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To Hell in a Handbasket

The second book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series is set in Breckenridge, CO, where Claire and her family go on a ski vacation a couple of months after the events in A Real Basket Case. The vacation quickly goes to hell in a handbasket when the sister of her daughter’s boyfriend is killed on the slope.

“Groundwater's second leaves the bunny slope behind, offering some genuine black-diamond thrills.”

-- Kirkus Review, April 1, 2009

“Tightly plotted and very current, the story manages to keep you on the edge of your seat.”

-- Gumshoe Review, May 1, 2009

Last updated:

January 5, 2010

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Announcing my new Mystery Series!

I have signed a contract with Midnight Ink to publish the first two books in my new Mandy Tanner river ranger series. The first, Wicked Whitewater, will be released in the first quarter of 2011. When Mandy rescues a man who fell out of a raft on the upper Arkansas River in Colorado and he dies on the river bank, she feels driven to find out what—or who—killed him.

A Real Basket Case

When police accuse the husband of a Colorado Springs gift basket designer of killing her massage therapist, she becomes a bumbling amateur sleuth. Will she free her husband and save her marriage before the killer gets her next?

“This will appeal to Desperate Housewives fans and those who like cozies with a bit of spice.”

-- Barbara Bibel, Booklist Review, February 1, 2007

“Drugs and jealousy add up to a Rocky Mountain murder. A tense, exciting debut.”

-- Kirkus Review, January 1, 2007

“A gutsy sleuth, a fast-paced plot, and intriguing characters that keep you guessing. A Real Basket Case is a real winner! Don't miss it.”

-- Maggie Sefton, bestselling author of Knit One, Kill Two

Nominated for the 2007

“Best First Novel” Agatha Award:

The Epsilon Eridani Alternative

This science fiction novella explores a timely ethical issue--the use of stem cells for medical research--with a futuristic twist. Space colonists face the dilemma of whether to harvest stem cells from alien infants to counteract the effects of human aging.

“Entertaining and thought-provoking. Groundwater uses engaging characters to adeptly contrast the intellectual, biological, and emotional urges we have to protect our species.”

-- Laura E. Reeve, author of the Major Ariane Kedros Novels