"When the world is brought to a standstill in the early days of a global pandemic, Etta Wilmont finds herself suddenly stranded in Kansas City. Desperate to secure a roof over her head, Etta crosses paths with Henry Logan, a lonely older man in need of a caretaker. His invitation for Etta to stay with him seems to be the solution to both their problems--and maybe the spontaneous adventure Etta's life has been missing. As Etta and Henry settle into...

National Book Award Finalist
The basis for Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990), starring Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
 
“A perfect novel . . . economical, piquant, beautiful, true” that chronicles the lives of a wealthy family in 1930s Kansas through the eyes of its matriarch (Meg Wolitzer, New York Times–bestselling author).
In Mrs. Bridge, Evan S. Connell, a consummate...

"When Ellison Russell Jones returns from her honeymoon, she's ready for a restful summer. But while she was away, an older woman was murdered in her bed. And the police have questions only Ellison and her friends can answer. She gets to be a sleuth. A real one! But with a new husband, her mother in the hospital (targeted by the murderer?), her sister as a house guest, one too many animals, and a full social calendar, Ellison can't catch a break, much...

"Ellison Russell is planning the event of the season - and she's stressed. Why not yoga? Because the yoga instructor gets murdered during class - and Ellison's stress level rises exponentially. Now, in addition to raising a ridiculous amount of money, she's babysitting a deranged cat (named after the devil himself), taking ten million phone calls (most of them from Mother), and finding more bodies (they're popping up like dandelions after a spring...

Another day, another dead woman in Ellison Russell's study. Only this one claimed to be Mrs. Anarchy Jones. As Ellison juggles mothers, daughter, unhappy wives, and near-miss murder attempts, one thing is clear--someone will go to any lengths to hide the truth. Can Ellison and Anarchy catch a killer before the body count rises? Or will Ellison be the next corpse in the study?

All Ellison Russell wanted was an update on her stock portfolio. Instead, she found her broker dead. With an unexpected out-of-town guest at her house, Ellison is too busy for a murder investigation. Only this time, Detective Anarchy Jones wants her help, and she can't deny the handsome detective. Can Mr. Coffee supply her with enough caffeine to keep her brain sharp and everyone else happy? Juggling bodies (one, two, three, four), two-faced friends,...

Ivoe gets a scholarship to college and eventually flees the Jim Crow South to settle in Kansas City, where she helps found the first female-run African-American newspaper.

"Katharine Wright embodied the worldly, independent, and self-fulfilled New Woman of the early twentieth century, yet she remained in many ways a Victorian. Torn between duty and love, she agonized for months before making a devastating break with her world-famous and intensely possessive older brother Orville to marry newspaper editor Harry Haskell, the man she loved. Written by the grandson of Harry Haskell, Maiden Flight is imaginatively reconstructed...

Morning sickness used to be Sarah Cartwright's biggestproblem-;until she became the only witness to a murder. Now, newly pregnant, she had a killer on her trail-;andCooper Bellamy, KCPD's finest, by her side. Her brother'sbest friend and her sworn protector, it was impossible tokeep Coop at arm's length. Yet the mother-to-be discoveredthe safest place to hide was in his strong arms. They foundout soon enough they each needed the other-;but would itbe...

Prohibition is in full swing, and the glamorous life of upper-class Kansas City is everything Rose (Luna) Lane ever hoped it would be. Being married to her best friend isn't so bad either, considering their agreement to keep their real love lives out of the public eye. However, try as she might to continue her life of anonymity, her popularity as a land developer's wife--and as a successful club owner--draws even more attention to her personal endeavors....