Denise Swanson

Author Information
Denise Swanson's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    47 Books (8 Series)
  • First Book:
    July 2000
  • Latest Book:
    September 2023
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Full Series List in Order

Change of Heart

1 - Good Girl Overboard (Mar-2015)
2 - Lucky Girl Hits the Jackpot (Oct-2015)
3 - Smart Girl Swept Away (Oct-2015)
3.5 - Sweet Girl Undone (Oct-2015)

A Chef-to-Go Mystery

1 - Tart of Darkness (Apr-2018)
2 - Leave No Scone Unturned (Apr-2019)
3 - Winner Cake All (Sep-2020)
4 - Chili Chili Bang Bang (Sep-2023)

Delicious

1 - Sinfully Delicious (Sep-2016)
2 - Dangerously Delicious (Nov-2018)

A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery

1 - Little Shop of Homicide (Mar-2012)
2 - Nickeled and Dimed to Death (Mar-2013)
3 - Dead Between the Lines (Mar-2014)
4 - Dying For a Cupcake (Mar-2015)
5 - Between a Book and a Hard Place (Mar-2016)
6 - Lions and Tigers and Murder, Oh My (Jul-2017)
7 - Fly Me to the Tomb (Apr-2021)

Forever Charmed Mysteries

1 - A Call to Charms (Aug-2019)
2 - The Right to Bear Charms (Sep-2022)

A Scumble River Mystery

1 - Murder of a Small-Town Honey (Jul-2000)
2 - Murder of a Sweet Old Lady (Apr-2001)
2.5 - Not a Monster of a Chance (Jun-2001)
3 - Murder of a Sleeping Beauty (Apr-2002)
4 - Murder of a Snake in the Grass (Apr-2003)
5 - Murder of a Barbie and Ken (Nov-2003)
6 - Murder of a Pink Elephant (Jul-2004)
7 - Murder of a Smart Cookie (Jul-2005)
8 - Murder of a Real Bad Boy (Aug-2006)
9 - Murder of a Botoxed Blonde (Apr-2007)
10 - Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry (Apr-2008)
11 - Murder of a Royal Pain (Apr-2009)
12 - Murder of a Wedding Belle (Apr-2010)
13 - Murder of a Bookstore Babe (Mar-2011)
14 - Murder of a Creped Suzette (Oct-2011)
15 - Murder of the Cat's Meow (Sep-2012)
16 - Murder of a Stacked Librarian (Aug-2013)
17 - Murder of a Needled Knitter (Sep-2014)
18 - Murder of An Open Book (Sep-2015)
19 - Murder of a Cranky Catnapper (Sep-2016)
Dead Blondes Tell No Tales (Feb-2005)

Stephanie Daniels

1 - A Finger in Every Lie (Sep-2015)
2 - All I Want for Christmas is You...Dead (Nov-2015)

Welcome Back to Scumble River

1 - Dead in the Water (Sep-2017)
2 - Die Me a River (Sep-2018)
3 - Come Homicide or High Water (Jan-2020)
4 - Body Over Troubled Waters (Jul-2021)

Book List in Order: 47 titles

  • Murder of a Small-Town Honey

    A Scumble River Mystery - 1

    When Skye Denison left Scumble River years ago, she swore she'd never come back. Now, having been fired from her job, jilted by her boyfriend, and rejected by her credit cards, she has reluctantly returned.... Immediately, Skye's determination to ...

  • Murder of a Sweet Old Lady

    A Scumble River Mystery - 2

    When she left Scumble River years ago, school psychologist Skye Denison thought she'd never be back. But after a run of bad luck in the big city, she has a new appreciation for the down-home charm of small-town life--and decides to start over in the ...

  • Not a Monster of a Chance

    in And the Dying is Easy
    A Scumble River Mystery - 2.5

    WHAT I SOLVED ON MY SUMMER VACATION. Detectives make their reputations solving cases of murder and mayhem. Ever wonder what happens when they try to get away from it all? In this summertime crime spree, twenty of today's best mystery writers--f...

  • Murder of a Sleeping Beauty

    A Scumble River Mystery - 3

    There are times when school psychologist Skye Denison still feels like a fish out of water in Scumble River, the Midwestern hometown to which she reluctantly returned a few years ago. Now, still broke, another car totaled, and her love life a minefie...

  • Murder of a Snake in the Grass

    A Scumble River Mystery - 4

    After over two years, school psychologist Skye Denison is still in Scumble River trying to figure out why she's still in Scumble River. But with all the town's quirks and crimes, life there is never dull...and besides, it's home. Scumble River is ...

  • Murder of a Barbie and Ken

    A Scumble River Mystery - 5

    School psychologist Skye Denison has adjusted to the quirks of small-town life, begun a romantic relationship with Simon Reid, the sexy town coroner, and even made peace with her eccentric family. But with the week she's having, running away again is...

  • Murder of a Pink Elephant

    A Scumble River Mystery - 6

    The last things school psychologist Skye Denison expects to find in Scumble River are sex, drugs, and rock and roll. But when her brother, Vince, forms a band called Pink Elephant, the town goes wild--and things get very weird.... First, a student...

  • Dead Blondes Tell No Tales

    in Drop Dead Blonde
    A Scumble River Mystery

    ONLY THE CORONER KNOWS FOR SURE.... They're beautiful blondes with style, money, and men falling at their feet. But now these perfect women are becoming perfect victims. In Drop-Dead Blonde, four of today's top mystery authors spin all-new tales of ...

  • Murder of a Smart Cookie

    A Scumble River Mystery - 7

    Yard sales bring out the worst in people. Nobody knows this better than Scumble River school psychologist Skye Denison, organizer of the First Annual Route 66 Yard Sale. Neighborly folk get downright nasty, fighting over plastic knickknacks--even pul...



  • Murder of a Real Bad Boy

    A Scumble River Mystery - 8

    Still recovering from breaking up with her boyfriend and alienating half the people in town, Skye Denison has sworn off men--but she hires sexy contractor Beau Hamilton to renovate the old house she inherited. After all, who can ignore his qualificat...

  • Murder of a Botoxed Blonde

    A Scumble River Mystery - 9

    A health spa complete with tofu turkey and "Dress for Sexcess" lectures is the last place school psychologist Skye Denison wants to spend Thanksgiving. But when her best friend, Trixie Frayne, convinces her to take a complimentary weekend at the new ...

  • Murder of a Chocolate-Covered Cherry

    A Scumble River Mystery - 10

    Skye Denison has never aspired to culinary excellence. In fact, she can't tell the difference between mousse and meringue. So when Grandma Sal's Soup-to-Nuts Cooking Challenge comes to town, competing is the last thing on her mind. But that's before ...

  • Murder of a Royal Pain

    A Scumble River Mystery - 11

    When school psychologist Skye Denison stumbles on the body of pushy Promfest chairperson Annette Paine during a Halloween fund-raiser, it looks like a clear-cut case of promicide. Annette was not the only prom mom desperate to see her daughter crowne...

  • Murder of a Wedding Belle

    A Scumble River Mystery - 12

    School psychologist Skye Denison reluctantly agrees to act as maid of honor in her California cousin's over-the-top platinum-style wedding- and is also expected to assist the control-freak wedding planner. But when Skye discovers the planner dead, ju...

  • Murder of a Bookstore Babe

    A Scumble River Mystery - 13

    Who could be driven to kill by books and sweets? While school psychologist Skye Denison eagerly anticipates the grand opening of a new bookstore called Tales and Treats, many of Scumble river's most outspoken citizens want to shut down the owners b...

  • Murder of a Creped Suzette

    A Scumble River Mystery - 14

    Plans to build a country music theater in Scumble River fall flat whena female country singer is murdered, and the motives and suspects stretch back decades....

  • Little Shop of Homicide

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 1

    Devereaux Sinclair was never happier than the day she quit her city job and bought the old-fashioned five-and-dime in her small Missouri hometown. But her happiness is short-lived when murder turns her charming store into a little shop of horrors.......

  • Murder of the Cat's Meow

    A Scumble River Mystery - 15

    When ex-Vegas showgirl and local business owner Bunny Reid starts an online dating service called Cupid’s Cat’s Meow, out-of-town visitors flock to her bowling alley for the speed dating and cat show events that she hosts to bring in extra cash. ...

  • Nickeled and Dimed to Death

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 2

    In New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson’s new mystery series, Devereaux Sinclair loves running her old-fashioned store in her small Missouri hometown. If only murder didn’t keep landing on her doorstep… Dev’s five-and-dime may ...



  • Murder of a Stacked Librarian

    A Scumble River Mystery - 16

    There's no place like Scumble River at Christmastime, and this year, school psychologist Skye Denison has twice as much to celebrate--and to do. In addition to the usual holiday frenzy, Skye's wedding to police chief Wally Boyd is less than a week aw...

  • Dead Between the Lines

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 3

    Opening an old-fashioned five-and-dime shop in her small Missouri hometown has been a great change for Devereaux "Dev” Sinclair. But when she hosts a reading group there, she learns that bad writing can mean life or death. To keep her new busin...

  • Murder of a Needled Knitter

    A Scumble River Mystery - 17

    School psychologist Skye Denison has been waiting forever for her happily-ever-after with police chief Wally Boyd. But her bliss threatens to unravel on the very first day of their luxurious honeymoon cruise, when Skye becomes convinced that she has ...

  • Dying For a Cupcake

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 4

    When Devereaux “Dev” Sinclair hosts a cupcake contest at her five-and-dime store, she discovers that someone is just dying to win... Kizzy Cutler finds it so delicious to be back in her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri, that she seems to hav...

  • Good Girl Overboard

    Change of Heart - 1

    Take a smoking-hot captain with a secret and an undercover cruise reviewer determined to change her sex life from flat to fiery. Shake well over rough seas. Serve on a king-size bed for a sizzling good time. * * * For twenty-eight years, cruise criti...

  • A Finger in Every Lie

    Stephanie Daniels - 1

    "A Finger in Every Lie" is a short story set in a gated community featuring recent widow and ex-reporter Stephanie Danielson. Steph is living with her recently divorced mother in a new 55+ active adult community until her teaching job begins in the f...

  • Murder of An Open Book

    A Scumble River Mystery - 18

    A nasty faculty feud leaves one Scumble River teacher belly-up. . . . Her honeymoon may have been less than relaxing, but Skye Boyd née Denison is still high on marital bliss with her new husband, Wally. The fact that their family is about to get...

  • Lucky Girl Hits the Jackpot

    Change of Heart - 2

    The last place Delaney Smallwood ever expects to find herself is at the Illinois State Lottery office, holding a check with more zeros than she’s ever seen before. The last person cynical attorney Spencer DeWitt ever expects to be attracted to is a...

  • Smart Girl Swept Away

    Change of Heart - 3

    When feminist author Sheridan Davis is forced to return to Sutton Falls, Illinois to care for her estranged father, the last person she wants to run into is Ridge Sutton. Meeting Ridge, who has matured from handsome to gorgeous, while she looks as if...

  • Sweet Girl Undone

    Change of Heart - 3.5

    Special education teacher Lucy Wheeler is sick of being taken for granted. Sick of people thinking that they know what’s best for her. And sick of being the sweet one. It’s time to break free from that role. It’s time for a do-over. But no matt...



  • All I Want for Christmas is You...Dead

    Stephanie Daniels - 2

    All I Want for Christmas is You...Dead is the second short story featuring recent widow and ex-reporter Stephanie Danielson. Steph is still living with her recently divorced mother in the new 55+ active adult community and has begun her new teaching ...

  • Between a Book and a Hard Place

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 5

    The New York Times bestselling author of Dying for a Cupcake returns with a new mystery filled with lost family, hidden treasure, and long-buried secrets... Five-and-dime store owner Devereaux “Dev” Sinclair moved to Shadow Bend for her famil...

  • Murder of a Cranky Catnapper

    A Scumble River Mystery - 19

    In this delightful Scumble River Mystery, a school psychologist has her hands full after a school board sourpuss meets a bitter end...  With her morning sickness finally abated, Skye Denison-Boyd is ready to pounce on the pertinent problems she ...

  • Sinfully Delicious

    Delicious - 1

    Fiction > romance > contemporary > chef > sensual Take one smoking-hot top chef who thinks food should be a sensual adventure, add a venture capitalist who has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager, and mix well. Is this a recipe that si...

  • Lions and Tigers and Murder, Oh My

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 6

    Opening up a dime store in her hometown of Shadow Bend, Missouri, Devereaux “Dev” Sinclair thought she’d left the wilds of city life behind her. But she’s about to discover that even rural life can be beastly. . . Handsome private investi...

  • Dead in the Water

    Welcome Back to Scumble River - 1

    The first book in a brand new series featuring New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson's beloved Scumble River setting and characters, DEAD IN THE WATER is a gripping mystery that won't let you go until you've turned the last page. A twi...

  • Tart of Darkness

    A Chef-to-Go Mystery - 1

    Right when Dani thinks she's hit a dead-end in her career, she unexpectedly inherits an enormous old house in a quaint college town. This gives her the perfect opportunity to pursue her true passion―cooking! So Dani opens Chef-to-Go, preparing deli...

  • Die Me a River

    Welcome Back to Scumble River - 2

    The chips are down in Scumble River School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd had hoped that her maternity leave would be at least a little relaxing, but when she and her husband, Wally, meet with the priest to discuss their newborn twins' christening...

  • Dangerously Delicious

    Delicious - 2

  • Leave No Scone Unturned

    A Chef-to-Go Mystery - 2

    The back-to-school season can be murder It's the beginning of the university's fall semester and Dani can't wait for the college students to return to Normalton, Illinois―after all, without them, there is no one to support her Lunch-...



  • A Call to Charms

    Forever Charmed Mysteries - 1

    Chocolate, men, and magic.Who can turn down that inheritance?* * *If life had gone as she planned, Lexie Green would have been teaching English at a prestigious university, not persuading spoiled, rich women to buy overpriced clothes they didn't ...

  • Come Homicide or High Water

    Welcome Back to Scumble River - 3

    There's something fishy just below the surface of Scumble River... School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd is getting ready to return to work from her maternity leave and hoping for a peaceful year in her job as a school psychologist. But when a...

  • Winner Cake All

    A Chef-to-Go Mystery - 3

    Once again, it looks like Dani Sloan will get a slice of the action. . . In the small town of Normalton, IL, there aren''t a lot of opportunities for small business owner Dani Sloan to cater big-ticket events. But that''s about to ...

  • Fly Me to the Tomb

    A Devereaux's Dime Store Mystery - 7

    When Aaron Burgess is found slumped over the steering wheel of his tractor and rushed to the Underwood Medical Clinic by his friend and business partner Quito Escobar, no one expected that the situation would turn into a homicide investigation. But w...

  • Body Over Troubled Waters

    Welcome Back to Scumble River - 4

    Love is deadlyStupid Cupid is making School psychologist Skye Denison-Boyd regret returning to work after her maternity leave. It starts with an emergency school lockdown, continues with her godfather's arrest by the state police, and ends with a dea...

  • Resurrection

    It started with a few internet rumors that were quickly quashed. However, it was only a matter of time before the government's colossal screw up couldn't remain secret any longer. In the search for an ultimate weapon, Project DANTE changed the world ...

  • The Right to Bear Charms

    Forever Charmed Mysteries - 2

    Who says murder can't be stylish?The whole idea of even owning a business, let alone one that had an out-of-the-ordinary sideline like producing charms for those in need, is still new to LEXIE RAVENSCRAFT. A few months ago, out of the blue, she'd re...

  • Chili Chili Bang Bang

    A Chef-to-Go Mystery - 4

    Dani Sloan will have to solve the Chili Challenge murder before she or one of her fellow competitors' chances of surviving the contest aren't worth a hill of beans. Once again, it looks like Dani's best-laid plans have been blown up...* * *Things...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Denise Swanson has published 47 books.

Denise Swanson does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Chili Chili Bang Bang, was published in September 2023.

The first book by Denise Swanson, Murder of a Small-Town Honey, was published in July 2000.

Yes. Denise Swanson has 8 series.
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