Barbara Allan - Trash 'n' Treasure Mystery (#1-8.5 inc 7.5)

Antiques Roadkill (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #1)
Determined to make a new start in her quaint hometown on the banks of the Mississippi, Brandy Borne never dreams she'll become the prime suspect in a murder case.

Moving back in with her eccentric, larger-than-life mother, Brandy Borne finds small-town Serenity anything but serene. It seems an unscrupulous antiques dealer has swindled Vivian out of the family's heirlooms. But when he is found run over in a country lane, Brandy becomes Murder Suspect Number One-with her mother coming in a very close second.

The list of other suspects is impressive-the victim's business seems to have been based on bilking seniors out of their possessions. And when the Borne "girls" uncover a few very unsavoury Serenity secrets, they become targets for a murderer whose favourite hobby seems to be collecting victims.

Antiques Maul (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #2)
After her impossible-but-adorable mother quits the local theatre group, Brandy Borne has a brilliant idea for keeping Mother out of trouble: open their own booth at the new antiques mall in town. But things turn grim when a body is found between the cigar-store Indian and the chamber pot. The local law believes that normally good-natured Brad Pit Bull, the victim's dog, mauled its owner to death. But Brandy and Mother suspect the hound has been framed. And as Halloween approaches, true terror unmasks itself when Brandy's young son, Jacob, goes missing. Now Brandy and her diva mum are on the hunt to find Jake before a devious killer can maul again.

Antiques Flee Market (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #3)
Brandy Borne's new life in the small Mississippi River town of Serenity is anything but serene. Moving back in with her bipolar mum, Vivian—an antique herself, who treats Brandy like a perpetual five-year old—is challenging enough, but stocking and running their antiques holiday booth at the mall together is positively daunting. And as the big Christmas season gets into full swing, they find themselves in the midst of small-town mayhem when an old flame of Vivian's turns up mysteriously deceased. 'Tis the season-to be murdered?

Brandy and her diva mum last saw the recently departed dealer, Walter Yeager, at a flea market where Vivian made her usual theatrical scene while saving Walter from under-pricing a valuable first edition of Tarzan and the Apes. The prospective buyer was furious, and when Walter winds up dead the next day—"officially" of a heart attack—and the book goes missing, Vivian senses a Yuletide homicide.

As the season's first flakes of snow drift lazily down over Serenity, Brandy and her mother—with moral support from Sushi, the decidedly spoiled Shih Tzu—must unearth vintage clues that point to restless ghosts from the town's past. If there's any duo that can tell a fake from the real thing, it's Brandy and her scene-stealing mother. But even though they may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, they'll have to be very careful not to disturb too many ghosts from Christmas past.

Antiques Bizarre (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #4)
Spring has sprung a major leak in far-from-serene Serenity, as the Mississippi River drops in for an extended stay. With homes and businesses flooded, how better to help the town recover than by staging a church bazaar?

Brandy Borne knows her mother Vivian's plan, however, is more likely to lean towards Bizarre, especially when she hears Mother wheedle a reclusive Russian heiress into donating the last Fabergé egg ever created! When the winning bidder turns up mortally scrambled, Brandy and Mother cook up a plan to crack the case of this killer...who is one seriously bad egg!

Antiques Knock-Off (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #5)
Brandy Borne is pretty sure her "charmingly eccentric" (a.k.a. "off her meds") mother, Vivian, didn't kill that viperous mousy-haired busybody Connie Grimes. But there's the small matter of her guilty plea...While Mother blithely adapts to life behind bars by organizing a jailhouse theatre troupe, seven-months-pregnant Brandy and her intrepid shih tzu, Sushi, trundle into a morass of fake antiques and faux collectibles. In the dog days of summer, they'd better not bark up the wrong tree - or a scheming killer just may put the bite on them!

Antiques Disposal (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #6)
Autumn has descended on Serenity, that quiet, cosy town nestled in the crook of the mighty Mississippi River—or, one might say, with crooks. For the rain and fog have also brought an undercurrent of chaos—and it’s not just because the fall colours clash alarmingly with Vivian Borne’s pantsuits. The only remedy is a trash ‘n’ treasures shopping spree. But the Bornes are about to get more than they bargained for…
Brandy Borne and her suspiciously well-informed mother, Vivian, have the winning bid on an abandoned storage unit’s “mystery” contents, which they discover includes a vintage cornet. But when they arrive to claim the rest of their loot, the space is empty—except for the recently stowed body of Big Jim Bob, Vivian’s tipster—a.k.a. former flame. Only one thing is certain: someone has definitely put the “rage” in storage!

Murder turns to mayhem when an intruder steals into the Borne home, tries to mete out some ruff justice to Brandy’s ferociously fluffy shih tzu, Sushi, and makes off with the cornet. But why is the horn worth killing for? Clues soon lead the sleuthing Borne duo to the next stashed victim—and some of Serenity’s juiciest secrets. Now Brandy and Mother will have to play a perilous game of cat-and-mouse droppings to catch the corpse-hoarding killer before it’s time to blow “Taps” for all concerned.

Antiques Chop (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #7)
The quaint Midwestern town of Serenity is about to hit the small screen. Brandy Borne and her dramatically ditzy mother, Vivian, will be starring in Antique Sleuths, a reality TV show based on the duo's antiquarian adventures--and their troubling talent for solving deadly crimes. What better shooting set than a creepy old house, the site of a 60-year-old unsolved axe murder?

The location is perfect until Bruce Spring, the show's producer, meets a fatal axe-ident, mortally mauled just like the home's previous owner. The first suspect on the chopping block seems typecast for the role of killer--he was found at the scene of the attack, clutching a stained axe. But as Brandy and Vivian chop around for clues, plenty of other suspects stick out their necks...

It seems the show's cameraman clashed with Bruce--could he be the culprit? What about the acrimony between Andrew, the harried homeowner, and Bruce, whose dirt-digging documentary all but accused Andrew of the original unsolved crime? And who's driving that blood-red Toyota that keeps making unscripted cameo appearances? If Brandy and Vivian are going to get to the bottom of this mystery, they'll have to be extra careful not to wind up on the cutting room floor--in pieces.

Antiques Slay Ride (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #7.5)
The Christmas rush is on as Brandy Borne and her quaintly quirky mother, Vivian, sniff out plum collectibles for resale, only to find the owner of a Santa's workshop worth of treasures has received some deadly tidings. It's beginning to look a lot like murder...but who wanted the deceased closed for the holidays-permanently? Maybe a rival antiques dealer, a Grinch who collects Christmas? Or the victim's suspiciously frosty stepchildren? Brandy and Vivian check their list of who's been naughty or nice, but it may take a Christmas miracle-and some help from Sushi, their elfin shih tzu-to tie a bow around the season's most wanted killer!

Antiques Con (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #8)
Brandy Borne and her drama-queen mom, Vivian, take their antiques show on the road, for an off-Broadway farce mixing mirth and murder. A world away from small-town Serenity, the ditsy duo--chaperoned by their trusty shih tzu, Sushi--arrive in the Big Apple, blissfully unaware that they will soon cross paths with a rotten-to-the-core killer. As the dynamic dames descend upon a comic-book convention--to sell a rare 1940s Superman drawing--Vivian makes a show of keeping the valuable sketch locked to her wrist in a briefcase. When an intruder breaks into their hotel suite, they naturally suspect a felonious fan, over-eager to acquire their artwork.

But this not-so-super villain proves less interested in the Man of Steel than in stealing a man's life, as Brandy and Mother stumble onto a murder victim impaled by a pen-shaped award. Suspects ranging from comic-book collectors to crime kingpins lead Brandy and Mother on a merry madcap Manhattan misadventure, taking them from convention hall to strip joint, from retirement home to precinct lock-up. Has the con been conned by a killer? If so, only Brandy, Mother and Sushi can stop this fatally foul funny-book fiend.

Antiques Fruitcake (A Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery #8.5)
During the dress rehearsal for small-town Serenity’s festive Christmas play, star Madeline de Morlaye topples over—on stage!—after a bite of prop pastry. Since the frosty actress had earned plenty of enemies through her offstage dramatics, the cast of suspects is longer than Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list. Prop mistress Brandy Borne and her diva-turned-director mother, Vivian—assisted by their savvy shih tzu, Sushi—must solve this fruitcake fatality before it's curtains for anyone else.