Dorothy Francis

"Cold-case Killer"

Nice surprise. 
When foot reflexologist Keely Moreno and her boyfriend, P.I. Punt Ashford, help Maxine Jackson and her son Randy search for the long-ago killer of Randy's deceased girlfriend, they endanger their lives.

Randy, who has been unlawfully imprisoned for 20 years, has now been released and has returned to his home in Key West. DNA evidence proved that he did not murder Dyanne Darby. 

 Randy's bitter, because the true murderer still walks free, while Randy went to jail. He has received no money from the courts to compensate him for his years behind bars. Only his mother offers him a home, and nobody will offer him a job.

Dorothy Francis
A popular girl, Dyanne dated Randy and other divers who helped Mel Fisher search for the Atocha, an ancient Spanish galleon that sank near the Florida Keys. 

 Randy suspects that one of the other divers killed Dyanne out of jealously - and he's determined to find the culprit. Soon, Keely and Punt find themselves involved in the investigation and facing down the real killer. Read more about Francis here. 
"Killer in Control"

 Kitt Morgan's hope of a singing career dies after a botched surgery. 

 Moving forward, she earns a job on her Iowa town's police force, trying for a law enforcement career like her father's.While on suspension for shooting an unarmed criminal, Kitt visits her sister at her Key West B&B. 

 Here, she becomes embroiled in the murder investigation of Abra Barrie, a former B&B guest. While Kitt tries to find the murderer, the Iowa grand jury declares her shooting of the criminal an act of self-defense. 

 She's free to return to her police job. But does she want to? Big questions remain in Key West. Who is the killer? Is Kitt next on his list?

 "Conch Shell Murder"

Detective Katie Hassworth has resigned her teaching job when a student shot her and then himself in her classroom. She joins the student's father in a Key West detective agemcy and becomes involved in solving a murder in which the victim was bludgeoned with a conch shell. Katie talks with many suspects including the victim's daughter and son-in-law,husband,lover,secretary,Key West mayor, and Director of Key West housing development. She faces death, but triumphs as she confronts the villain and gets a confession. 

 Though she has partnered with former Miami cop Mac McCartel for two years, former schoolteacher Hasworth has been bonded and licensed as a private detective for a few months. Her confidence is limited so she is hesitant to take on a murder investigation especially with her mentor out of town even though her landlady and friend Diane Dade asks her to look into the death of her mother Alexa Chitting. Reluctantly Katie agrees to investigate the homicide ruled a robbery gone bad by the Key West police and concurred with by Mac.

 Katie begins her inquiries at the scene of the crime, Alexa's office, where the culprit killed the victim using a conch shell that ironically symbolizes birth. Katie finds an obscure bullet that the cops overlooked and believes more than just a robbery occurred as Alexa was changing her will. However, she wonders who were the losers if Alexa had signed her revised will and would one of them kill to keep his or her inheritance? Katie learns the answer as she becomes a target when she gets too close.

 This engaging private investigative tale hooks readers because the heroine lacks confidence yet courageously seeks to solve the homicide against staggering professional odds. The story line reads more like an amateur sleuth cozy as the violence is left off the pages and Katie is learning on the job. Katie is a delightful individual and the support cast enables the audience to understand her, especially her fears, much better even when they fail to cooperate.