Valerie Wolzien Books In Order

Murder at a PTA Luncheon

A cyanide laced canape and the death of the PTA president who devoured it had quite upset the spring luncheon of the affluent suburban Connecticut PTA, when a second PTA member dropped dead from a poisoned packet of artifical sweetener. Now Susan Henshaw, vice president of the PTA, leads an investigation into an organization riddled with scandal, sex and drugs…

The Fortieth Birthday Body

Down to earth housewife Susan Henshaw is turning forty and feeling ancient. Adding insult to injury is the return of gorgeous local hussy Dawn Elliott, rumored to have slept with half the married men of quiet Hancock, Connecticut. To lift her sagging spirits, Susan’s loving husband throws her a surprise party. But one guest gets the surprise of her life or death. Dawn Elliott is found murdered. And Susan herself is the prime suspect…

We Wish You a Merry Murder

Jingle bells turn to death knells as spunky suburban housewife Susan Henshaw follows the trail of a killer on a yule tide slay ride. Decorations, food, a dash of murder, and a disappearing corpse combine in a foolproof recipe for a lively Christmas. Reissue.

All Hallows’ Evil

At first Susan Henshaw thought the body in the library was a Halloween trick but then she saw the blood and heard the man’s dying gasp. Then a second body celebrity morning talk show host Jason Armstrong was found stabbed on his front porch. Now, as Susan begins to investigate the deaths, she uncovers secrets that a killer would go to any lengths to keep hidden…

An Old Faithful Murder

The Henshaw family vacation at Yellowstone National Park turns tragic when George Ericksen whose family has been befriended by the Henshaws is found murdered at the foot of Old Faithful. When amateur sleuth Susan Henshaw takes the case, a web of twisted emotions and buried secrets quickly unfolds, and Susan finds that everyone had a reason to kill George. But there can only be one killer…
can’t there?

A Star-Spangled Murder

Susan Henshaw and her family have been coming to their summerhouse in Maine for years, but when neighbor Humphrey Taylor is found bludgeoned to death in her living room, Susan’s relaxing holiday goes out with the tide as she searches to find the killer before he or she strikes again. But the killer may just find her first…

‘Tis the Season to Be Murdered

Exhausted after shopping for teenagers, struggling with cappuccino machines, and eating way too many cookies, Susan Henshaw is glad she hired ‘The Holly and Ms. Ivy’ to cater her annual New Year’s bash. But when the blond and buffed Z Holly, chef extraordinaire and notorious ladies’ man, is found strangled in a van full of helium balloons, Susan starts hunting for a killer and a way to save her party!testtestFrom the Paperback edition.

Remodeled to Death

OH, THOSE LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER IN SUBURBIA, WHEN THERE’S ALWAYS TIME FOR A MURDER OR TWO. With the kids away, Susan and Jed Henshaw are in the mood for a lazy, romantic August. Then the pipes in an upstairs bathroom burst and water inundates the floors below. Suddenly their cozy twosome is joined by a dozen plumbers, plasterers, and carpenters, who leave the house looking worse than the water damage. The only bright spot is that they won’t have to deal with the town’s hated building inspector, for the excellent reason that he has just been murdered. And most people in Hancock say they’d like to shake the hand of the man who did it. Susan has enough problems without trying to nail Simon Fairweather’s killer; but she just can’t resist, especially since chances are good that the murderer is actually at work in her bathroom…
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Weddings Are Murder

DEAD ON ARRIVAL

Suburban housewife Susan Henshaw dips into the middle age blues after hearing the news that her little girl, Chrissy, is getting married. To bolster her spirits, Susan plans to produce the wedding to end all weddings.

Chrissy’s college roommate, now a designer in Italy, agrees to create an original wedding dress. Then, on the day before the ceremony, the long anticipated box arrives. Yet the contents are a bit unexpected. For instead of a delicate confection of lace and tulle, nestled inside is a strangled corpse. Is someone trying to ruin the season’s biggest wedding?

Over Susan’s dead body…

The Student Body

BAD CHEMISTRYLike many fiftysomething housewives facing empty nests, Susan Henshaw decides that returning to college will give her life new meaning. But a murdered lab partner isn’t what she had in mind especially since the victim was strangled with the straps of Susan’s own backpack. So when Susan is named the prime suspect, she fits an investigation into her extracurricular activities. But after a strange student ominously named ‘Jinx’ becomes her informant, Susan begins to wonder: What does she really know about the victim, academic politics, or even her newfound friends? One thing is certain finding answers to this test could cost Susan her life…
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Death at a Discount

SHE SHOPPED TILL SHE DROPPED…
DEAD.

As her wealthy friends and neighbors knew, Amanda Worth wouldn’t be caught dead in a discount store. But she was. Susan Henshaw found her in a dressing room with a Hermes scarf knotted murderously tight around her elegant neck.

What possibly could have lured Amanda to the grand opening of the new outlet mall? Susan shops around for the answer and discovers that on the seamy side of suburbia, the seven deadly sins are alive and kicking. Greed, envy, illicit romance, financial chicanery–anything goes. For in this pristine Connecticut village, murder is suddenly the fashion. And one size fits all…
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From the Paperback edition.

An Anniversary to Die for

IT S THE PARTY OF THE YEAR. CHAMPAGNE, CAVIAR…
AND MURDER. The anniversary celebration at the inn where Susan and Jed Henshaw spent their honeymoon promised to be a night to remember. And it was…
for all the wrong reasons. For by evening’s end, Ashley Marks became the ultimate party pooper. She was dead, apparently poisoned, her body hidden beneath a pile of gifts on the bed in the Henshaw s room. Ashley certainly wasn t popular in social circles, but who at the soiree disliked her enough to knock her off? Following a cold trail of clues, Susan tracks down a killer whose roots may be buried deep in Ashley s past, along with deadly secrets…
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Death in Duplicate

DOUBLE THE LOVE, DOUBLE THE DEATH

Susan Henshaw and her husband, Jeb, are the proud grandparents of beautiful twins, and their daughter and son in law are temporarily moving into the Henshaws Connecticut home with their tiny bundles of joy. Added to the mix are two giant bullmastiffs and a nanny. Though a bit overwhelmed, Susan and Jeb are delighted to be a part of the chaos.

But a neighbor, Nadine Baines, soon starts to rain on their parade. She recognizes the nanny as a suspect in several recent shady deaths at a nursing home. The day after this troubling revelation, Nadine is found in her kitchen with a knife protruding from her chest. Is the nanny the culprit? Are Susan’s grandchildren at risk? With murder so close to home and another possibly following, Susan must investigate and she uncovers a tangled conspiracy beyond her wildest imagination.

Permit for Murder

DOUBLE TROUBLEJosie Pigeon, proprietor of Island Contracting, is bothered to find she has a double a gorgeous redheaded carpenter who’s being mistaken for her all over the island. And when this mysterious look alike turns up murdered on Josie’s job site, Josie is highly indignant. Can it possibly be Ms. Pigeon’s all woman construction crew and her boyfriend Sam, fear that the intended victim was Josie herself? She doesn’t think she has any enemies. In waters more troubled than she suspects, Josie goes fishing for the truth and makes a catch that she wishes she could throw back…
.’A nice writing style and considerable wit.’ Chicago Tribune’Engaging.’ People

Deck the Halls With Murder

BAD TIDINGSBuilding contractor Josie Pigeon and her all woman construction crew have a big project to wrap up before the holidays and they’re hard at work when carpenter Caroline Albrecht keels over, fatally poisoned. Suddenly an icy wind of suspicion chills the cheer of this quiet island resort town, and Josie realizes that one of her employees must be Caroline’s murderer. Is it Caroline’s old friend Layne? Sandy, who scarcely knew her?…
or good time local girl Betty? It will take Josie’s razor sharp eye and smart sleuthing to single out the suspect and keep Christmas from turning into a real killer of a season.

This Old Murder

When the production crew for Courtney Castle’s Castles invades contractor Josie Pigeon’s job site to shoot a PBS remodeling series, Josie’s fifteen minutes of fame seem imminent. Unfortunately, the confusion of taping compounds the chaos of construction, and Josie is soon ready to kill. Which is why, when a bludgeoned body appears on the premises, Josie is a top suspect. That’s when she decides to make her own suspect list. But the more Josie hammers down the facts, the closer to home she hits…

Murder in the Forecast

GONE WITH THE WINDWith a signed contract in hand for remodeling the grandest old house on the island, contractor Josie Pigeon figures her summer is made. But before she can lift a hammer, she finds her new employer wealthy New Yorker Cornell Hudson murdered on the premises with a strip of drop cloth twisted tightly around his neck. When Hurricane Agatha sweeps away both the house and the body, Josie would like to forget she ever saw them. But she can t help wondering: What could have drawn Hudson and his megamillions to this quiet summer resort? His three gorgeous blonde daughters hate the place and Hudson seems to have known not a soul on the island. But appearances have never been more deceptive. Now, through rain and wind, and through a past that refuses to die, Josie pursues the truth and nails down a killer who is tougher than boards. From the Paperback edition.

A Fashionable Murder

HIGH SOCIETY HOMOCIDEWhen amateur sleuth Josie Pigeon joins her longtime beau, Sam, on a trip to New York City for a week, she suspects she ll be looking at engagement rings, not mug shots. Once they arrive in the Big Apple though, the constant reminders of Sam’s wealthy, glamorous past make Josie feel like she s way out of her league. Then the body of his ex girlfriend, the elegant Pamela Peel, turns up in Sam s apartment and he becomes the police s prime suspect in her murder. Emotionally shut out by a shell shocked Sam, Josie knows there s only one thing she can do. With a few friends to help her navigate some of New York s high class circles, she ll investigate Pamela s murder herself and prove to everyone what she already knows: that Sam could never murder anyone. With the clues piling up like a socialite s discarded party dresses, Josie moves in on the truth, all the while knowing that each step she takes is one step closer to a killer.