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Lainie Lovett Mystery book cover 1
Lainie Lovett Mystery book cover 2
Lainie Lovett Mystery book cover 3
Lainie Lovett Mystery
Series · 4 books · 2016-2017

Books in series

Still Kicking book cover
#1

Still Kicking

2016

Widowed schoolteacher Lainie Lovett has three passions: her two nearly-grown children, her fourth-grade students at the Hopwell School, and the Rockettes, her recreational soccer team. One evening after soccer practice, she's startled to spot the husband of one of her teammates canoodling with another woman in a local eatery. She's even more shocked when he turns up dead the next day. And more shocked yet when she winds up under suspicion as an accessory to murder. But Lainie is smart and she's stubborn. She'll figure out who killed her teammate's husband—if she can stay out of jail, if she can stay alive, and if she can hang onto her sense of humor.
Kickback book cover
#2

Kickback

2016

A huge sum of money has gone missing from the Hopwell School’s parent-teacher organization. The evidence points to a ditzy school secretary, but when she dies abruptly, Lainie Lovett’s colleagues turn to her to figure out where the money went. Did the secretary embezzle it before she died? Did one of the aggressive Super Moms who run the organization pocket the money? What’s going on with the cute new gym teacher at Hopwell? And what’s the deal with the secretary’s husband and his odd hairdo? Most important, will Lainie survive long enough to find the money in time to save the Faculty Appreciation Luncheon?
Dropkick book cover
#3

Dropkick

2016

The party celebrating Lainie Lovett’s father-in-law’s birthday gets exciting pretty quickly when one of the guests keels over just as the magnificent golf-themed birthday cake is being served. That he happens to be the most obnoxious guest at the shindig leaves the other guests less than shattered by his sudden passing. But when it’s determined that he didn’t die of natural causes, and a few of the guests, including the guest of honor himself, arouse suspicion, Lainie’s in-laws ask her to step in and clear her father-in-law’s name. Meanwhile, Lainie’s daughter Karen, who has fallen madly in love with one of the waiters also under suspicion, needs Lainie to exonerate him, as well. In honor of her husband’s memory, her daughter’s love life, and that spectacular birthday cake, with its chocolate golf balls and candy clubs, Lainie must figure out who murdered the party guest—while trying to avoid getting clubbed, herself.
Kick the Bucket book cover
#4

Kick the Bucket

2017

Summertime, and the living should be easy. School’s out, and fourth-grade teacher Lainie Lovett is on vacation, spending her mornings running sports clinics for children and her evenings playing with the Rockettes, her recreation-league soccer team. But things get a whole lot less easy when one of Lainie’s teammates urges her to visit Sunrise Village, an assisted-living residence for the elderly, where various items have gone a ring, a jewelry box, a bottle of prescription medicine…and George Vandercloop’s considerable fortune, which he’d kept stuffed inside his mattress and which disappeared the night he died. Plenty of people at Sunrise Village had access to his apartment—his neighbors, the staff, his relatives, and the newly hired director of maintenance, who may just be the long-lost son of the Rockettes’ distinctly un-motherly coach. Who stole George’s money? And if he didn’t die of natural causes, who killed him? Lainie doesn’t need another mystery to solve, but Sunrise Village needs Lainie. The place teems with romantic intrigue, rivalries, gossip, raptures over the dining room’s chocolate cake—and possible crimes. Lainie will do her best to uncover the truth. But will she still be among the living when the assisted-living establishment is done with her?

Author

Judith Arnold
Judith Arnold
Author · 65 books

Barbara Keiler aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since. Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry." Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway. Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals. Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.

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