Tony Solis has been accused of murder, and Salem Grimes just might be his last, best hope. But Lord have mercy on anyone who has Salem for their last hope, because that girl is a piping hot mess and always has been. Everyone knows that, including Salem. But Salem is trying. She quit drinking, and even started praying. Maybe if she can prove Tony's innocence and find the real killer, it would balance out some of the mistakes she's made in her past—a past that includes betrayed best friends now bent on vengeance, ex-crushes who were supposed to be old and fat by now, and an ex-husband who might, possibly, not be an ex after all. If Salem can catch a break from reaping all the wild seeds she's sown, she might have a chance to redeem herself. Then again, maybe she should just settle for being a piping hot mess.

A Short Story Salem Grimes and her octogenarian friend Viv are back in this fun short story, this time kicking butt and rescuing kidnap victims. Well, this is actually a case of dognapping. At least the reward is real... but is it enough to face the gun-toting dognapper? Armed with the strongest weapon available, Salem and Viv save the day once again, using an age-old magnet that has an attraction few can resist, BACON!

Salem Grimes is determined not to be that one lame friend who shows up at Christmas with no gifts. If she has to make extra money by spending three days pet-sitting for a weirdo who possibly communicates with his alien overlords through his Shirley Temple doll collection, so be it. If she has to care for a psychotic tropical parrot with a beak that looks like a crude caveman rock-breaking tool, well, it will be worth it when she gets paid the extra cash. If she has to face a crazed gunman who is committed to guarding a sixty-year-old secret with his life...well, maybe she can make some nice cookies for Christmas gifts. Join Salem and her octogenarian friend Viv as they once again face life-threatening danger and save the day in classic style, and make some Christmas memories along the way.

Another day, another dead body. It's all in a day of the life of Salem Grimes. Salem Grimes figures even a God who works in mysterious ways wouldn’t resort to a dead body in a dumpster in answer to Salem’s prayers to help her stay on her diet – excuse me – Strat-EAT-Gic plan. But a dead body in a dumpster it is, and now Salem and Viv, her octogenarian partner-in-crime-solving, are on the case once again. Salem finds the search for the killer a satisfactory distraction from all the things she needs distraction from – “dates” with the husband she hasn’t known for the past decade, growing jealousy of Viv’s friendship with Dale-the-Annoying-Hanger-On, and a mentor who says things that – okay, maybe Salem needs to hear, but she really doesn’t want to. As she seeks peace amidst praying prairie dogs and too much Chinese food, Salem struggles to disentangle what she believes from what she thinks she should believe, and – most frightening of all, the possibility that she might have to figure out for herself just where the truth lies. Oh, and avoid a murderer on the loose, if she can manage it.

Armed only with Salem's "Smart-Enuff" phone and Viv's racing model Cadillac (with aggressive acceleration!), these two amateur super-sleuths are set to catch the gang of armed robbers terrorizing G-Ma's neighborhood... if for no other reason than to stop G-Ma's panic-stricken calls to Salem every time a car drives by. The only problem: they have no leads, no clues, and they've accidentally gotten themselves arrested for "moral crimes." As Salem tackles another investigation, she's also confronted with the nagging suspicion that she won't be able to move forward in her relationship with husband Tony if she can't face the Herculean task of forgiving her own mother - something she has little desire to do. While she mentally recites the Bible verse "love never fails" a thousand times a day, Salem joins pal Viv in racing around the streets of Lubbock, searching for the High Point Bandits and trying not to get "caught in the crotchfire."

A British silver fox has moved into the Belle Court Retirement Center, and octogenarian amateur sleuth Viv Kennedy is crushing on him hard. Unfortunately, he appears singularly unimpressed with Viv’s overnight adoption of every British phrase she knows (and a few she’s, admittedly, unclear on.) Maybe if she and Salem Grimes can solve the murder of the hotshot TV reporter Peter Browning, she can catch his eye. The fact that Peter’s death has not been ruled a murder is a minor consideration. Salem is certainly willing to help Viv land Nigel the Brit. After all, it will make her best friend happy. It will also make her husband happy—Tony is under the impression that if Viv finds a man and settles down, Salem will stop chasing bad guys down dark alleys with her. But Salem doesn’t know if that will make her happy. She knows she isn’t really a private detective. Shoot, she isn’t even any good at the chasing bad guys down dark alleys part. But after a lifetime of floundering, she’s finally found something that makes her feel like she’s contributing to the world. As Salem and Viv do their durndest to tighten a noose around a killer who may or may not exist, along with working “crikey” into every conceivable conversation, Salem finds herself wondering where her gifts are and what God’s plan for her life could possibly be.

It's Christmas at Trailertopia, and Salem and her octogenarian partner-in-crime-solving Viv are jazzed about ringing in the season. The night takes a decidedly un-festive turn, though, when the grumpiest old man in the trailer park is found murdered! Before the night is over, Salem finds herself on the back of a donkey with her little dog Stump in her lap, pretending to be 'great with child.' She and Viv are pinch-hitting for Mary and Joseph in a live nativity gone very, very wrong—because the real Joseph has been accused of the murder!