Cypress Bay Books in Order

The Cypress Bay mysteries follow Leticia “Tish” Ballard, a California seaside property manager whose job already comes with enough headaches before murder enters the picture. Tish runs Rest Easy Property Management, which means she deals with vacation homes, demanding clients, messy tenants, repairs, and the thousand small crises that come with other people’s houses.

Then the crises get bigger.

In Bones and Roses, Tish is nearly four years sober and trying to keep her life steady after wrecking her real estate career during her drinking years. An old trunk left to her by an anonymous source turns out to contain human remains and roses, pulling her into a cold case that reaches back into her childhood. The lead detective is Spence Breedlove, her old crush and an old source of pain, which makes the investigation personal before it even gets dangerous.

Swimsuit Body keeps the series in Cypress Bay but adds Hollywood chaos. A movie production arrives in town, Tish lands a celebrity tenant, and actress Delilah Ward is later found murdered at one of Tish’s rental properties. Tish’s brother Arthur, her friend Ivy, and former detective McGee all add texture to the story, while Spence remains both obstacle and possible romantic spark.

The tone is cozy mystery with more bite than cupcakes and cats. Tish is funny, stubborn, flawed, and practical. She is not a trained detective, but she knows houses, people, and how to spot when a story does not line up. Her sobriety and her care for Arthur give the books more emotional weight than the beach-town setup might suggest.

Cypress Bay itself matters. The ocean, rentals, local shops, and small-town gossip make it easy for secrets to travel, but also easy for outsiders to underestimate Tish. These books work well for readers who like amateur sleuths, complicated pasts, light romantic tension, and mysteries rooted in old mistakes.