Book 2

Set in small-town Kansas, USA Today bestselling author Amy Lillard’s Sunshine Café Mystery series features a twenty-something advice columnist turned café manager and sleuth, her tiny dog with a big personality, farm-fresh produce—and murder!

Professional advice columnist turned café manager and amateur sleuth Sissy Yoder is adjusting to life in her parents’ small but not-so-sleepy former hometown of Yoder, Kansas, where family is plentiful, the tomatoes are “to die for”—and murder is often in season . . .

Twenty-something Sissy Yoder never imagined herself running her Aunt Bethel’s café, but her help is needed, so she’s making a go of it. And she must admit that life in tiny Yoder has been anything but dull–she’s already solved one homicide—after being named the prime suspect in the case!

Enjoying a peaceful respite after all that excitement, Sissy just wants to write her advice column, hang out with her loyal Yorkie, Duke, and procure some of local farmer Walt Summers’ scrumptious “To Die For” tomatoes for the Sunshine Café’s menu. But when the unsavory Summers–resented by just about everyone in town–turns up murdered in his garden shed, it’s up to Sissy to roll up her sleeves, dig for some clues, and weed out the culprit . . .

Book 3

A Murder for the Sages

by Amy Lillard

Published 25 June 2024
Twenty-something advice columnist and amateur sleuth Sissy Yoder loves helping out at her Aunt Bethel’s Sunflower Café in Yoder, Kansas. It connects her to family, to the close-knit community—and to the suspicious events that always seem to bubble beneath small-town life . . .

The unusual death of local herb farmer, Ginger Reed, is the talk of Yoder. Naturally, Sissy is intrigued. The official report classifies Ginger’s demise as an accident, concluding that she ran herself over with a tractor. But Sissy’s cousin, Naomi, a friend and longtime employee of Ginger’s, insists that’s impossible. When she asks for Sissy’s help in unearthing the truth, Sissy’s on the case—accompanied as ever by her loyal Yorkie companion, Duke . . . 

The deeper Sissy digs, the longer the list of suspects grows—and none of them are Ginger. Near the top is Ginger’s resentful sister-in-law, Mallory. Next is Naomi’s brother, Lloyd, who’s bitter about the oil derrick presumably pumping black gold from Ginger’s land—land that once belonged to his family. Naomi herself could be a suspect—it’s her tractor, after all. But the investigation stalls when Naomi makes a shocking turnaround in her story. Is she lying? And if so, why? Then a missing dog, a desperate lawyer, and a teenage con artist are added to the mix, and the puzzle becomes hopelessly complicated. If Sissy doesn’t solve it quickly, she’ll be lost in the weeds as a killer reaps a deadly harvest . . .