Dorothy St. James White House Gardener Mysteries

Welcome, gentle reader, to the world of Casey Calhoun, the free-spirited organic gardener for the White House.

She works tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the lawns green, the flowers in bloom and the vegetables plump and tasty.

Casey also has a talent for sniffing out more than the overuse of fertilizers on the South Lawn. Spring, summer and fall, she digs up plots-which have nothing to do with planting and everything to do with murder.

May 2011:Flowerbed of State
"A bright blossom in the garden of cozy mysteries." ~ Jacklyn Brady, author of
A Sheetcake Named Desire
"Fast-paced plot"~Publishers Weekly
"Spunky" ~ Library Journal

Cassandra "Casey" Calhoun's passion for gardening has carried her to President's Park on which sits the White House. But when she finds a dead body in a trash can, Casey has to root out a killer before she ends up planted herself.

**Selected by the Bismarck, ND library system as one of the Best Adult Mystery for Teens 2010-2011!**

April 2012: The Scarlet Pepper
As the official organic gardener for the White House, Casey Calhoun is usually up to her elbows in something or other. But when someone starts tampering with the Presidential vegetable garden, she soon finds herself in way over her head.

As if it wasn't bad enough that red peppers are growing instead of green ones and cabbage is popping up where the First Lady's favorite lettuce should be-a hard-nosed investigative reporter is found dead after targeting the President's unpopular Chief of Staff.

Raking over the clues and rumors, Casey knows that someone is sabotaging both her garden and the First Lady's reputation. But when she has one close call too many, Casey realizes that the next thing buried in the dirt might just be her…

Praise for The Scarlet Pepper:

"This cozy gets my highest recommendation, a perfect escape, and it should be in your in your hot little hands as you prepare your own gardens. Definitely a must "seed" story!!!" ~ Escape with Dollycas Blog

"A potboiler of homicide, blackmail, journalism, power and sex - but one that St. James handles with taste as well as verve - "The Scarlet Pepper" fulfills the promise of last year's series debut, "Flowerbed of State," and then some." ~ Richmond Times-Dispatch

"The second story in this series does not disappoint.... Once you start to read this story you will have a hard time putting it down. Can't wait for volume three." ~ reader review from JudiOH

"The Scarlett Pepper is the second book in The White House Gardener Mystery series. And a very enjoyable addition it is." ~ reader review from F. Yoder

April 2013: Oak and Dagger
A Spy in the White House Gardens?
Stolen documents, death threats, mysterious holes in the South Lawn, and now a dead body in the garden! The evidence for the murder points to Gordon Sims, beloved White House chief gardener.

White House organic gardener Casey Calhoun, with the help of Special Agent Jack Turner, works to clear Gordon's name. Soon Casey finds herself in a deadly race against time to discover the link between the missing stolen papers, the holes in the lawn, and a rumored 200-year-old treasure--before the killer strikes again...