Akron Public Library

Newly divorced Brandy Borne, who's on an antidepressant, returns home to Serenity, a little town on the Mississippi River, and to her slightly deranged mother, Vivian, who's also on meds. To Brandy's horror, Vivian has sold their antique furniture to an unscrupulous dealer, Clint Carson. Since the Bornes weren't the only ones this swindler has scammed, it's no surprise when Carson gets his comeuppance-run over on a road near his farmhouse.

When her initial successes with her hit reality series are jeopardized by a rival show starring her police chief boyfriend's ex, Brandy finds herself framed for murder while her kooky mom sorts through a rogue's gallery of suspects.

The votes are in! Eccentric seventy-something Vivian Borne—elected county sheriff, to everyone’s amazement but her own—springs into action. In her new role, the community playhouse diva appoints daughter Brandy reluctant deputy and makes their spunky shih tzu Sushi a K-9 unit of one. Soon the amateur-sleuths-turned-pro have a challenging case to solve as a series of creepy crimes plague an ill-fated Edgar Allan Poe festival, where a fiend...

Brandy and Vivian head to a comic-book convention to sell a rare 1940s Superman drawing. An intruder breaks into their hotel suite, and they suspect a felonious fan, over-eager to acquire the artwork. When Brandy and Mother stumble onto a murder victim impaled by a pen-shaped award, suspects range from comic-book collectors to crime kingpins, leading to a madcap Manhattan misadventure.

"That local theater diva of a certain age, Vivian Borne--a.k.a. Brandy's mother--is sheriff of Serenity County now, but still hot on the trail of precious antiques. On a tour of the historic Wentworth Mansion, the two dedicated dealers are aglow at the treasure trove of priceless objects...never dreaming everything will turn to ashes, hours later. A charred corpse in the ruins is identified as the mansion's caretaker, a one-time flame of Vivian's....