Jarrod Jarvis Father-Daughter Mysteries Books in Order

Jarrod Jarvis used to be a child actor, and he has a history of getting involved in murders that had nothing to do with the roles he played. By the time Lee Hollis's Father-Daughter Mysteries begin, he's living in Palm Springs and working in local theater. His partner Charlie, a police detective, has died. Jarrod is still grieving him, and his daughter Liv has been keeping some distance. She has a degree in criminal justice and knows little about the cases her father once helped solve.

In My Father Always Finds Corpses, a dinner is supposed to give Jarrod a chance to meet Liv's boyfriend. He never makes it to the table. Liv goes looking for him and finds him dead at his studio. Jarrod rushes to help, and Liv sees a side of him she hadn't known about. He's comfortable asking questions at a crime scene, a skill he picked up long before she started studying criminal justice. The case gives them something to do together when simply sitting down to talk hasn't been easy.

The second book, My Daughter Loves True Crime Podcasts, brings a television production to Palm Springs. It's based on a murder linked to a desert cult in the 1990s, and Liv is excited that a podcaster she follows will be involved. Jarrod gets a small part, which gives him a reason to be around the cast. When an actress is found dead in circumstances that recall the old case, the death is treated as a suicide. Jarrod and Liv see enough to make them doubt that conclusion.

The film set gives them two stories to sort through, the one being made for television and the one unfolding around them.

Palm Springs suits a pair of sleuths who bring very different interests to the same work. For Jarrod it's where he's made a quieter life, though a visiting production can still bring him back in front of a camera. For Liv, it's a place where the kind of case she knows from podcasts can suddenly become something she has to deal with herself. Their closeness in the second book gives the investigation a different feel from the first, when they were still figuring out how to be around each other after Charlie's death.

The books are cozy mysteries with a dry sense of humor about show business and an affectionate interest in how a father and daughter learn to work together. Liv brings her studies and curiosity, while Jarrod brings years of experience with both actors and suspects. Reading the books in order gives their renewed friendship room to develop between cases.