Have you met the Mantonis? This eccentric Italian family has a fatal tendency to fall over dead bodies, and their unique reactions to murder will keep you giggling all through the night.In this first book of the series, the sudden death of the grandfather, Nico, threatens to put a stop to Emma's opulent wedding. Unacceptable, says the bride, and in true Mantoni style, she hides the body until the festivities are over.But when it turns out Nico was poisoned, the attractive c...

This edited volume explores the intersection of spirituality with childbirth from 1800 to the present day from a comparative perspective. It illustrates how over this time period in much of the world, traditional practices, home births, and midwives have been overshadowed and undermined by male dominated obstetrics, hospitalization, and ultimately the medicalization of the birthing process itself.

Everybody knows the Mantoni girls are attractive, and theoretically, that's a good thing, right? Only this time, a charming but older millionaire desires the most beautiful Mantoni, Annalisa, as his lover for the Christmas season. Her cousin, Carlina, is disgusted by the liaison and says she'd rather see him dead than at Annalisa's side.The next day, her wish is fulfilled. The charmer is dead, strangled with a pair of pantyhose which comes straight from her own luxurious lingerie st...

Valentino, Carlina's cousin and a banker, is hands-down the most unpopular member of the wide-spread Mantoni clan. However, a true Mantoni never accepts an intolerable situation, so one evening, they sit down to plot his death.When Valentino is indeed found stabbed, commissario Stefano Garini, now officially Carlina's boyfriend, only wants to turn and run. While he tries to sort through the clues and his feelings with grim determination, the family, in inimitable Mantoni style, mana...

Falling in love on his eightieth birthday was not one of the planned party surprises, but Cupid's arrow hits Uncle Teo hard. The rest of the Mantoni family, however, is in an uproar because the new girlfriend, Olga, has an astonishing talent for making enemies.Before long, the family is ripe for murder, and when Olga is indeed found dead at the foot of the historical San Niccolò Tower, the Mantonis all cheer . . . until commissario Stefano Garini is forced to arrest a Mantoni family...

The Mantonis are going on vacation! Carlina & Stefano are looking forward to relaxing in Italy's Forte dei Marmi, the elegant seaside resort on the Ligurian Sea, but the holidays have hardly begun when their hotel manager is shot.For once, Florentine policeman Stefano Garini isn't responsible for investigating the crime, but when the local police become convinced that Carlina's young cousin, Ernesto, is the killer, the Mantoni family is up in arms: Stefano has to clear Ernesto, and ...

When eccentric fountain pen collector, Xaviero Monti, falls to his death, the Mantonis are convinced it's murder. After all, only the good die young, and Xaviero was anything but good. Commissario Garini, however, is sure it was only an accident and refuses to investigate, until the determined Mantoni family forces him to question all the members of the Florentine Fountain Pen Club.At the same time, the Mantoni family reaches unexpected heights of delight when they learn that Carlin...

Charlie Bannerman's week started by catching her Malamute, Duke, who had treed a neighbor's cat. Then her car wouldn't start. Everything seems to go downhill from there. She has to deal with a crazy ex-boyfriend, who still has the hots for her, his current girlfriend who is a bit unhinged, and a neighbor who is at war with the neighborhood teenagers. Then things get deadly: her car is blown up (with a body in it) and someone drives a truck into her house. With the body count rising, Charli...

Cam Shaw is an out-of-work ghost writer who places an ad in the newspaper looking for a new client. When she gets a reply and meets the client, she gets more than she bargained for. She's thrown into a 60-year-old mystery, but somebody doesn't want the truth to come out, and they are willing to go to any lengths to keep that from happening...even if it means killing Cam.

Lizzie Crenshaw is used to being in the middle of murder in Brookdale. After attending a fundraiser with her friend, Jake Mathias, she embarks on the biggest emotional and physical journey of her life, leaving some of the residents of Brookdale reeling from the effects. And before it is all over, it could cost them someone they love...

“A skillful amateur detective with an impressive to-do list emerges in this inventive series opener.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)For professional organizer Maggie McDonald, moving her family into a new home should be the perfect organizational challenge. But murder was definitely not on the to-do list . . .Maggie McDonald has a penchant for order that isn’t confined to her clients’ closets, kitchens, and sock drawers. As she lays out ...

As the town of Brookdale gets ready for a benefit to raise money for the local shelter, someone kills the owner of the shelter. But was she the intended target or was it one of her co-workers? Lizzie Crenshaw somehow ends up in the middle of the investigation, and is nearly killed herself when the killer strikes again. With the help of Babe, her bloodhound, and Mittens, the victim's Maltese, Lizzie goes after the killer...but learns there may be more than one. Can she and the dogs catch th...