Miss Ruffles Inherits Everything

September 14, 2015
Set in Mule Stop, Tex., this lighthearted series launch from Martin (A Little Night Murder) delivers bold, brash Texas attitude and small-town color. Outsider Sunny McKillip, the new personal assistant to rich eccentric matriarch Honeybelle Hensley, becomes the object of both envy and suspicion when the will read after Honeybelle’s sudden death gives the deceased’s dog, Miss Ruffles, the Hensley fortune and $1 million each to Sunny, house cook Mae Mae, and valet Mr. Carver if they take good care of Miss Ruffles for a year and then find her a good permanent home. When the dog goes missing, Sunny wonders if one of Honeybelle’s dramatic personal conflicts was big enough to be the motivation for murder. Matters such as university politics, wedding planning, and gardening-club power plays loom large. Though town residents are stereotyped enough to be easily forgettable outside of their roles, there’s much less cuteness than in other canine-themed mysteries. This sassy little story will please Martin fans. Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

July 1, 2015

Winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award from RT Book Reviews, Martin doesn't rest on her laurels, here launching another mystery series. When her new job at the university evaporates shortly after she moves to Mule Stop, TX, Sunny McKillip takes a job as personal assistant to the town matriarch. Then her employer dies, leaving Sunny in charge of an impossible pooch named Miss Ruffles, even as she starts to suspect that this death was untimely.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2015
Ohio native Sunny McKillip moves to Mule Stop, Texas, for an academic position, but when the job falls through, she becomes an assistant to the local rich lady, Honeybelle Hensley. Sunny's duties mainly involve dog-sitting Miss Ruffles, Honeybelle's Texas cattle cur, a pooch with a mind of its own. After Honeybelle dies of a heart attack, her will discloses that a substantial inheritance will fall to Sunny and two longtime employees if they keep Miss Ruffles at home and happy for the next year. Naturally, the rest of the Hensley family is not pleased. After Miss Ruffles is dognapped, Sunny becomes convinced that Honeybelle didn't die of natural causes, leaving the intrepid Sunny to find both a missing dog and a killerand avoid the two hard guys on her tail (something to do with money given to Sunny's mother before her death). There's plenty of cozy craziness here, but fans of the more outrageous side of the genre are likely to enjoy the humor-filled romp and the well-drawn Texas small-town setting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)