The Cardboard Cottage Mystery Series| Book 1
And so the adventure begins...
Four fierce friends. One dead husband.
It starts with a competitive game of dominoes and ends with a dead body in a hotel parking garage. Amy Sparks, vintage game shop owner and reluctant amateur sleuth, suspects one of her friends might’ve actually meant it when she joked about offing husband number four.
Now Amy's navigating shotgun standoffs, twisted alibis, and the winding back roads of Arkansas—all while questioning what loyalty really means when murder’s in play.
Published by Scorpius Carta Press, 2020
Welcome to Tiddlywinks in Bluff Springs!
Set in the quirky (and fictional) tourist town of Bluff Springs, Arkansas, the Cardboard Cottage is more than a tourist trap. It's the collaboration of four best friends, who would do just about anything for each other. Anything.
The home hub where Amy and her crew of rule-bending, game-playing, cocktail-sipping sleuths meet, plot, and—occasionally—dispose of bodies (just fictionally, of course).
Whether they’re tallying domino pips, dodging town gossip, or evading actual arrest, one thing’s for sure: these women play to win.
Pack a suitcase and let's go!
Every other book, the Cardboard Cottage Sleuths pack a bag for a bucket list destination. Well, of course a mystery meets them there. It's a murder mystery series... someone's gotta go. Might as well be another crappy husband.
From suitcases on wheels to psychic jokes gone sideways, these sleuths are as loyal as they are lethal—and they’re just getting started. Armchair travelers love the adventure.
And if you love game-night-themed murders, twisty plots, and smart women with little interest in sweet-tea cozies, you’ll love the Cardboard Cottage Mystery series by Jane Elzey.
The Cardboard Cottage Mystery Series| Book 2
What happens when four best friends celebrate the big Five-O? Another husband dies trying.
Zelda Carlisle’s birthday cruise is supposed to be sun, sea, all party-no stress. But when the Cardboard Cottage sleuths bump into a dead man on deck, their tropical getaway turns into a floating whodunit
Caught between a mud spa mishap, a flirty pirate with secrets, and a reckless mistake they can’t take back, the friends are in over their heads—and in way too deep ... in the Pacific.
Sleuthing falls to Amy Sparks, who must sort through false leads, glittering lies, and shark-infested waters to catch a killer if they ever hope to leave the ship alive.
Published by Scorpius Carta Press, 2021
Snorkeling the Galapagos Islands in Dice on a Deadly Sea!
A crystal-blue panorama stretched in every direction, tourmaline and shimmering. Only the curved glass of her mask separated her from the sea and its creatures. It was like swimming through a dream.
Below the surface, the world went quiet—like snow muffling sound across a landscape. Her breath echoed in her snorkel. The soft squeak of surprise when a fish zipped past. And beneath it all… not a hum, not silence, but something in between. A quiet that filled the space like music just beyond hearing.
Then: a flicker of motion. A penguin shot past, bubbles streaming from its feathers. It locked eyes with her—curious, suspicious—like the penguins in those animated movies that save the world. She laughed into her snorkel. The penguin blinked, then vanished into the blue.
The Cardboard Cottage Mystery Series| Book 3
Four friends are steeped in secrets…
and another husband dies.
While the Who’s Who of Arkansas tourism gathers in Bluff Springs, a wine merchant husband turns up dead—and Amy Sparks finds herself once again in the middle of a murder.
What was supposed to be a fun stop on the “Big European Tour of Arkansas”—a political stump tour through wine country—quickly spirals into a maze of jealousy, cover-ups, and one suspiciously timely prediction.
Has Amy stumbled into a love triangle… or something darker? A black widow society, maybe?
As secrets swirl and stakes rise, Amy has to uncork the truth before another husband ends up headlining the local paper.
Friendship is forever... but the crappy husbands? Not so much.
Published by Scorpius Carta Press, 2023
Wine country in Arkansas... Really? There is one?
The Arkansas wine country produces 150,000 gallons of wine every year. We're first in rice production, by the way.
Late in every July the ritual begins. Grape stomping, pie eating, Bacchus and Lady Bacchus contests celebrate the fruit of the harvest.
A rich history dating back more than 150 years when Swiss immigrants settled in the fertile river banks of Arkansas. Grape growing and wine making have been a big part of Arkansas culture ever since.
The Cardboard Cottage Mystery Series| Book 4
Four friends play a game of croquet on visiting Ireland. . . and another (crappy) husband bites the dust.
A trip to the Emerald Isle has the four friends dreaming of castle ruins, fairy houses, and the hunt for family roots. But when a wedding ends in murder, it threatens to ruin their visit to the Emerald Isle.
When is a maid not a maid? That's the riddle Amy must solve before the killer can be brought to justice as the handsome Garda O'Shannon hopes.
Everyone has something to hide as suspects mount and so do the bodies. Between the croquet theme and the banshee screams, Amy realizes her precognitive snippets have followed her to Ireland. Could her grandmother hail from an ancient Celtic tribe? Will Rian find her long-lost clan? Will they solve the murders in time? It's all within the realm possibilities in the land of lore, legend, and flannel.
Published by Scorpius Carta Press, 2024
An armchair visit to the Emerald Isle
Visiting Ireland with the Cardboard Cottage Sleuths is more fun than you can shake a sheep at. And there are lots of sheep! Enjoy all this wonderful country has to offer, including the handsome Garda they call Mr. Dimples who is investigating the crimes in County Cork. There's a visit to a haunted work house, a poisonous garden, a ferry across the River Shannon, plus all the castle ruins and sightseeing you can stand.
The Cardboard Cottage Mystery Series| Book 5
Four friends play to win… and another husband dies. This time it’s an old, cold crime.
A fundraiser in the Silent City--also known as the graveyard--drops a clue in Amy’s lap that sets off a chain of clues that points straight to 1924. Her Grandmother Ollie had warned her against haints, and now she may be talking with one of them on a vintage Ouija board.
Hobo signs and history are part of this puzzling mystery from that frigid night in the past, but it isn’t long before Amy discovers that more than one husband didn't make it out of his marriage alive. Was there a black widow society in their little town a century ago? Or has a spirit returned to settle the score?
With her sleuthing sisters by her side, Amy must solve a deadly game of deception—before the past rewrites the present and innocent lives are changed forever.
Published by Scorpius Carta Press, 2025
A trip back in time
Things were different back in the 1920s. The idea of the Roaring Twenties we know does little to reveal the true era between war and economic destruction. Women had just earned the right to vote, shortened their skirts, and cars were just hitting the roads. Spiritualism and séances were all the rage in the 1920s, and so were Ouija boards, a popular parlor game and source of comfort.
