She survived 30 years teaching English.
After that, murder is easy.
Myrtle Clover is a sharp-tongued octogenarian retired teacher in Bradley, North Carolina — a town where the casseroles arrive before the police do, and the police arrive too late anyway. With her gnomes in the front yard and her sidekick Miles in the next-door rocker, she's been solving Bradley's murders for 28 books — with a 29th on the way.
Myrtle's son is the chief of police, which she finds mostly inconvenient. Her neighbor Miles is a retired engineer who has, against his better judgement, become her partner in detection. There are casseroles. There are bridge clubs. There are book clubs that, with alarming frequency, end in murder. And there is Myrtle — eighty-something, indignant, and unreasonably good at solving the kind of crimes the police would prefer she leave alone.
"Move over Jessica Fletcher, Myrtle Clover is here to stay."
"Myrtle Clover [is] a sturdy octogenarian… [with] a wacky personality [that] is a delight."
"Craig's skill at evoking a small town and its idiosyncratic inhabitants renders this mystery a pleasure to read."
Myrtle is octogenarian, opinionated, and completely uninterested in being looked after. She taught English at Bradley High for thirty years — long enough that half the town went through her classroom, including the current chief of police, who happens to be her son. He'd very much like her to take up gardening.
She prefers solving murders. With the help of her long-suffering best friend Miles (next-door neighbor, retired engineer, voice of reason), her tabloid-writer Erma situation across the street, and a supporting cast of bridge-club regulars and church-suppers casserole-bringers, Myrtle has investigated 28 murders in Bradley, NC — with a 29th case (A Dish Best Served Dead) coming soon. She would say she's not a busybody. The evidence suggests otherwise.
New readers can start anywhere — every book is a standalone mystery — but reading in order lets you watch Myrtle's friendships, feuds, and casserole-grudges evolve over twenty-plus years of small-town life.
Best read in order — but each book stands on its own. New readers usually start with Pretty Is as Pretty Dies. Click any cover for buy links.
"I don't know what I will do when this series finishes. It will feel like losing a friend."
"Our clever and bossy protagonist is pitch-perfect — I love that she's an older woman who is always living her best life."
"It was a lovely return to familiar friends and antics, like watching a favorite sitcom."
"I love that she's an older woman who is always living her best life. I wish my life could be half as adventurous as hers!"