Bellissimo Casino Crime Caper Books in Order

Bellissimo Casino Crime Caper is Gretchen Archer's short-story companion series to the Davis Way mysteries. The two stories, Double Jinx and Double Deck the Halls, return to the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. They use the same setting for smaller adventures that give other people in Davis's world a chance to take the lead. Casino events, missing money, and holiday celebrations provide the opportunities for trouble.

Double Jinx introduces July Jackson in her role as holiday host for the Scary Rich slot tournament. An event built around entertainment and Halloween atmosphere becomes a much less manageable assignment when three million dollars disappear and players begin dying. Among the people attracting attention is a couple dressed as mustard and ketchup, an example of the story's combination of serious trouble and deliberately silly surroundings.

July turns to casino security and meets Baylor. Their encounter adds a personal thread to a mystery already involving guests, costumes, and a substantial amount of money. The setting helps bring those elements together: the tournament gathers people in one place, while the resort's staff have to respond when the promised fun goes wrong. July's job puts her close to the action without making her the same kind of investigator as Davis.

At the Bellissimo, a holiday rarely stays under control.

Double Deck the Halls switches seasons and moves the spotlight to Granny Dee, Davis Way Cole's grandmother. She comes to the resort for the Winter Wonderland Senior Slot Tournament, surrounded by Christmas decorations and the promise of a festive visit. An encounter with a troublesome elf turns the occasion into a problem involving Bianca Sanders. Granny Dee has to rely on her experience and the few things she has with her rather than arriving with a professional investigator's equipment.

The two stories share more than a casino address. Each takes a planned celebration and lets criminal trouble interrupt it, then places someone other than the main novels' usual heroine at the center of the response. That change of viewpoint opens up the supporting cast. The humor comes from the clash between cheerful public events and the awkward, sometimes dangerous business of figuring out what people are really doing behind the festivities.

Read Double Jinx before Double Deck the Halls for the short stories' publication sequence. Readers following the larger Davis Way books can place them after Double Knot and Double Up, respectively. The tone is comic mystery, with crime and suspense alongside holiday mishaps and eccentric characters. They offer brief returns to the Bellissimo rather than a separate unfamiliar setting, making them a way to spend more time with the resort's community while seeing who else can handle a crisis when one arrives.