Blanche Day Manos Books In Order

Publication Order of Darcy & Flora Cozy Mystery Books

Publication Order of Ned McNeil Mystery Books

Blanche Day Manos is a part Cherokee part Irish author that writes cozy mysteries.

+Biography

Blanche Day Manos was born in rural Oklahoma to a third generation Cherokee family. Having grown up in a rural setting, Blanche didn’t have much access to popular culture as a child. However, she did develop a voracious appetite for reading and that eventually drove her to write.

The signs of her future as a published author were there even as a child. By the time she was in high school, Blanche Day Manos had already manifested a passion for English and Journalism.

A student of Tahlequah High, she eventually graduated from Northeastern State University. She took time off to create her family, getting married and having children. She also dabbled in teaching for a while before finally going back to school and getting a Master’s in Education.

Blanche identifies herself first and foremost as a teacher. She has taught at numerous levels of the education sector. Her foray into publishing began with journalism. The author was given opportunities to write for the Tahlequah Daily Press.

It was her job to produce articles about the history of Tahlequah, this including its people and the events that had shaped it over the years and decades. She went on to produce numerous short stories and poems, not to mention articles for all manner of publications, many of them periodicals.

And all the while, she was nursing a curiosity for fiction. Blanche has always loved cozy mysteries. She loves the spooky and shivery atmosphere such books create. And her favorite pastime has always included hunkering down in a chair with a cup of coffee and losing herself in an amazing cozy mystery novel.

She has imputed her love or the genre to all the Nancy Drew books she used to read when she was much younger. Whether it was because of her rural setting or her personality, Blanche Day Manos remembers not having that many friends to play with.

So reading was her only source of entertainment. She eventually found that she had the capacity to create her own imaginative worlds in which she could disappear, and she found that the activity could bring with it great joy.

As an adult, Blanche was able to delve further into her imagination when she started writing fiction for children and having it published in places like ‘Humpty Dumpty’, ‘The Friend’, and ‘Wee Wisdom’.

Her foray into adult cozy mystery publication began when she met Barbara Burgess, a Northwest Arkansas writer. Blanche was fascinated by Barbara because they both had Cherokee heritage.

The pair did a lot of reminiscing about their lives and what they had experienced up to that point. They also talked about the legends they had heard surrounding Northeast Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas.

The more they talked, the more they realized that they had so much in common, the more they noticed that there were stories to be mined from their lives and experiences. So they set about writing ‘The Cemetery Club’. The book introduced to readers a mother and daughter team that solves crimes.

The authors garnered a lot of interest from fans of Cozy mysteries who were drawn to Darcy and Flora, the protagonists of the book who were mirror images of Barbara and Blanche Day Manos.

Blanche believes that her work as a kindergarten teacher is no different from her work as a writer. As a teacher, she works to create ideas and to deliver positive outcomes for her students. She is also tasked with ensuring that her students leave her lessons with a satisfactory takeaway.

As a writer, Blanche’s objectives are the same. She produces stories that plant ideas in the heads her readers. And it is also her hope that her readers will acquire satisfaction from reading her books. Many of Blanche’s fans believe that she delivers on her objectives admirably.

When Blanche Day Manos isn’t writing, she is out promoting her books and meeting fans. When she has free time on her hands, Blanche takes advantage of the fact that she lives so close to her grandchildren.

+The Cemetery Club

Darcy Campbell is facing a crisis. Her husband died and she hasn’t had the easiest time getting over it. So when she finally decides to return to her mother’s home, it is with the intention of using the peace to heal the wounds of her broken heart.

However, instead of peace, Darcy and her mother are confronted by a legend from centuries past and a group of ruthless men who wish to cause them harm.

The first book in the Darcy and Flora Cozy Mystery series blends elements of family, faith, and suspense to create a tale that might leave some readers on the edges of their seats.

The book finds Darcy coming back to her mother Flora’s home for a bit of a rest after her husband’s death. Their peace is shattered when they find the body of Flora’s friend Ben at the cemetery.

Darcy and Flora surmise that there is a killer on the loose and that people might die if they do not solve Ben’s murder. Darcy and Flora are the strongest aspects of this book. Their relationship and the bond they share bring a charm to the book.

Blanche Day Manos makes an effort to deliver an enticing mystery full of twists and turns.

+Best Left Buried

Darcy Campbell lost her husband. She came to her mother’s small Oklahoma town expecting to find peace and quiet. But trouble seems to find her no matter where she looks.

This time, trouble finds her enjoying a cup of coffee with her mother Flora one autumn morning. It begins with her contractor calling her to the site of their new home to inspect a mysterious package located in a well he found.

When Darcy retrieves the package she discovers that it contains two mysterious items. She cannot help but wonder at the secrets the two items might hold and why they were buried.

And then the kidnapping happens and Darcy realizes that she might have on her hands the key to solving a mystery leading back to the era of the First World War.

2 Responses to “Blanche Day Manos”

1. Blanche Manos: 3 years ago

   Thank you for listing my books. What an amazing site.

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     You’re welcome 🙂 And thank you for the kind words, much appreciated.

     Reply