In Deadly Crush, for widowed single mom and recent transplant to Northern California wine country Cece Barton, winter means flowing streams from winter rains, pruned vineyards—and a murder to solve. She’s shocked when she gets a call from her vintage car mechanic, Josie, that she’s found her ex-husband crushed to death beneath the lift in her automotive shop. Cece’s electrician Karl was an abusive husband, threatening Josie, and she has no alibi. With a bouquet of motives and unanswered questions, Cece is going to need the help of her twin, Allie, who owns a nearby B & B, as she dives into Karl’s past—before the killer catches up with her, and the lights go out for good.

Maddie made several online appearances to celebrate the release of Deadly Crush in November, 2024. Topics included:

• Several chicks who provided inspiration for the book at Chicks on the Case
• Maddie’s love affair with vintage cars on Jungle Red Writers
• Settings of Maddie’s books at Crime Reads
• An interview and a recipe at Cozy Crime Reads
• Cece’s twin Allie reports on a day in her life at Dru’s Book Musings

A novella collection by Lee Hollis, Lynn Cahoon, and Maddie Day.

Maddie’s “Murderous Mittens” introduces Cece Barton in the wine region town of Colinas, where’s she’s visiting her twin sister for Christmas. At a Colinas wine bar, Pasadena resident Cece meets Massachusetts farmer Cam Flaherty (from the Local Foods Mysteries), who is on a jaunt west to study innovative farming techniques. But the next morning  Cece learns that the bar’s proprietor, who sells mittens in her spare time, has been found dead. With Cece’s horrified twin one of the main suspects, can Cece and Cam unmask the merry murderer before this becomes a holiday from hell? 

This first in the series released September 25, 2023