Maya and Sandra Mysteries Books in Order

The Maya and Sandra Mysteries pair two very different women in Portland, Maine, and watch them become unlikely partners in both business and crime solving. Maya Kendrick is a former police officer turned private investigator, sharp‑tongued and streetwise. Sandra Wallage is a well‑connected PTA president and the wife, and later estranged wife, of a rising senator. Their worlds collide in Murder at the PTA, when a vicious anonymous gossip site aimed at parents and teachers ends in the apparent suicide of an assistant principal whom Maya believes was actually murdered.(target.com)

At first, Maya has no patience for Sandra’s polished image and committee skills, and Sandra is wary of Maya’s bluntness. Circumstances keep pushing them together, though, and by the end of the first book they have formed a detective agency that can move easily between school hallways, political fundraisers, and the seedier corners of the city.

In Murder at the Bake Sale, the partners investigate when a popular Spanish teacher collapses after eating cookies from a fundraiser meant to send students to Spain. The case drags them through teenage crushes, jealous colleagues, and fiercely competitive parents. Murder on the Class Trip takes them to Washington, D.C., as reluctant chaperones. There they find the body of a young intern who works for Sandra’s almost ex‑husband, and the investigation forces them to contend with federal agents, media spin, and old marital wounds.(penguinrandomhouse.com)

• Murder at the Spelling Bee* focuses on a gifted middle‑school speller being threatened before an important competition. When the teacher running the bee is found dead in a supply closet, suspicion falls on Sandra and a long list of parents and staff with scores to settle. The upcoming Murder at the High School Reunion sees Maya and Sandra back among their own classmates, trying to protect a shy former schoolmate turned Oscar‑nominated actress when a onetime queen bee is murdered behind the bleachers.(penguinrandomhouse.com)

The tone of the series is cozier than a hard‑boiled procedural but edgier than many village mysteries. Hollis leans into modern pressures: online harassment, school shootings in the background, addiction, and the glare of social media. At the same time, there is plenty of humor in watching Maya and Sandra negotiate everything from PTA bake sales to FBI turf wars.

Readers who like the Maine setting and ensemble feel of the Hayley Powell books but want stories that look more directly at parenting, marriage, and public life will find a lot to enjoy here. The books can be read in order to follow the women’s personal arcs, or individually if a particular setup, like the class trip or reunion, appeals to you.