Trash ‘N’ Treasures Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery Books

The Trash ‘N’ Treasures Mysteries series is a series of novels by the well known author Barbara Allan in the cozy mystery genre. Barbara Allan is a collaboration of the authors Barbara Allan and Max Allan Collins. The series consists of a total of 11 different novels published between the years 2006 and 2015. All the novels of the series feature Brandy Borne as the main protagonist. The series is a life story of Brandy Borne and depicts the different situations that forced her to become an amateur sleuth. At first, she had moved back to her hometown Serenity near Mississippi as she considered it to be her mother in serenity. She had intended to live a happy and peaceful life in the small town but, lands herself in difficult situations very often. On many occasions, she is forced to come face-to-face with brutal criminals and find herself entangled in murder cases. The unhealthy turn of events in her life forced Brandy Borne to carry out her own investigations in order to clear her name from the murder cases as she considered herself to be innocent. Author Barbara Allan began writing the Trash ‘N’ Treasures Mysteries series in the year 2006 and published the first novel of the series in the same year. The success of the first novel of the series motivated her to write a few more novels in the series, all of which became equally successful and helped author Barbara Allan to establish herself as a noteworthy author of the mystery and thriller genres.

The first novel of the series was published under the title ‘Antiques Roadkill’ in the year 2006. It was published by the Kensington publishing house. The plot of the novel is set around the life of the main character Brandy Borne and her mother, Vivian, who live in Mississippi and try to lead a peaceful and happy life. As the novel opens up, Brandy and Vivian are shown investigating the murder of an antiques dealer, who was a little bit crooked but had a soft corner in his heart for Vivian. Vivian and Brandy are desperate to find the real murderer as they have the fear of becoming the next victims of the murderer. The plot of the novel starts with Brandy Borne, who comes back to her hometown, but she does not find it easy to do as she has an intimate companion in the form Shih Tzu who is high-maintenance and quirky. Despite the difficulties, Brandy Borne decides to make a new start in her life and hopes of living a quaint life in her hometown situated on the banks of the Mississippi. Brandy has terrible experiences from her past life which has given her a lot of disappointments and bruises, but she has not lost hope in herself. In the presence of her mother, Vivian Borne, Brandy does not let herself appear as broken and depicts a strong attitude, having the determination of making a new start in her life. Vivian Borne also moves in with her daughter to her small hometown. She has a larger-than-life nature and an eccentric attitude.

Vivian is a loyal Red Hat and an amateur actress and also likes to gossip a lot. She has an older sister in the name of Peggy Sue with whom she shares a happening social life. When Brandy moves into her small hometown, she finds that the serenity of the small town is lost in crimes. An unscrupulous antiques dealer named Clint Carson tries to swindle Vivian out of the heirlooms of her family, but is confronted by Brandy Borne, whose outburst seems to be quite huge, similar to what Clint Carson paid for the antiques of the Borne family. Soon after the incident, Carson is found dead in a country lane after being run over near his farmhouse. The incident causes Brandy Borne to become the prime suspect in the murder of Clint Carson. Even her mother, Vivian gets framed as the second suspect who had the motive of murdering him. However, Brandy discovers that there are a number of other suspects who did not have good relations with Carson. She finds out that he had built his business by throwing out the seniors from their heirlooms. As Brandy Borne tries to move deep into the investigation of Clint Carson’s hit and run murder, she gets several warnings for her activities. At first, she is warned by the mysterious and charismatic police chief, then by a young and handsome cop who had busted Brandy on one previous occasion for speeding up and then her childhood friend also turns against her, who has grown into a wild child. Brandy begins to feel her attempt of tracking the clues to be very challenging. She finds it even more difficult than separating the trash from the treasures at the garage sales in her locality. When she and her mother seem to be coming close to uncovering some unsavory secrets, they become the new targets of the murderer who seems to have the hobby of collecting victims.

The second novel of the Trash ‘N’ Treasures Mysteries series was published by the Kensington publishing house in the year 2007. The novel was titled ‘Antiques Maul’. The plot of the second novel of the series is set in the autumn season. In the opening sequence of the novel, Brandy Borne is shown going crazy after learning that her mother, Vivian Borne has decided to quit her theatre group. In order to preserve her sanity and keep her mother busy, she thinks of an idea to open a booth at the antiques mall in her town. However, the idea of opening an antiques booth does not seem to be fruitful as they are about to cross paths with a murderer. Brandy and her Shih Tzu named Sushi pay a visit to the Chief of Police of the town in order to ask for the auction of the confiscated goods. The goods were a source of great collectibles and antiques, but no one was aware of them. Brandy’s first buy at the auction in Illinois brings a huge success, but she faces a tough challenge when her 10 year old son Jacob pays her a visit, who lives with his father. Soon a dead body is found in the antiques mall just before the arrival of the Halloween. The initial investigation shows that the victim was murdered by his dog, who was otherwise a good-natured dog. But, Brandy believes that the dog has been framed and there is someone else who is disguised as a responsible citizen. She starts snooping around along with her mother Vivian. On the occasion of the All Hallow’ Eve, Jacob gets disappeared. As the murderer tries to bring terror in the town of Serenity, Brandy and Vivian strive hard to find Jacob before the killer kills him brutally.