I’ve been writing since I read my first Nancy Drew in 4th grade. Since then I’ve had over 80 books published. I’ve been lucky—my books have won national awards, garnered excellent reviews, and have been printed in 16 countries, including Russia, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, India, Israel, Poland, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, and China. Some of my best-sellers include Healthy Snacks for Kids, Kids’ Party Games and Activities, Best Party Book, Games People Play, Kids’ Holiday Fun, Learn to Sign the Fun Way, Baby Play and Learn, Kids Pick-A-Party, Kids’ Party Cookbook, and The Code Busters Club.
My latest adult mystery, MURDER AT BLACKWOOD INN (Crooked Lane Books), is set in Pelican Point (aka Bodega Bay), and features a mystery ghostwriter who moves in with her two eccentric aunts to help with their new Bed and Breakfast Inn. You’ll find cats, ghosts?, and a hot handyman…of course, murder ensues… (Due out Sept. 2025)
My first mystery series begins with DEAD BODY LANGUAGE and features Connor Westphal, a deaf reporter living in the California Gold Country. The book won a Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, and was nominated for an Agatha and an Anthony Award. There were seven books in the series, all available online. Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin has optioned the books for TV/film.
My second series, the Party Planner mysteries, begins with HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY and features event planner, Presley Parker. The stories are set in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Presley solves mysteries on Alcatraz, at the de Young Museum, at the Winchester Mystery House, in Colma, the City of Souls, and in the Napa wine country. There are five books in the series.
My third series in the Food Truck/Food Festival series, written under the name Penny Pike, begins with DEATH OF A CRABBY COOK and features Darcy Burnett, a former restaurant critic who now works in her Aunt Abby’s food truck. The first book is set at the San Francisco Seafood Festival, followed by DEATH OF A CHOCOLATE CHEATER, set at the Chocolate Festival, and DEATH OF A BAD APPLE, set at Apple Hill in the California Gold Country.
My middle-grade mystery series, THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB, won the Agatha Award for Best Children’s Mystery twice(!) and was nominated for the World Mystery Anthony Award for Best Children’s Mystery. The series features four kids who solve mysteries by cracking codes in each chapter.
Here are a few of the Japanese covers – very Manga, don’t you think?
And here’s THE OFFICIAL NANCY DREW HANDBOOK, where you can learn tips and tricks from the girl sleuth, including writing SOS backwards with a lipstick when you’re tied up bound and gagged and left in an attic for dead, how to send messages via carrier pigeon when your cellphone is dead, and how to revive your chums when they faint by using smelling salts and pats on the wrist…
