Mignon F. Ballard

After a lethal birthday dinner of champagne and crayfish, famed Shakespearian actor Sir Henry is dead, and the cast of suspects is a mile long.

Daring and impulsive, Laney McCall lived for the moment. And now she was dead. Her battered body had been washed ashore below desolate Crybaby Bridge. An accident they said. But after months of misgivings, Laura Graham returns determined to find some answers to Laney's puzzling death.

"The eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil--even if the rest of us die--a roadmap that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today"--Provided by publisher.

A dead woman returns to life as guardian angel for Mary Murphy in order to sort her life. Mary is in a state, her fiancé dropped her for another woman, she lost her job, and her adoptive mother died in mysterious circumstances.

When their mother buys the family's ancestral home, a ghostly inhabitant enlists twelve-year-old Peggy, ten-year-old Rob, and their friends to solve a mystery and right an old wrong.

Eliza Figg, a 28 year old former Peace Corps volunteer has just taken a leave of absence from her public relations job to spend time with her ailing parents when her life takes yet another unexpected turn. Eliza flings open her door one rainy January day to snatch a frantic young woman inside, and Melody Lamb once again intrudes upon her life. As a foster child, Melody Lamb had lived briefly with Eliza's family sixteen years before. Now, after Melody's husband has died in a mysterious boating accident, she is seeking the security she once knew, and Eliza soon learns that Melody Lamb, who is pregnant, intends to stay with her. It's only for a little while, Eliza tells herself. But after Melody's baby is born, the days turn into months. Then one morning in June, Melody takes the baby for her usual walk...and vanishes. Does Melody Lamb's disappearance have anything to do with a neighbor's accidental death the day she left? And why was she so afraid of something in her past? When Eliza begins to receive phone calls from someone who sounds like Melody, she knows she has to find out the truth behind the young mother's disappearance or risk losing the baby she has come to think of as her own.

Life in small-town America during World War II springs vividly to life as schoolteacher Miss Dimple and her fellow townspeople battle valiantly against worry, rationing, and crime at home as well as abroad September, 1943. The residents of Elderberry, Georgia, are doing their best to support the war effort. When Annie discovers a skeleton during a school field trip, and Buddy Oglesby disappears along with the war bond money, it's clear that something is amiss in the little town. Can Miss Dimple put things right?

"With the country in the midst of World War II, you can be sure the small town of Elderberry, Georgia, will pull together to find a missing child. And you can be equally certain that first-grade teacher, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, will be in the search party--especially since Peggy Ashcroft is one of her students. Miss Dimple carves out a search path all her own and once again, the sharp-as-a-tack teacher is right on point. But she finds Peggy too sick to walk and it's too dark for Miss Dimple to find her way back. Luckily, she comes upon the home of an elderly artist, Mae Martha, and her young companion, Suzy, who helps ensure that Peggy returns home safe and sound. A few days later, however, Miss Dimple receives a frantic call from Suzy: Mae Martha has been murdered and Suzy is seen as the most likely suspect, because her family is Japanese. Miss Dimple and her fellow teachers Annie and Charlie don't buy it; and set out to prove Suzy's innocence, only to discover danger where they least expect it."--