Stella Hardesty is a 50-something widow who runs a sewing shop and has a side business setting abusive men straight . . .
First she has a nice little sit down talk with them . . . while they’re helplessly trussed up in some questionable bondage wear.
If that doesn’t work, she has a little heart-to-heart with them — usually involving bondage and pain. . .
After that, they’re “on parole” and she’s not a terribly forgiving parole officer to back-sliders.
As unorthodox as her “unsanctioned” methods are, Stella has a better track record than the state when it comes to protecting woman. However, her side business does tend to get her into a lot more trouble than she bargained for from time to time.
Stella Hardesty Series
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A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel (Stella Hardesty Series #1)Author: Littlefield, Sophie
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This title is also available as an ebook and audio book from the CLEVNET e-Media Collection.
Winner of the 2010 Anthony Award for Best First Novel Publisher’s Summary: Stella Hardesty dispatched her abusive husband with a wrench shortly before her fiftieth birthday. A few years later, she’s so busy delivering home-style justice, helping other women deal with their own abusive husbands and boyfriends, that she’s barely got time to run her sewing shop. Since Stella works outside of the law, she’s free to do whatever it takes to be convincing — as long as she keeps her distance from the handsome devil of a local sheriff, Goat Jones. When young mother Chrissy Shaw asks Stella for help with her no-good, husband Roy Dean, it looks like just another standard job. But then Chrissy’s two-year-old son is taken, and Stella finds herself up against a much more formidable enemy. A Bad Day for Sorry won an Anthony Award for Best First Novel and an RT Book Award for Best First Mystery. It was also shortlisted for Edgar, Barry, Crimespree, and Macavity Awards, and it was named to lists of the year’s best mystery debuts by the Chicago Sun-Times and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. |
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A Bad Day for Pretty: A Crime Novel (Stella Hardesty Series #2)Author: Littlefield, Sophie
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This title is also available as an ebook and audio book from the CLEVNET e-Media Collection.
Publisher’s Summary: Stella Hardesty, avenger of wronged women, is getting cozy with Sheriff “Goat” Jones when a tornado blows none other than Goat’s scheming ex-wife, Brandy, through the front door. Adding to the chaos, the tornado destroys the snack shack at the demolition derby track, pulling up the concrete and unearthing a woman’s body. The main suspect for the dumping is Neb Donovan. Years ago, Neb’s wife asked Stella for help getting him sober. Stella doesn’t believe the gentle man could kill any woman, and she promises his frantic wife she’ll look into it. Former client Chrissy Shaw, now fully employed at Stella’s sewing shop, helps with snooping around as Stella must negotiate with the unpredictable Brandy and the dangerously alluring sheriff. This is the thrilling sequel to Sophie Littlefield’s award-winning debut featuring Stella Hardesty, one of the most applauded and exciting new heroines in crime fiction today. |
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A Bad Day for Scandal: A Crime Novel (Stella Hardesty Series #3)Author: Littlefield, Sophie
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| Publisher’s Summary: When Prosper homegirl turned big-city businesswoman Priss Porter returns to town with a body in her trunk, she calls Stella Hardesty to dispose of it. Her uppity ways don’t convince Stella to take the job, and Priss attempts to blackmail her with a snapshot of Stella doing what she does best: curing woman-beaters by the use of force. Stella refuses to cooperate and goes home, only to hear later that Priss and her brother, Liman, have gone missing after calling in a disturbance. Stella is implicated when Sheriff “Goat” Jones discovers the scarf she left behind at the house. He warns her to stay local but Stella and her partner, Chrissy Shaw, go looking for Priss in Kansas City, where they discover that she runs an unusual business. When Priss herself — along with two other bodies — turns up in a pond belonging to one of Stella’s ex-clients, Stella must investigate a host of suspects, including a crooked but libidinous female judge, a coterie of jealous male escorts, and a Marxist ex-professor. A Bad Day for Scandal is the third in Sophie Littlefield’s award-winning, critically acclaimed series. Written with passion, humor, and guts, this is a mystery to be savored. |
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A Bad Day for Mercy: A Crime Novel (Stella Hardesty Series #4)Author: Littlefield, Sophie
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| Publisher’s Summary: A call from Stella Hardesty’s little sister brings the news that Stella’s step-nephew, Chip, has been threatened with serious bodily harm if he doesn’t settle his unpaid gambling debts. Stella makes the drive to Chip’s home in Wisconsin, only to walk in on a wee-hours dismemberment. Chip and his Russian girlfriend, Natalya, insist the man was left, already dead, on their porch. Suspicious but compelled to help family, Stella tracks down other suspects, including the deceased’s business partner, a purveyor of black-market Botox, and a jilted violist. Matters are complicated by the unexpected arrival of BJ Broderson, who has picked the worst possible time to pursue his amorous intentions toward Stella. Meanwhile, thoughts of Sheriff “Goat” Jones make Stella blush and wonder where, and with whom, she will spend her fifty-first birthday. A Bad Day for Mercy is a terrific addition to this incredibly original and entertaining series. For those who haven’t yet discovered the wonder of Sophie Littlefield, it’s high time to join the fun! |
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