Jordan Bingham, a recent college graduate returning home to a small town in upstate New York, needs to find a job quickly. With a Master's degree in English and experience handling rare manuscripts, she finds what looks like a dream job: hunting down rare and valuable mystery novels for local recluse Vera Van Alst's collection of classic detective fiction. Her research position includes room and board with Vera, who is an eccentric with a cantankerous disposition. Jordan works hard to improve Van Alst's collection but runs into all kinds of complications during her research; and at times she needs her not-so-law-abiding uncles to help her out of scrapes. There is a lot of fast action, humor, and surprises, along with good plotting and pacing. A nice bonus for mystery lovers is that details on the classic authors' lives are interspersed through the books. The first book in the series is The Christie Curse, where Jordan must track down a rumored Agatha Christie play. It seems easy enough, but Jordan soon finds out that there is someone out there willing to murder to keep the play out of Vera's hands. The second book in the series is The Sayers Swindle (Dorothy Sayers), followed by The Wolfe Widow (Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe), The Marsh Madness (Ngaio Marsh), and The Hammett Hex (Dashiell Hammett). The books in this series are best read in order.

"If you are a book lover of any kind, you will love this series."- Debbie's Book Bag

"With a full inventory of suspects, a courageous heroine and a tribute to a famous writer of whodunits, The Christie Curse will tempt her legion of devotees. Even mystery lovers who have never read Christie-if any exist-will find a pleasing puzzle in Abbott's opener."
- Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Deftly plotted, with amusing one-liners, murder and a dash of mayhem."- Toronto Star

"The books continue to delight with sharp humor, quick-witted characters, a tough but vulnerable heroine, and celebration of the classic mystery genre."- Kings River Life Magazine

"[A] mystery that will keep you guessing and entertained every step of the way...brilliantly crafted." - Fresh Fiction

VICTORIA ABBOTT is a pseudonym for short-story author Victoria Maffini and her mother, Mary Jane Maffini, author of three mystery series. Mary Jane's many honors include the 2012 Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Amateur Sleuth, three Arthur Ellis Awards, and an Agatha Award.