Sarah Osborne Books In Order

Publication Order of Ditie Brown Mystery Books

Publication Order of Flo & Maude Christmas Cozy Books

Sarah Osborne is a cozy mystery author from Atlanta best known for the “Ditie Brown Mystery” series of novels. While she was born in California, she has lived in Atlanta for many years and now deems it her home. Besides being an author, she still practices as a psychiatrist on Cape Cod. She has asserted that she reads and writes cozy mysteries to find solace in a world that can sometimes be harsh. She calls her psychiatrist alter ego, a muse that is older than she is though she loves her enthusiasm and youth. Outside her writing life, she is married, has children, and grandchildren. Nonetheless, both of them have a fascination for human nature especially the bizarre things people tend to do. They both like to help people lead more fulfilling and happier lives which is why she is both a writer and psychiatrist. Her debut novel “Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot” was first published in 2018 and became the first of the popular “Ditie Brown Mystery” series. She likes to interact with her readers from her website at doctorosborne.com and on social media.

Since she works a day job as a psychiatrist, she usually has a very early start to her day and will be up by four o’clock so that she can get some writing done. Most of her days she spends seeing her psychiatry patients and when she is not working, she resorts to her hobbies. On good weather days, she can often be found riding her bike on the many bike paths around cape Cod. When the weather is not so great, she will stay indoors reading or watching an old movie or replay a series. Just like her lead protagonist in her popular series, she loves to experiment with dessert recipes she collects from around the internet. She reads a lot and belongs to three book clubs and when she is not reading her book club titles, she may be found with a glass of wine and cozy mystery on the other hand. Her favorite authors in the mystery genre include Charles Todd, Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Louise Penny, G.M. Malliet, and Elizabeth George. As for other works of fiction, she loves Paulette Jiles’ “News of the World” which she thinks is quite remarkable.

Sarah has read mysteries all her life though most of what she reads are cozies. She loves to read about smart and quirky amateur sleuths with a handful of suspects, a murder to solve, and a little gore and blood on the page. As such, she tries to write novels like that as she believes they keep the reader engaged without getting them too anxious. Nonetheless, since she has also read the classics and mainstream mysteries from the likes of Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, her “Ditie Brown Mystery” series cannot be squarely classified in the rigid categories of mystery. Nonetheless, her novels also include the classic cozy mystery aspects of history and food. Osborne is a huge foodie and spends a lot of time eating preparing and sharing recipes in her works. History, particularly that of the South often finds its way into her novels. For instance, Phil Brockton who is the ex-boyfriend to Ditie turns up to reenact moments of the Civil War only for a murder mystery to result. Still, Sara Osborne does not write historical cozy mysteries as everything is set in the here and now. She loves to call her cozy mysteries a mélange or potpourri.

Sarah Osborne’s “Too Many Crooks Spoil the Plot” the first novel of the “Ditie Brown Mystery” series introduces Mabel Aphrodite Brown, a pediatrician who loves kids. When one of the best friends from her childhood asks for her help in taking care of her child for several days, she cannot be happier. What she never expected was that she was going to get involved in investigating a murder mystery. Even though they had grown up together, it has been two years since Aphrodite saw Elli Winston and she did not even know that she was in the city. Ellie needs someone to take care of her children Jason and Lucie for the weekend and Ditie readily agrees. She thinks they are going to have a blast as she will be making her famous cookies and playing with her dog. But her dreams are shattered when the cops call with the terrible news that her friend is dead. They may not have been very successful but it is quite a shocker. Who would want her dead and could it be related to the get rich quick scheme she had told her about in passing? Ditie does not know who she can trust but her maternal instincts are activated and she is willing to do anything to protect the children and find the man that killed their mothers.

In Osborne’s “Into the Frying Pan,” Ditie fast learns that motherhood can be a difficult endeavor. But when a Civil War reenactment results in death, it gets her out of her comfort zone. In the muggy, hot, and thick Atlanta summer, Ditie is only interested in keeping the children occupied and then getting them ready for school opening. But then a Civil War reenactment is scheduled in town and it attracts Phil Brockton her ex-boyfriend she has not seen in years. She believes it might be educational and fun for her kids. Moreover, Lurleen her best friend has promised to be there. But things go haywire when they are reenacting an attack scene and Phil’s med school rival is killed by a cannonball. Could it have been a freak accident or is there something more sinister underneath the mysterious decease. It is not long before Ditie’s investigations unearth some disturbing facts about her ex-boyfriend. But just as she is formulating her hypothesis, another person is killed in eerily similar circumstances and she now has to resolve both murders to get her friend off the hook.

“Murder Most Southern” by Sarah Osborne tells the story of the extraordinary detective skills of Mabel Aphrodite when she is invited to a cooking competition. Ditie had been convinced by Lurleen her best friend to take part in the Great Southern Baking Contest. But participating means that she has to leave behind her adopted kids. They will not be all alone though as she leaves them in the care of their loving uncle. She is looking forward to the opportunity to bake at South Carolina’s antebellum estate. The show still goes on even when the husband of their host suddenly dies unexpectedly during the welcome party. The contest is not all it was touted to be, as there are filming problems and then the body count starts to rise and it soon becomes apparent that there is a killer among them. Ditie is called upon yet again to sift through the slew of suspects in a mystery with more layers than she could ever count. If she does not resolve the mystery of the killer and unmask him, she might just end up dead.