Southern Beauty Shop Mysteries Books in Order

The Southern Beauty Shop Mysteries are cozy mysteries set in St. Elizabeth, Georgia, where the local salon is a gathering place, a rumor mill, and sometimes the starting point for a murder investigation. The series centers on the people around Violetta's salon, where a haircut can come with neighborhood news and a regular client may know far more than they mean to reveal.

Grace Terhune is a key figure in the later books. She works as a hairdresser and understands that a beauty shop is built on trust. Clients talk when they are in the chair. They complain, brag, share worries, and occasionally let a secret slip while the dryer is running.

Small-town life has a long memory.

Joanna Campbell Slan wrote Wave Good-bye, the fourth book in the series, under the shared pen name Lila Dare. In that story, a competing budget salon threatens Violetta's business, and Grace's old high-school rival is at the center of the conflict. When the rival is murdered, Grace's anger toward her makes Grace an obvious suspect.

The series uses salon life for humor and local color, but it also understands the real pressures behind a small business. Competition, loyalty, class differences, old grudges, and family ties all affect who has something to lose. The setting gives each mystery a tight circle of suspects without losing the larger sense of a changing Southern town.

Expect gossip, friendship, and danger close to home.

The tone is light on its feet, with beauty tips and salon banter alongside the investigation. Grace and her friends do not have police authority, but they know the community well enough to notice when a story does not add up. They also know that clearing a friend's name can require more courage than simply keeping quiet.

For Joanna Campbell Slan's contribution, start with Wave Good-bye. Readers who want the full series arc should begin with the earlier Southern Beauty Shop books before reaching Grace's fourth outing.