Atlanta resident Leta Parker moves to England after her husband’s death and settles into the village of Astonbury. Her four-legged companions are Dickens, a dwarf Great Pyrenees, and Christie, a black cat. Leta can speak with and understand both and carries on conversations with them, but keeps her ability under wraps.

Bells, Tails & Murder

An American reporter, Dave Prentiss, visits Astonbury to research J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, for a magazine feature. He and Leta hit it off, but almost everyone’s a suspect when Dickens finds a body. A rare Barrie book is involved, and no one can be trusted. To make the investigation even more interesting, elderly Belle Davies is the mother of Peter and Wendy Davies, twins who prompted Barrie’s choice of character names, and she owns a one-off book written specially for her little family, which would be worth a fortune on the market.

Pumpkins, Paws & Murder

Trixie is working for her aunt, Book Nook owner Beatrix Scott, as her divorce is dragged out by her soon-to-be-ex.  Time is of the essence, though: if Max Maxwell doesn’t sign the papers by the end of the month, Trixie will have to wait another two years for finalization. He has the nerve to show up at the Fall Fete, but soon afterward his body is found by the river, and Leta needs to figure out body is found by the river.  There’s no shortage of suspects, and even though it rankles Detective Sergeant Gemma Taylor, daughter of innkeepers Libby and Gavin Taylor, she begrudgingly helps Leta. There’s no shortage of suspects … or danger.

Whiskers, Wreaths & Murder

During a Sunday morning cycle journey, Leta and Peter Davies, who runs the local garage, come across the wrecked Bentley of the Earl of Stow, better known as Nicholas Coates. He’s alive when they call 999, but dies shortly after an ambulance arrives. Peter finds one of the tires has been slashed – just three-quarters of an inch, but enough to cause a blowout – and to conquer the bad memories of her husband’s cycling death, Leta is in detective mode when DS Taylor arrives. Complicated inheritance issues are on the table as Leta searches for the vandal who robbed Nicholas of his life.