Chrissy McMullen Mysteries Series

L.A. psychologist Christina McMullen’s relationship with Detective Jack Rivera is heating up—until a client threatens to put a damper on their sparks. Chrissy has been counseling Micky Goldenstone to face the secrets from his past, but she had no idea that they would lead to a dangerous confrontation with a criminal even the police can’t protect her from. To make matters worse, Chrissy’s best friend, Hollywood starlet Laney Butterfield, has started getting creepy mail that’s turning stalker-ugly. And Chrissy’s neighbor desperately needs her help to rescue her runaway sister from an abusive husband. When it comes to swimming in a sea of crazy, Chrissy is a pro, but she’ll need more than a few clues to keep her head above water.

In southern California it’s raining crime—and psychologist Christina McMullen could use an umbrella. Her clients are crazy, her on-again-off-again relationship with LAPD lieutenant Jack Rivera has just started heating up again, and now Rivera’s womanizing dad has come calling—asking Chrissy to investigate a mysterious death that might haunt his next campaign: for president of the United States. Soon Chrissy is investigating not one “accidental” death, but two—until she stumbles on a trail of bodies littering Senator Rivera’s distinguished career. As she untangles a web of high-stakes lies, Chrissy believes that she’s found the secret to a serial killer’s underground campaign. The killer has a list, a motive, and the perfect disguise—the only question is: who’s next?

Even in a city of long, tall beauties, psychologist Christina McMullen is used to getting hit on. But she’s definitely not accustomed to having a hit on her. Until the day a charming stranger shows up at her door—and someone guns him down right in front of her.

For Chrissy, shootings and explosions are what pass for normal in her tempestuous relationship with sexy LAPD lieutenant Jack Rivera. But the real mayhem begins when her brother Pete blows in from the Windy City trailing clouds of trouble in the form of a pregnant girlfriend, “borrowed” money, and a mobster named “D.” Chrissy always said her family would be the death of her–but even L.A.’s sassiest shrink isn’t prepared for the truth behind her brother’s link to the dead stranger…or the killer who threatens them both.

L.A. homicide detective Jack Rivera has a killer body, a wicked smile, and a velvet touch. Just ask Christina McMullen. The cocktail-waitress-turned-psychologist has handled obsessed patients, love-struck drunks, and her own guilt-tripping mother with aplomb. But when it comes to the lieutenant, Chrissy has an old-fashioned case of irresistible attraction—until things turn fatal when Rivera is accused of murder!

Not only was Rivera found unconscious next to a dead woman, but the victim was his beautiful ex-girlfriend—who left Rivera for his wealthy dad. Chrissy detects a few father-and-son issues—along with plenty of evidence that her would-be boyfriend is guilty. But when she starts looking into the dead woman’s past, a rich senator’s connections, and Rivera’s relationship with his mother, will she discover there’s hope for her and Rivera after all? Or will her curiosity have deadly consequences?

Christina McMullen, psychologist extraordinaire, has problems–not least of which are her needy clients, a schizophrenic septic system, and her sizzling-then-fizzling romance with Lieutenant Jack Rivera. But Chrissy has yet another problem she’d like to ignore: finding her secretary’s missing boyfriend. Okay, so she secretly hopes the vertically challenged computer geek has harmlessly departed from Elaine’s life–after all, there’s no evidence to suggest foul play. But when her razor-sharp instincts, honed by years as a cocktail waitress, start screaming, she’ll have to use all her skills to protect Laney and herself from a fate far worse than heartbreak…and a little more like murder.

ANALYZE THIS . . .

Chrissy McMullen has made a career leap, all the way from slinging drinks at Chicago’s most notorious nightclub to dispensing psychotherapy from her sleek new practice in L.A. Even if she can’t quite shed her too-loud, too-curvy alter ego–or the brawling family that insists on claiming kinship. So when her most famous client, buff football star “Bomber” Bomstad, starts chasing her around her desk and getting, well . . . unzipped . . . Christina gets just a little miffed–until Bomber has the bad manners to drop dead at her feet.

Enter Jack Rivera, a no-nonsense detective with a grim attitude and a great butt, who’s determined to prove this cocktail-waitress-turned-shrink was engaging in some very unethical behavior. Persuading Rivera that she’s not a murderer isn’t going to be easy. Plunging headfirst into a city full of people in need of some serious therapy, Chrissy will have to use all her street smarts, a good deal of sex appeal, and a little love to clear her name–and cancel an appointment with a killer.

Praise for Unzipped

“Lois Greiman is a modern day Dorothy Sayers.  Witty as hell, yet talented enough to write like an angel with a broken wing.”—Kinky Friedman, author of Ten Little New Yorkers

“This is an amazingly good book with tons of twists and turns.  And it’s funny.  Chrissy’s internal thoughts are hilarious, as are the situations she gets herself into.  Plus, the sexual tension between Chrissy and Rivera spices things up but never detracts from the pacing.  Greiman has put out a winner that will hopefully become a series.”—Romantic Times, Top Pick