Missing Pieces Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Missing Pieces Mystery Books

The Missing Pieces Mysteries series is a series of paranormal and cozy mystery novels, which were written by the well known American authors named Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene. There is a total of 7 books in this series, which were released between the years 2010 and 2015. Each of the series is set in Duck, North Carolina, and features the central character in the form of Dae O’Donnell. The Lavene authors have described Dae O’Donnell as the mayor of Duck by profession and a woman who has been destined with a special gift of discovering the missing things around her. Authors, Joyce and Jim began writing the Missing Pieces Mysteries in the year 2010. They even published the first book of the series in the same year, which is titled as ‘A Timely Vision’. This book not only opened to great reviews but also helped the Lavene authors to become even more popular as the authors of the mystery genre. The book series is still going on as author Jim Lavene is working on developing the plot of a new book in the series. There was a short halt in the writing and publication of the series after the death of author Joyce Lavene, but then Jim took over and has been doing well since then. He has started to continue with all the mystery novel series that was left half way through after Joyce’s death.

One of the novels published early in the Missing Pieces Mysteries series written by Jim and Joyce Lavene is titled as ‘A Haunting Dream’. This book was released in the year 2012 by the Berkley publication. The setting of the plot of the story is done in Duck, North Carolina, the United States. Authors Jim Lavene and Joyce Lavene have introduced the chief protagonist named Dae O’Donnell in the previous books of the series. In this book too, they have continued to describe her as a Duck mayor as well as a lady with a special gift of finding out lost things. This special ability of her sometimes leads her to missing earrings or keys, and on several occasions she is lead to murder scenes. As the book begins, it is shown that Dae O’Donnell’s has a boyfriend named Kevin. Before indulging into a relationship with Dae, he broke all his connections with his ex-fiancee named Ann. But, when comes to Duck in order to ask for a second chance from Kevin, things begin to become difficult for Dae. Her heart starts aching as she feels that the love of her life is going to get separated from her. At the same time when her love life goes into shambles, Dae experiences a sudden change in her special gift. This makes her even more concerned. When Dae touches the medallion of a former local citizen named Chuck Sparks, she extremely shocked to find that her vision is revealing how Chuck was murdered. She also comes across the soul of Chuck Sparks crying for help.

At first, Dae O’Donnell cannot think of anything to do in order to help the dead man with his plea. But soon, she sees another vision in which a girl gets kidnapped. This girl is none other than the daughter of Chuck Sparks named Betsy. When the missing report of Betsy is filed, the FBI comes forward to take the charge of the case. However, Dae cannot completely rely on FBI for solving the case and get Betsy back safely. She is also not able to ignore her vision about Betsy’s kidnapping. As a result, Dae decides to take the matter of saving Betsy into her own hands. Later, she comes to know that the ex-fiance of Kevin, Ann, is a psychic. Dae thinks that Ann is the only one who can help her find Betsy by making use of her psychic abilities. For this once, she even becomes ready to forget the fact that Ann has arrived in the town to spoil her relationship with Kevin. The most important thing for Dae at the moment is the safety of Betsy and as far as the other things in her life are concerned, she can deal with them later. The novel opened to a great success all across the globe. Due to this, the authors were highly appreciated and praised. The critics, as well as the readers, especially liked their unique development of the mysterious plot of the book.

The other book published initially in the series by Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene is titled as ‘A Finder’s Fee’. This book was released in the 2013 by the Berkley publishers. At the beginning of the novel, Dae O’Donnell is once again depicted at the center of the story as she continues to make use of her special power to help in searching the lost things. Sometimes, she her special power even leads her to a crime scene of murder. The story begins with the depiction of the preparation of Dae O’Donnell for the mayoral election. But, when only a couple of weeks are left in the election, Dae gets distracted from her aspirations of a political because of a spirit that asks for her help. This spirit is a witch named Maggie Madison and she wants Dae to discover her bones and rebury them so as to make her rest in peace. Dae comes across an amber necklace of an antique design that helps her connect to Madison. But, when Dae starts digging up Maggie Madison’s grave, she comes across a bigger mystery. She comes to know about a 40 year old murder that was somehow related to Randal Madison, ‘the Mad Dog’; who is incidentally, her opponent in the mayoral election. Initially, Dae O’Donnell had the intention of contesting the election cleanly without making use of her special gift. But, due to the sudden change in events and the town sentiments, she begins to think that she is using her abilities to benefit herself in the mayoral election. Soon, it is revealed from the mystery that Dae’s grandfather, who was a former Dare County sheriff, is somehow involved in the long buried secret. Now, Dae O’Donnell is required to make the best use of her abilities and find the real killer. This way, she will be able to solve the mystery and put Maggie’s soul to rest. It is also important for her to solve the mystery as soon as possible so that she can focus on her political career. This book also became very much successful just like the previous books in the series. Authors, Jim and Joyce Lavene were praised for their efforts and this helped them to increase their popularity as mystery writers further more.