Welcome to the town of Saltcliff on the Sea, a central coast village in California that’s the last place you’d ever expect there to be a… murder!
But this wouldn’t be a very interesting series of cozy murder mysteries without murder. So there will be some of that!
What else will you get?
A former government contractor-turned-amateur sleuth named Dahlia Vale who crochets dog sweaters and stress bakes (and murder turns out to be pretty stressful!)
A spunky tween girl (Dahlia’s niece) who didn’t realize just how much she needed some investigative excitement in her life
A brave service dog name Taco who helps sniff out allergens for our heroine (and helps solve mysteries too!)
An quaint bed and breakfast (The Saltcliff Inn) you’ll wish you could visit.
A charming town full of quirky characters (and also suspects. And a murderer. Or two.)
Welcome to the Saltcliff Inn Mysteries!
Get a FREE prequel novella and meet Dahlia, Diantha, and Taco, and check out the adorable Saltcliff B&B…
Start the series for free!
Book 1 - Keeled Over at the Cliffside
Saltcliff by the Sea: The charming seaside village where nothing is quite what it seems.
When Dahlia Vale swaps algorithms for aprons to take over her late sister's inn, Dahlia expects life to follow a logical sequence: serve breakfast, make beds, repeat. But between misreading social cues, taking local legends at face value, and suddenly finding herself guardian to a tweenage niece (do parenting manuals come with flowcharts?), she's in over her head.
And that's before the peculiar deaths start piling up like dirty laundry on inn changeover day.
With her sister's knack for people now nothing but a bittersweet memory, Dahlia must rely on her own gift for seeing what others overlook—and her niece Diantha's eye-rolling expertise in all things "normal."
Can she connect the dots before the killer strikes again, or will her by-the-book approach to sleuthing and step-parenting leave her story with an unhappy ending?
In this charming seaside mystery, Dahlia will learn that some rules are meant to be broken, some family recipes hide deadly secrets, and raising a teenager might be the most perplexing puzzle of all.
Book 2 - Bumped Off at the Bake Sale
Dahlia Vale is finding her rhythm in small-town life, balancing inn management and unexpected guardianship with growing confidence. She's even volunteered to head the Saltcliff Festival's annual bake sale, turning her stress-baking hobby into a community asset. But just as Dahlia thinks she's got everything under control, the festival takes an unsavory turn.
Dorothy Withers, the cantankerous English teacher and festival organizer, goes missing on the day of the event. Even Dahlia's ever-observant service dog, Taco, senses something's amiss. When Dorothy is found dead, apparently outsmarted by her own apple pie, Dahlia's precise mind starts connecting dots others might miss.
As suspects pile up like day-old pastries, Dahlia finds herself assisting Detective Sanderson once again. Can her unique perspective and attention to detail help sift through the town's half-truths? And as they work closely together, will Dahlia realize that not all puzzles have clear-cut solutions—especially matters of the heart?
In this charming sequel, Dahlia discovers that the recipe for a happy life often requires improvisation. Between managing a sullen teenager, baking the perfect scone, and catching a killer, she'll learn that sometimes the most important ingredients are the ones that can't be measured.
Join Dahlia for another helping of mystery where the only thing sweeter than solving the crime is finding unexpected connections in a world that doesn't always make sense.
Join Dahlia, Diantha, and Taco Dog as they solve a pine-scented murder mystery in the festive seaside town of Saltcliff!
Dahlia and the gang are preparing to host the Donovan family at the Saltcliff Inn for the week of Christmas. The Donovans are practically Saltcliff royalty--one of the oldest families in town, and the ones who originally built the Saltcliff Bed & Breakfast. The pressure is on!
So when a body is found (in a barrel in the bar in the basement, ha!) just as they arrive, Dahlia must figure out who it is, who put it there, and why.
But unraveling a hundred year old murder is the least of her worries. As she and Detective Owen Sanderson dig through the windy trail of clues, they uncover an even bigger secret. One that relates to Dahlia's history, and Diantha's future!
Book 3 - Homicide at the Holidays
Book 4 - Done In at the Dog Spa
Dahlia Vale is adapting. It's been hard, but running the Saltcliff B&B and looking after her niece Danny is starting to feel like "regular life." If only people would quit getting murdered!
This time, a socialite is discovered at the local pet pampering shop just as the annual Saltcliff Dog Show is rolling into town.
Danny has convinced Dahlia to let her enter Taco Dog, but Dahlia has her hands full helping Detective Sanderson unravel the latest mystery. Not only is local socialite Camille Hawthorne's body discovered, but her prize pooch Beau has gone missing! He was the favorite to win the show, and there are plenty pup parents who were ready to see his reign come to an end.
Dahlia must discover who killed Camille and help find Beau -- surely no one would hurt her handsome hound!
Done In at the Dog Spa is the fourth cozy mystery in the Saltcliff Mystery series, featuring a neurospicy sleuth and her faithful allergen-sniffing service dog, her adorable tweenaged niece, and all the other small town characters readers have come to love.