Terri L. Austin Books In Order

Publication Order of A Null for Hire Books

Publication Order of Beauty and the Brit Books

Publication Order of Rose Strickland Mystery Books

Publication Order of Cherry Tucker Mysteries Books

Terri L. Austin is British author who writes comedic urban fantasy, contemporary romance, and humorous mysteries. As a girl, Austin believed that she would one day lose interest in the imaginary friends and made up stories that she read and wrote about almost every week. Years later, she still loves the funny and intriguing people from her imagination, and has gone on to make a career of it. Terri’s debut novel was “Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends”, of the Rose Strickland Mystery series, that went on to achieve almost instantaneous success. The lead character in the series is Rose, a girl that is so likable, funny, loyal, and kind that just about everyone wants to be best friends with her. Terri loves to describe herself as a lover of all things British, an avid reader, beader, mother, and writer. She currently lives in Independence Missouri with her very own Prince Charming that would make for an awesome cover for one of her novels. When she is not writing she loves to watch reality TV, which she can watch for literally the whole day. She watches the most mundane of reality TV from a housewife shopping, dressing up her dog in some cute outfits, talk with the gardener and just about anything. She also loves any TV show that has anything to do with cops or jail, Survivor series and any dating show that has people embarrassing themselves. She loves to tell people that she can bend spoons with her mind, but cautions against looking at her fingers when she is doing it.

Growing up, Terri L. Austin read the works of several writers who have influenced her later works. Some of the authorss that she has been reading over the years include the likes of Janet Evanovich, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Karen Marie Moning, and Kresley Cole among others. She loves to read novels from other writers as she asserts that they help her develop a stronger, wittier, and sharper voice. She has been writing on and off for as long as she can remember, though she never put out anything serious or even looked for a publisher. After a life of writing bits and bobs that she kept to herself, she gave up her habit when she started her family, so that she could focus on parenting. Once her daughter learnt how to use the microwave and her son was in college, she dug out her dusty manuscripts and within a year had finished her first manuscript that was “Diners, Dives, & Dead Ends”. She currently has over ten novels published in the Rose Strickland Mystery, the Null for Hire, and Beauty and the Brit series.

The lead character in the Rose Strickland mystery series is Rose, a twenty-something year old girl that comes from very influential and wealthy family. Five years past, she had given up all the privilege her parents offered, as she hated the college path her parents set for her. With her parents unwilling to back down, she had left to go find a job waiting tables, while paying for a college course that she loved with her meager earnings. Her life has radically changed from what she had growing up, but at last she can enjoy her independence and freedom. As for family, she now has a friend in another waitress named Roxy, a young man named Axton that just like her had been banished by his wealthy father, and the elderly owner of the café she waits tables at, Ma. While Rose is a likable and fun person, she never takes any nonsense from anyone. People like her mother who try to belittle her so that she can go back to pleasing others, the rich men who try to take advantage of her, or thugs that think they can threaten everyone all get it rough. Nonetheless, despite her tough as nails attitude she is fiercely loyal and would do anything for her family even if it put her own life in danger. Even though her family thinks she is embarrassing them by taking a menial job that barely gives her a decent place to live or enough to survive on, she does not mind. The most important thing for the strong willed Rose is that she can make all the choices herself.

“Diners, Dives & Dead Ends” is the enthralling debut by Terri L. Austin in the Rose Strickland Mystery series. Rose is twenty-something old girl that had been exiled from her family when she was nineteen, since she refused to follow a career course they set for her. She now fends for herself by working at Ma’s Diner as a waitress. When she is not waiting tables she attends a variety of courses at the local college, before she makes a decision on what she wants to be when the time comes. The novel starts with her best friend Axton asking Rose to look after his backpack while he runs an errand. Knowing how attached he is to the backpack, he is suspicious that he would ever want to leave it behind. When the man does not turn up the next day, she knows for sure that something is wrong, particularly when she discovers that Scarface and BJ, two local thugs are stalking her. Can she get to the bottom of the mystery or is she in over her head trying to find her missing friend. Mix in a group of IT nerds, fun-loving friends and a dysfunctional family and this makes for one very enjoyable mystery.

“Last Diner Standing” is the humorous sequel to the first novel in the Rosa Strickland Mystery series. Rosa finds herself front and center of a dining war, even as her family is furious with her for not coming with them to celebrate the Christmas holidays at the country club. Meanwhile, Sullivan her bad and sexy crush just got a hit put out on him, while Janelle her best friend has been taken into custody for attacking Asshat her husband and putting him in a coma. As she tries to resolve the mystery of the hit on Sullivan, she finds herself in a tangled web that involves mob bosses, chop shoppers, and strippers. The novel is full of suspense and humor as Rose weaves in the backstory of Sullivan and introduces an aspect of a cozy mystery in the diner wars. Rose makes good use of the amateur sleuthing skills she obtained in the first novel to good use, to make for a fascinating novel with intriguing plots and subplots.