Trash n Treasure Mystery - Barbara Allan

Antiques Roadkill (2006)
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 (2007)
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 Jack before a devious killer can maul again.


Antiques Flee Market (2008)
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 shopping mall 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 Vivan'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 first buyer was furious, and when Walter ends 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 a real thing, it's Brandy and her scene-stealing mother. But even though they 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 (2010)
Spring has sprung a major leak in small town Serenity, as the Mississippi River drops in for an extended stay. With hundreds of homes and dozens of business flooded, how better to help the cozy town get back to normal than staging a city-wide church bazaar?

Brandy Borne knows the outcome of her mother Vivian's plan, however, is more likely to lean toward bizarre, especially when she hears Mother wheedle a reclusive Russian heiress into donating a truly rare item: the last Faberge egg ever created! As private bidders and representatives from Christie's and Sotheby's go at each other, and local-theater diva Vivian barks her way into auctioneering infamy, Brandy tries her best to stay calm--all this craziness can't be good for her pregnancy (did we mention she's surrogate mom for her best gal pal?).

It's not so good for the winning bidder, either, who turns up mortally scrambled at the foot of a church-tower staircase. . .without the prized egg. Soon no one is safe, everyone's a suspect, and even the thought of food is sending the now Prozac-free mom-to-be sprinting for the nearest porcelain altar. It's going to take a little fuzzy therapy from Sushi--Brandy's peppy Shih Tzu--and a lot of Mother's charmingly, alarmingly meddlesome inquiries to track down this killer. . .who is one seriously bad egg!


Antiques Knock-Off (2011)
Brandy Borne is pretty sure her 'charmingly eccentric' mother Vivian didn't kill that viperous mousy-haired busybody Connie Grimes. Sure, the two women were in a scuffle in the clock repair shop the day before. An, ok, Vivian's prints were all over the murder weapon. And she has been off her medication lately. And then there's her guilty plea...Soon mother lets it slip that she's protecting someone by taking the blame. But who? With some moral support from Sushi, her pet shih tzu, Brandy goes digging for clues, and before long, she's up to her very pregnant waist in a scandal involving questionable antiques...and deep family secrets...


Antiques Disposal (2012)
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. Murder turns to mayhem when an intruder steals into the Borne home 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 catch the corpse-hoarding killer before it's time to blow "Taps" for all concerned...

Antiques Chop (2013)
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 (2013) Novella
Ho Ho Homicide
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!