The Claire Burke Mystery Series

BOOK 1

BLIND SIGHT SOLUTION

When interior decorator Claire Burke discovers one of her clients dead on the new rug that she’s just installed, she never imagines that she will soon be hard at work investigating the woman’s murder. However, her severely disabled, wheelchair-bound daughter Jessie forms a bond with the victim’s husband Jimmy, and when the man is arrested for his wife’s killing, Claire can’t believe that anyone who could be so tender towards her daughter could actually harm another human being.

BOOK 2

THE CROOKED KNIFE

When Bill Mackay, a middle-aged autistic man, is brought from the group living home in which he has resided for many years to a new institution in Edmonton, Canada, his guardian and aunt, 75-year-old Marion Mackay is fearful for his ability to adjust, but due to Marion’s own declining health, she believes she must move closer to her daughter in Edmonton. Bill is particularly loathe to leave his special friend Mavis Elves, a wheelchair-bound woman he considers a special friend. No sooner is Bill moved into his new residence–the Clive Center–in Edmonton than he is involved in an altercation with a nurse. When the nurse is found murdered the next morning and Bill is found asleep in his bed clutching a knife which turns out to be the murder weapon, Marion is overwhelmed. She calls Claire Burke, a friend in Edmonton, who she knows has a special needs daughter and who also knows Bill and Mavis.

BOOK 3

ROSCOE’S REVENGE

When Claire Burke receives a frantic phone call from Roscoe, a resident of the community living home she supervises, she rushes to his aid. Arriving in the back alley where he asked her to come, Claire finds Roscoe traumatized, sitting beside the dead body of a young co-worker.

After the mandatory police interview is completed, Claire is finally able to take Roscoe home. She knows by the way he’s acting that Roscoe must have witnessed the murder, but he won’t say anything. Claire realizes that the only way to protect him from becoming the next target is to find the murderer herself and she sets about to do just that.

After several attempts on Roscoe’s life occur, Claire sees that she’ll have to take more extreme measures to protect him – and extreme measures are Claire’s forte. She enlists the aid of her best friend Tia, along with other friends, relatives and neighbors. Soon everyone has his or her part to play in tracking down the elusive killer. Can Claire and her amateur sleuths find the killer before the killer can find Roscoe and will doing so lead to Roscoe’s revenge?

BOOK 4

JESSIE KNOWS

When Bill Mackay, a middle-aged autistic man, is brought from the group living home in which he has resided for many years to a new institution in Edmonton, Canada, his guardian and aunt, 75-year-old Marion Mackay is fearful for his ability to adjust, but due to Marion’s own declining health, she believes she must move closer to her daughter in Edmonton. Bill is particularly loathe to leave his special friend Mavis Elves, a wheelchair-bound woman he considers a special friend. No sooner is Bill moved into his new residence–the Clive Center–in Edmonton than he is involved in an altercation with a nurse. When the nurse is found murdered the next morning and Bill is found asleep in his bed clutching a knife which turns out to be the murder weapon, Marion is overwhelmed. She calls Claire Burke, a friend in Edmonton, who she knows has a special needs daughter and who also knows Bill and Mavis.

BOOK 5

MURDER ON HIGHWAY 2

When Hilda’s husband, Gary, and her mother, Marion, are killed on their way to the airport, it seems like a tragic accident. But Hilda’s friends––Claire, Tia, Gus and Amanda––suspect otherwise. They are particularly upset by the death of Marion and are determined to find her killer.

Marion had worked hard, along with the rest of them, to buy and organize a home for her autistic nephew, Bill, Tia’s sister-in-law, Mavis, and another young man, Roscoe, who’d all come to Edmonton from a Calgary institution for people with developmental disabilities. Claire’s Aunt Gus begins the action by fishing for possible suspects at Gary’s business. There she bumps into an old friend who becomes an invaluable asset to their group. Slowly some important clues emerge…

BOOK 6

DEADLY CARE

Who could be killing off patients in an extended care hospital – and why? Claire and Tia really need to know because Tia’s mother is in there. Marisa has had a severe stroke and is completely helpless. What if the killer attacks her next? Tia is crazy with worry but with a newborn daughter to care for she cannot do much. Claire is also very busy, running a co-op for three adults with severe disabilities. They turn to Sergeant Crombie and Inspector McCoy for help but they can find no answers. Tia and Claire have no choice but to get involved. They come up with a complex plan to find the killer and meanwhile work on a strategy to get Marisa out of the hospital as fast as possible. But will they succeed in time?

BOOK 7

HEALTHY BODIES ALSO DIE

Yet again, someone in Claire’s life is murdered. She is determined to find the killer but there are many obstacles in her path: false leads, an uncooperative ‘friend’ and a huge personal distraction. Tia cannot help much either between the demands of her job and her toddler daughter. But one hair-raising adventure leads to another and finally Claire is sure she is on the right track. Tia comes to her aid and in the end they face a terrifying choice. Do they risk confronting the killer or stand by and watch another murder take place?

BOOK 8

POSTPARTUM DEAD

Claire Burke is itching to get back into the swing of things following her maternity leave. But that’s rather hard to do with her newborn twins to care for, her husband, and her disabled daughter Jessie. But Claire decides to start out slowly by attending a “mommy” group, where she meets Mona, a new mother who is anything but happy. In fact, the woman seems downright anti-social. Claire doesn’t think much about the woman until a few weeks later when she hears that she and her husband have both died in a murder/suicide and the police are naming Mona as the killer. Claire had only the one meeting with the woman to go on, but she is convinced that Mona would be incapable of murder and she sets out to prove it. With determination, she begins investigating, tracking down anyone who ever knew Mona or her husband and interviewing them. Along the way, she acquires a few assistants who also join in her journey, but it is Claire alone who finally comes face to face with the killer.

BOOK 9

WHEN JUSTICE FAILS

When a woman in a wheelchair is killed by a speeding car and the driver leaves the scene, of the accident, Claire sets out to find that person and to see that justice is done. However, her efforts lead to the arrest of someone she believes innocent, and Claire is then doubly focused on finding the real driver. This task is made doubly hard when the pandemic lockdown comes into effect and is further complicated when her good friend and fellow sleuth, Tia, is unable to help her this time. But Claire perseveres, eliminating one suspect after another until eventually she is led to a surprising conclusion, but gets into serious trouble in the process. 

BOOK 10

SLIDING INTO DEATH

Claire is trying so hard to be a good mother – until a murder victim pops up right in front of her – and it is somebody she knows! So what else can she do but investigate? But this time Inspector McCoy is onside – if she follows certain rules … which of course she cannot. As it turns out, this murder is tougher to solve than any of the others that Claire has been involved in and she goes down one rabbit hole after another in her determined search for answers. Finally, a crisis intervenes and grinds the investigation to a halt. It is not clear at that point that the mystery will ever be solved until Roscoe, Claire’s client, and also a good friend, speaks up and provides her with a new direction.