Credit: Bamford Studio
If the name Barbara Allan sounds familiar to you, there may be a few reasons for that. Is it Allan that sparks in your head? Then maybe you’ve listened to some of Max Allan Collins’s phenomenal thriller series (Quarry, Fancy Anders, Nolan, or Mike Hammer). Or is the name Barbara ringing any bells? Perhaps you’ve listened to REGENERATION, BOMBSHELL, and CUTOUT, read by Skyboat’s own Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir!
Barbara Allan is the pen name used by Max Allan Collins and his wife, Barbara Collins. Together they are the authors of the Trash ‘n’ Treasure series of comic cozy mysteries, and two stand alone thrillers.
These delightful tales of intrigue and mystery star Brandy Borne, her eccentric mother Vivian, and her beloved Shih Tzu, Sushi. Brandy and Vivian run a small antiques business in their quaint Iowan hometown, but through digging for antiques to sell at their store, they often find themselves in the middle of a town scandals and murder plots. And while they’re at it, they might as well solve the mysteries themselves!
On their shared writing process, Barbara Collins says: “Our collaboration process is simple: we plot the novel together, often on a long car trip or over several restaurant meals; usually I take notes. Then I write a complete first draft without [Max] seeing any of it. If I run into trouble along the way, we discuss the problem over another lunch (there’s a very famous restaurant in Muscatine, Iowa – perhaps you’ve heard of it: Applebees).”
And to answer the question of why one would co-write a novel (not to mention the dozens they have written together), she says: “Beyond shoring up each others weaknesses through your own strengths, why should a writer embark on such a perilous enterprise? The answer is as simple as collaboration is complex: a third writer is created. A successful writing collaboration creates a distinct third voice in an end product that – because of the strengths each writer brings to the work table – could not have been accomplished alone. That’s when two plus two can equal five. Even my husband can do that math.”
Gabrielle has taken on Books 15-18 (Antiques Carry On, Antiques Liquidation, Antiques Foe, and Antiques Slay Belles), with more to come!
Looking for a laugh-out-loud, quirky mystery to brighten your mood? Trash ’n’ Treasures is “one of the funniest cozy series going” (Ellery Queen Magazine) – and if you’re new to the series, it’s safe to jump right in.
Find recipes from the books and more info on the series here!
If you just can’t decide, get the box set for 15-17 here!
Check out our SoundCloud playlist with samples for the whole series!
ANTIQUES CARRY ON (The Trash n’ Treasures Mysteries, Book 15) by Barbara Allan
Read by Gabrielle de Cuir
Look out London—eccentric antiques dealer Vivian Borne and her daughter Brandy are bringing their own brand of mayhem and mischief to the British capital, in the fifteenth installment of the award-winning Trash ‘n’ Treasures cozy mystery series.
Vivian Borne—true-crime author, antiques dealer, and ex-sheriff of Serenity, Iowa—is looking forward to meeting her new editor in London. Flying first class, rooms at the Savoy … her long-suffering co-author, daughter Brandy, worries the trip will bankrupt them both, but the alternative—Mother travelling alone—is unthinkable. Brandy’s almost tempted to make her fiancé, Tony—Serenity’s Chief of Police—call Scotland Yard and warn them Vivian’s coming.
But even Brandy doesn’t predict their vacation will end in murder … or that she and Mother will be unceremoniously ejected from the country, with an order to leave things well alone.
Vivian and Brandy need a case to write about, and Mother doesn’t care which one. But as the intrepid sleuths—ably supported by doggy detective Sushi—investigate a promising local prospect, they’re plunged into a complex mystery that stretches right back to London … with no choice but to carry on.
ANTIQUES LIQUIDATION (The Trash n’ Treasures Mysteries, Book 16) by Barbara Allan
Read by Gabrielle de Cuir
Two o’clock in the morning is the perfect time to be asleep. So when long-suffering Brandy Borne is rudely awoken by her eccentric mother, Vivian, and invited on a surreptitious shopping trip, the idea is less than tempting.
But if Vivian—Serenity’s true-crime writing, septuagenarian super-sleuth—has a nose for sniffing out antiques, Brandy’s sense of smell is just as good … and trouble’s on the wind.
A little light blackmail and one run-in with the police later, and Brandy and Vivian are the ‘proud’ owners of a selection of dead stock, liberated ahead of an upcoming warehouse sale from unsavory auctioneer Conrad Norris. Brandy’s not convinced there’s a fortune to be made in vintage toys, retro plates and pearl buttons – there’s more mileage in their shop’s new Halloween display, even though it’s only August – but she supposes it could be worse.
It soon is. After the auction’s taken place, Vivian and Brandy make an unnerving discovery. It’s not just the stock that’s dead—so is the auctioneer …
This light-hearted, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery also features Brandy and Vivian’s humorous tips for buying and selling antiques, along with a selection of tasty recipes.
ANTIQUES FOE (The Trash n’ Treasures Mysteries, Book 17) by Barbara Allan
Read by Gabrielle de Cuir
When popular podcaster Nicole Chatterton wants an interview for Killers Caught, true-crime author Vivian Borne is overjoyed. Finally, some recognition for the sleuthing skills the septuagenarian antiques dealer and her daughter Brandy have demonstrated, solving countless crimes in their small hometown of Serenity, Iowa!
Dolled up and dressed to the nines, Vivian figures the interview is going swimmingly … until Nicole turns the tables, accusing the mother/daughter duo of committing the very crimes they solved. Shocked and affronted—and with a spiteful tirade captured by the cameras—Vivian breaks off the interview, ejecting the rude podcaster from the premises of the Trash ‘n’ Treasures shop. How dare the woman?
Later, when Vivian pays the podcaster a follow-up visit at the woman’s hotel—hoping to smooth things out and set the record straight—a very dead Nicole is waiting. Caught as the killer (true to the podcast’s title) by producer Clare Shields, Vivian finds herself behind bars. Now it’s up to Brandy to determine who really did the dire deed before their fiendish foe can strike again!
Antiques Foe is a light-hearted, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery which also features mother-daughter sleuths Brandy and Vivian’s witty tips for buying and selling antiques, along with a selection of tasty recipes.
ANTIQUES SLAY BELLES (The Trash n’ Treasures Mysteries, Book 18) by Barbara Allan
Read by Gabrielle de Cuir
Former sheriff, talented thespian and delightfully eccentric true-crime author Vivian Borne hunts down a Christmas killer in the new Trash ‘n’ Treasures cozy mystery—“one of the funniest cozy series going” (Ellery Queen Magazine)
It’s five days before Christmas, and Vivian Borne—septuagenarian antiques dealer, true-crime writer, and enthusiastic amateur sleuth—and her long-suffering daughter Brandy are preparing a presentation of holiday antiques at the local country club’s annual Christmas luncheon.
Distracted by their secret Santa gifts, the ladies of the club, to Vivian’s dismay, are not giving her and her antique sleigh bells the attention they deserve. But when Norma Crumley, socialite and world-class gossip, falls face first into her plum pudding, it seems Santa has also delivered the sleuthing mother and daughter a present: a cracker of a case!
Christmas in small-town Serenity is (usually) a magical time. Can Vivian and Brandy—not forgetting Shih Tzu sidekick Sushi—make a killing from their holiday antiques, catch a devious murderer, and wrap up the case in time to eat their festive microwave turkey dinners?
This light-hearted, laugh-out-loud cozy mystery also features mother-daughter sleuths Brandy and Vivian’s witty tips for buying and selling antiques, along with a selection of tasty recipes. Perfect for getting you into the holiday spirit—whatever the time of year!
