Susan Hogan is smart, pretty-and prickly. There was no other word for it. She is prickly with Jake Phillips and her Aunt Jenny, the two people who love her most in the world. And she is prickly and impatient with some of her academic colleagues and the petty jealousies in the English department at Oak Grove University. When a coed's body is found in her car and she is suspected of murder, Susan gets even more defensive. But when someone begins to stalk and threaten her-trying to run her down, killing the plants on her deck, causing a moped wreck that breaks her ankle-prickly mixes with fear....

Texans love to eat, and one dish they can t get enough of is chili so much so that chili con carne is Texas s state meal. This seemingly simple staple of Texan identity proves to be anything but, however. Beans or no beans? Beef, pork, or turkey? From a can or from scratch?
" Texas Is Chili Country" is a brief look at the favored fare its colorful history, its many incarnations, and the ways it has spread both across the country and the world. The history includes chuckwagon chili, the chili queens of San Antonio, the first attempts at canned chili, the development of chili societies and...

Arson, a bad beating, and a recluse who claims someone is trying to kill her all collide in this third Blue Plate Cafe Mystery with Kate Chambers. Torn between trying to save David Clinkscales, her old boss and new lover, and curiosity about Edith Aldridge's story of an attempt on her life, Kate has to remind herself she has a cafe to run. She nurses a morose David, whose spirit has been hurt as badly as his body, and tries to placate Mrs. Aldridge, who was once accused of murdering her husband but acquitted. One by one, Mrs. Aldridge's stepchildren enter the picture. Is it coincidence that...

Just when Kelly's life has calmed, she faces yet another of life's puzzles. Except the pieces in this one don't fit. First the apartment behind her house is torched, then a string of bizzare "accidents" occur to set her off-balance. Who is stalking her? Where does the disappearance of a young girl and her disreputable boyfriend fit in? And why are two men using the same name? Is the surprise inheritance another part of the puzzle? At a time when she is most vulnerable, Kelly can't make the pieces fit. Before Kelly can get the whole picture, she helps the family of a hostage, rescues a kidnap...