MURDER, MAYHEM AND...MIRTH?
EVENTS UNLIMITED SERIES

     When Annike McKinley storms out of her stressful accounting job to return home to the lively and unconventional small Northern California town of Upper River Gulch where she grew up, she is only looking for peace and quiet. What she finds is murder, chaos and the unpredictable but always entertaining antics of her beloved Aunt Gerda and the rest of the eccentric but delightful members of the Service Club of Upper River Gulch Environs (known as the SCOURGEs behind their backs.).
     Annike soon discovers she has a knack for playing lion tamer to a wide variety of characters, both the well-intentioned if misguided and the not-so-well-intentioned and thoroughly corrupt. And all of Merit County seems to discover she also has a knack for organizing the most unruly of major parties and events. Thus is launched her new business -- Events Unlimited. In her efforts to protect her clients and their events from the consequences of murder investigations, she is aided--and occasionally hindered -- by the all too charming and capable Merit County Sheriff Owen Sarkisian. There might be a lot of laughter for her in her new career, but peace...not so much.
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Cold Turkey -- Events Unlimited --Book #1
    
     Annike McKinley returns to her Aunt Gerda's home for Thanksgiving, she finds the body of Clifford Brody, C.P.A. bleeding all over her aunt's tax receipts. While Sheriff Owen Sarkisian and the crime team track mud through the house, the Service Club of Upper River Gulch Environs (the SCOURGEs) sticks Annike with organizing the town's Thanksgiving weekend activities. She's soon up to her neck in pancake breakfasts, pie-eating contests, community dinners--and a raffle prize that threatens to take over her life.
     Her new job also gives her the opportunity to investigate the murder on her own to clear the chief suspect--her beloved aunt. Although she and Sarkisian begin to enjoy one another's company, he orders Annike to stop interfering. To her delight, he is shortly thereafter forced to beg the aid of her accounting skills to help unravel the case. Then one of the suspects is found dead, stripped to his boxers and socks in a vat of apricot brandy. It becomes a race to find the murderer before both Annike and Sarkisian are added to the body count.

Note: This book was previously published elsewhere. It has been re-edited by the author.

Links coming soon

REVIEWS: 

...a delight...a rousing good mystery with more than its fair share of zany comedy...  Novel Spot

100% YES! ...my newest favourite couple. Christine I  Speakman, FMAM Mostly Mystery Reviews

…laughing out loud…a very well done mystery….  The Romance Studio

...a fantastic mystery filled with humor…    Review Your Books.com
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Bunny Hop -- Events Unlimited --Book #2

     When Annike McKinley of Events Unlimited agrees to organize the Easter fundraising fete for the Land's End Yacht Club, she is unprepared for the mayhem--and murder--that await. The clubhouse, built to resemble a Spanish galleon, comes complete that morning with a body hanging from the yardarm.
     Much to the regret of Merit County's Sheriff Owen Sarkisian, it is not a pirate but a lawyer, and one who has more enemies than friends, even in his own family. Sarkisian must juggle the murder investigation with his ongoing work on another case.
     Meanwhile, Annike deals with a kayaking scavenger hunt, hordes of giant bunnies on the prowl for anything munchable, plastic eggs with a more sinister filling than candy, and a host of other fun-filled activities. Then the body of one of the suspects, dressed as a fuzzy pink Easter Bunny, is found drifting in a canoe with a buttercream egg crammed in his mouth, and the fun--and danger--really begins.

Note: This book was previously published elsewhere. It has been re-edited by the author.
Links coming soon


REVIEWS:

Janice Bennett has done it again.  Another superb tale... Annike McKinley is back and she’s funnier than ever.  Christine I Speakman, FMAM Mostly Mystery Reviews
 
Bunny Hop is one of those mysteries that keep you turning every page because you have to know what happens next, sometimes with hilarious results. – Novel Spot
 
I loved it!  Fallen Angel Reviews

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Black Cats and Boondoggles -- Events Unlimited --Book #3

      It's time for the annual Harvest Fair and Trick-or-Treating in Upper River Gulch, and the SCOURGEs help Annike McKinley plan the most enthusiastic festival their town has yet endured. But when the body of Hugh Cartwright, owner of Brandywine Distillery, is found in the town's tiny park, dressed as a scarecrow with his head inside a giant jack-o'-lantern, Annike insists a murder was not one of the scheduled events.
     While Merit County's Sheriff Owen Sarkisian wades through motives and clues and the chaos created by the town's proposed incorporation, Annike deals with pumpkin carving contests, hayrides, a kids' carnival and a haunted house that takes on a sinister twist. And always ready to lend a helping paw are two black cats and the adolescent bloodhound, Boondoggle.
     Then comes Halloween night, when kids and adults alike parade in costume along the town's few streets. Only this time, a murderer walks among them.

Note: This book was previously published elsewhere. It has been re-edited by the author.

Links coming soon

REVIEWS:

…another fun and entertaining addition to Janice Bennett's Upper River Gulch and its nutty inhabitants. Fallen Angel Reviews
 
If, like me, you just love a good cozy mystery, this is a series for you.  Romance Reviews Today
 
Janice Bennett does it again…Fans…will be delighted with Black Cats and Boondoggles.  Anne Boling for ReviewYourBook.com
 
...be ready for even more madcap mayhem... The continuing growth of the characters along with the intricate plots makes this series a true joy to read. Would I recommend Black Cats and Boondoggles? Wholeheartedly YES.  ReviewYourBook.com
 
Ms. Bennett gives you a place and characters you want to revisit, again and again. Christine I Speakman, FMAM Mostly Mystery Reviews
 
I love a good mystery and Ms Bennett really knows how to write them.  Melanie, Enchanting Reviews

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Hot Dogs -- Events Unlimited --Book #4

    
     The Merit County Board of Supervisors, in an attempt to eclipse a scandal over the previous year's Fourth of July festivities, hires Annike McKinley and Events Unlimited to stage a bigger and better celebration. Words like that always bode trouble. Even so, Annike isn't expecting to be confronted with the year-dead body of one of last year's organizers.
     She isn't about to let a murder investigation interfere with the gala events she has planned, though. Aided by her old friends, the SCOURGEs, she is soon immersed in a variety of activities, including a parade with improbable drill teams, a talent show that doesn't go quite as planned, a troupe of performing poodles and dachshunds run amok--and more deaths. Amid all this chaos, Sheriff Owen Sarkisian struggles to catch the murderer before the killing spree continues.
     And, since Sarkisian is dragging his feet on the way to the alter, Annike plots a crime of her own--kidnapping with intent to commit matrimony.

Note: This book was previously published elsewhere. It has been re-edited by the author.

Links coming soon.