Chelsea Thomas Books In Order

Publication Order of Apple Orchard Cozy Books

Publication Order of Dog Groomer Mysteries Books

Chelsea Thomas
Chelsea Thomas is technically two people. Married writing team Chelsea and Matthew Thomas.

They spent almost a decade living in Los Angeles, working as screenwriters. The couple has worked with companies as Nickelodeon, CBS, and SONY. With the publication of “Apple Die”, their first cozy mystery novel, they’re proud to call themselves novelists as well.

They are graduates of Duke University and are members of the Writers Guild of America. They’re also USA Today Bestselling authors.

Chelsea enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with animals. While Matt loves playing music. And they both enjoy spending time close to the water.

They began writing stories together while at Duke University. The moment that they finished their first piece they knew writing as a team was something that they wanted to pursue. So they moved to Hollywood, developing scripts for movies and television. Los Angeles isn’t a place for the faint of heart.

But they worked hard and spent the majority of each of their days read stories, attempting to better understand how they worked. They also took some odd jobs to pay their bills. They wrote for a puppet show, helped kids study for their SATs, and Matt drove for Lyft and Uber.

Eventually they were able to sell a screenplay, then another, and then another. And they were off to the races. Something felt off though. They weren’t reaching their audience. Because back at Duke, while dreaming of their lives as writers, they always thought about a major audience enjoying their work. People would watch their movies and read their scripts, however more often than not, their work in screenwriting never found an audience. It was frustrating for them.

“Apple Die” is the first novel in the “Apple Orchard Cozy Mystery” series and was released in 2018. Out of the oven it came, smelling like love, apples, and cinnamon. Everybody adores Miss May, except for the guilty.

In a small town, where lawn chairs are brought out in the spring, neighbors know one another, and if you sit around chatting for long enough, somebody will bring you pie, Miss May has got a nose for crime. The body was discovered face down in the stream.

Chelsea just wanted to get away. Left at the altar, a change of scenery was exactly the thing she needed to recover and her Aunt May always made her feel better. However before she can even get settled in, her cousin Maggie’s fiance gets murdered, and all of the horrible memories of her wedding bubble up to the surface.

Who would’ve killed him? The charming and handsome Detective Wayne believes it was Maggie. Chelsea and Miss May know that he is wrong, however they just don’t have the evidence. There is a killer on the loose in their small town and they are determined to locate the culprit. Who had the motive?

You are sure to love this clean cozy mystery since everybody loves a good small town mystery with suspense, comedy, and delicious food. And who doesn’t love a down on her luck sleuth that finds strength through solving some murders!

Readers feel like they know these characters personally, and thoroughly enjoy getting to see Chelsea develop her sleuthing skills as well as seeing her develop from identify as a victim to somebody that’s more confident and secure with the choices she makes. The plot flows nicely and the characters are likable.

“Cooking the Books” is the second novel in the “Apple Orchard Cozy Mystery” series and was released in 2019. Murder is enough to ruin any party.

A sleazy money manager begins fast-talking some local residents, retired lawyer Miss May and quirky sidekick Chelsea start feeling as though something’s amiss in Pine Grove. And then the slime ball is discovered dead at the winter festival. The ladies don’t believe in coincidence, so they set out to learn why the money manager wound up dead right when residents started suspecting of wrongdoing. Something’s off in Pine Grove and Miss May and Chelsea will not rest until charm of small town living gets restored.

In more trouble than apple you forgot in the oven, this pair has to work quick before hunky detective Wayne Hudson arrests the wrong suspect for this killing. However Chelsea cannot stop eating hashbrown lasagna, the town lawyer’s hiding a secret of his own, and the townsfolk can’t sleep until the murderer’s locked up.

Miss May’s working overtime, which means you can be certain they will track the bad guy down. Unfortunately, that may just be the start of their issues.

Readers found this to be a well written, fun, and entertaining. Chelsea is cute and quirky, while being just as smart as Miss May is.

“A New Leash on Life” is the first novel in the “Dog Groomer Mystery” series and was released in 2021. Mystery, redemption, and cute animals. This might just be the perfect cozy mystery.

Amy Stewart is cheated on twice. She packs up her stuff and moves on back to her hometown of Toluca Lake, California, in order to open up a cute pet salon with her Granny. Amy has been living off the grid in upstate New York for so long, making California feel like a whole new world. However she enjoys reconnecting with some of her old friends and her family. She particularly enjoys linking up with Mike Fine, the local chiseled cop.

Mike was the uberjock prom king back during high school. However it turns out that he had a crush on Amy the entire time. Still does, too. But then there’s this murder, and Amy’s life is changed forever. Granny and Amy get accused of this crime, so Granny wants to solve this mystery to clear each of their names, naturally. However she needs help from Amy finding the clues and getting the bad guys locked up.

This is Amy’s opportunity to make a name for herself in Toluca Lake, and to prove that she can thrive without her crummy ex. However is she going to be able to set her heartbreak aside and catch this killer?