Murder in Suburbia

After teenager Holly Andrews dies of a single stab wound in a church graveyard one night, Ash and Scribbs delve into schoolgirl witchcraft at exclusive St. John's Academy. A coded diary reveals that more than one suspect was doing the jolly with Holly. But who was casting black spells on whom?

Estate agent Phil Jakes doesn't seem to care that most of his clients and even his colleagues hate him. But them someone closes Phil's sale for good by applying a paperweight to the back of his head. His murder involves Ash and Scribbs in the seamy, cynical world of suburban real estate.

"Marriage is where we admit that our parents were right," Ash advises Scribbs. "Don't ever forget that." At this wedding, though, the father of the bride winds up dead wrong. Peeking behind the bridal veil and bouquets, Ash and Scribbs find that nothing is exactly what it seems.

Who saved the last dance for Sandra? The lovely young salsa enthusiast took a tumble off a high balcony, and her death definitely looks like murder. The investigation leads the detective duo to Middleford's steamiest salsa club, where the passions run as hot as the rhythms--and even Ash catches the fever.

The brutal murder of Christine Archer, proprietress of a local dog day care center, introduces Ash and Scribbs to some temperamental canines and eccentric, equally temperamental owners. But, as Ash and Scribbs soon discover, the bonds between dogs and their masters often prove stronger than those between human beings.

The Birch Grove elder home's motto is "Life begins at 70." Unfortunately, life also ends there for Johnny Jones, a '50s crooner drugged and drowned in his bathtub. It seems that the former heartthrob never lost his sex appeal, as Ash and Scribbs turn up plenty of suspects among his aged admirers and rivals.