Frances Crane Books in Order

A body found in the New Mexico desert casts suspicion on an influential newcomer and her missing husband. Shopkeeper Jean Holly joins detective Pat Abbott, combining local knowledge with his investigation as gossip and danger spread through their arts community.

Visiting her Illinois hometown, Jean Holly is nearby when its wealthiest woman dies of an apparent heart condition. A maid’s subsequent death draws Pat Abbott into an investigation that challenges the official explanation and exposes trouble at Fabian House.

Hours before marrying Jean, detective Pat Abbott finds himself investigating a colleague’s murder and a mysterious yellow violet. A visiting Spanish performer associated with the flower and wartime intrigue complicate a case that threatens to derail their wedding.

While contributing to the war effort in England, Pat and Jean Abbott attend a country-house gathering where a body is discovered. Pat questions easy explanations involving a drifter or spy when suspicion falls on a guest he believes innocent.

Before deploying as a marine, private investigator Pat Abbott enjoys a brief New York honeymoon with Jean. Encounters with acquaintances who fled wartime Paris draw the newlyweds into a murder investigation complicated by jealousy and old loyalties.

Recovering from war wounds in New Mexico, Pat Abbott investigates a friend’s suspicious death in a canyon. A discarded pair of amethyst spectacles implicates a rejected sweetheart, while the victim’s new wife adds another layer of jealousy and uncertainty.

While Pat Abbott is stationed in wartime New Orleans, Jean discovers a body at the home of their aristocratic hosts. The couple’s investigation exposes tensions and family secrets beneath the traditions and elegance of the French Quarter.

Pat and Jean Abbott encounter murder at New York’s Waldorf, where wealthy guests have gathered to celebrate the end of the Second World War. Their investigation interrupts the festivities and tests the couple’s ability to uncover the killer.

In foggy San Francisco, Pat and Jean Abbott witness a car crash and discover a murdered man behind the wheel. When his estranged wife, their friend, comes under suspicion, they pursue clues linking further deaths and illicit dealings.

A dead passenger aboard a fishing boat disrupts Pat and Jean Abbott’s Key West holiday. When the captain asks them to dispose of the body, Pat instead seeks police help and begins investigating what happened on the water.

Invited to a relative’s Laguna Beach estate, Pat and Jean Abbott discover their visit involves protecting an unpleasant family member. A threatening knife thrower and a body below a cliff turn complicated household relationships into potential motives for murder.

While visiting Dallas, Jean boards the Abbotts’ dachshund with the daughter of Pat’s wealthy client. The dog discovers a corpse on the family property, and pressure to call it an accident intensifies after a revealing will appears.

Vacationing in Kentucky horse country, Pat and Jean Abbott question the apparent suicide of a friend’s horse trainer. Their investigation leads through Lexington’s society, where an enigmatic blonde and a variety of suspicious acquaintances complicate the search.

Pat and Jean Abbott’s visit to a New Mexico artists’ colony is disrupted by the arrival of two troubled former spouses. Near-simultaneous murder and kidnapping unsettle the community, forcing the couple to untangle secrets among writers, artists and outsiders.

After a wealthy man is found dead in San Francisco, a suspect recalls red tulips that inexplicably became white before she left. Pat and Jean Abbott investigate the floral puzzle and the relationships concealed within the victim’s past.

Pat and Jean Abbott are asked to clear an airline hostess suspected of killing a former admirer. Once they arrive, local authorities and the victim’s relatives want them gone, making the couple determined to uncover what everyone is concealing.

In Tangier, Pat and Jean Abbott encounter a case shaped by international drug trafficking, greed, and intrigue. Their investigation threatens the comfortable routines of expatriates and beachcombers whose seemingly carefree lives conceal dangerous connections to the crimes around them.

A visit to the Kentucky Derby draws Pat and Jean Abbott into the death of a doctor’s alcoholic patient. His estranged wife appears the obvious suspect, but the victim’s will complicates the accusations and exposes competing family interests.

Investigating a fatal car accident, Pat and Jean Abbott become stranded by a blizzard at a New Mexico ranch. Further deaths turn the isolated household into a dangerous puzzle, where hostile residents resist the couple’s search for answers.

Pat and Jean Abbott travel to Mexico hoping to enjoy its scenery and a hunting holiday. The sudden death of Audrey Peters interrupts their plans, drawing the vacationing investigators into a murder case they must unravel together.

The murder of wine specialist Daniel Willoz draws Pat and Jean Abbott into another San Francisco investigation. The couple must disentangle the circumstances surrounding his death and identify the person who brought his studies to a fatal end.

An abandoned car on the Golden Gate Bridge suggests a young woman has taken her own life. Pat and Jean Abbott suspect kidnapping instead, and the death of one of her friends makes their search more urgent.

A child’s fatal overdose brings Pat and Jean Abbott into the troubled household of a San Francisco doctor. His daughter suspects the death was no accident, and the investigation exposes resentments, rivalries and further danger within the family.

When a writer’s wife is found beaten to death on a Phoenix ranch, police suspect her husband. Asked to help clear him, Pat Abbott investigates a murder whose apparently straightforward explanation conceals a more complicated truth.