Overwhelmed by an ill-fated love affair, an unsatisfactory career as a model, and her mother's crushing suicide, Leah Harper leaves Chicago and tragedy behind and heads west in her battered old Volkswagen. With the Colorado Rockies in sight, the long hours on the highway take their toll and Leah takes refuge in a cabin at a seedy motel. A raging storm moves in while she is showering in the out-building. She dashes back to her cabin only to be shocked by a blinding flash of lightning and an ominous figure who warns, "Turn on the light and you're dead."
Literary Agent Charlie Greene needs a break from her mother and her clients. A vacation in Las Vegas seems ideal until she sees a murder on the Strip. Charlie decides not to be involved in the investigation but is drawn in when the cop who took her eyewitness account dies in a suspicious "accident." To solve the case Charlie must deal with corrupt casino owners, their hired help, an arrogant film director, alien abduction conspirators, and a psychic gambler. It's a vacation where lives are the stakes, and Charlie must play out her hand.
Recovering from last year's Las Vegas trip-from-hell, Long Beach literary agent Charlie Greene is looking forward to spending this year's vacation at home. No manuscript reading, no needy clients, no killer commute for a whole week - just some good, old-fashioned rest and relaxation. But before Charlie's peaceful vacation even starts, her daughter's rambunctious cat, Tuxedo, causes her to stumble across the body of neighbor Jeremy Fielder, murdered in the front seat of his truck. And investigating officers are quick to remind Charlie that this isn't her first dead body. Now their quiet Southern California suburban community is becoming more hectic than rush hour on the L.A. freeway as Charlie and her zany neighbors face-off against nosy police officers, insatiable reporters, and a killer determined to drive them away.
Charlie has reluctantly returned to her childhood home of Boulder, Colorado to be with her mother who just had major surgery. Boulder evokes decidedly mixed feelings in Charlie. She left after her daughter Libby was conceived 16 years ago, and hasn't returned until now. There's plenty to keep her emotions occupied, though, since her mother seems to be suspected of doing away with one of her neighbors. Charlie has lots to ponder, including: What happened to her mother's neighbor and why do the police suspect Edwina? Will her daughter's father finally want to meet his child?
Charlie Greene gets a call from her mom, Edwina, a biologist advising on the set of a nature documentary film in the Utah desert. Edwina is the prime suspect in a murder involving the death of a shock horror film director with whom Edwina had a running battle over environmental concerns. To clear her mom's name, Charlie teams up with hunky movie star, Mitch Hilsten. But she finds flirting and self-preservation are a tough juggling act. Wild river-boat rides, cliff hanging, and even more dead bodies keep the desert heat scorching in this rollicking mystery adventure.
As a literary agent, Charlie Greene is used to making a killing, it's her business. But when she pulls into the foggy town of Moot Point, Oregon, she finds herself party to a killing of a different kind, one with a corpse and with herself as a suspect.
Charlie is accused of murdering an elderly woman whose bicycle is mysteriously found beneath the wheels of Charlie's car. This visit to the laid-back coastal town was supposed to be the chance to secure a book deal for one of her clients, but now, Charlie has herself a new project: proving herself innocent of murder.
When Gloria, the loathed office receptionist, is found dead - and Charlie admits to being the first person to talk to the victim after the murder - there's no turning back. The police, impressed by Charlie's psychic powers, insist on her help in their investigation, and Charlie soon discovers that Gloria more than lived up to her nickname of "the office witch" - she was a member of a local witches coven. Unwillingly drawn into the bewitching and bewildering case, Charlie realizes she must mobilize all her powers to silence Gloria's insistent voice from beyond the grave.
