Kate Lawrence Mystery Series - Judith Ivie

Waiting for Armando
1st in the Kate Lawrence mystery series
When prominent attorney Alain Girouard is found murdered, and his secretary becomes the leading suspect, Kate Lawrence and her colleagues band together to exonerate one of their own.

Possibilities include the many women Girouard discarded over the years, a horticulturist with an interest in deadly flora, the victim’s wife, who has a surprising lover of her own, and a local clairvoyant.

Each clue puts Kate closer to the truth but further into danger when the murderer decides to put an end to her meddling.

Murder on Old Main Street
2nd in the Kate Lawrence mystery series
Small-town gossip can be murder—especially when a ruthless blackmailer is involved. If you enjoyed Waiting for Armando, you’re sure to like this sequel. Set entirely in historic Old Wethersfield, Connecticut, Murder on Old Main Street features the same smart, sassy heroines who abandoned their law firm jobs in Armando to launch their own real estate business.

As the annual Autumn Festival gets under way, Old Wethersfield is in an uproar over a proposed smoking ban throughout the historic district. Then a vicious murderer strikes. It’s truly a case of “speak no evil” as amateur sleuths Kate Lawrence and Margo Farnsworth race to discover the truth before a local business owner is unjustly convicted of murder, or even more unthinkably, Kate’s daughter Emma falls under suspicion.

In the background, Kate’s longtime romance hits the rocky shoals of culture shock, Margo is caught up in an unlikely romance of her own, and Emma is intrigued by a man in uniform. When Kate is forced off the road by a sinister Trans Am, she knows that she has been warned. Can she identify the murderer in time, or will someone’s indiscretion make her the next Murder on Old Main Street?

A Skeleton in the Closet
3rd in the Kate Lawrence mystery series
Everyone has a skeleton or two in their pasts, but the one that turns up at 185 Broad Street in Old Wethersfield is all too real. Afraid that the discovery of a corpse on their property might put off potential buyers, the elderly owners of the historic Victorian house turn to Wethersfield realtor and reluctant amateur sleuth Kate Lawrence to solve their problem.

As if that weren’t enough to contend with, Kate and her longtime love Armando are moving in together. Kate’s partner Strutter has a secret that sends everyone reeling. Best friend Margo sets her cap for a local police officer. And every last one of them is being threatened by an anonymous poison pen.

Join Kate and her friends as all of the skeletons--figurative and literal—come
crashing out of the closets to challenge the three women as never before.

Drowning in Christmas
4th in the Kate Lawrence mystery series
The holidays can be murder, as Kate Lawrence knows all too well, but this Christmas season is shaping up to be a doozy. The flu is decimating central Connecticut, MACK Realty is on temporary hiatus, Armando is traveling on business, and Kate is mourning the loss of her adored cat Simon. Daughter Emma has persuaded her to stage a Norman Rockwell Christmas Eve for her loathsome new beau … and to make the season especially merry, her ex-husband Michael has coaxed her to host an at-home wedding for their nephew.

To distract herself from her troubles, Kate helps out with a charity fundraiser to be held during the Wadsworth Atheneum’s famous Festival of Trees & Light. It turns out to be an evening that’s full of surprises, none of them good.

Kate’s positively drowning in Christmas. Can pals Margo and Strutter come to her rescue before she goes down for the third time?

Dying Wishes
5th in the Kate Lawrence Mysteries
Kate’s turning 50, and as if that weren’t depressing enough, she’s about to become a grandmother—twice over. Her investigation of a mysterious death at the Vista View retirement complex emphasizes her awareness of growing older and opens her eyes to the new realities of aging, some of which send her reeling. What really happened to Margaret Butler, the wealthy, tennis-playing retiree in Building One? Are the residents of the complex covering up a sex-for-hire scandal? Will longtime pal Ginny Preston lose her job as Vista View’s business manager? With the help of friends Margo and Strutter, Kate makes it her business to discover the truth before Ada and Lavinia Henstock, the elderly sisters from A Skeleton in the Closet, move in.

Auld Lang Syne
6th in the Kate Lawrence mystery series
It’s almost New Year’s Eve, and Kate finds herself at her 35th high school reunion, where she is confronted by The Mean Girls, Class of 1978. Not only that, she’s put on a little weight, and her high school steady is expected to show. The only thing that could make the evening worse is a suspicious death. Meanwhile, Strutter’s son is the subject of teenage bullying; Margo and her husband are buying a house they don’t need; and two hurt geese on Spring Street Pond need some help. Should auld acquaintance be forgot? If only that were possible.