Susan Gillard Books in Order

Heather's assistant Digby calls her after an actor dies during a dress rehearsal. A stage prop has become a murder weapon, leaving her to investigate the cast's motives and opportunity before the show reaches its opening night.

A body buried beneath a giant sandcastle interrupts Heather's efforts to manage her business and help with wedding plans. The competition's substantial cash prize gives several entrants a possible motive, and she must uncover who turned rivalry into murder.

Heather's friend and investor disappears, and a dead carpenter is found at his last known location. Investigating both an apparent abduction and a murder, she searches for the connection between the crimes before her missing friend's time runs out.

Dog groomer Jamie becomes the prime suspect after a client is murdered, drawing Heather away from problems at her donut shop. She investigates whether the victim had enemies or someone intended to frame her friend for a killing.

Heather encourages Bernadette's online date, then learns that the man missed their dinner because he was murdered. What first seemed like inconsiderate behavior becomes a case requiring her to uncover the victim's connections and identify someone with a deadly motive.

Heather agrees to judge a local cornucopia contest, but threats against her friends and another judge's strangling change the stakes. She investigates whether competition for a hidden prize explains the violence or conceals a motive unrelated to the event.

A mystery-writers' panel at a friend's bookshop turns into a real murder case when an author dies during a blackout. Heather investigates the people in the room, whose professional knowledge of fictional crimes may complicate her search for a motive.

Heather serves donuts at a Valentine's Day chocolate tasting and dance, where another baker is murdered in the preparation room. Access narrows her suspects to fellow dessert makers, but she must determine whether valuable chocolate or a personal grievance explains the killing.

Catering breakfast donuts at hotels brings Heather into a case when a guest falls from the top floor. The visitor has only recently arrived, leaving her to examine traveling companions and local encounters for an explanation of the deadly fall.

A food critic dies at home beside a harsh review of Heather's friend's newly opened restaurant. With the restaurateur under suspicion, she investigates who else might have wanted the critic poisoned and how the damaging review relates to his death.

Heather enjoys a haunted trolley outing until a tour guide dies in a suspicious car crash. Learning that the victim also played practical jokes, she investigates whether one of those pranks gave someone a motive to arrange his death.

Wedding-dress shopping turns into an investigation when Heather and Josie find a fire at the dressmaker's shop. The owner's murder and destroyed files suggest more than an accident, prompting Heather to examine whether a dissatisfied bridal client sought revenge.

Thanksgiving preparations are interrupted when Heather investigates a woman poisoned during a family meal. Suspecting someone in the household tampered with the food, she searches through concealed grievances and family secrets before returning to her own holiday dinner.

A fatal explosion during fireworks testing disrupts Heather's Fourth of July plans. The display's creator routinely carried out the tests, giving a saboteur an opportunity, and she examines the many people who knew how to turn the celebration deadly.

Heather's Valentine's Day plans change when a woman dies after eating a cyanide-laced chocolate. Several heart-shaped candy boxes in the victim's home point toward multiple admirers, leaving Heather and her friend to identify which gift concealed a murderous intention.

A friend's plans to open a restaurant falter when his newly hired assistant chef is murdered. Heather investigates the victim's past and supposed culinary credentials, wondering whether the secrets behind his recipes offer a reason for the killing.

At a friend's bachelorette party, an unexplained hotel key draws Heather into a search that uncovers blood in a room. A bartender's murder raises further questions, and she must determine whether anyone in the bridal party is connected.

Delivering donuts to a holiday party, Heather encounters a death caused by plugging in the Christmas tree. Suspecting murder, she investigates the victim's in-laws and the family's business, searching for whoever turned a seasonal decoration into a weapon.

A fire at a lawyer's office kills a legal assistant and leaves Heather's firefighter friend feeling responsible. Believing the blaze was deliberately set, Heather investigates unhappy clients and other motives to identify who planned the arson and murder.

A delivery boy is found stabbed outside Heather's difficult neighbor's shop, making a quick investigation essential to keeping the peace. The victim used different false names with different people, leaving Heather to establish his identity before finding his killer.

Heather's plans to help choose an engagement ring are interrupted when a model is found drowned on the beach. Identifying the victim as a soda campaign celebrity leaves her searching for the reason someone wanted the woman dead.

Heather attends an Irish step-dancing workshop as St. Patrick's Day approaches, then learns the teacher is accused of murdering her boyfriend. Investigating the victim and a holiday bar crawl makes Heather question whether the obvious suspect is guilty.

A missing volunteer interrupts Heather's work at a community bingo event. When the disappearance becomes a murder case, she investigates whether the supposedly helpful woman was running a scam and who might have wanted her dead.

Spring break keeps Heather's donut shop busy while reports of a great white shark alarm the town. A woman's apparent death in a shark attack raises Heather's suspicions, sending her after a possible murderer amid the seasonal rush.

A trip to the airport sends Heather searching for a missing pilot, only to discover a dead body. With another pilot ill, she suspects arsenic poisoning and must determine which passenger added it and who was meant to die.

Heather looks forward to Key West's New Year's ball drop until a handyman dies while preparing the mechanism. Suspecting sabotage, she investigates who interfered with the celebration and why before the town reaches its midnight countdown.

A threatening Valentine worries Heather, then a delivery driver who resembles her is killed outside her donut shop. Believing she was the intended victim, Heather revisits old cases to identify a grudge before the killer returns.

Heather travels to Chicago to help her seasonal assistant solve a baking emergency. When a rival student in a parade float competition is murdered, she must find the real killer and clear her assistant before St. Patrick's Day.

An actor hired for a friend's play can speak with an accent and juggle blades, but one of his knives becomes a murder weapon. Heather investigates whether the performer is guilty while opening night approaches and suspicion threatens the production.

Wrapped gifts appear around Key West, reminding Heather of last year's troubled Christmas. When one explodes and kills a man, she investigates a supposed helper elf and the motive behind the deadly present before the holiday celebrations continue.

A body found in the police chief's brother's apartment puts Heather on a difficult case during a mayoral election. The brother claims the victim was a friend, and she must uncover the truth before political pressure further complicates matters.

Heather joins friends at a painting-and-wine event, but their evening ends when a woman is poisoned. She turns from painting to investigating the artists and employees, searching for the motive that made one participant a murder victim.

A volunteer working for a mayoral candidate is murdered during a special election, drawing Heather into local politics. She investigates both campaigns, trying to determine whether a rival created a scandal or someone closer to the victim hides the truth.

Heather caters a Valentine's speed-dating event and encourages her friend Bernadette to attend. When one of the men is murdered, everyone present becomes a suspect, leaving Heather to discover which brief encounter concealed a motive for killing.

A scientist who makes replacement flippers for injured manatees is found drowned, and Heather wants answers. With the new mayor opposing private investigators' police work, Heather and Amy must investigate carefully while also tracking a missing prosthetic flipper.

The mayor orders Heather to stay out of police cases, then asks for help when her dog is kidnapped. A body found at the ransom drop turns the rescue into a murder investigation, leaving Heather determined to save the animal.