It's lights, cameras, action when Jessica realizes that the plot for her new book has been stolen for use on a TV show - whose producer turns up murdered.

Dirty politics come to light when Jessica investigates the murder of a well-respected mayor. When the mayor's father also winds up dead, Jessica takes a hard look at the political funding machine and finds the corruption extends to several branches of public office.

Jessica is spending her holidays with an old friend, Lloyd Marcus. His daughter is found murdered in her house and her husband Donald becomes the prime suspect.

It's a bitter pill for Jessica to swallow when she's forced to stay at the hospital and her doctor is murdered.

When a traditional Japanese marriage contract is broken after the fiance is killed by a masked assailant, Jessica must decipher a politically charged love triangle in order to find the culprit.

A trip to Cairo with a museum curator begins badly when Jessica's bag is stolen, and then takes a turn for the worse when a priceless relic also goes missing and the hard-boiled thief is murdered.

Nothing's in harmony when the guardian of a piano prodigy is killed and an innocent man is charged with the crime.

Jessica travels to Virginia - and into her own family history - where she discovers that she inherited her sleuthing skills from a relative who worked to abolish slavery.

Michael Hagerty needs Jessica's help when he tries to prevent his estranged daughter's engagement to a man who is later found dead.