A Jane Lawless mystery

15 primary works • 26 total works

A Stage Fright

by Ellen Hart

Published 1 January 1993

Ellen Hart's third book features restaurateur Jane Lawless, witty sidekick Cordelia Thorn, a famous theatrical family and its secrets, and the streets of Minneapolis. A buried childhood and adult vengeance draws Lawless into the bosom of the Werness family. Father Gaylord is a famous playwright. Daughter Antonia has followed suit, but detests and defies him. Son Torald, once a brilliant actor, now drinks and schemes off-stage. Only reclusive Lucy keeps a grip on reality. But when ambitious Billy Brewster arrives in Minneapolis for the run of Antonia's new play, a chain of events leads inevitably to murder.

Immaculate Midnight

by Ellen Hart

Published 1 July 2002

The Iron Girl

by Ellen Hart

Published 1 August 2005

Night Vision

by Ellen Hart

Published 12 December 2006

The Mortal Groove

by Ellen Hart

Published 10 December 2007

Sweet Poison

by Ellen Hart

Published 11 November 2008

The Mirror and the Mask

by Ellen Hart

Published 10 November 2009

The Cruel Ever After

by Ellen Hart

Published 7 December 2010

The shock that Minneapolis restaurateur Jane Lawless is in for when Chester Garrity, her ex-husband, returns to a city that he swore he'd never see again is nothing compared to Chester's own. After their divorce many years ago, he took off with his inheritance to travel the world, leaving Jane with enough seed money to open her first restaurant, which worked out well for Jane but less so for Chester.

Now he's back and penniless, or as he would prefer to say, between fortunes. He's working an angle to make his next one by selling a priceless artifact recently looted from the Baghdad Museum, but it all falls through when he wakes up next to the dead body of his buyer with no memory of what happened the night before. Panicked, Chester flees the scene, eventually returning to cover his tracks only to find that someone has already taken care of that for him, but at what price?

"The Cruel Ever After," the newest Jane Lawless mystery from Lambda and Minnesota Book Award--winning author Ellen Hart, is filled with the intrigue and deception that makes it one of the most engrossing series on shelves today.

The Lost Women of Lost Lake

by Ellen Hart

Published 27 September 2011

Caring for an injured friend, restaurateur Jane Lawless discovers that her friend has been harboring a secret fear about a tragic accident that occurred years earlier and involves a suspicious reporter.

Rest for the Wicked

by Ellen Hart

Published 2 October 2012

The Grave Soul

by Ellen Hart

Published 6 October 2015

Fever in the Dark

by Ellen Hart

Published 31 January 2017

When a video of their engagement goes viral on the heels of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage, Fiona and Annie turn for help to private investigator Jane Lawless to safeguard a secret from Annie's past.

A Whisper of Bones

by Ellen Hart

Published 27 February 2018

"Fans of Jane Lawless new and old will be fascinated by newly minted Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster Ellen Hart's latest intricate puzzle in A Whisper of Bones. Britt Ickles doesn't remember much from her only visit to her mother's childhood home when she was a kid, except for playing with her cousin Timmy and the eruption of a sudden family feud. That's why, when she drops by unannounced after years of silence, she's shocked when her aunts tell her Timmy never existed, that she must be confusing him with someone else. But Britt can't shake the feeling that Timmy did exist...and that something horrible has happened to him. Something her aunts want to cover up. Britt hires Jane Lawless, hoping the private investigator can figure out what really happened to her cousin. When a fire in the family's garage leads to the discovery of buried bones and one of the aunts dies suddenly and suspiciously, Jane can't help but be pulled into the case. Do the bones belong to Timmy? Was the aunt's death an accident, suicide, or homicide? What dark secret has this family been hiding for decades? It all depends on Jane Lawless to unravel" --

Twisted at the Root

by Ellen Hart

Published 13 August 2019

In a Midnight Wood

by Ellen Hart

Published 8 September 2020

The Merchant of Venus

by Ellen Hart

Published 15 February 2001

Octavia, a 32 year old Broadway actress, announces her engagement to Roland The Merchant of Venus Lester, an 83 year old film director. Cordelia, Octavia's sister, and her boss, Jane Lawless, are invited to the Lester mansion for Christmas, where they discover the truth behind the engagement.

Robber's Wine

by Ellen Hart

Published 26 July 1996

Jane and her sidekick, Cordelia Thorn, set out to Pokegama Lake for some rest and recuperation. Instead they end up investigating a mysterious death in the town's most prominent family. Twisted family values keep them on their toes, as they wonder if each step will be their last.

Wicked Games

by Ellen Hart

Published 1 August 1998

The Old Deep and Dark

by Ellen Hart

Published 7 October 2014

"Renowned theater director Cordelia Thorn is working to restore a historic theater in downtown Minneapolis that she and her actress sister, Octavia, recently bought. Cordelia has a vision for the playhouse's future, but the more she learns about the building, the more fascinated she becomes by its past. Nicknamed "The Old Deep and Dark" because of the Prohibition-era double murder that occurred in the basement--then a speakeasy--there are a wealth of secrets hidden inside its walls. And, to her shock and horror, Cordelia discovers that there is also one present-day body literally buried in a basement wall. Cordelia immediately calls on her best friend, P.I. Jane Lawless. Although Jane is already in the thick of another investigation--she's embroiled in a well-known country-western singer's family scandal--she agrees to help Cordelia out on the side. But show-biz is a small world, and as Jane starts tracing the trails of two separate investigations, she's surprised to find they might not be as unconnected as she thought. With The Old Deep and Dark, the latest installment in the award-winning Jane Lawless series, Ellen Hart has crafted another impeccably plotted, seamlessly written mystery"--

Hunting the Witch

by Ellen Hart

Published 1 September 1999

Jane Lawless's lover Julia is on some kind of a scam but won't divulge any details. When one of Julia's clients is found hanging in the lift shaft of a country club Jane finds herself immersed in mystery upon mystery as she begins investigating.