Karen C. Whalen
Karen C. Whalen

is the award-winning author of three cozy mystery series. The Dinner Club Mysteries features Jane Marsh, an empty nester who hosts a gourmet dinner club. The Tow Truck Mysteries stars Delaney Morran, a super feminine shoe-a-holic who drives a tow truck. Both are about strong friendships and family ties set in Colorado. The Sea Oats Beach series is a cozy mystery – beach read set in Coastal Carolina. Her books are similar to those written by authors Jessica Beck, Joanne Fluke, Leslie Meier, Cindy Bell, and Laura Childs. 

The first in the Dinner Club series, Everything Bundt the Truth, tied for FIRST PLACE in the Suspense Novel category of the 2017 IDA Contest. The third in the Tow Truck series, Eyes on the Road, was a SECOND PLACE winner of the 2023 Firebird Book Awards in the Cozy Mystery category. The first in the Sea Oats Beach Mysteries, Murder at Sea Oats Beach, won the 2024 Firebird Book Awards in the Summer Beach Read category. 

She worked for many years as a paralegal at a law firm in Denver and had been a columnist and regular contributor to The National Paralegal Reporter magazine. She loves to host dinner clubs, ride bicycles, hike in the mountains, walk on the beach, and read cozy murder mysteries.

Books

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Murder at Sea Oats Beach

A cozy mystery beach read
Book #1 from the series: Sea Oats Beach series

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Breanna Hart is volunteering at the animal shelter and living her best life in a North Carolina beach town, but that changes when the police chief is found dead under mysterious circumstances inside the cage of her favorite dog. Everyone has the dog tagged as the murderer, even the handsome police officer in charge of the...

Washed Up at Sea Oats Beach

A cozy mystery beach read
Book #2 from the series: Sea Oats Beach series

Free on Kindle Unlimited

One sun-drenched morning at Sea Oats Beach, Breanna Hart stumbles on the dead body of a surfer washed ashore. As the reality of her grim find sinks in, a movement in the water catches her eye—a chocolate Lab perched on a surfboard. Did the dog belong to the surfer or someone else? With no answer to that question, Breanna...

Everything Bundt the Truth

Book #1 from the series: The Dinner Club Murder Mysteries

Getting accepted into the dinner club can be murder...

“Take one feisty widow and her appealing friends, add a gourmet dinner club, sprinkle with murder and you have a recipe for a delightful read!” ~Laura DiSilverio, author of the Readaholics Book Club mysteries

“EVERYTHING BUNDT THE TRUTH is a culinary cozy mystery that dishes up a serving of...

Blog

Review of...The Cough of Birds (A Lyle Dahms Mystery Book 2) by Brian

Private investigator Lyle Dahms is back in the second in the series that takes place at the Renaissance Festival outside of Minneapolis. Lyle must come to the aid of his geeky friend Stephen Edgerton when a member of Stephen’s medieval armory circle is murdered, even if Steven doesn’t appreciate his efforts. Amidst the revelry, Lyle meets Naomi, a wench at the festival pub, and becomes entangled in a perplexing murder involving a crossbow on the festival grounds. Further murders follow and...

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Review of...The Shiver in Her Eyes (A Lyle Dahms Mystery Book 1) by Brian

The first in the Lyle Dahms series introduces a flawed yet endearing private investigator, his geeky friend Stephen Edgerton, and homicide detective Augustus Tarkof in this crime noir that Dashiel Hammet and Raymond Chandler fans will love. Lyle Dahms is a PI in Minneapolis – not Sam Spade of California - but with just as distinctive and unique of a voice. When Lyle goes undercover at a crime scene, he becomes involved in a murder investigation with mob ties. Carmen, an aptly named femme...

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Review of...Chance's Return by by Lucy Kubash  A sweet, modern western

A sweet, modern western romance

In the heart of Wyoming near Jackson Hole, an unlikely connection sparks between Chance, a weathered cowboy carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Casey, a gentle librarian seeking healing of her own far from her Midwestern roots. Their blossoming romance promises a fresh start, but their tragic pasts threaten to keep them separated. Bound by heartbreak, Chance and Casey must confront their pasts and decide if they're willing to risk everything...

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Events

Additional dates: June 12, July 10 and 24, and August 7, and 21, 2025. Enjoy the markets and get your books signed!