Nut House Mystery Books in Order

Written as Elizabeth Lee, the Nut House Mystery series heads to Riverville, Texas, where pecans are serious business. Lindy Blanchard works on her family's pecan farm and brings a plant scientist's patience to the job. She wants to protect the trees, improve their future, and keep the family business going.

The Blanchards are more than growers. Their store, the Nut House, is known for pecan pies, cookies, and other treats made by Lindy's grandmother, Miss Amelia. That shop becomes a natural gathering spot for customers, gossip, and the clues that turn up whenever something goes wrong in town.

Then someone starts making the trouble deadly.

In A Tough Nut to Kill, Lindy finds her uncle Amos murdered in her greenhouse, while valuable young trees and research materials are attacked or stolen. The crime threatens the farm's future and puts pressure on the whole family. With the official investigation failing to settle matters, Lindy and Miss Amelia begin asking their own questions.

The later books keep the cases tied to the world around the farm. In Snoop to Nuts, a cooking contest becomes dangerous when a judge dies after tasting Miss Amelia's pecan dish, leaving the grandmother facing terrible suspicion. Nuts and Buried sends Lindy and Miss Amelia into the social whirl of Riverville after a wealthy local man is shot at a gala, with family loyalties and local assumptions complicating every lead.

Lindy and Miss Amelia make an appealing investigative pair because they come at problems differently. Lindy is practical, observant, and deeply protective of the farm. Miss Amelia knows people, hears the gossip, and is not inclined to let an accusation against her family go unanswered. Their relationship gives the books their warmth.

These are culinary small-town mysteries with pecan-country flavor, family stakes, and a steady stream of suspects. Recipes are included in the series. Start with A Tough Nut to Kill for the introduction to Lindy, Miss Amelia, the Blanchard farm, and the Nut House itself.