Sidra Smart, rookie private eye, struggles to survive her own internal conflicts as she plunges into a surreal world of passion and murder. This mystery/suspense novel transports the reader to the exotic land where Texas and Louisiana meet in the middle of alligator-infested swamps, a land once inhabited by cannibalistic Indians, Jim Bowie, and Jean Lafitte, and where, today, Cajuns and cowboys are king and setting itself becomes character. Fifty-year-old Sidra Smart is not your ordinary rookie private eye. A recently divorced preacher's wife, she knows zip about running the private detective business she's just inherited from her brother. A lifetime spent up on a pedestal, inside a fishbowl before her husband's congregation has left Sid ill prepared to face the dark world of criminal investigation. But face it she does when her first client bursts in with vague flashbacks of a grisly thirty-year-old murder committed by the woman's father. Soon, Sid plunges into a surreal world of danger and intrigue where passion burns as hot as the memories of child abuse, arson and murder. The interaction between Sid, meddlesome Aunt Annie, and Cajun-speaking, rot-gut drinking mentor, George Léger, forms the core of this character-driven novel.

Dance on His Grave

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Smith, Sylvia Dickey

Mystery

L & L Dreamspell

Rookie PI Sidra Smart thinks she knows where she's headed. She's divorced her preacher-husband, she's inherited a private detective business, and she's solved her first case. But then she moves into a ghost active house and discovers that the past holds the key not only to her future, but the to the lives of innocent people trapped in an unholy web of deception that spans decades. This mystery/suspense novel is set in a small Texas town where everyone knows everything about the other-or at least think they do-until the sins of the past catch up with the secrets of the present. Where yesterday's lighthouses, yellow fever, and Civil War skirmishes play a significant role in uncovering the sins of today. When Sid's second case requires she clear the name of a dead man, she finds herself confounded by clues that lead nowhere. She battles her own prejudice, a burned-out office, the disappearance of a local preacher's wife, and a midnight trip through a murky swamp before clues begin to fall in place. Then, with assistance from a seemingly unknown and perhaps ghostly force, Sid learns something about herself-when the cause is right she never retreats. The interaction between Sid and her client, a tobacco-spitting, chair-rocking old codger more interested in the shine on his shoes than the dust on his furniture, once again brings small-town America to life.

Deadly Sins, Deadly Secrets

Sidra Smart's search for an elusive schooner stirs up ruthless smugglers and the spirits of Privateer Jean Lafitte and Pirate Queen Mary Anne Radcliff. Newly licensed private investigator Sidra Smart reluctantly takes on the pro-bono case of Boo Murphy, a poor, countrified woman accused of murder. When Boo tells her tale of stumbling on the Hotspur, half-buried in a Texas swamp, everyone is convinced she's found treasure worth millions. As Sidra searches for both the schooner and evidence to clear her client, she battles an unknown enemy, and soon discovers they know their business much better than she knows hers. After several close calls, not only does Sid question her own abilities, she discovers her trusted mentor George Léger is involved in illegal activities that threatens not only their friendship, but also their lives. Even Slider, her half-paranoid, half Chesapeake Bay retriever battles demons from his past as the investigation takes Sidra back to familiar small town territory. Complicated family histories dating back centuries and feuding family relationships muddy the clues and the truth seems as elusive as the spectral schooner. When all seems lost, eighteenth century spirits of infamous Jean Lafitte and voluptuous, swashbuckling pirate-queen Mary Anne Radcliff show up to offer Sid assistance.

Dead Wreckoning

Drowning in the lack of identity beyond the one assigned by her preacher-husband, Cynthia wonders whether she should stay in the relationship, but before she can decide, events force her to flee. If she goes far enough fast enough, those back home will have to deal with the chaos they created. Deal with it or go to hell in their sanctimonious handbaskets. Until a phone conversation leaves her with even more difficult choices.

Original Cyn

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Sylvia Dickey Smith

Sylvia Dickey Smith’s wilderness wandering started in 1981 when her father died suddenly and unexpectedly. For several years, she felt abandoned by the God that she had faithfully served for decades, both in the U.S. as the wife of a pastor, and on the island of Trinidad, West Indies as a foreign missionary. Later, as the healing came, she made an important discovery. Wilderness is a mighty sacred place. In “Sacred Lessons from Wilderness Wandering,” she shares with the reader a few lessons she learned along the way.

Sacred Lessons: From Wilderness Wandering

Religion & Spirituality

New Age & Spirituality

Dance on His Grave (1)

Deadly Sins, Deadly Secrets (Sidra Smart Mystery)

Dead Wreckoning (A Sindra Smart Mystery)

In this fourth Sidra Smart mystery, Sid takes a bumpy road trip with her Aunt Annie. In the meantime, Boo Murphy - an old swamp-rat who prefers to spend time in her pirogue, hunting and fishing, to spending time with people - is pulled into a strange world when she discovers a deserted brush-hut deep in the bayou.The discovery leads Boo deeper and deeper into a clandestine effort to resurrect a cultural site for the Atakapa-Ishak natives. But are the leaders legit, or do they have other self-serving passions?In The Swamp Whisperer, Boo has to rely on her wits and swamp wisdom, as she and her cousin Sasha are pulled into an maelstrom of backwater mayhem. The story takes place in the bayou borderlands where Texas and Louisiana meet, a region filled with colorful characters, good food, and dark secrets.

The Swamp Whisperer (Sidra Smart Mystery)

Product Description Old houses...do they celebrate happy times with us? Do they hurt when we hurt? Or do they have their own stories to whisper in the night, their own dark secrets to hide?In this fifth book in the award-winning Sidra Smart Mystery Series, slightly psychic private investigator Sidra Smart has a new female client who has inherited not one but three mysterious Victorian houses in Hot Springs, Arkansas.The moment Sidra walks into the Painted Ladies, she senses something is off-kilter. As autumn transforms to winter, Sidra needs to protect her client, young Belle Anderson, from being drawn too deeply into a tangled web of odd stories, spectral visitors, unsettling mysteries, and possible evil deeds committed.As the snow falls, the two women, with their faithful sidekicks (dogs Slider and Jenkins), must try to get to the bottom of what lies beneath the facade of the beautiful painted Victorians. About the Author Sylvia Dickey Smith believes in the tremendous power of story. To her, story is that thing that connects us one to the other. It gives us something to hang onto while we find our way through life. It defines who we are, what we stand for, and often what we absolutely will not stand for. Within the process of storytelling, she says, we find our voice.

The Painted Ladies (Sidra Smart Mystery)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smith, Sylvia Dickey. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smith, Sylvia Dickey