Kathryn R. Wall

Sixth in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series Bishop's Reach--its waters are calm, beautiful, and deadly. Bleached-blond call girls rarely bring good news, especially the one who bursts through the door of Bay Tanner's struggling inquiry agency and into her already complicated life. Karen Zwilling swears she's been viciously attacked but can't--or won't--go to the police. With the tragedy of her husband's murder finally resolved, Bay has been yearning for a little tranquility, but that hope is shattered, both by Karen's plea for help and by the unexpected reappearance of aging playboy Win Hammond, scion of an old Beaufort family, who has been missing for more than twenty years. Why has the prodigal son chosen this moment to return, and what will the consequences be for his sister, Bay's beloved Miss Addie? Add to all this a suspected embezzlement by a local businessman and his questionable relationship with his partner, and suddenly Bay and her young associate, Erik Whiteside, find themselves hip-deep in cases and clients. When a disfigured corpse is discovered on the beach at Hilton Head, Bay's longed-for peace and quiet are irrevocably washed away on the outgoing tide, and suddenly it's clear that no one is who they appear to be, including Bay's former nemesis Ben Wyler. As the pieces finally tumble into place, the shocking resolution may prove as deadly for Bay Tanner as the treacherous waters of Bishop's Reach.

#4 in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series From the depths of a forgotten grave rise the echoes of a deadly conspiracy . . . When widowed financial consultant and sometime detective Bay Tanner flees Paris and the collapse of her short-lived affair with Interpol agent Alain Darnay, she finds herself drawn into yet another of the dark mysteries that seem to swirl around her father's antebellum mansion in Beaufort, South Carolina. No sooner has she unloaded her bags than she senses trouble between retired Judge Talbot Simpson and his longtime housekeeper/companion, Lavinia Smalls. What--or who--has driven a wedge between these two people who have been the bedrock of Bay's existence since her childhood? And why won't either of them talk about it? Then a phone call from her partner-in-crime-solving, Erik Whiteside, sets in motion a chain of events that will ultimately expose the dark underbelly of the aristocratic local society in which she grew up. Erik's old college drinking buddy, archaeologist Gray Palmer, has uncovered a grave on an obscure island just off the South Carolina coast and hints the bones may be those of a murder victim. But before Bay and Erik can learn the details, Palmer turns up dead himself and in a particularly gruesome way. Spurred on by Gray's exotic girlfriend and his estranged father's offer of a sizeable reward, they methodically peel back the layers of deceit and cover-up carefully constructed over decades by those who have everything to lose if the grave injustices of Judas Island are ever brought to light. . . . . . . . . . . "Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller come to mind as the quintessential writers of the modern female private eye novel. Wall, in a quiet and unassuming way, has produced a body of work of equal quality. Highly recommended." --Library Journal

#8 in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series The new case for young widow and sometime private investigator Bay Tanner strikes too close to home when an unexpected call from her housekeeper's son threatens to endanger those she holds dear. Roberto Santiago hints that the victim of a recent hit-and-run may have been a local crusader for the rights of illegal immigrants--and that it wasn't an accident. Before Bay can launch an investigation, the young man disappears. Meanwhile, Bay's brother-in-law and suitor, Sheriff's Sergeant Red Tanner, is up to his ears in a string of holdups terrorizing the Lowcountry. When Lavinia Smalls, longtime companion to Bay's crippled father, is caught up in one of the armed robberies, Bay finds herself enmeshed in yet another mystery. What does Lavinia know about the gang of thieves, and what clues does her friend, the ancient black man with the intricately carved walking stick, carry in his muddled memory? When the threatening phone calls begin, Bay knows she's on the right track. Almost too late she discovers that tempers run hot and prejudices deep when it comes to the growing immigrant population of the sultry South Carolina Lowcountry. . . . . . . . . . . "Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller come to mind as the quintessential writers of the modern female private eye novel. Wall, in a quiet and unassuming way, has produced a body of work of equal quality. Highly recommended." --Library Journal on The Mercy Oak

From Charleston to Hilton Head, Family matters . . . and murder is relative. When a fifth cousin twice removed calls Bay Tanner--a young, recently widowed financial consultant--from the Beaufort County Jail, it's no accident. Mercer Mary Prescott spent a lot of time and trouble locating Bay on the family tree, and she needs more than bail out of the relationship. What she's really after is a secret Bay's not willing to reveal--yet. But when Bay generously takes Mercer back to the family mansion of Presqu'isle, she finds that this distant kin comes with a lot of personal baggage--and some very dangerous pursuers. Before Bay can help straighten out Mercer's problems, the mousy young woman disappears. Bay begins a desperate hunt for her "shirttail" cousin through the twisted alleys of the past, from Civil War days to a plantation called Perdition House, and to one last deadly fight. . . . . . . "Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, and Marcia Muller come to mind as the quintessential writers of the modern female private eye novel. Wall, in a quiet and unassuming way, has produced a body of work of equal quality. Highly recommended." --Library Journal on The Mercy Oak Third book in the Bay Tanner mystery series.