Showing results by author "Dawn Greenfield Ireland" in All Categories

Join the eccentric, middle-aged Alcott sisters (Lila Mae, Madge, and Dorothea); Bernie, the 92-year old chocolate magnate; Bambi, his former nurse; Joseph, the family spiritual advisor; Uncle Tito, the trance-inducing fortune teller; and the whole Alcott clan as they traverse murder, mystery, and mayhem in Houston's elite River Oaks.

Everyone croons over Dorothea’s twins and Bambi’s baby in Lila Mae’s dining room. Louie jumps up and barks, waking the babies. Lila Mae and Amelia look to see who arrived - everyone was already accounted for. A young Hispanic woman gets out of a cab with luggage. She sashays to the kitchen door and waves at Amelia and Lila Mae. Amelia opens the door, and the woman barges in. She’s Chiquita, one of Uncle Tito’s nieces. She was sent to train for Amelia’s job. Everyone is flustered. Why would Uncle Tito send Chiquita? Was Amelia going to quit? 

In 2086, a security breach of Xavier Labs in Colorado and Zheng Industries in China released the deadly experimental agent XSKL435. Anyone outside was dead within minutes. As statistics on the death toll are gathered from all over the world, Abby, the six-week-old dog-daughter of Bill and Teresa Maxwell, was one of only four known surviving canines. News services soon announce that the other three dogs had succumbed to the deadly poison. Abby was now the last dog.

Recurring nightmares haunted D'laine Jackson when she woke from an eight-month coma following a tragic accident. Four images were branded in her head: a dark-haired, handsome princely young man, a fierce reptilian monster, a white furry creature whose red eyes implored her with some unspoken message, and an ominous black robot. Now, five years later, D'laine was getting ready to go off to college. During one last shopping trip with her father and brothers for dorm supplies, a blanket of fog rolled out of the sky at the mall, in broad daylight in plain sight of dozens of witnesses. When the fog pulled back D'laine was gone. When she woke, her nightmare turned into reality.

Lila Mae has a fit over the annual Chocolate Ball that she and her sisters host. Dorothea and Madge dump it on her. If it weren’t for Julian Gillespie, the Chocolate Ball would have melted. Bernie, the Alcott patriarch, wants his Bentley back. Joseph’s cousin, Chewie, is hired as chauffeur. Bambii's thrilled to be expecting while Dorothea, pregnant at 55, is at war with the world. No one is exempt, especially Henry, who she refers to as “Mr. Responsible”.

The main characters are three wealthy, eccentric, middle-aged sisters. Most have general American accents. The secondary character's are one Asian-American male, two Mexican American females (one with more of a Mexican accent than the other), then an older Mexican man. The rest are all Americans of various ages from 22 to 92 and can have any Houston "twang".