The Professor Molly Mysteries

Professor Molly feels more relief than grief when Mahina State’s one-man hostile work environment keels over at a faculty retreat.  She has no desire to get involved with the case, so it's an unpleasant surprise to find she already is involved. Now Professor Molly has to fight to keep the wrong person out of prison—and herself off the unemployment line.

If you like Dorothy Parker, Sarah Caudwell, P.G. Wodehouse, or E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia stories, you’ll enjoy this tale of passion, pilferage, and petty politics in the middle of the Pacific.

Meetings can be murder. Literally.

It looks like it's going to be just another boring faculty retreat at Mahina State University, "Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow."

But then the Trust Fall exercise goes horribly wrong...

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Our guest of honor may have been “The Most Hated Man in Hawaii,” but the College of Commerce was in no position to be picky. Not after the latest round of budget cuts.

After a brutal year on the academic job market, Professor Molly Barda has finally landed a job at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow"). All she wants to do is keep her head down and stay out of trouble until she gets tenure. But then the wealthy and widely-hated Jimmy Tanaka, founder of Merrie Musubis lunch shop, pledges a huge donation to Molly's college and promptly disappears. Molly's venal dean, knowing Molly is in no position to refuse, orders her to track down the missing mogul. As Molly uncovers Mahina's ancient feuds and fresh scandals, she starts to fall for Tanaka's competitor...who might have few secrets of his own.

Seven on the crew. Six seats in the canoe. Everyone wants to paddle in the big Labor Day race. What could go wrong? 

Professor Molly investigates a mysterious paddling accident, and realizes it isn’t just business majors who cheat to get what they want. Whether it’s moving up in the college rankings, getting a seat in the Labor Day canoe race, or just looking out for themselves, some people will do whatever it takes to sink the competition.

When a violent death disrupts the monthly meeting of the Pua Kala Garden society, Professor Molly Barda has no intention of playing amateur detective. But Molly’s not just a witness–the victim is Molly’s house guest and grad-school frenemy. And Molly quickly finds to her dismay that her interest in the murder of the stylish and self-centered Melanie Polewski is more than just…academic.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.

On the way to interviewing a local farmer, Professor Molly stumbles onto a gruesome discovery in a field of genetically modified papayas. Molly is sure the murder has nothing to do with her new research project...until a second death rocks Mahina's tight farming community, and Molly's administration drops her research like a hot potato. If Molly can't root out the bad apples, not only will her tenure case go pear-shaped...she might end up pushing up daisies.

"You may wonder what my least-favorite student was doing in my living room. In a twist of fate that might seem hilarious if it happened to someone else, he was now my stepson."
Professor Molly Barda is looking forward to a quiet summer in Mahina, Hawaii working on her research and adjusting to married life. But when a visit from her new husband's relatives coincides with a murder, Molly wonders what she's married into--and realizes she might have a killer under her roof.

A fundraising scheme at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow") forces pregnant Professor Molly into the role of "tutierge" (that's tutor-concierge). While she's battling morning sickness, a meddling mom, and the Student Retention Office. The last thing she needs to deal with right now is  murder.

But here we are.

Professor Emma Nakamura doesn't believe in ghosts. So it doesn't bother her (much) when she learns of a long-ago suicide in her remote upcountry rental house. She's sure there's a logical explanation for the disappearing items and the strange sounds in the night.
Fortunately (?), Emma's best friend Molly has news shocking enough to take Emma's mind off the hauntings. Now Emma and Molly have to rely on their strong reasoning skills and a weak internet connection to figure out how a body ended up in Molly's backyard.
The Nakamura Letters is an island-style take on the Golden Age mysteries of Mary Roberts Rinehart and Agatha Christie.

Professor Molly is thrilled to accompany Donnie to Mahina State's exclusive donor dinner. She doesn't expect to have to share a table with the insufferable Stephen Park and his tactless new girlfriend.

Turns out it's one thing to invite your toxic ex-boyfriend to drop dead...it's quite another when he takes you up on it.

Through no fault of her own, Professor Molly just got promoted to department chair at Mahina State University ("Where Your Future Begins Tomorrow").

She has to mentor the department's new star, the prickly Fiona Spencer. The Student Retention Office has her buried in paperwork. Her college has just relocated to a former asylum, her budget is being slashed, and the air conditioning is broken. At least nothing else can go wrong.

Until Fiona finds a body in her office.

There's no such thing as bad publicity. Until it happens to you.

Professor Molly's new renter is a social media star seeking privacy in remote Mahina, Hawaii. The arrangement seems to be working out...until the celebrity influencer vanishes. Molly and her best friend Emma Nakamura call in the Mahina PD and try to stay out of the way. But the unthinkable happens: The saturnine Detective Medeiros actually asks for Molly and Emma's help. As they confront nosy neighbors, fanatical followers, and the missing woman's has-been husband, Molly and Emma find themselves at the center of the story. And when fame creates its own reality, that's a dangerous place to be.