Della Frost

Della Frost writes about women who find their magic on the wrong side of forty, in towns where the fog comes in early and the dead don't always stay quiet. She is fond of strong tea, old houses, second chances that arrive later than advertised, and characters who have buried at least one husband or one illusion. Her heroines are past the age when the world expects much of them, which is exactly when they tend to get interesting. Nobody in her books gets rescued. They do, however, get help, usually from a formidable woman and occasionally from an animal with opinions. She lives where it is cold for most of the year, which suits her, in a house that makes noises she has chosen not to investigate. The Last Word Mysteries is her series about Maeve Thorne, a former obituary writer who inherited a Victorian, a sardonic raven, and the family knack for hearing what the recently dead left behind. There is a small town called Hollowmere, a circle of women who keep its secrets, a funeral director who says less than he means, and at least one grave nobody has finished digging.