Retired teacher Jesse Ashworth has been looking forward to a quiet retirement in the small town of Bath, Maine but for Jesse, retirement has been anything but quiet. After church trustee Jack Riley is found murdered in the choir room of All Saints Church, Jesse and his companion Police Chief Tim Mallory, begin a search for the killer. Soon it becomes apparent that almost everyone Jack knew had a motive for murder. Set in a small town on the picturesque coast of Maine, this story has just the right amount of intrigue and humor, including a cast of quirky and colorful characters that help to...

High school English teacher Jesse Ashworth is having a mid-life crisis. Should he take early retirement or continue teaching? When his best friend, Rhonda Shepard, retires and moves to the coast of Maine to open a gift shop, Jesse offers to help her set up her business. Much to Jesse's surprise, Rhonda's gift shop in located in the town where Jesse grew up. Jesse must not only deal with relocation, but he must also reestablish ties that he had severed thirty-some years ago. Jesse purchases a run-down 1920's bungalow called Eagles' Nest. The house was the site of a 1960's commune and has been...

When retired teacher Jesse Ashworth and former police chief Tim Mallory buy the Bigg- Boyce Security Company in Bath Maine, interesting cases begin to cross their desks. Known locally as the "Big Boys' Detective Agency" Tim and Jesse begin new careers as private detectives. The Turner Art Museum in Portland Maine seems to be the epicenter of some strange happenings. When the Big Boys' Detective Agency is contacted to investigate a haunting in the museum, Tim and Jesse embark on an adventure that turns up not only a missing person but also more than one body.

At the height of the Great Depression in 1932, two strangers arrive on Maine's Jigsaw Island. Artist Ben Turner has fled the desperation of New York City to wait out the hard times and find inspiration. Muriel Peters, along with her son Andrew, arrive on Jigsaw Island to seek a new start. For each, Jigsaw Island will be a place of new beginnings and discoveries. In the midst of the worst economic disaster of the twentieth century, the newcomers will have to establish new ties in a beautiful, but alien landscape.

A companion piece to the Jesse Ashworth Mysteries, Coastal Maine Cooking includes over seventy recipes gathered from the author's research and experience living in coastal New England. Gathered from various sources, some of the recipes date back to the early 1700's, but thankfully have been updated. These are the recipes that have been passed from person to person, but rarely written about.

Jesse Ashworth is attending cooking school in Montreal when the head chef of the school is found murdered in Mt Royal park. Jesse is inadvertently dragged into the investigation when he becomes a potential witness to the crime. Hired as a consultant for the chief investigator, Hugh Cartier, Jesse begins to suspect that Hugh has more than just a professional interest in him. As if a murder investigation is not enough, Jesse suspects that someone has been following him. When Jesse and his partner Tim Mallory confront the stalker, Jess gets the shock of his life and nothing will ever be the same...

The wealthy families of Boston's Beacon Hill like to keep their affairs private. When art objects disappear, when family members go missing, or when bodies turn up in unexpected places, they all turn to Jeremy Dance for damage control. On New Year's Day 1936, Jeremy Dance is having a quiet dinner with this assistant Roscoe and his best friend Judy Hogarth, when Jeremy is called in to investigate an "unpleasantness" at an exclusive Boston men's club. Jeremy Dance is young, rich, and tough as nails. In an age of intolerance and conformity, Jeremy has the courage to stand up against racism,...

The Christmas season gets off to a rocky start in the sleepy coastal town of Bath, Maine, when a local shop keeper finds a body dressed as Santa Claus in the doorway of the shop. To make matters worse, a valuable Christmas treasure is stolen from All Souls Church. The identity of the dead man stumps the local police, and it falls to private detectives Jesse Ashworth and Tim Mallory to look for clues the police may have missed. It's been a slow season for the Bigg-Boyce Security Agency, known locally as the Big Boys' Detective Agency, but things begin to pick up when Tim and Jesse find...

When anthropology professor Luke Littlefield receives an anonymous grant to run a summer enrichment course at an old Shaker Village in Maine, he jumps at the chance. Things are going along smoothly until a visitor is found dead. Luke and his partner Bryan are pulled into a mystery that seems to have no solution. The murder appears to echo a murder that took place some one hundred and seventy years before. Was it a copy cat killing, or was it just a coincidence? But there's more going on than just murder and Luke and Bryan once again find themselves working with a federal agent to solve more...

A Prayer in Time of War follows the Dunn family as they face the realities of World War II on the home front following the events of Pearl Harbor and into the year 1942. Reverend James "Jack" Dunn is the spiritual center of the Dunn family as well as the leader of West Parish Church in Portland, Maine. Each member of the family must confront the realities of war as well as the events of their own lives.