I rollerbladed over to the bank of mailboxes, trying to act casual and not let on to the other seniors I passed on the way that anything was wrong.

Not easy to do when you’ve just killed a man.

“Hey, Claire, lookin’ good.” Lenny the letch waved and released an appreciative wolf whistle. Every retirement community has its resident ladies man, and eighty-year-old Lenny Fink with his bad rug and vintage polyester leisure suits was Cedar Glen’s.

I gave a feeble wave in return, careful not to lose my balance. The last thing I needed was a broken hip. At my mailbox, I tossed the junk mail and pulled out a couple bills and the boxes of Yorkshire Gold I’d ordered online. Best. Tea. Ever. I decided to make a cup when I got back to my condo—hoping it would help settle my nerves. Nothing like a good cuppa as the Brits say.

Finding an Eiffel Tower postcard stuck between the bills, I smiled as I read my son’s message.

Hi Mom,
We’re having a great time eating our way through Paris—the steak au poivre and duck confit are divine, as is the wine. And the pastries? Chef’s kiss. When are you going to cross the pond so Trey and I can take you around Europe and show you all the sights?

Love,
Douglas

“Hi Claire.”

The unexpected voice behind me made me jerk, dropping my mail. Heart hammering in my chest, I pasted on a smile and turned around, determined to play it cool and not give anything away. “Doris, you startled me.”

“Sorry.” The gray-permed octogenarian bent and picked up my mail. “You’re awfully jumpy today. Is everything okay?” Doris gave me a probing look, her eyes gleaming with curiosity.

You mean apart from the dead guy rolled up in a rug behind the couch and double-bagged in a couple of oversized Hefty trash bags?

“Everything’s fine,” I said to the most notorious gossip in our Northern California retirement community. “I just had my head in the clouds.”

“Are you coming to bingo tonight?” Doris asked. “I hear there’s going to be some great prizes.”

“No, I’ve got other plans.” Like disposing of a body with my gal pals Atsuko, Barbara, and Daphne, or as we’d dubbed ourselves, The Alphabet Girls.

Killing a man hadn’t been on my to-do list for today, but sometimes stuff happens and you have to adjust.

THE ALPHABET SLEUTHS
Series Name: An Alphabet Girls Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: February 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Disposing of a body is as easy as A, B, C! Introducing the Alphabet Girls, four senior gal pals turned accidental sleuths―The Thursday Murder Club meets The Golden Girls, with a splash of Killers of a Certain Age

At sixty-nine years old, Claire Reynolds is changing things up. She’s volunteering. Learning to rollerblade. She’s rescued a shelter dog. And today, she’s killed a man. It wasn’t on her to-do list, but stuff happens.

Besides, the man in question was strangling her good friend Daphne, and what’s a gal to do? Scream, possibly. Call the cops. Or―at retired officer Daphne’s insistence―call in the rest of their senior gal pals, roll up the body in a blanket, and toss it off a cliff.

The dead man is a member of the local crime family, and if the police get involved it’s not just Daphne at risk, it’s them all.

But the body’s just the start. Soon the Alphabet Girls―Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne―must transform into the Alphabet Sleuths, if they’re to keep both their liberty . . . and their lives.

Meet Atsuko Kimura (75, retired journalist), Barbara Wright (age redacted, retired actress), Claire Reynolds (69, retired paralegal), and Daphne Cole (62, retired cop) in the first funny, fast-paced Alphabet Girls Mystery from award-winning author Laura Jensen Walker.

About the author
Laura Jensen Walker is the award-winning author of several books, including the Agatha-nominated MURDER MOST SWEET and the Lefty-nominated DEATH OF A FLYING NIGHTINGALE. Publishers Weekly said of THE ALPHABET SLEUTHS: “Walker’s feisty, funny, and fully realized seniors easily sit beside the casts of The Thursday Murder Club and The Marlow Murder Club in the cozy pantheon. Readers will be charmed.” Visit Laura at www.laurajensenwalker.com.