Hi everyone—I’m Lurleen, Lurleen du Trois. Some of you may know me as Ditie Brown’s best friend and some of you might not know me at all. The usual star in the Ditie Brown Mystery series is Mabel Aphrodite Brown, Ditie for short. But for this book I’m the star and I get to tell the story. I’m even in the title, Lurleen’s Tale of Love and Murder. This is the ninth book in the series and frankly, it’s about time I get to talk to you directly. Ditie thought so too.
After all I’m the one who found the body in the abandoned building. Despite what some people say—that I’m a murder magnet—I wasn’t looking for a body. I was just trying to help out a friend. When a friend asks for help I’m always there. Usually Ditie is at my side, but not this time.
Amanda called me terrified. She’d found a dead body in the basement of a building she and her fiancee Luke were thinking of buying. They wanted to create a cafe and grocery store in their neighborhood. Amanda had been a star student at my cooking school, so I thought it was a great idea. She couldn’t reach Luke and my boyfriend Danny was at a stakeout. He’s a private detective, and I’ve learned a good deal about detecting from him. I know never to touch anything at a crime scene, etc. etc. etc. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t go help a friend.
When I got to the scene of the crime (how I love those words) I saw Amanda was busy with an officer and I also saw that the door to the basement was unlocked with no crime scene tape barring the door. I barely touched it and the door swung open. I swear that’s the truth. I walked in, turned on the dim lighting and looked around. There, among what looked like crates, was a woman. A dead woman by the look of her. I circled her, felt for a pulse and found none. She was cool to the touch. I took pictures with my cell because she had the strangest expression on her face—a trace of a smile. Then I heard someone rush past me. The murderer?
I ran outside after them but the person was gone. A policeman grabbed me and everything went downhill from there. I mean no one really thought I was the murderer, but they did accuse me of contaminating the crime scene when all I did was feel for a pulse and take a few pictures. Even Ditie was annoyed with me. I hated that, but Ditie has always been one to play by the rules and I’m the kind of person who makes up the rules as she goes along.
It all worked out. It always does, but you’ll have to read the book—my book—to see how things unfolded.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment below for a chance to win a paperback book in the “Ditie Brown” series (Too Many Crooks Spoil, Into the Frying Pan, Murder Most Southern, The House of Good and Evil, Wedded to Trouble, Murder and Misdirection, The Art of Murder, and Styled for Murder). One entry per person. U.S. residents only, please. The giveaway ends September 18, 2026. Good luck everyone!
LURLEEN’S TALE OF LOVE AND MURDER
Series: A Ditie Brown Mystery, Book 9
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
When Ditie’s best friend, Lurleen, discovers a dead body in an abandoned building, her friends tell her to leave the investigation to the professionals. But Lurleen doesn’t know the meaning of “back off.”
Someone has murdered Sophia Martinez, a highly respected Hispanic real estate agent. Is it a hate crime? And what does it mean that Sophia’s best friend, Carmen, has disappeared leaving her two-year-old daughter, Maria, behind?
It’s Lurleen t o the rescue. She will protect this little girl as she searches for Carmen and for Sophia’s murderer. What Lurleen doesn’t plan for is how much she will come t o love little Maria.
Includes Family-Friendly Recipes!
About the author
Sarah Osborne is the pen name for a physician and writer living on Cape Cod. She grew up in northern California, went to school in Ohio and lived for many years in Atlanta before moving to the Cape. She writes cozy mysteries because these are the books that bring her comfort when the world seems too daunting. She hopes she can give that same comfort to others by creating worlds in which the good guys always win and characters seem real enough to be friends.
Please visit her website at doctorosborne.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter. Email her at sarah@doctorosborne.com. She loves to hear from readers.