Agnes Barton Mysteries



First in the Agnes Barton/Kimberly Steele Cozy Mystery Series.


Kimberly Steele had barely recovered from her wedding reception the day before, and now, she’s just discovered the body of her husband’s former girlfriend, Clare Barnett, someone whom she had argued with hours ago at a photo shoot for the Pretty and Hip perfume line. It’s no wonder she was the prime suspect, at least in the eyes of Deputy Danworth.

Jeremy Preston wasn’t about to allow his new wife, Kimberly, to be railroaded, although he was upset that Kimberly had pushed Clare into Lake Huron right before Clare’s death, or so Clare said. He hired Agnes Barton, a senior-aged sleuth, from East Tawas, who had a high success rate of crime solving, never expecting that his pregnant wife would begin to traipse around with Agnes and her partner, Eleanor Mason, as they dug into the background of Clare that led all the way to Hollywood.


Agnes and Eleanor were rooming at Mrs. Barry’s house during the case, the same beer-toting senior and mother of Sheriff Clay Barry who not long ago ran for sheriff in East Tawas, much to the chagrin of Agnes and Eleanor. But this time around Mrs. Barry had changed her tune and gave them the use of her car.

Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

 

(Book 1)

Agnes Barton is not your typical senior citizen living in Tadium, MI, on the shores of Lake Huron. She drives a red hot Mustang, shops at Victoria's Secret, rankles local police officials, and has a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

What does a murder that happened forty-three years ago have to do with missing tourist Jennifer Martin? Agnes makes it her personal mission to find out, and she's not letting the fact she's seventy-two get in the way. Butting heads with Sheriff Clem Peterson is something she's accustomed to, but lately Clem seems to be acting even more strange, making Agnes wonder what he may be hiding ala the Martin disappearance.

Agnes’ partner in crime, Eleanor Mason tags along, Watson to her Holmes. Together, they unearth clues. If only Eleanor would behave, as although lovable, she has a knack for getting into trouble by tangling with her rival, Dorothy Alton, or flirting with anyone—male or female—and gossiping! She's incorrigible, but she does carry a Pink Lady revolver in her purse, one that has proved useful at times.
Life for Agnes and Eleanor is shaken up when Agnes' former boss and secret crush comes to Tadium. Before long, the lady sleuths have more on their hands to contend with as goons roll into town and bullets begin to fly.
Armed and Outrageous depicts a zany cast of characters that include Andrew Hart, Agnes’ love interest. Jack Winston, resident dirty old man, Rosa Lee Hill, local grower of medicinal marijuana, and Duchess the delightful cat.
Now available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble


(Book 2)

Senior snoop, Agnes Barton, has taken up residence in a Winnebago at a campground in East Tawas, Michigan. It’s not the ideal place for a woman of seventy-two to live, but she’s making do. She had planned to start a detective agency with partner in crime, Eleanor Mason, but a snag with the license has them free wheeling it, not that it matters because they are the ones folks call when dead bodies turn up.

A frantic phone call has Agnes and Eleanor racing to the scene of yet another crime scene. Herman Butler has fallen to his death from a third story window, and the widow, Betty Lou, is beside herself with either grief or competing for the Oscars, and it’s up to Agnes and Eleanor to unravel the mystery, which gets more interesting when a ghost is listed as a possible suspect.
This time around, Agnes and Sheriff Peterson can agree, the widow is nuts, but wait, a few days later the ghost ship, Erie Board of Trades, was spotted off the shores of Lake Huron. Ghost hunters, G.A.S.P., hightail it into town, and East Tawas is overrun with ghost sightings.

Agnes and Eleanor must sort fact from fantasy before another body is found or a curse is realized.

Adult Content
Available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.


(Book 3)

True to his words, Sheriff Clem Peterson sends Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason packing to Florida via a Cessna, but things go haywire when during a fuel stop, two men shoot the pilot. Agnes springs into action slamming the door just as shots are fired while Frank Alton jumps into the cockpit flying them out of there.
When they land in Florida, they’re asked tough questions by Putner and Palmer from Homeland Security. They keep asking if they found a packet on board the plane, a packet that Agnes has tucked in her purse, but they never mention what’s in the packet. She decides to hold onto it; after all it contains twenty-five thousand in cash.
Sheriff Calvin Peterson, Sheriff Clem Peterson’s brother, picks them up from the airport in Florida, but tells them the bad news. His brother Clem made arrangements for them to stay at Sunny Brooke Retirement Village and work as the hired help to pay for their room and board. They go unwillingly, but discover in town that two maids have disappeared at Sunny Brooke. 
It’s a race against the clock; will Agnes and Eleanor solve the case of the missing maids and finally figure out what happened to their pilot before they also show up on a milk jug?
Available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.

(Book 4)

Agnes Barton has been waiting years for this day. She’s always told Sheriff Peterson he would rue the day when his re-election time came around and now — it’s finally here.  What will Agnes do? Will she cause conflict or support the other candidate?
When the sheriff’s father Hal goes missing, Agnes and Eleanor Mason are on a mission to find him, leading them to the Soaring Eagle Casino. But when they haul him home it’s only to find that his companion, Raul Perez, is dead at the bottom of the stairs. When the cops show up it doesn’t look good for Hal who is in possession of the dead man’s credit cards. With Hal now as a suspect, and Sheriff Peterson off the case, the sheriff hires Agnes and Eleanor to clear his father’s name.
Will Agnes be able to clear Hal’s name in time to save Peterson from failure at the polls or is this case too bizarre as a tenant claims aliens are involved?
Available on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.




(Book 5) 


The last thing Agnes Barton expected was to be slapped in cuffs alongside her best friend, and fellow-sleuthing buddy, Eleanor Mason. All they had wanted to do was to verify if a painting at the Butler Mansion had indeed been stolen. How were they to know that they had tripped off a silent alarm—or that Agnes’ nemesis Mildred Winfree’s body would be discovered when the cops showed up? It didn’t help that they had entered the mansion illegally—using a key Agnes had pilfered from her daughter Martha who was working as a real estate agent to sell the old place. 



Word has it that a treasure map was hidden in the back of a painting at the Butler Mansion, and it was just too juicy a story not to investigate. So here Agnes and Eleanor sat in jail as prime suspects as they were brought in for questioning. 



The tabloid, Tall Tales, printed a treasure map in its most recent addition, and soon, East Tawas becomes a point of interest as treasure hunters began tearing up the town looking for treasure. Agnes and Eleanor join in the foray, but she wondered just who was behind this tall tale, and what did it have to do with Mildred’s murder? 

Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.


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Agnes and Eleanor embark on their most challenging case to date, finding Bigfoot!

Agnes isn’t sure what to say when Billy Matlin, hires her to find Bigfoot, and it doesn’t help that Eleanor is hiding in the car. Who is she to say that Bigfoot isn’t real, and lord knows she sure could use a paying gig. Armed with a baggie full of brown hair, Agnes and Eleanor march into the sheriff’s department, but Sheriff Peterson is reluctant to test the hair. Outright refusing to use county resources for a DNA analysis.

Before long, the Department of Natural Resources and the United States Fish and Game Service also both refuse to test the hair. Suggesting that the only way they would investigate is if an endangered species is involved. Never one to be told no, Agnes does the only thing she thinks will get them to change their minds by planting evidence in the form of a road killed Bald Eagle on Billy’s property.

East Tawas is not only overrun with Bigfoot sightings, but it would seem just about everyone they question claims to have seen something mysterious in the woods. When big game hunters roll into town, and with the DNR and U.S. Fish and Game fighting over the brown hair, not to mention a reality show offering up a ten million dollar prize to whoever finds Bigfoot, it’s up to Agnes and Eleanor to find out the truth, which is further complicated when Billy Matlin mysteriously disappears.

Available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.