Taking The Wrap

November 2004
Saint Martin's Press

In her seventh adventure, Denver's intrepid dry-cleaner/sleuth, Mandy Dyer, encounters a baffling case of mistaken identity---or is it? After dining at a local mountaintop restaurant, Mandy's friend Laura discovers that someone has taken her coat and left another in its place. The only clue to the owner's identity is an unfamiliar dry-cleaning mark. Mandy's casual inquiries turn serious when a dead body is discovered dressed in Laura's missing coat. An investigation of the remote and forbidding crime scene puts Mandy right in the path of a mysterious mountain ambush and a very slippery foe.

Buttons & Foes

2002
Saint Martin's Press
ISBN:0-312-28396-2

When Thelma Chadwick, one of Mandy Dyer's favorite dry cleaning customers, dies in a fall down her basement steps, the death is ruled an accident. But that can't be. The elderly woman had said she never went down in her basement any more because she had arthritis. Mandy becomes even more suspicious about the death when she inherits a bunch of old dresses from Thelma. The dresses are covered with dozens of mismatched buttons. Were the buttons valuable enough to have killed Thelma for?

Homicide and Old Lace

September 2000
Dell Mystery
ISBN: 0-440-23524-3

When a young bride visits Dyer's Cleaners discovers a disturbing truth: The groom is Mandy's own womanizing ex-husband and Mandy's troubles are just beginning. The dress alterations will turn out beautifully, but the bride will turn up-dead. Now Mandy must hunt for a killer and face the indelible stains that both hate and passion leave behind.

Wash, Fold, and Die

Dell Mystery
Published: October 1999
ISBN: 0-440-23523-5

Mandy Dyer could use a date. Unfortunately, the man who has come to her cleaning shop has only business on his mind. Detective Stan Foster unceremoniously dumped Mandy nine months before. Now he wants her help: to identify a dead body by the laundry mark on a shirt.

When Mandy traces the mark, she makes an astounding discovery. She knew the victim-a handsome, womanizing artist-and knows that he has been dead for seven years. How does someone come back to life-only to be murdered? With a cast of outrageous helpers that includes a reformed bag lady, a street person named Honest Abe, and her own romantically challenged detective, Mandy is
leading a dangerous hunt for the truth about an artist who painted a little, lied a lot, and left behind a life stained with secrets-the kind that gets people killed.

What has been said about Wash, Fold and Die:

"Narrative is enlivened by a motley crew of characters (in) this tightly
plotted who-done-it."-Publishers Weekly.

"If you love to laugh while you work through a mystery, you'll love Wash, Fold, and Die. -Rendezvous.

"Wash, Fold, and Die is a delightful romp with an irrepressible heroine." -Romantic Times.

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A Dress to Die For

Dell Mystery
Published: October 1998
ISBN: 0-440-22355-5

Everything has come out in the wash for artist Mandy Dyer since she
inherited Dyer's Cleaners. Her divorce is behind her, her future is secure, her heart is healed. Mandy's friendship with Kate Bosworth, propietor of an antique clothing store, dates from their halcyon days of working at street fairs and dreaming great dreams. And the dress Kate wants Mandy to clean hails from another era, too, a genuine 1920's Fortuny. Kate calls the creation in blue the find of her career: a ten-dollar purchase worth thousands. Its real cost is her life.

Within days Mandy finds Kate murdered in her ransacked apartment, and the memory haunts her. Worse, so does the killer, evidently looking for the Fortuny. Now Mandy is searching flea markets and garage sales to unravel the mystery of where Kate found the dress. But the clues to Kate's death are as slippery as silk-until Mandy realizes that, like Kate, the threads of past and present are weaving her destiny. And it's time to face a hard truth, a chilling betrayal and a murderer's rage.

What has been said about A Dress to Die For:

" Johnson has woven a tale with some twists and turns that would rival the secret of the twisted pleats that have made Fortuny famous. A good story, suitable for such a prized possession." -I Love a Mystery.

"Johnson's chatty dialogue and believable plot make for a lively story.
And the cleaning tip is a bonus." -Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

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Hung Up to Die

Dell Publishing
Published: December 1997
ISBN: 0-440-22353-9

For Mandy Dyer, who had put away her painter's easel, cut her hair, and donned the life of a dry cleaning entrepreneur, things were taking a turn for the best, and the worst, at the same time. Her main competitor, a man who played dirty in the dry cleaning business,was suddenly out of the picture. The bad news? Farley Mill's' body was found on Mandy's conveyor, and getting off the hook for his murder is going to be tough.

All motives point squarely at Mandy-Farley Mills was cutting into her business, after all. But Mandy is more concerned that someone close to her might be behind the crime. With her overly suntanned ex-husband, her overly married mother, and an overly distant detective all showing up on the scene, Mandy can't quite untangle the complicated a recent lives of her colorful cast of employees. Then her choices are suddenly narrowed. Because someone is working their way through Mandy's staff and their acquaintances-with a ticket to kill.

What has been said about Hung Up Die:

"Just the ticket for mystery lovers."-Mystery Scene.

"A strong, straightforward mystery that offers an unusual blend of black humor and optimism."-The Mystery Review.

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Taken to the Cleaners

Dell Publishing
Published: April 1997
ISBN: 0-440-22370-9

Mandy Dyer is all business. She has to be. Left high and dry by her
would-be-lawyer ex-husband, Mandy turns to her uncle's Denver dry-cleaning company-and soon finds herself in charge. Now, amid the hissing presses, rattling rails, and the fanciest computer system around, Mandy is making a go of it-even if her social life isn't. Then Betty the Bag Lady comes in with a man's suit, slashed and stained with blood.

How much evidence can one piece of clothing hold? From the blood to knife gashes and some long strands of blonde hair, Mandy, working alongside a handsome Denver detective, soon realizes that the garment, too small for murder victim-just might fit the killer. But with a prominent lawyer dead and a potential witness missing, returning this suit to its rightful owner isn't going to be easy--until Mandy, a woman who suddenly has one too many men in her life, figures out how to make a killer come clean.

What has been said about Taken to the Cleaners:

"Mystery at cleaners hits spot."-Denver Rocky Mountain News

"Mandy is a spirited and likable heroine who is solidly anchored in her
Capitol Hill apartment and other Denver haunts."-The Denver Post

"The book is definitely a lot of fun."-The Armchair Detective

"Just the ticket for murder."-Mystery Scene

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