Book 5

Murder Plays House

by Ayelet Waldman

Published 6 July 2004
Juliet Applebaum is a public defender turned stay-at-home mom—and a “highly likable sleuth” (Judith Kelman). Now in Murder Plays House, with a new arrival on the way, the Applebaum household is bursting at the seams. And Juliet is balancing clue-chasing and diaper-changing with a new task: house-hunting.
 
Juliet loves her kids. She loves their dirty little faces and skinned knees. She loves the ridiculous and amazing things they say. But when three-and-a-half year old Isaac evicts her husband and her from their own bed one night, love is the last thing on her mind. Juliet now recognizes the need for a few changes…starting with a bigger house. And when the new baby arrives, they’ll welcome the extra space.
 
But if there’s ever a bad time to search for a new house in L.A., it’s now. In a buyer-unfriendly real estate market, one practically has to kill to find an affordable home. No wonder Juliet is prepared to overlook a corpse on the grounds of her would-be dream house. To salve her conscience—and get her foot literally in the front door—she vows to find the killer of the homeowner’s sister. The investigation leads her from the madness of house-hunting into a world of washed-up actors and canceled TV shows, a world more depraved than she could ever have imagined.
 
“Smoothly paced and smartly told.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Think Chinatown, but with strollers and morning sickness.”—Long Island Press

Book 6

The Cradle Robbers

by Ayelet Waldman

Published 31 December 2005
From the national bestselling author of Murder Plays House.
 
For private-eye-cum-supermom Juliet Applebaum, business is booming. But there are pros and cons to every assignment. And the con in her latest job is her client, an inmate at Dartmore Prison. She’s enlisted Juliet to locate the son she surrendered—as well as the foster parents who’ve disappeared with him. But this case takes a deadly detour when the desperate young mother is fatally stabbed—allegedly by another inmate.
 
Prison officials dismiss the murder as just one more fatality in lockdown. But Juliet has her doubts. Now she’s determined to make the woman’s last wish come true, even if it means tracking little Noah—and the killer—through the dark maze of a widespread conspiracy.
 
“A master of smart, snappy repartee.” —Kirkus Reviews
“[A] unique, highly likable sleuth.” —Judith Kelman
“A brassy, funny, quick-witted protagonist.”—Houston Chronicle

Book 7

Bye-Bye, Black Sheep

by Ayelet Waldman

Published 1 August 2006
A new arrival in the bestselling mystery series.

Private Investigators Juliet Applebaum and Al Hockey finally have a steady stream of clients coming through their garage-turned-office. But they'll realize it's no child's play tracking down the killer of a gorgeous transsexual's sister.