As an epic nor’easter bears down on the idyllic island town of Eastport, Maine, Jacobia Tiptree hurries to prepare her antique house for the big blow, while the town battles to evacuate tourists and save the beloved 200-year-old Seaman’s Church steeple, threatened by the storm. But when a local teen beauty-pageant winner from a troubled family is found murdered in the steeple’s bell tower and Jake’s son Sam’s visiting childhood friend comes under scrutiny as a suspect, the resulting storm of gossip and suspicion rivals anything the Atlantic could brew up.

As a toddler, in a room illuminated only by the flames of a fallen candle, Jacobia Tiptree watched a man kill her mother. Jake once believed that man to be her father. Now, thirty-five years after the murder, as the real killer’s long-delayed trial is about to begin, the defendant has vanished.

Jake tries to distract herself from murder with the constant attempts to keep her 1823 federal-style fixer-upper from tumbling down on her head. But when her best friend’s infant daughter suddenly goes missing, Jake feels her dark past wrapping itself around her, and needless to say, it’s nowhere near as charming as her rickety old house.

The infamous Dodd murders are hardly among Eastport’s proudest legacies. So when bestselling true-crime author Carolyn Rathbone arrives to research the case for a new book, the locals in the seaside town let her know that she’s about as welcome as a spoiled clam. But surely no one would harm a crime writer out of a sense of civic pride–or would they?

Jake has her own problems, from the mysteries of old house insulation to an anonymous caller plaguing her with death threats. But with Carolyn’s arrival, the slayings of the wealthy Dodd women suddenly go from cold case to hot topic–much to someone’s dismay, for Carolyn Rathbone’s untimely investigation has unearthed a string of deadly secrets that a cunning killer is grimly determined to rebury, right along with Carolyn herself.

Driving deep into the woods to her husband’s cottage with her best friend in tow, Jake knows she has a challenging week ahead of her. Aside from saying goodbye to paved roads and indoor plumbing, Jake bet her husband that she could finish building the cottage porch in only a few days. But as they set to work, they soon realize that they’re not alone. Recently escaped from prison and having fled into the woods, Dewey Hooper recognizes Jake the instant he sees her. Her testimony got him sent away for murder years ago and here he can finally exact his revenge. Determined to make payback look like an accident, Dewey hatches a lethal scheme to ensure neither woman returns to Eastport alive.

Jake and Ellie have been through a lot together, from home repair to homicide investigation. So when they decide to open a chocolate-themed bakery, they figure it’ll be a piece of cake. With Ellie’s old family recipes luring in customers, they expect to make plenty of dough this Fourth of July weekend. Having family home for the holiday only sweetens the deal for Jake-that is, until the ill wind of an early-season hurricane blows up her family’s plans. But as bitter as the storm is, something even more sinister is brewing in the kitchen of The Chocolate Moose-where health inspector Matt Muldoon is found murdered. Ellie never made a secret of her distaste for Matt, who’d been raining on their parade with bogus talk of health-code violations. But now, with no alibi for the night of the murder, she’s in a sticky situation with the police-so it’s up to Jake to catch the real killer and keep Ellie living in the land of the free.

Jake and Ellie are taking a break from perfecting their chocolate-pizza recipe to cater a housewarming party hosted by movie-icon Ingrid Merryfield. Miss Merryfield is famous for her old-Hollywood glamour. Her new home, Cliff House, has a reputation too–for being haunted. But she isn’t concerned, and some of her guests even try to summon a spirit during the party, using a Ouija board. What arrives instead is a freak autumn storm that downs an ancient tree, traps everyone on the property, and leads them to stumble upon a hidden room–where they find film critic Audrey Dalton, apparently frightened to death. Though Jake and Ellie don’t intend to get stirred into the mix, there’s no avoiding it–especially when they discover a locket in the victim’s hand, with a picture of Ellie and the word “next” on it. Is someone trying to write her out of the script too? Jake and Ellie begin sifting through suspects and motives, a search that takes them from a long-lost family graveyard to an antique smokehouse and finally to Cliff House’s overgrown gardens. Is there some ghostly presence involved–or a flesh-and-blood villain? And either way, can they ensure that Ellie avoids meeting her very own, very permanent Hollywood ending?

Everything is shipshape at Jake and Ellie’s new waterfront bakery The Chocolate Moose, especially now that the annual Pirate Festival is dropping anchor in their quaint island village of Eastport, Maine. Jake and Ellie are ready for the bounty of tourists sure to flood their shop. But their plans quickly sink when the body of celebrity-foodie Henry Hadlyme is discovered in the Moose’s basement.

Jake and Ellie are horrified, but their shock turns to dismay when Jake is pegged for the murder. Now, to clear Jake’s name and save the shop, Jake and Ellie must swashbuckle down and figure out who among Henry’s numerous enemies scuttled him in the cellar. Was it a long-ago jilted sweetheart’s vengeful relative? His long-suffering personal assistant? Or perhaps some bitter-as-dark-chocolate unknown enemy, now aboard the mysterious ship lurking in Eastport’s harbor?

Alas, dead men tell no tales, so Jake and Ellie will have to get to the bottom of the case on their own and find the real killer before anyone else is forced to walk the plank…

The island fishing village of Eastport has plenty of salty local character. It also has a sweet side, thanks to Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree, her best friend Ellie, and their waterfront bake shop, The Chocolate Moose. This summer, Eastport’s favorite lovebirds–kindergarten teacher Sharon Sweetwater and Coast Guard Captain Andy Devine–are getting married. The gala reception is sure to be the fete of the season, especially with a wedding-cake-sized whoopie pie. For Jake and Ellie, the custom-ordered confection will finally reel in some much-needed profits. But the celebratory air–and sweet smell of success–are ruined by foul murder. When Sharon’s ex-boyfriend is poisoned with an arsenic-laced milkshake, Andy is jailed as the prime suspect, and the wedding is cancelled–whoopie pie and all. Then Sharon makes a shocking–and fishy–confession and ends up behind bars too. With the fate of The Chocolate Moose at stake, it’s up to Jake and Ellie to catch the poisonous predator before someone else sips their last dessert.

The island village of Eastport, Maine, is full of delights—including the delicious treats sold at The Chocolate Moose, the waterfront bakery run by Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and Ellie White. But a new bakery in town is proving that you can have too much of a good thing… Summer in Eastport means lobsters and blueberries, though tourists and locals alike always leave a little room for baked goods from The Chocolate Moose. This year’s arts festival, featuring food, games, and rollicking local musicians, means even more sweet-toothed customers. But it’s also bringing competition from a new rival, Choco’s, that’s trying to slice into the action. Choco’s owner, Brad Fairway, is pulling sneaky stunts to divert Moose patrons to his own shop, and Ellie finally confronts him about his tactics. But when Brad is found dead next day—and the weapon is a gun that belongs to Ellie—it’s only a matter of time before she is charged with the crime. Sifting through the victim’s connections, Jake and Ellie sense they’re getting close to the real culprit—a little too close. Can they serve up the solution before the killer dishes up another helping of murder?

As co-owners of Eastport’s beloved waterfront bakery, The Chocolate Moose, Jake and Ellie know their customers expect them to cream the competition. But they’re really just in it for fun, hoping to get Jake’s daughter-in-law baking again. Those plans collapse when fearsome local curmudgeon Alvin Carter is murdered, and every crumb of evidence points to Tiptree family friend–and all-around sweet guy–Billy Breyer. Billy’s sisters beg Jake and Ellie to prove his innocence. After all, lots of folks had gone sour on Alvin–the only thing the retired lawyer liked better than bilking widows was swindling orphans, and several victims of his long-ago schemes still lived in Eastport. But just as the ladies begin sifting through the suspects, a series of grass fires blaze across the island, cutting off access to the mainland. Could someone be trying to hide the truth about Alvin’s murder? Now, Jake and Ellie will need all their courage–and an extra dash of that down-east Maine stubbornness–to sniff out the real killer before anyone else gets burned…

Jacobia ‘Jake’ Tiptree is deep in her latest home improvement project when she notices the man repeatedly biking past her house. His face is unsettlingly familiar, but his chilling message seems inexplicable: Blood shows up again. Murder will out. Back in her days as a hotshot financial manager she did business with plenty of shady characters, but she’s still baffled as to the identity of her nemesis – until she receives a photo of a murdered man. Now Jake knows what she’s up against. But knowing her enemy is no guarantee that she can escape the grim payoff he has in store for her.

When Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her friend, Ellie White, agree to refurbish Eastport’s most disreputable old dwelling, Harlequin House, pulling up the floorboards reveals something far more sinister than dry rot. A hidden trapdoor unearths the skeleton of a notorious 1920s flapper with a fresh corpse sitting neatly beside her. With a good old-fashioned Maine murder on their hands, Jake and Ellie are hot on the trail of the murderer–but this time more than their reputations may be on the line.

Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree took the dangerous plunge from Wall Street power broker to homeowner. Now the do-it-yourself enthusiast is about to discover that her own dream house is built on a foundation of murder.

Buying a beachfront fixer-upper to lease out to Eastport, Maine’s, burgeoning tourist crowd seems like a good idea to Jake Tiptree and her best friend, Ellie White. But working double-time as landladies to a coven of wannabe witches is not what they had in mind. And it only gets worse when Jake is called out one stormy night to make a repair–and stumbles on a dead body in the utility shed.

A small-time thief and street preacher with a particularly violent message, the deceased was no favorite of Jake’s nor of anyone else in Eastport. But what’s he doing shot to death on Jake’s property? Jake’s bewitching tenants–including an ex-cop, a con man, and a mute teenage girl–claim to have been too busy conjuring spells to have heard or seen a thing. Then a member of the coven disappears without a trace, and Jake doesn’t think it’s a case of witchcraft but a kidnapping–or worse.

Scandal, secrets, and a mysterious box buried deep in the foundation of her own home are just the beginning of a mystery that threatens to bring Jake’s house–and life–crashing down. Now she and Ellie are racing to find a missing girl who may either be the key to it all–or lead them to a killer holding the final nails to their coffins.

Jacobia Tiptree and her teenage son are used to their Eastport, Maine, home attracting more than its share of house guests. This year Jake is hoping the plaster dust will keep them away while she finally gets her gem of a fixer-upper into shape–from doorknobs and chandeliers to ghostly phenomena. But when the charming and mysterious Jonathan Raines appears on her doorstep and then just as suddenly disappears, remodeling the house becomes the least of Jake’s problems. Could Jonathan’s disappearance have something to do with his quest for a cursed violin that local legend says was hidden by a long-ago owner of Jake’s house, before he too vanished without a trace? Jake needs to strip Eastport’s past of its idyllic veneer before a killer paints her very dead indeed!

When a mysterious book is unearthed from the foundation of Jake’s 1823 fixer-upper, she immediately sends it off to local book historian Horace Robotham. After all, there must be a logical explanation for why the long-buried volume has her name in it–written in what looks suspiciously like blood. But all logic goes out the window when the book disappears–and Horace turns up dead. When two more victims turn up in a town better known for its scenic views and historic homes than its body count, Jake and her comrade-in-sleuthing, Ellie White, need to go on the prowl to find someone who may believe that the pages of an ancient book are the blueprint for a perfect murder.

Since she bought her rambling fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn’t so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there’s the little matter of the dead man in Jake’s storeroom, an ice pick planted firmly in his cranium. Not much happens in her tiny Maine town, but that’s about to change. Jake’s unknown guest turns out to be local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine. When Jake’s best friend, quiet and dependable Ellie White, confesses to the murder, cops and journalists swarm into the snowbound Eastport. Jake smells a cover-up and begins poking into past history between McIlwaine and Ellie’s family. But someone doesn’t like nosy neighbors–and Jake’s rustic refuge may become her final resting place.

A teenage girl with a history of running away has dropped out of sight again. The locals and the law both think Tara Wylie is up to her old tricks-until her mother receives a terrifying text message. Equally disturbing: Henry Gemerle–a kidnapper and rapist who once held three girls prisoner for fifteen years-has escaped, and may be lurking in Bearkill. Lizzie Snow teams up with her boss Sheriff Cody Chevrier to search for the missing girl and the wily fugitive. Following a trail of grisly clues-a bloodstained motel room, a makeshift coffin in a shallow grave-Lizzie is drawn ever closer to the flames in her race to save an innocent and corner a monster.

Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree’s leisurely summer dreams involve rebuilding the front porch of her Maine fixer-upper and shingling the leaky tool shed out back. That’s why she’s hired the avenging angel of household hygiene, Bella Diamond, to keep her house–and her teenage son Sam–in tip-top shape. But when Bella confides in Jake that she’s been receiving death threats, Jake has two choices: find out who is frightening the hapless housekeeper–or risk losing her. With a marauding moose loose in town, a troublesome love triangle occupying Sam, and her estranged relatives about to descend for the Fourth of July–and the upstairs bedroom still unpainted–Jake’s summer is sure to be anything but peaceful. No matter how carefully you remodel your life, murder can take up residence anywhere.

Spring has sprung in Eastport, Maine, and in Jacobia Jake Tiptree’s 1823 Federal style fixer-upper, that means a housecleaning so thorough even the skeletons in the closet get polished! But nothing can prepare Jake for what she’ll uncover: a trio of mysteries certain to make her usual home repair projects seem as simple as scraping paint. What do an old book hidden in Jake’s cellar, the appearance of her ex-husband’s ghost, and the murder of her housekeeper’s son have in common? Only Jake can jigsaw the clues into place–and she’d better do it fast, before a killer snares her in a trap she can’t escape.

Jacobia Tiptree saved her sanity–and her son, Sam–the day she abandoned Wall Street for the seacoast village of Eastport, Maine. In her new home, a charmingly dilapidated fixer-upper, she looks forward to repairing old radiators and restoring antique shutters for years to come. But Jake’s hopes of serenity are dashed when tiny Eastport erupts in a crime wave. Hometown bad boy Kenny Mumford–old flame of Jake’s best friend and fellow sleuth, Ellie White–is the first victim. When his corpse washes up on the beach at Prince’s Cove, all evidence points to a drowning–except the bullet hole in his forehead. When bodies begin littering the Maine scenery, Jake and Ellie learn that the ante on Kenny’s small-town antics has been upped. Add a pair of unwelcome arrivals–Jake’s ex-husband, and an unscrupulous New York ex-money mogul–and you’ve got a blueprint for more deadly danger than one old house can hold.

It began with the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Hollingsworth–Eastport, Maine’s snoopiest resident. Everyone is convinced the old busybody bolted out of town to escape her creditor–everyone except Jake and her best friend, Ellie, who suspect otherwise. But they’ll need to come up with proof more sinister than a pair of abandoned binoculars. Just as Jake starts poking around for clues, things take a troubling turn for the worse. A suspicious accident nearly kills her teenage son, Sam, and her husband, Wade, just misses getting his head blown off. Jake is prepared to attribute these incidents to a spate of bad luck–until another accident leaves a visitor to Eastport unmistakably dead.

For ex-Wall Streeter Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree and her teenage son, Sam, September promises tranquil days winter-proofing their rambling handyman’s special of a home in Eastport, Maine. But there’s nothing idyllic about this Down East autumn. For starters, the return of truly vicious native son Reuben Tate stirs up the town. And when somebody slits Reuben’s throat and hangs his corpse on the cemetery gate, the police trace a bloodied scalpel to surgeon Victor Tiptree–Jake’s former husband. Yet Jake knows her troublesome, trouble-prone ex is capable of just about anything except murder. Proving that, though, will involve nailing the real killer.

Moving from Boston to remote Bearkill, Maine, isn’t homicide cop Lizzie Snow’s idea of a step up. But breaking away from tragedy and personal betrayal is at least a step in the right direction. Her dead sister’s fate still torments her, as does her long-missing niece’s disappearance. The town is full of people who see everything, say little, and know more than they’ll share with an outsider. The only exceptions are the handsome state cop who once badly broke Lizzie’s heart and desperately wants another chance – sheriff Cody Chevrier. A rash of freak accidents and suicides has left a string of dead men – all former local cops. Now the same cruel eyes that watched them die are on Lizzie…

Christmas is just weeks away, but what Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree discovers at Faye Anne Carmody’s house is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood. Her no-good husband, Merle–Eastport’s butcher and least-liked citizen–is nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake finds his body–wrapped in his own butcher paper. It looks like an open-and-shut case, but Jake isn’t convinced. Then another resident turns up dead, and Jake knows the trail doesn’t begin–or end–with Merle. Jake had planned to spend the winter rehabilitating her old house, but now she’ll have to work on nailing a killer before her beloved town gets even smaller.