At an Easter egg hunt on a historic estate, Marla finds a dead man in a bunny suit and a friend gone missing. Pregnant and worried, she still cannot resist chasing the clues.
Styled for Murder
by Nancy J Cohen
2021
Marla rushes to her mother's house after a body turns up in the shower during a remodel. The victim had plenty of enemies, and her stepfather's secret connection makes this home improvement headache far more dangerous.
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