CLAIRE
O'SULLIVAN
A Match Made in Mayhem
A Grit & Grace Mystery Book One
Coming this Spring, 2026
Murder … mayhem, and two detectives without a clue how to navigate romance.
Detective Luke Barritt has a grin for every occasion—and a knack for driving his new partner, Dakota Littlebear, nuts. She’s a five-foot-two force of nature with no patience for nonsense, especially not from a cocky six-foot-four smart-mouth who treats danger like it’s part of his skincare routine.
The case? Three young women, all executed with cold, professional precision. It’s grim, it’s urgent, and it gets downright explosive—literally.
But with bodies dropping, attempted murder, and professional boundaries disintegrating, this mismatched duo must rely on each other more than ever. The danger’s real, the stakes are rising—but will they be partners? In Shallows Creek, nothing's predictable ... except mayhem.
Murder is bad. Killing your partner? Debatable.
Concept Cover Only
A Madness Made in Mayhem
A Grit & Grace Mystery, Book Two
Murder, mayhem, and two detectives learning what loyalty really costs.
Detective Luke Barritt works homicide in a modest police department outside Portland, Oregon. Quirks abound, and the new chief—brilliant but absurd, unsettling even the toughest detectives—keeps the team on edge.
Luke’s focus splinters when the PD's anthropologist enters his love life as a string of murders rocks Shallows Creek--and she is on the murderers list--with a cold threat that Dakota is first. That Luke's new love interest is second. And he'll be third, but to watch everyone he cares about threatened.
Detective Dakota Littlebear is the calm in the storm. Bones surface where they shouldn’t, secrets simmer behind polite smiles, and Dakota faces the quiet, cutting edges of racism even as she keeps the investigation steady.
Her eye for detail and unshakeable resolve make her the anchor Luke relies on far more than he admits. And the torch he still carries for her. Trying to douse it. And who will he save? Dakota? Or his new girlfriend?
Together, they navigate Shallows Creek’s darkest corners, juggling personal battles and a killer always one step ahead. Solving murder here isn’t about bravado—it’s about clarity, courage, and holding the line long enough to bring the truth into the light.
Murder is our business. Sanity is optional
