Murder on Clubhouse Lane

In a place this perfect, nobody dies of anything interesting.

Havenmere Country Club runs on manners, money, and the collective agreement never to look too closely at anything, including the alligator living in the water hazard on fourteen. Everyone loves Barry. The Gator Guys have been called out four times. Barry remains undefeated.

Eighty-four-year-old Sylvia Stern has spent thirteen winters here and missed nothing. So when Celeste Davenport, who has ruled Havenmere's social order for a decade, drops dead days after lifting a glass of champagne she never touches, Sylvia is the only one asking why a woman with a documented heart condition was drinking at all.

Everyone else is satisfied. The club is relieved. The gossip has already moved on to the Winter Gala centerpieces.

Armed with a spiral notebook her late husband called her murder book and a best friend, Arlene, who has never once minded her own business, Sylvia starts pulling on a thread the whole community would rather she left alone. Her investigating partner Roz Kaufman keeps the theories organized. Detective Nikki Morales keeps telling them both to stop. Neither Sylvia nor Barry is inclined to listen.

Because a heart attack asks nothing of anyone. Murder asks quite a lot.

Welcome to Havenmere. Mind the alligator.

Book One in the Havenmere Mysteries, a series of dark-comic cozy mysteries for readers who like their murder served with a side of Florida absurdity. For readers of Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey, with the warmth and wit of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club.

W.A. Withrow writes character-driven mystery novels filled with secrets, surprises, and the occasional outbreak of Florida absurdity.The Havenmere Mysteries combine classic whodunits, sharp observations about community life, and the conviction that age, experience, and curiosity are badly underrated tools for solving crimes. Inspired by the colorful personalities, friendships, and rivalries found in active adult communities, the series follows amateur sleuth Sylvia Stern as she uncovers what lies buried beneath manicured fairways and country club perfection.When not writing, W.A. Withrow enjoys reading mystery novels, spending time with family, and serving as staff to several highly opinionated dogs who remain unimpressed by publishing deadlines.Join the Havenmere newsletter for bonus content, Barry updates, behind-the-scenes notes from Sylvia's murder book, and advance notice of upcoming mysteries at havenmere-mysteries.com