Margins
The Morelville Mysteries book cover 1
The Morelville Mysteries book cover 2
The Morelville Mysteries book cover 3
The Morelville Mysteries
Series · 12
books · 2014-2019

Books in series

Relic book cover
#1

Relic

2014

Cases collide for two star crossed ladies of law enforcement... Customs Special Agent Dana Rossi was forced to start her life anew after a bad breakup with her former girlfriend and the loss of job that she loved. These days, she spends life on the road, moving from one case to another until one day when runs run right into the path of Sheriff Mel Crane. The feisty, sexy butch cop is as determined to uncover a counterfeiting ring in her county as Agent Rossi becomes to stop a stalker obsessed with Mel and hot for her company. Dana is under the added pressure of conducting an undercover investigation of her own with a tight deadline: finding and then stopping a ring of smugglers bringing high end designer knock-offs into the states. Could their cases be related? When repeated vicious attacks on Mel and on her home accelerate the danger for her and also their attraction to each other, they become desperate to find the truth and solve the two mysteries. Can they find a way to work together to resolve both cases while coming to terms with their growing feelings for one another? Can Dana move beyond her jilted lover past and find true happiness with a small town Sheriff?
Busy Bees book cover
#2

Busy Bees

2015

Romance and Murder Mix in the Latest Story Featuring Sheriff Mel Crane and Special Agent Dana Rossi! Customs Special Agent Dana Rossi is down but not out after being shot and seriously injured during her previous assignment. Will romance blossom or will sparks fly when she agrees to shack up in Morelville with the beautiful butch Sheriff Melissa ‘Mel’ Crane and her extended family while she recovers? Will murder get in the way of love? If murder doesn’t, will life in a house with children or a political campaign keep them apart? Can Mel solve two major crimes and keep her former job on the road loving girlfriend happy in a tiny town? This book is great together with Book 1 to get all of the Dana and Mel backstory but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery.
Dana's Dilemma book cover
#3

Dana's Dilemma

2015

Elections and Old Loves Combine with Deadly Results in the Newest Romantic Mystery Featuring Sheriff Mel Crane and Special Agent Dana Rossi! What happens when Mel runs for Sheriff, an Amish girl runs away from home and Dana runs – er, limps - for cover? Can anything else possibly go wrong for these two ladies of law enforcement? Sure it can and it will! Can the two sometimes lovers work it all out once and for all and finally have a happy life together or will more crime, murder and mayhem get in the way? This book is great together with Books 1 and 2 to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery. CONTENT ADVISORY: This third installment of the Morelville Mysteries series contains erotic scenes between consenting adult females. If that is distasteful to you, please consider reading something else.
Hitched and Tied book cover
#4

Hitched and Tied

2015

Mel and Dana attempt to bring their growing relationship full circle but family, duty and family duties all conspire to get in the way. A victim with close ties to the Cranes escapes a deadly assault with his life only to die from his injuries minutes later. Mel has few clues to find the fighter turned murderer and the further she goes with her investigation, the more the situation deteriorates. Meanwhile, Dana’s trying to plan their wedding but the family is resisting both her efforts and the wishes of the couple while focusing more on her sister and her traditional relationship. Family angst, violent crime and more than a few Holstein steers abound as Dana and Mel fight against the odds to solve Mel’s case and find their own happily ever after. DISCLAIMER: This fourth installment of the Morelville Mysteries series, like the third book, contains erotic scenes between consenting adult females. If that is distasteful to you, please consider reading something else. This book is great together with Books 1through 3 to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery.
Viva Mama Rossi! book cover
#5

Viva Mama Rossi!

2015

A delayed honeymoon getaway takes a deadly turn for newlyweds Mel and Dana; meanwhile, two meddling mothers won't let sleeping fisherman lie in the latest Morelville Mystery. Does an unsolved shooting death far away from Morelville have local ties? Did a fisherman really drown or was there something more sinister afloat? All Mel and Dana wanted was to enjoy a nice, relaxing honeymoon in the Smokey Mountains, away from the strains of life in the public eye. Instead, they end up involved in a case local law enforcement has completely written off. In this prequel to The Morelville Cozies, things are no better back home where their own mothers are stirring up an all new hornets nest that they think Mel and her own department have written off. If there is going to be any rest for anyone, something is going to have to break in one case or the other... This book is great together with Books 1 through 4 to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery.
A Crane Christmas book cover
#6

A Crane Christmas

2015

Is it the Christmas season or the ‘silly season’? All Sheriff Mel wants to do is close out the year and spend a joyful first Christmas with Dana and with their extended families. She’s even hired a new detective, Janet Mason, to ease some of the workload for her and her only other detective, Shane Harding. Things were shaping up great for her and Dana for a relaxing holiday season. Too bad it just wasn’t meant to be… The local criminals want it all too and a string of burglaries in high class county enclaves have Mel and both of her detectives stymied. Throw in a bunch of disappearing dogs, some designer sheep, a lonely woman and an unsolved murder case, and the good guys are at their wits end. Meanwhile, back in tiny little Morelville, things aren’t much better; the village is buzzing over Dana’s family taking over the store but Dana herself isn’t so sure that’s a good thing. Can Mel and her team resolve everything before Christmas dinner comes out of the oven? Will Janet Mason fit in at all? Will Dana find a balance between work and family that works for her in time to enjoy her first Christmas with Mel? This book is great together with Books 1-5 to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery. Please use the ‘Look Inside’ feature to view the book contents and remember you can download a sample of “A Crane Christmas” to your Kindle for free.
Mad for Mel book cover
#7

Mad for Mel

2016

Rival gangs will stop at nothing to gain sole control of the drug trade in Muskingum County and they’ve picked Valentine’s week to create a firestorm of murder and mayhem as they battle each other for supremacy. Sheriff Mel Crane is blindsided by looting, murdering and marauding bikers at a time of year when most Harley’s are tucked safely away from the effects of Ohio winters that come rife with snow and ice. They’re rolling out, they’re out of control and she can’t stop them. On the home front, she’s feeling guilty about spending hardly any time with Dana, especially when she knows Valentine’s Day is right around the corner…or so her mother-in-law keeps reminding her. Dana just wants Mel to be safe; she has her own problems to worry about. Her attempt at novel writing isn’t going as well as she hoped and she’s bored. She got a little taste of what it was like to be an investigator again and she misses it. What to do? This book is great together with Books 1-6 to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery. Please use the ‘Look Inside’ feature to view the book contents and remember you can download a sample of “Mad for Mel” to your Kindle for free.
Hannah's Hope book cover
#8

Hannah's Hope

2016

A young mother with a troubled past seeks help from Mel and Dana but is their effort to assist her too little, too late? Hannah Yoder appears on Dana and Mel’s doorstep late one night with her teenage friend Katie and Katie’s newborn baby in tow telling the couple the girl and child are in trouble and have no place else to go. Dana and Mel offer refuge for the night and a firm promise to talk about the future. Plans are barely made when first one mysterious tragedy strikes and then another leaving Mel, Dana, Hannah and the Crane and Rossi families with few clues and little hope. Mel knows there’s a killer out there; she just doesn’t know where to start looking. She’s stonewalled at every turn and running out of time. Somebody knows something that will unlock the mysteries swirling all around, but who? This book is great together with Books 1-7 of The Morelville Mysteries series to get all of the Dana and Mel back story but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery.
The Turkey Tussle book cover
#9

The Turkey Tussle

2017

The old-fashioned country village of Morelville Holds a secret. Faye Crane has the perfect life as a homemaker, farmer's wife and grandmother...or she did until her daughter-in-law Dana went and stirred up a mysterious murder, never resolved and long buried in the Lafferty family lore - before Faye ever became a Crane. Now she's been reminded of some startling questions about her families past that she's not sure she wants to know the answers to. Dana knows to tread lightly around Faye. Their relationship is far from perfect but she just can't help herself; she's certainly intrigued by the unsolved case. The down to earth, gentle residents of the village are more than happy to fill her in on all of the old gossip too. She even gets an education in oil drilling and backroom poker along her way to trying to clear the Lafferty family name and bring some closure to her mother-in-law. The question is, can she figure it all out and, if she does, will the Lafferty's and the Crane's be better off or far worse?
Sullied Sally book cover
#10

Sullied Sally

2018

An unsolved murder, more than 40 years in the making, leads to the discovery of a new victim and the return of an old stalker. After a blow to the head, Owen Lafferty lied dying, alone in a cabin, far out in the woods and far from home. He was found by Dana Rossi-Crane as she happened along, chasing around the threads of a 1972 unsolved murder involving her mother-in-law, Faye and Owen and his family. Dana’s efforts were too little, too late to save Owen. With the two murders, 40 some years apart, looking like they’re related, a cast of suspects now in their sixties and seventies and a wife who won’t stay out of her cases, Sheriff Mel Crane already has her hands full. A new Deputy District Attorney coming in and horning in on her investigation and the return of her old stalker, don’t help matters. Can Mel solve either case? Can she convince the new Deputy DA that she’s not hiding evidence to protect her family? Is Sally’s reason for showing back up in Mel’s life legitimate or a ruse to get close to her again? Will Dana butt out? Stay tuned! This book is great together with Books 1-9 of The Morelville Mysteries series but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery. Please use the ‘Look Inside’ feature to view the book contents and remember you can download a sample of “Sullied Sally” to your Kindle for free.
Finding Sheila book cover
#11

Finding Sheila

2018

A woman, imprisoned for manslaughter, disappears without a trace during transport between states and it’s all up to Dana to find her. Sheila Ford traveled to Tennessee planning to commit an act of pre-meditated murder on her husband. Her lone shot at him misses and kills his lover instead. After pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge, she’s locked away in a Tennessee prison for women. Everyone back home in Ohio wrote her off. She wasn’t eligible for a parole hearing for seven years. When Jennifer Coventry calls begging Sheriff Mel Crane to bring her ailing mother home to Ohio to serve out the rest of her sentence in the county jail, close to home, Mel is reluctant but gives in. The only problem is, she’s so short staffed and can’t send a deputy to do the transport. She deputizes Dana to do the duties. Dana planned to go to Tennessee anyway, to look at a vacation cabin for herself and Mel. A little detour over to Nashville to connect with Sheila and the ambulance transporting her to Ohio won’t be hard, she thought…until everything that could go wrong does, ending up with Sheila disappearing during a rest stop. A multi-state manhunt is on to find the escaped convict and return her to prison, but the circumstances of her disappearance go far deeper than anyone could have imagined. This book is great together with Books 1-10 of The Morelville Mysteries series but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery.
Tennessee Bound book cover
#12

Tennessee Bound

2019

The politics and the paper-pushing are wearing on Sheriff Mel. Will she chuck it all? Mel’s burned out. She’s tired of playing local politics. She’s tired of the mounds of paper on her desk that never seem to diminish. She’s tired of budgets, of personnel conflicts, of citizen complaints and all of the other things a sheriff is responsible for. She misses police work. Real police work, but she knows she can’t go back to the street. Not in Muskingum County…maybe not in Ohio. Dana bought a cabin – a nice little getaway for the two of them in Tennessee. Mel’s mom is worried her daughter will fly the family coop and roost in Tennessee full time; maybe she’ll even take a street cop job there. Dana and Mel head to Tennessee to see their new home away from home, to take a breather from work and family and to talk about the future. Mel’s future. Their future. Mel has some surprises for Dana, but her thoughts on stepping down as Sheriff and where she’s thinking about going next take a backseat to what happens in the midst of their getaway. This book is great together with Books 1-11 of The Morelville Mysteries but it can also be read as a stand-alone mystery. Please use the ‘Look Inside’ feature to view the book contents and remember you can download a sample of Tennessee Bound to your Kindle for free.

Author

548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
© 2025 Paratext Inc. All rights reserved