Nancy Martin Bücher

Facing financial struggles, Nora Blackbird must adapt to her new role as a celebrity gossip columnist under the demanding Australian tabloid editor Gus Hardwicke. With her job on the line at the Philadelphia Intelligencer, she dives into the world of high society, navigating the challenges and intrigues that come with it. As she balances her career and personal life, the pressure to succeed in this cutthroat environment intensifies, leading to unexpected twists and revelations.

Sensible Philadelphia debutante Nora Blackbird turns sleuth when her friend Lexie becomes the prime suspect in the killing of a prominent philanthropist, but her investigation is complicated by the return of her scheming parents.

You could say my sisters and I are hot-blooded bluebloods with a flair for fashion—and for solving crimes. But things have NOT been going well for us Blackbirds: Emma has busted out of a very exclusive clinic. Libby’s hormones are in overdrive from selling paraphernalia for Potions and Passions, a company that promises its customers full satisfaction. And I’m still dating mobster’s son Mick Abruzzo, which keeps me in a permanent tizzy. At least, nobody in my vicinity has been knocked off lately. Oops—looks like I spoke too soon… A TEMPEST IN A C-CUP Nora’s next journalistic assignment: the unveiling of the most miraculous bra in fashion history. But before Nora can hand in her uplifting story, her boss is found shot execution-style and trussed up in expensive panty hose—an Abruzzo family trademark. Now Nora must find the killer before her innocent lover takes the rap. That means shadowing the most glamorous suspects in Philadelphia—including a bad-boy designer, a former child star, a high-strung ad exec, and a pair of luscious twin models. Though Nora’s accustomed to upper-crust murder, cross your fingers for the Blackbird sisters, because this time, high society has never seemed so low-down dirty.

After agreeing to marry Mick Abruzzo, the son of New Jersey's most notorious gangster, impoverished Philadelphia heiress Nora Blackbird and her sisters investigate the disappearance of Penny Devine, the daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia family.

Roxy Abruzzo decides to solve her money problems by working for her uncle, one of the last mob bosses in Pittsburgh, but when one of her targets is murdered, Roxy becomes the prime suspect and must clear her name before it is too late.

"Nora has to deal with the bump-and-grind of her personal life and also bring the curtain down on a daring killer--before he forces her to exit stage left, permanently"--

Inspired by encouragement from friends, the author embarks on a journey to document their intriguing life experiences. This personal narrative reveals unique stories and insights, reflecting on the events that have shaped their identity. The book offers a blend of humor, reflection, and candidness, inviting readers to explore the author's remarkable journey and the lessons learned along the way.

Mirabai, an iconic sixteenth-century Indian poet-saint, is renowned for her unwavering love of God, her disregard for social hierarchies and gendered notions of honor and shame, and her challenge to familial, feudal, and religious authorities. Defying attempts to constrain and even kill her, she could not be silenced. Though verifiable facts regarding her life are few, her fame spread across social, linguistic, and religious boundaries, and stories about her multiplied across the subcontinent and the centuries. In Mirabai, Nancy M. Martin traces the story of this immensely popular Indian saint from the earliest manuscript references to her through colonial and nationalist developments to scholarly and popular portrayals in the decades leading up to Indian independence. This book examines Mirabai's place as both insider and outsider to the developing strands of devotional Hinduism and her role in contested terrain of debates around the education and independence of women and the crafting of Indian and Hindu identities. Mirabai offers a comprehensive and multi-layered portrait of this remarkable and still controversial woman, who continues to be a source of inspiration and catalyst for self-actualization for spiritual seekers, artists, activists, and so many others in India and around the world today.