Murder of a Creped Suzette

Author’s Note

In July of 2000, when the first book in my Scumble River series, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, was published, it was written in “real time.” It was the year 2000 in Skye’s life as well as mine, but after several books in a series, time becomes a problem. It takes me from seven months to a year to write a book, and then it is usually another year from the time I turn that book in to my editor until the reader sees it on a bookstore shelf. This can make the timeline confusing. Different authors handle this matter in different ways. After a great deal of deliberation, I decided that Skye and her friends and family would age more slowly than those of us who don’t live in Scumble River. So to catch everyone up, the following is when the books take place:

Murder of a Small-Town Honey—August 2000

Murder of a Sweet Old Lady—March 2001

Murder of a Sleeping Beauty—April 2002

Murder of a Snake in the Grass—August 2002

Murder of a Barbie and Ken—November 2002

Murder of a Pink Elephant—February 2003

Murder of a Smart Cookie—June 2003

Murder of a Real Bad Boy—September 2003

Murder of a Botoxed Blonde—November 2003

Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry—April 2004

Murder of a Royal Pain—October 2004

Murder of a Wedding Belle—June 2005

Murder of a Bookstore Babe—September 2005

And this is when the Scumble River short story and novella take place:

“Not a Monster of a Chance” from And the Dying Is Easy—June 2001

“Dead Blondes Tell No Tales” from Drop-Dead Blonde—March 2003

Scumble River is not a real town. The characters and events portrayed in these pages are entirely fictional, and any resemblance to living persons is pure coincidence.