Cursed - A Regan Reilly Mystery

Regan and Jack had considered going to Bermuda, but instead they decide to spend four days at his parents’ beautiful beachfront home on Cape Cod, a wonderful spot where they’d never been alone. During the summer the house overflowed with Jack’s family, bubbling with activity from morning until night. But to be up there for a weekend in April, just the two of them, sounded like a perfect escape.

Arriving at the Cape late at night, Regan and Jack are just in time to experience the beginning of a major storm. The next morning, Cape Cod Bay is quite a sight, churning with whitecaps. The wind is howling ferociously. Sheets of rain are pelting the house. Regan is looking forward to settling in the den with Jack and watching the storm.

However, the best laid plans . . .

In the bedroom, Regan opens the curtains to find Skip, the Reillys’ young caretaker, pressing his nose against the glass, supposedly checking for leaks. A moment later, Jack arrives home from the market, two gossipy older women who live up the street in tow. A branch crashed through their living room window, and they need a place to stay. When Regan thought things couldn’t get any worse, Skip comes running into the house, distraught that he’d just discovered Adele Hopkins, the woman renting the house next door, in a heap at the bottom of her staircase to the beach. Regan and Jack run back down with him, but huge waves are crashing on the shore. Hopkins is gone, presumably swept out to sea.

Who was Adele Hopkins? No one knows. The sixty-ish loner, who moved in five months ago, shunned her neighbors. Even her landlords, friends of the Reillys, have no idea how to locate her next of kin. Discovered in her dining room are stacks of apology cards she’d not yet sent and bags of decorative pillows that are embroidered with the saying grudge me, grudge me not.

Regan and Jack begin an investigation to help their friends track down Hopkins’s family. They start by interviewing two young women who own the shop where Adele had bought the pillows. Pippy and Ellen opened Pillow Talk after they both lost their jobs. When a newspaper article revealing the terrible way the women had been treated by their former employers was posted on the Internet, business took off, they started to become well-known, and the Pillow Talk website became a place for people who had had similar experiences to vent their feelings.

Pippy and Ellen just received an anonymous e-mail from someone who spews venom about her former rowing coach—Adele Hopkins. Could she be the same Adele Hopkins?

Regan and Jack’s search for clues to this mysterious woman’s identity makes for an anniversary weekend they’ll never forget!

PI Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, plan to spend the weekend at the Jersey shore with her parents. Regan’s mother, suspense writer Nora Regan Reilly, will be celebrating her birthday on Saturday. But Regan’s weekend gets off to an early start when she receives a phone call from her mother asking if she’d hop on a train right away.

Regan had just finished delivering bad news to a high school classmate. Hayley Patton is a successful New York City event planner, who had become suspicious that her beau, Scott, was seeing other women and hired Regan to follow him. When Hayley got the lowdown on Scott’s treachery, she vowed revenge with such vehemence that Regan is worried that Hayley might go too far.

Turns out Nora had also just spoken to an agitated high school classmate. Karen Frawley Fulton, who lives in San Diego, called Nora after learning her mother’s plans for the day. To Karen’s shock, Edna Frawley just sold their home at the Jersey shore and is having a garage sale to end all garage sales. Everything the beautiful young actress Cleo Paradise left behind when she recently rented the house is up for grabs. The irrepressible Edna even rented a plane to fly over the beach touting the sale, using Cleo’s name as bait. Karen’s heading East but asks Nora to please go to the house and, she hopes, curtail any other outrageous antics her mother probably has in mind. Nora agrees and asks Regan to join her.

Regan and Nora arrive at the Frawley home to find a mob of garage-sale junkies waiting at the front gate. Regan is astonished to see Scott’s brand-new fiancée, who quickly makes herself scarce.

Once inside the house, Regan becomes increasingly suspicious about why Cleo left so many belongings behind when she vacated Edna’s home unexpectedly. Was she in that much of a hurry? Regan wonders. “Where did Cleo go?” is a question too many people are suddenly asking. But no one has the answer. It isn’t long before Regan finds herself searching for Cleo, whose next hours may be her last.

Mobbed is another “fast-paced mystery with unexpected plot twists and Clark’s trademark humor” (The Daily Beast).

The date is Saturday, April 2. Five April brides discover their wedding dresses have been stolen. One of the brides is private investigator Regan Reilly. Her wedding is in seven days.

Regan Reilly and her fiancé, Jack "no relation" Reilly -- head of the NYPD Major Case Squad -- are getting married! Regan had the perfect dress made by two young designers on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Arriving at the bridal salon to pick up her gown, Regan discovers the shop has been broken into, the designers bound and gagged, and wedding dresses for four of the April brides (her dress included) are missing. A fifth dress is in shreds on the floor. Even though it's a week before her wedding, Regan gets on the case, and in the process she meets an unusual mix of brides and grooms-to-be, or -- perhaps "not-to-be."

Over at One Police Plaza, Regan's bridegroom, Jack, is trying to solve a perplexing series of bank robberies. The robber, nicknamed "The Drip" by the NYPD because he always strikes during rainstorms, has been eluding the police for months. Jack is determined to crack the case before his upcoming nuptials.

Carol Higgins Clark fuses the two seemingly unrelated mysteries with an ingenious twist, taking readers from the streets of New York City, to the casinos of Atlantic City, and finally to that most popular wedding spot -- the one and only Las Vegas. She weaves a web of mystery around a charming, humorous tale of five April brides and the trials and tribulations they face planning their weddings.

Private Investigator Regan Reilly and her husband, Jack, head of the Major Case Squad in New York City, have just gotten hitched! They've headed to Hennessy Castle, a romantic spot in western Ireland -- seemingly the perfect place to escape the world and the criminals they deal with daily -- to begin their lives together. But Hennessy Castle is hardly relaxing!

Their first afternoon in Ireland, Regan and Jack go out for a jog, stopping at an old graveyard at the edge of town. The first tombstone they see is marked REILLY. Turns out May Reilly, who died in 1822, was a talented lacemaker who made an exquisite tablecloth for a banquet at Hennessy Castle but was never paid. Legend has it that May has haunted the castle ever since.

Awakened in the middle of the night, Regan spots a mysterious woman on the back lawn of the castle. At the sound of Jack's voice, Regan turns her head for a moment. When she turns back, the woman is gone. A moment later, the hotel's fire alarm goes off.

In the ensuing melee, Regan and Jack meet a young American Irish couple, Sheila and Brian O'Shea, who have started a business selling Irish memorabilia -- but on this trip to Ireland their "business" is to pick up paintings they've commissioned from a superstitious amateur artist who doesn't realize the value of her work. The last thing these two online entrepreneurs want is for Regan and Jack to figure out what they're up to.

The following morning, May Reilly's famous tablecloth is discovered missing from the memorabilia room at the castle, and a note has been left for Jack by an elderly couple who checked out immediately after the fire. The "elderly" couple is, in fact, two international jewel thieves in disguise, who refer to themselves as "Jane and John Doe." Taunting Jack, who has been on their trail for more than a year, they claim responsibility for the theft of May Reilly's tablecloth, knowing full well that Jack won't be able to enjoy his honeymoon when he finds out they were right under his nose and may still be in Ireland.

With the help of Regan's Irish cousin -- Galway resident Gerard Reilly -- Regan and Jack hunt for the thieves who have eluded law enforcement for too long. Their search takes as many twists and turns as the winding country roads of the Emerald Isle, as they travel from tiny villages to the crowded pubs of Galway and back to Hennessy Castle -- where May Reilly is not resting in her grave!

Filled with Irish history and lore, and a cast of quirky characters on both sides of the Atlantic, Laced will take you on a journey that will keep you laughing, turning pages, and maybe even believing in ghosts!

L.A.-based private detective Regan Reilly flies to Las Vegas -- the mythic city of cash and flash, glamour and kitsch -- to help an old school chum, Danny Madley. Danny is producing the pilot of a reality TV show, Love Above Sea Level. The show features three couples who all have experienced the proverbial Seven Year Itch and are now vying for the chance to renew their wedding vows and win one million dollars. But someone is trying to sabotage the show before Danny can shoot the final scene at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.

Danny's show is in competition with the sitcom Take Me Higher for a coveted permanent slot on Hot Air Cable, also known as the Balloon Channel. Both shows involve hot air ballooning, and both have casts of characters who are more than capable of disrupting production of Love Above Sea Level. Regan's job is to find out who is making trouble and why.

Is the culprit one of the contestants on Love Above Sea Level? Could it be the advice columnists Danny has hired -- Aunt Agony and Uncle Heartburn -- who are there to help rekindle the sparks between the husbands and wives? Is it Danny's right-hand man, Victor, a local Vegas boy Danny met while gambling? Or his cameraman Sam, who would much rather be surfing than working? Is it Bubbles Ferndale, producer of the sitcom, who is desperate to make her show the one that wins the competition? Is it Danny's ex-girlfriend, the Vegas showgirl Honey? Or her friend Lucille, a dealer in one of the casinos? Could local entrepreneur Roscoe Parker, the owner of the Balloon Channel and mastermind behind the TV competitions, be the source of all Danny's problems? There is no shortage of suspects and no shortage of mishaps.

From their base in the Fuzzy Dice Hotel, a decidedly third-rate establishment, Regan tries to help Danny keep his production on an even keel. Danny's well-meaning, meddlesome parents complicate matters. Jealousy among the Love Above Sea Level contestants escalates. Mysterious, inexplicable events keep occurring. Regan is determined to keep Danny's show on schedule, and she'll do whatever it takes -- on land and in the air!

Popped is a funny, fast-paced jaunt that takes readers from the fancy Vegas casinos to the run-down hotels off the Strip, from the grounds of the hot air balloon fields up into the heavens as the balloons fly over the arid Southwest.

Popped is written with Clark's expert light touch and filled with the richly drawn, quirky characters so relished by her fans. As Nelson DeMille says, "Clark keeps her readers entranced and entertained from cover to cover."

Now Regan is in New York to attend a crime conference organized by her celebrity-author mother. A friend, Thomas Pilsner -- the frenetic president of the Settlers' Club on Gramercy Park -- calls Regan, desperately pleading for help. Thomas is distraught over the sudden suspicious deaths of two members of the Settlers' Club. The men had promised to donate a cache of valuable diamonds to save the Club. But now the diamonds are gone, the men are dead, and Thomas is a mess. He fears the police will suspect he is at the heart of both mysteries, and worse yet, he'll lose his job.

Enter Regan. Who better than the star of Decked, Snagged, Iced, and Twanged to solve the mystery of the missing diamonds and suspicious deaths? Who better to contend with the quirky characters around the Club, such as Lydia Sevatura, the self-styled "Princess of Love," who operates a dating service, and her butler, Maldwin Feckles, who has just opened the first school of butlering in New York City? And who better than Carol Higgins Clark, with her sparkling, canny prose, to keep the readers guessing to the end "who done it"?

Published to coincide with the paperback of Deck the Halls, Fleeced is a witty portrait of modern urban life. This fifth Regan Reilly mystery proves once again that Carol Higgins Clark is a uniquely talented writer.

A New York City resident for many years, Carol Higgins Clark was there during the blackout of 2003. Not surprisingly, she felt that Regan and Jack Reilly should one day share the experience!

As Zapped begins, the Reillys return home from a summer weekend to the loft in Tribeca they are in the agonizing process of renovating and expanding. They are looking forward to a quiet supper on their newly acquired rooftop terrace. But it's not meant to be. While Jack goes to pick up Chinese food, Regan enters their apartment, unaware that a nervous thief, who preceded her by minutes, is hiding in the front closet. A thief who knows about a hidden safe that Regan and Jack have yet to discover. Minutes later, the blackout strikes, and both Reillys are called into action.

A new gallery in SoHo, featuring treasured glass sculptures from all over the world, has been burglarized. As head of the NYPD Major Case Squad, Jack oversees several departments. Art theft is one of them.

PI Regan hears from her best friend, Kit, who is in Manhattan on business. She's been abandoned at a comedy club by a colleague from an insurance convention, Georgina Mathieson, who ran out for a cigarette moments before the blackout struck and never came back. Kit gets a call that Georgina is disturbed and dangerous. Fueled by her rage at a college boyfriend who dumped her, Georgina seeks revenge on unsuspecting young blond men. She was last seen getting into a cab outside the club -- with a tall blond. Regan heads the search for Georgina and her potential victim.

Meanwhile, Lorraine Lily, an almost famous actress, returns to New York City the night of the blackout, after spending three months in England doing a play, and is informed by her estranged husband, Conrad Spreckles, that he'd sold his loft to their next-door neighbors, the Reillys. Lorraine had never told him about the hidden safe she'd had installed in the closet. If she doesn't get back what's in there, she's sure her budding career will be ruined.

In Zapped, Clark takes readers on a tour of the city they won't forget and introduces them to a wonderful cast of colorful, eccentric characters whose stories intersect in precarious and often humorous ways during one very dark and hot summer night.

It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious -- yet abusive -- family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation.

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers -- about God, a woman's role, sex, love -- mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it?

It's with a real boy that Pattyn gets into real trouble. After Pattyn's father catches her in a compromising position, events spiral out of control until Pattyn ends up suspended from school and sent to live with an aunt she doesn't know.

Pattyn is supposed to find salvation and redemption during her exile to the wilds of rural Nevada. Yet what she finds instead is love and acceptance. And for the first time she feels worthy of both -- until she realizes her old demons will not let her go. Pattyn begins down a path that will lead her to a hell -- a hell that may not be the one she learned about in sacrament meetings, but it is hell all the same.

In this riveting and masterful novel told in verse, Ellen Hopkins takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride. From the highs of true love to the lows of abuse, Pattyn's story will have readers engrossed until the very last word.

REGAN REILLY is in Los Angeles with her husband, Jack, head of the NYPD Major Case Squad. After Jack finishes his meetings with the LAPD, the couple may head north to the wine country, or may head south to Baja. Their only plan is to see which way the wind blows.

The first day back, Regan goes shopping at an upscale new mall in West Hollywood. To her surprise, she runs into Zelda, a woman she’d become friendly with seven years before at a television studio in Burbank, when they were waiting to appear on the game show Puzzling Words. They haven’t seen each other since.

Zelda and Regan didn’t win much money, but Zelda made up for it! A year ago an elderly neighbor she barely knew left Zelda eight million dollars. She has been enjoying her newfound wealth but is aware of the need to give back. At a recent fundraiser, she bid on a week’s stay in an old Hollywood Hills estate and was the lucky winner. She’s currently in residence there and invites Regan to a party at the mansion.

While Jack attends a business dinner, Regan goes to Zelda’s by herself, unaware that she is being followed. Regan is more than surprised at the run-down condition of the house and grounds. People should be paid to stay here, she thinks. Zelda introduces Regan to a colorful cast of characters, including her old neighbors, friends from her yoga class, a filmmaker, Zelda’s financial adviser, her bookkeeper, and her personal assistant. It’s all good fun. As the guests are leaving, Zelda asks Regan to stay for a cup of tea. They’ve barely sat down to chat when Zelda falls ill. A worried Regan doesn’t want to leave Zelda alone and decides to spend the night at the isolated, aging estate. It’s not long before Zelda asks Regan to investigate people in her life, starting with her father’s new wife, Bobby Jo. The couple said “I do” in the back of a cab at a drive-through chapel in Las Vegas after only three months of togetherness.

Has Zelda’s windfall put her in danger? Regan is determined to find out, not knowing that she’s a target herself!