The Alphabet Sleuths

by Laura Jensen Walker

Disposing of a body is as easy as A, B, C! Introducing the Alphabet Girls, four senior gal pals turned accidental sleuths— The Thursday Murder Club meets The Golden Girls, with a splash of Killers of a Certain Age

At sixty-nine years old, Claire Reynolds is changing things up. She’s volunteering. Learning to rollerblade. She’s rescued a shelter dog. And today, she’s killed a man. It wasn’t on her to-do list, but stuff happens.

Besides, the man in question was strangling her good friend Daphne, and what’s a gal to do? Scream, possibly. Call the cops. Or—at retired officer Daphne’s insistence—call in the rest of their senior gal pals, roll up the body in a blanket, and toss it off a cliff.

The dead man is a member of the local crime family, and if the police get involved it’s not just Daphne at risk, it’s them all.

But the body’s just the start. Soon the Alphabet Girls—Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne—must transform into the Alphabet Sleuths, if they’re to keep both their liberty . . . and their lives.

Meet Atsuko Kimura (75, retired journalist), Barbara Wright (age redacted, retired actress), Claire Reynolds (69, retired paralegal), and Daphne Cole (62, retired cop) in the first funny, fast-paced Alphabet Girls Mystery from award-winning author Laura Jensen Walker.

256 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 3, 2026

About the author

Award-winning author Laura Jensen Walker has written several fiction and non-fiction books. Her historical fiction debut, DEATH OF A FLYING NIGHTINGALE, spotlighting a group of overlooked real-life women histories from WWII, releases in September 2024. A lover of mysteries since she read her first Trixie Belden in the fourth grade, Laura is thrilled to return to writing after a decade’s absence to write mystery novels. Her Agatha-nominated MURDER MOST SWEET is set in the small town of Lake Potawatomi, Wisconsin, features baker, writer, and breast-cancer survivor Teddie St. John and her irrepressible American Eskimo dog Gracie. Laura's Faith Chapel Mystery series (HOPE, FAITH, & A CORPSE, Jan. 2021) set in rural Northern California, features the movie-loving Episcopal priest Pastor Hope Taylor and her loyal Black Lab Bogie.

Grateful to be a longtime breast cancer survivor (THANKS FOR THE MAMMOGRAM! rereleases September 2020) Laura flew a typewriter across Europe in Uncle Sam's Air Force in her twenties, and lived in Oxfordshire, England for three years where she became a lifelong, tea-loving Anglophile. A native of Racine, Wisconsin—home of Wisconsin’s official state pastry, the delicious, mouth-watering Danish kringle—dog-lover Laura lives in Northern California with her Renaissance-man husband and their canine daughter, Mellie.

Reviews

[Shari · Rating 4 out of 5]

The action starts early in this book with the following first sentence: "Claire Reynolds hadn't planned to kill a man that day, but stuff happens." Stuff does indeed continue to happen after that as the self-described Alphabet Girls, Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne, become the Alphabet Sleuths. The women are residents of a retirement community in California and became close friends during the COVID pandemic. They're very different in temperament, life histories, and attitudes to aging and life, but they're a close and supportive group of friends. As the book opens, Claire is gardening and looks up to see Daphne, who is recovering from surgery on her arm, being strangled by a strange man. Claire rushes up to help her friend and inadvertently kills the guy. Plot ensues from there. I want to avoid spoilers so won't say much more about the plot here.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. The characters are fun to be with and their relationships with each other are lovely. They can each be exasperating in their own ways and are often funny. Some of the other characters in the book are quirky in the ways you'd expect in a cozy mystery and some were more sinister. The story kept me interested from that opening sentence through to the end. There are a couple of other mysteries that occur as the book goes on and it's unclear at first whether they're all related or not. All loose ends are tied up by the end of the book in a satisfying ending. If I had one quibble with the book it's a very minor one and that was what seemed like an overuse of the phrase "afternoon delight." This is a fun read that touches on some serious topics along the way, but with a light touch. Some of these involve the backstories of the characters, which are seamlessly inserted into the narrative. If you like cozy mysteries with older women protagonists and some humor, this may well be a book for you. It's a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital review copy.

[Margie Bunting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Jensen Walker's The Alphabet Sleuths feels like the start of a new series, building on the popularity of books about seniors who solve crimes. Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne, each living in a separate home in a retirement complex, have become fast friends, although their backgrounds are quite different. Atsuko was a journalist, Barbara an actress, Claire a paralegal and medical office worker, and Daphne a cop. Their ages range from 62 to"not telling," but they are still full of life and savoring new experiences.

One night, Claire enters Daphne's house to find a man trying to strangle her friend, and she reacts quickly, hitting the man from behind with such force that he dies instantly. He was a criminal apprehended by Daphne years earlier and just released from prison, having threatened revenge on her. The ladies put their heads together to figure out how to dispose of the body where it will never be found. But the story is just taking off at that point. There are also some thefts among the residents, some loud arguments and petty disagreements, and then another murder, thickening the plot further.

Each one of the Alphabet Sleuths is clearly portrayed, with details about her history, her family, spouses and romances, and what she wants from her retirement, making them easy to root for. Was what they did legal or advisable? Of course not, but was it understandable? Definitely. A couple of the male residents are portrayed as slimy, but at least one man may be true romantic partner material. It's a quick read, but a lot of fun. I hope there are further adventures for the Alphabet sleuths.

My review is based on a complimentary pre-release copy of this book.

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

#TheAlphabetSleuths #NetGalley is one of the funniest cozy mysteries I've read in a while.
The Alphabet Girls include Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne, a wonderful group of women who find themselves having to dispose of a dead body.
Claire didn't mean to kill the guy, but what else could she have done when she found him strangling her good friend Daphne?
Hitting him over the head seemed like a good idea, but now what do they do? Hide the body, of course!
This cozy mystery is so well written., the characters are all so unique and colorful, it was a blast to read this book.
I hope there will be other books in this fantastic, new series.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anything can fall under the umbrella of “girls night” if you do it with your girls, including killing a man and hiding his body.