Book 1

Hotel Paradise

by Martha Grimes

Published 23 April 1996
"ONLY THE MAGNIFICENT MARTHA GRIMES COULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS BOOK. . . . BRILLIANTLY RENDERED AND SUPERBLY TEXTURED."
--Andrew Vachss

A neglected lake, covered with water lilies. A once fashionable, now faded resort. A derelict house full of secrets, uninhabited for almost half a century. The death of a twelve-year-old girl forty years in the past. And another girl who becomes obsessed with this death. With her knack for encouraging adults to reminisce, she begins to piece together puzzles from the past and present.

HOTEL PARADISE is a delicate yet disturbing view of the decisions a young girl must make on her way to becoming an adult . . . and the choices she must make between right and wrong, love and truth, life and death. With its narrative grace, compelling characters, and intricate suspense, HOTEL PARADISE is Martha Grimes at the top of her form.

"Utterly engaging."
--The Washington Post Book World

Book 2

Cold Flat Junction

by Martha Grimes

Published 1 February 2001
In this sequel to Martha Grimes' "Hotel Paradise", Emma Graham continues her search for answers surrounding the fate of Mary-Evelyn, who was also twelve when she drowned, supposedly by accident, in Spirit Lake. This is a delicate yet agonising view of the decisions a young girl must make. Trade paperback: ISBN 0747270791.

Book 3

Belle Ruin

by Martha Grimes

Published 1 September 2005
A waitress at her mother's decaying resort hotel, twelve-year-old Emma now has a second job as the youngest cub reporter in the history of La Porte's Conservative newspaper. But when she discovers the crumbling shell of a fabulous hotel- the once-sumptuous Belle Rouen-in the woods near her small town of Spirit Lake, Emma never imagines that the mysteries it holds will bring her one step closer to solving a forty-year-old crime-and force a new transgression to light.

Book 4

Fadeaway Girl

by Martha Grimes

Published 1 February 2011
For waitress and cub reporter Emma Graham, tragedy defines where she lives. Spirit Lake, La Porte, and Lake Noir have been held in thrall by intertwined crimes: the murders of Mary-Evelyn Devereau, Rose Queen, and Fern Queen; the supposed kidnapping of a four-month-old baby from the Belle Ruin hotel twenty years previously; and, most recently, the attack on Emma. And with the arrival of an unexpected visitor and a drifter, it looks like the bad times have only begun...