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Nancy J. Cohen

Hairstylist Marla Shore untangles a snarl of secrets when she’s suspected of poisoning her client’s coffee creamer in this debut cozy mystery.

Hairstylist Marla Shore is already having a bad hair day when one of her clients dies in the shampoo chair at her salon. Then Detective Dalton Vail accuses her of putting poison in the wealthy woman’s coffee creamer. Grumpy Bertha Kravitz might not have been Marla’s favorite customer, but she wouldn’t have murdered the lady. With her reputation at stake, Marla decides it’s up to her to unmask the killer.

Combing the woman’s privileged world for clues, Marla discovers the town is crawling with potential suspects. As the case grows more snarled, she determines to unravel the clues. She’d better hurry before the smart detective discovers her scandalous secret, or he’ll pin her with a motive and lock her away in a place where a bad hair day will become permanent.

“Marla the beautician is a delight!”—Tamar Myers, author of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries

“Fast-paced and jaunty.” Publishers Weekly 

“A plot with more tangles than an uncombed perm.” Kirkus Reviews

Mary Ann Jacobs

Orange Grove Press

The Bad Hair Day Mysteries

Permed to Death

Hairstylist Marla Shore gets drawn into a culinary caper that involves murder, sabotage, and fowl play in this delectable cozy mystery. 

When hairstylist Marla Shore volunteers for Taste of the World, a fundraiser for her cousin’s favorite charity, she quickly discovers that mixing scissors and sauté pans can be a recipe for disaster. First Chef Pierre's rum-soaked Bananas Foster erupts in his face. Then more chefs drop from the roster like overcooked soufflés and the nonprofit's attorney becomes the victim of fowl play. It’s clear as a consommé that someone is stirring up trouble. With a cunning killer on the loose, Marla has a lot more to worry about than which canapés her chefs should serve. 

She teams up with Detective Dalton Vail to untangle the clues. He believes someone from the nonprofit’s board of directors might be involved, but Marla has her own suspicions. As she digs deeper, she realizes their upcoming gala could be more perilous than a hot stove. She’d better sift through the suspects to stop the saboteur before the entire event goes up in flames. 

Nominated for a Reviewer’s Choice Award by RT Book Reviews

“Curl up with Nancy Cohen’s stylishly witty and chillingly suspenseful tale of murder on the Florida coast—Hair Raiser is a cut above.” Joanne Pence, author of the Angie Amalfi Mysteries

“Hair Raiser kept me guessing until the very end. Hats off to Nancy Cohen and her engaging sleuth, Marla the hairdresser!” Laurien Berenson, author of the Melanie Travis mystery series

Hair Raiser

Salon owner Marla Shore discovers a whirlpool of secrets when she joins a sports club and ends up solving another nail-biting murder in this humorous cozy mystery.

Hairstylist Marla Shore joins a fitness club to get in shape but discovers a dead body instead of an exercise routine. Jolene Myers—a client at Marla’s salon—has drowned beneath the frothing waters of the whirlpool. When Homicide Detective Dalton Vail determines Jolene's death was no accident, Marla decides to give her deductive skills a workout and help solve the case.

Jolene had few friends at the fancy athletic club. As Marla gets to know everyone, she wonders who might have targeted Jolene for a lethal soak in the hot tub. The shady pharmacist? The smarmy city councilman? Or maybe the vocal animal rights activist? The fitness club staff had no fondness for Jolene, either. How far would they go to keep their secrets? When another member turns up dead, Marla intensifies her efforts to nail the killer and wrap the case. If she fails, the next buff body on its way to the morgue might be hers.

ABR Audiobook Listener Award Finalist; RONE Award Finalist; IMBA Bestseller List

“Marla Shore is a beguiling, very clever sleuth who teases out every clue. Absolutely delightful!” Jill Churchill, author of the Jane Jeffry & Grace and Favor Mysteries

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Murder by Manicure

Hairstylist sleuth Marla Shore goes undercover in a hair-brained scheme to catch a killer in this adventurous cozy mystery. 

In a story braided with unexpected twists and curls, salon owner Marla Shore takes on a role as nurse’s aide for wealthy Miriam Pearl. While Marla snoops into the elderly matriarch’s affairs, her boyfriend, Detective Dalton Vail, is afraid that the only affair she’ll snag is with her ex-spouse, Stan. Juggling work at her salon, crime solving, and two amorously inclined males, Marla fights a race against time to save Stan before the dashing detective nails him for murder.

Winner of the RONE Award from InD'Tale Magazine

“Ms. Cohen's plot has more twists than a French braid, and Marla is a shear delight.” Joanne Fluke, author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries

“In Nancy J. Cohen’s fourth bubbly Bad Hair Day mystery, Florida hairdresser Marla Shore agrees to help her snake of an ex‑husband, Stan Kaufman, who's been arrested for the murder of his third wife, Kimberly, find the real killer.” Publishers Weekly 

“This follow‑up to Murder by Manicure moves right along and will make good reading for the holidays.” Library Journal 

“In Body Wave, Marla faces more shades of guilt and malice than she has colors of nail polish in her salon—and exposes herself to a hidden killer who may decide that eliminating Marla is a permanent solution for getting away with murder.” Barnes & Noble Ransom Notes