Scrub-A-Dub-Dead (Charlotte Larue Mysteries)

Maid for a day Charlotte LaRue knows that sweeping murder under the rug is anything but simple in the Big Easy — especially since no smudge or stain is safe from her scrutiny...

Doing a favor for a friend in need has Charlotte cleaning rooms at the New Orleans Jazzy Hotel. The historic Garden District mansion is serving as a home-away-from-home for Shreveport’s chapter of the Red Scarf Sorority, a group of socially elite women in their forties.

While picking up beautiful red silk scarves from the floor of a room she's cleaning, Charlotte is startled by the sudden arrival of its ranting and raving occupant, who insists that Charlotte ignored the Do-Not-Disturb sign on the door and threatens to have her fired. Charlotte is stunned into silence, until the Red Scarf Sorority comes to the rescue. The women manage to calm Tessa Morgan, who just had a run-in with her estranged husband’s much younger mistress Lisa—and learned that they plan to marry. After some of the women jokingly suggest making Lisa permanently disappear, Charlotte takes her leave. The situation gets even messier when Charlotte runs into an old flame and learns that he is Tessa's stepfather — and that Lisa may be blackmailing him.

The next day, Charlotte gets back to work, only to learn that Lisa has been murdered, strangled by what could have been a red scarf. The hotel is awash in suspects, and soon Tessa is being dragged away in handcuffs. It seems Lisa had more enemies than friends, and Charlotte is convinced the police are on the wrong track with Tessa. It's time to start scouring through clues before the person who rubbed out Lisa makes a clean getaway...

"A routine mystery enlivened by romantic interludes." Kirkus Reviews

"In her sixth series title, Colley has not lost her flair for throwing Charlotte into dangerous situations. For cozy fans." Library Journal

The New Orleans Jazzy hotel, a historic Garden District mansion, serves as a home-away-from-home for Shreveport's chapter of the Red Scarf Sorority, a group of socially elite women in their forties. When a young women is found strangled, apparently with a red scarf, it's time for Charlotte to start scouring through clues before the real villian makes a clean getaway.

Barbara Colley, P.E., is the head of BC3E, Barbara Colley Consulting Engineers, a firm that provides a full range of civil engineering design services, based in Sonoma County, California. She is a land development specialist with over 30 years' experience. Her work has spanned hydrology, hydraulic system design, solid and water-borne waste management, natural resources and environmental impact, geology, and transportation studies.