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Agatha Award Nominee

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Kendel Lynn is a Southern California native who now parks her flip-flops in Dallas, Texas. Her debut mystery, Board Stiff, was an Agatha Award nominee for Best First Novel. It features Elliott Lisbon, a mostly amateur sleuth who is only 5000 hours away from getting her PI license. Kendel has served as president of the board of directors for both Sisters in Crime (national) and Sisters in Crime North Dallas. She holds a B.A.A.S. from Texas A&M University-Commerce and is a certified Senior Professional of Human Resources (SPHR). She's penned six novels, plus novellas, screenplays, workshops, speeches, and countless articles and posts. She's an INFJ who finds balance with meditation, trips to Disneyland, and all things pug.

kendel

LYNN

SWITCH BACK (#0)

coastal, cozy, humorous mysteries, PI-in-training, Southern fiction

Elliott Lisbon Mysteries

Switch Back is a novella (about 1/3 of a full-length novel, about 5 times longer than a short story) and takes place prior to Board Stiff (Elliott Lisbon Mystery #1). After inheriting an entire town, Ballantyne Foundation Director, Elliott Lisbon, travels to Texas to thank them. She quickly learns they don’t want her gratitude, they want their town back. And they’re willing to kill for it. Trapped in a small town full of big suspects, Elliott must unlock their secrets, or she’ll never get out alive. Now doesn’t that sound like fun? Read the whole series and it gets even better.

“A cozy triple-scoop that tastes divine.” – Library Journal

BOARD STIFF (#1)

As director of the Ballantyne Foundation on Sea Pine Island, SC, Elliott Lisbon scratches her detective itch by performing discreet inquiries for Foundation donors. Usually nothing more serious than retrieving a pilfered Pomeranian. Until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne’s reputation tanks, Jane’s headed to a jail cell, and Elliott’s sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town. Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. With victims piling up faster than shells at a clambake, Elliott realizes she’s next on the killer’s list.

“With an intelligent woman sleuth, a unique blend of quirky supporting characters and a well-devised mystery plot, Board Stiff is delightfully entertaining.” – Fresh Fiction

WHACK JOB (#2)

Elliott Lisbon blends her directorship of the Ballantyne Foundation with her PI-in-Training status by planning parties and performing discreet inquiries for charitable patrons. But when the annual Wonderland Tea Party makes everyone go mad as a hatter, Elli gets pulled into a shooting, a swindle, and the hunt for a Fabergé egg. From seedy pawn parlors to creepy antique shops, Sea Pine Island’s other half prove to be as wacky as the wealthy. Elli falls farther down the rabbit hole and finds a scheming salesman, a possessive paramour, a dead donor—everything but a bottle labeled “Drink Me.” Elli gets lost in the maze and finds herself trapped in a house of cards with a killer.

“Elli Lisbon is proving herself to be the most lovable OCD PI since Adrian Monk.” – Maddy Hunter, Agatha-Nominated Author of From Bad to Wurst

SWAN DIVE (#3)

It’s Opening Night at the Ballantyne Foundation’s production of The Nutcracker, but it’s curtains for the Sugar Plum Fairy. When her body is found backstage, fatally poisoned by a cupcake she baked herself, rumors turn to suicide. But Elli Lisbon, director of the Ballantyne and coordinator of the ballet, smells something rotten amidst the sugar and spice. As Elli applies her PI-in-training skills on the suspects, she discovers an eccentric herbalist, a temperamental chef, a stalking choreographer, and a bevy of backstage secrets. Between her off-the-record investigation, duty as director, and highly-charged love life, she finds herself caught in a dance to stay one pirouette ahead of a half-baked killer.

“The irrepressible heroine is delightful and her ongoing banter is nonstop fun.” – Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

POT LUCK (#4)

It’s time for the Irish Spring at the Ballantyne Foundation, and charity director/PI-in-training Elliott Lisbon kicks off the annual Pot of Gold Cook-Off in shamrock style. Twenty chefs compete for the corned beef and cabbage crown but only one can win the title. The odds improve when one chef goes missing...until Elli finds the Ballantyne’s own Chef Carmichael standing over the body with a knife. With pug puppies, Colonel Mustard and Mrs. White, by her side, Elli searches both sides of coastal living for a clue to the killer. From million dollar condos to a run-down trailer park, the evidence pits her against sexy Nick Ransom, and the case gets hotter than a handful of peppercorns.

“Elli Lisbon is the Stephanie Plum of the South!” – Krista Davis, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Diva Runs Out of Thyme

SHAKE DOWN (#5)

Ballantyne Foundation Director and PI-in-training, Elliott Lisbon, is enjoying her idyllically slow life on Sea Pine Island, South Carolina. It’s the week before the annual Beach Ball and she’s sipping Bellinis on the sidelines. Her committee involvement is limited to securing the centerpieces: scrumptious masterpieces from the Cake & Shake. But when the head baker goes missing, Elli’s calm life gets a major shakeup. She takes the case and soon learns that missing is a relative term. As Elli walks the delicate line between a woman finding herself and a woman needing to be found, the days speed up and she knows something’s about to go down. From drug runners to whistleblowers to sea turtle sabotage, Elli stirs up secrets and inadvertently whips a desperate killer into a frenzy. If she doesn’t find a way out of the heat, she’s going to get burned.

“Kendel has done it again...It’s the bits and pieces that pulled it all together...This is the best book in the series and I can’t wait to experience more adventures with Elli and her friends.” – Dru's Book Musing