Showing results by author "Diane E. Tatum" in All Categories

KUDZU SCULPTURES Dorie Hudson, a new journalism graduate from Virginia Tech, moves to small town Daelin, GA, to work for the Daelin Beacon as the Lifestyles Editor. Within the first weeks of her time in Daelin, she finds the town up in arms about the kudzu ‘sculptures’ swallowing the loblolly pines on the road into Daelin. Why won’t the mayor allow the nursery man Ross MacAvoy to tear down and destroy the overgrowing vines? What’s hiding in the kudzu? As the mystery deepens, Dorie finds most people are like the kudzu, beautiful and polite on the outside, but dead and self-serving on...

Five award-winning, page-turning cozy mysteries. TWISTED PLOTS - Bonita Y. McCoy Book shop owner, Amy Kate Anderson, thought she was having the worse day ever … until they wheeled a body out of the coffee shop next door and her friend, Matt Murphy, co-owner of the Beans and Leaves, became the number one suspect for the DA. Can Amy Kate find a way to help her friend and keep her dreams for her bookshop from going up in smoke? Or will the handsome Lieutenant Gabe Cooper have his way and leave Amy Kate fishing for clues among the ashes? DOGGED BY MURDER - Ellen Fannon Veterinarian Amy Dixon ...

Shouldn’t a Christmas Market Rhine River cruise be relaxing? Callie boards their planned honeymoon cruise alone, hoping to heal from her new husband Bryan's death. She shares the trip, and coffee, with Hunter, a workaholic advertising executive who's the only other unaccompanied passenger on board. His father gave him the trip as a Christmas gift to “find love and exploration.” What should be a relaxing journey turns sinister. Strange incidents plague Callie almost immediately. When Callie falls into the flooding Rhine River, Hunter saves her life—but not before he notices someone ...

One day on his regular bike ride on the hills of Daelin, GA, Jamey Connor and his bike wound up under a car. Jamey sustained serious injuries including Traumatic Brain Injury with Expressive Aphasia, causing an inability to communicate professionally despite his three engineering degrees. Noelle Etheridge, a certified Speech Language Pathologist, is hired by Jamey’s father and grandfather, owners of Sullivan and Connor Engineering, to aid Jamey in recovery of his communication skills. After one week, Jamey’s father decides to put Jamey back on disability and fire Noelle. After their ...

While Kate Lawrence 's parents served in Cote d'Ivoire as career missionaries, Kate's education came in a French boarding school and American University in Paris and Georgetown. Now a Foreign Service Officer for the US State Department, she wants nothing to do with the missionary lifestyle. When she finally agrees to visit their new mission post Mission Mesquite, the rodeo church at the Mesquite Arena in Dallas, Kate meets Tyler Hawkins, attractive All American Cowboy who has since been crippled by a bull trampling. They have an instant connection, but Kate doesn't know that Tyler has just ...

Dorie Hudson, reporter for the Daelin Beacon, is investigating a series of break-ins and burglaries across Daelin, GA. One witness identifies the culprit of an arson as chief of police Riley McDonough, escaping in a stolen purple car. Who is this look-a-like criminal who shares Riley’s DNA? He is targeting all the people Riley cares about, even his dog. Dorie’s fiancé Ross MacAvoy is in California working for the National Forestry Service, hoping to earn a spot in Georgia’s Chattahoochee Forest come spring. Riley’s boyhood best friend, Ross is also targeted when he comes home for a...

Dorie Hudson, a new journalism graduate from Virginia Tech, moves to small town Daelin, GA, to work for the Daelin Beacon as the Lifestyles Editor. Within the first weeks of her time in Daelin, she finds the town up in arms about the kudzu ‘sculptures’ swallowing the loblolly pines on the road into Daelin. Why won’t the mayor allow the nursery man Ross MacAvoy to tear down and destroy the overgrowing vines? What’s hiding in the kudzu? As the mystery deepens, Dorie finds most people are like the kudzu, beautiful and polite on the outside, but dead and self-serving on the inside.

When Dorie and Ross MacAvoy return from their honeymoon in Scotland, much has changed. Police Captain Riley McDonough is dating Jenny Schaefer, the waitress at the Corner Café and server at the Doll House B&B for Dorie and Ross’s wedding. Dorie starts her new job at Daelin Police Department as a Liaison officer and researcher with Detectives Mavers and Akers. Ross starts a new job at the Chattahoochee Ranger Station with his new partner Felicity Johnson. When a series of church burglaries begin in Daelin, Dorie is confounded by the lab results saying the burglary suspect is a pregnant ...

Amanda, Colin, and Ben. All they ever wanted was to be in the Colonies, to escape the tyranny of the English aristocracy, to worship freely, to build a life together. Colin Michael Browning dreams of a new life in the American colonies. He works in the family business as a blacksmith. Amanda Andrews is Colin's soul mate who embroiders in her father's tailoring shoppe. Benjamin Andrews, Amanda's twin brother and Colin's best friend, is a theology student who rejects the Anglican Church during a time of persecution of Protestants in England. Ben yearns for the religious freedom available in ...

With witness protection, Interpol, and a hot MI5 agent to watch over her, Cassie should be safe from the Irish Mob in the village of Broadmoor in the Highlands of Scotland. But someone is still trying to get rid of her. Cassie had been Janette McCaffrey, wife of Ian McCaffrey, Irish mob boss in the DC area. She had everything she could ever want, until his mob generals blew up his car one morning in their driveway. When she testified against the culprits, her “reward” was witness protection in Scotland. Aidan MacAlister is the well-trained and seasoned MI5 agent assigned to watch over ...

One man committed to serving God and country. One woman committed to bringing slavery to an end. Captain Andrew Browning’s new assignment is to head up security at the Lincoln White House. A Virginian and a longtime friend of Robert E. Lee, he must decide whether to resign from the Union Army. His long-time fiancée is a beautiful Southern belle whose father runs a plantation with slaves who were Andrew’s childhood friends. His choices will also affect his family: his blacksmith father, mother, and twin sisters. Maggie Strickland’s mission is to bring a petition from Massachusetts ...

Michael Browning, a child of the American Revolution, becomes surrogate father for his four siblings after the early death of his parents. His Uncle Ben has also died, leaving the pulpit empty in the church he started after the war. Bitterness has overcome Michael as each of his siblings finds love with only his youngest sister, Louisa, remaining at home. When the new pastor and his daughter, Susannah, take over the rectory adjacent to the Browning home, he cannot accept Reverend Hawthorne as a substitute for his Uncle Ben. When Louisa falls in love with Susannah’s cousin Theo, Susannah ...

Daughter of a bordello madame and an Italian captain of the seas, Angelina Mercy longs for a new life, free from the condemnation associated with her mother’s home in Boston. A former navy man, Jonathan Thomson has accepted God’s call and become a minister of a small congregation. Adrift from his Yankee heritage in the Missouri plains, Jonathan longs for a family of his own. Pursuing Alice, the daughter of the town’s wealthy patron, Jonathan believes he can tame her wild ways and accomplish more as a preacher once so established. When Angelina’s guardian and Jonathan’s seminary ...

Jaymie Wycroft is CFO at her grandfather’s company, Wycroft Booksellers. She is surprised by her on again/off again boyfriend Dave Garrett with a proposal at her grandfather’s birthday dinner just before Thanksgiving. Grandpa is spearheading this rush to the altar because he has a secret and wants to see her settled. Jaymie reluctantly agrees to the proposal because she wants to obey her grandfather, and she’s always wanted a Christmas wedding. When Jaymie meets Kyle Mason, sparks literally fly. He is their Realtor and also the grandson of Grandpa’s best friend Johnny Mason. ...

Daelin High School alumni are returning to Daelin for a mega-reunion involving five graduating classes. Those grads who left Daelin for better opportunities than were available in their small Georgia town are often called the diaspora, the scattered ones. The first alum taken is Captain Riley McDonough’s high school crush, Lucy Hendrickson. Riley and Daelin PD’s finest are on the case, including Dorie MacAvoy, former reporter turned Liaison Officer. However, Dorie and Ross’s pregnancy teeters precariously on viability. Will Dorie and Ross’s child survive? Which alum will be abducted...

When Cecilia finds a key hanging on her Christmas tree, she’s afraid someone has broken in. The truth is much more frightening. When she opens the old oak chest in the attic on New Year’s Eve 1999, she is whisked back to 1900 because of an ancient family curse. Cecilia finds her place and life in the past. After a disappointing relationship in 1999, she finally finds the love of her life in 1900. As a researching librarian, Cecilia becomes involved in a career-building venture with Mary and George Jones building their genealogy/research library in Lynchburg, VA. Can she return to 2000? ...

Caroline Jennings never expected to live her own fairy tale when studying the lore and literature of England at Oxford. Eddie Martin, an anthropologist working on a doctorate, lives next door and is the future Lord of Oxfordshire. She must return to her classroom in North Carolina at the end of her sabbatical. He would give her his fortune if she would stay and become his Lady Caroline. How can they find their happily ever after?

Amalia Edgar flies from Charlotte, NC, every December to work in her family’s Dom Spekulatius (German spice cookies) kiosk at the Cologne Christmas Market. However, the journey becomes harder each year. Amalia, like her mom, has Multiple Sclerosis. She has seen how the disease progresses and has decided she’ll not marry any man to make him her eventual caregiver. Justus Sullivan is a Charlotte lawyer who literally runs into Amalia on his way to business meetings in Cologne. He is immediately drawn to her and her deep sapphire eyes. He believes Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I ...

Ross and Dorie are planning a Christmas Eve wedding. Someone wants Dorie out of the way, permanently. Could it be his mother, escaped from Central State Hospital? Ross really thought Dorie was imagining things while he was in California, but now that he’s home, though sleeping at Riley’s until the wedding, she continues to see things being moved and lights on in the attic. When someone steals his credit card and sends Dorie flowers from him with it, he just has to find out what is going on. Dorie finds out the secret about what happened with Ross’s mother on Ross’s 5th birthday ...