Desiree first appeared in A Grave Issue, the first book in the series and the best way to know a person is by asking questions, so let’s meet Desiree.

What is your name?
Desiree Turner.

How old are you?
28.

What is your profession?
I wish I knew how to answer that! My dream since I was in high school was to be a journalist. I worked hard and I did it! I was an on-air reporter for a television station in Los Angeles until, well, I had a little hot mike oops situation. I lost my job and a bit of my self-esteem and possibly even a little bit of respect for my profession. I came home and now I’m working at my family’s funeral home like my sister and my father and my uncle and their father and . . . well, you see how that goes. Meanwhile, I’m also doing some reporting for our local paper, the Verbena Free Press.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes. Maybe. Kind of.

What is his name and profession?
Nate Johar. Our county’s Medical Examiner. He was my high school boyfriend, then we both went away to school and now we’re back and we have the whole dead body thing in common and he’s still super cute and . . . well, he’s also easy. He doesn’t challenge me. He just accepts me. Then there’s my sometime boss at the Verbena Free Press, Rafe Valdez. We have journalism in common and he’s also super cute, but he makes me feel like I’m constantly in fight or flight mode, which turns out to be kind of exciting, but do I really want that?

Any children?
Nope. I’m barely mature enough to take care of myself!

Do you have any sibling(s)?
My sister Donna, who always seems to have everything all together.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
I can’t wait for you to meet Orion! The smartest, cutest, bestest puppy ever. He’s a German Shepherd/Malamute mix. I sort of inherited him from a client, which sound way creepier than it actually is. I promise.

What town do you live in?
I live in Verbena, California, right at the northern edge of California’s Central Valley. Everything grows here. Fruit. Nuts. Weed. Me, I guess. My family has been here almost as long as the town has.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I live over the family’s funeral home where my family has lived for decades. I suppose I own part of it. At least, no one’s charging me for rent. Yet.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
My room. Or it’s becoming my favorite spot. When I first moved back, it looked just like it had when I left it right after I graduated from high school right down to the poster of the kitten dangling from the tree limb telling everyone to “hang in there.” Slowly, but surely, I’m redoing it and making it right for me now. I’m not that girl who left here as soon as she could pack her car and go. I’m actually not sure exactly who I am these days. Maybe the way I decorate my room will give me some hints.

Who is your best friend?
Jasmine has been my best friend since pre-school. She’s like a north star for me. Always there. Always steady. Does the north star always seem to have a bottle of wine to share?

Amateur sleuth or professional?
Amateur. Although I feel like I could probably get a designation as a professional in irritating one of our current police officers, Luke Butler.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
Anyone who will help me! Seriously, this town is like a web. Everyone is connected to everyone else somehow. I might have solved the crimes I’ve solved as much by knowing these people and how they behave as by following clues.

Favorite meal?
Macaroni and cheese.

Favorite dessert?
Does wine count?

Favorite hobby?
Hiking. No. Maybe surfing.

Favorite vacation spot?
I used to come home on vacation. Now I live here. Should I go back to L.A. for vacay? I’ll have to think about that.

Favorite color?
Blue.

Favorite author?
Louisa May Alcott. In my heart of hearts, I’m pretty sure I’m Jo.

Favorite sports team?
I hear the Golden State Warriors play some pretty good sportsball and that Steph Curry guy is kind of cute. I’ll say them.

Movies or Broadway?
Oh, man! Broadway every day if I could! I love that electric feeling of watching amazing performers live. That doesn’t mean I don’t like a good flick, though, especially if I get to watch it with Jasmine and her mom makes popcorn.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Morning. I used to get up early to hike or surf with my dad. It’s part of why I feel so connected to him. We didn’t have to talk. We could just be with each other, breathing the air and communing with the waves or uniting with the dirt beneath our feet. It’s a connection that goes beyond words.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
One of the best things about working in the funeral home is that there is no typical day. You never know who will come in or what they will need. Everyone grieves in their own way. Everyone has different ideas about the right way to say good-bye to someone they love. It makes for endless variety.

You can read about Desiree in If the Coffin Fits, the second book in the “Funeral Parlor” mystery series.

When an unnatural cause of death finds one of her clients, Desiree must get to the bottom of the murder before she’s fitted for a coffin, herself.

Funeral director Desiree Turner deals with death by natural causes all the time. Death by unnatural causes? Not so much. Yet, she and her boyfriend Nate have heard some not-so-dear things about the recently departed. A suspicious remark by the late Frank Fiore’s daughters sparks some concern. And when Violet Daugherty faints behind the wheel of her car, Desiree suspects she’s got a front seat to murder.

Desiree can’t help but look into Violet’s untimely end, but soon after, rumors begin to spread that she’s accusing her clients of murder, which quickly spurs a mass cancellation and Desiree is on the verge of going out of business. What began as an effort to do due diligence for her client turns into a wild goose chase for Violet’s murderer. Desiree must find her proof before everything she works for is lost. But that’s easier said than done, because while everyone else in town is looking to take their business elsewhere, the killer sets sights directly upon Desiree.

Now it’s up to Desiree to find the murderer before she becomes the next body her funeral parlor serves in If the Coffin Fits, Lillian Bell’s second charming Funeral Parlor mystery.

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About the author
Lillian Bell lives in a small northern California town which is totally not Verbena, despite any similarities anyone might detect. She also writes as Eileen Rendahl and Eileen Carr and Kristi Abbott.

All comments are welcomed.