This series includes 8 books.
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Book 1No Human Involved
by Barbara Seranella
A strung-out waif-cum-ace auto mechanic, Munch Mancini is trying to get clean and get her act together. But temptation and problems keep pushing her closer to the edge. Like the murder of her abusive father, "Flower George." The cops have her pegged for the crime, and now she's got to stay out of sight of a certain cop named Mace St. John. St first it's easy because Mace isn't looking that hard. But when his prime suspect becomes linked to the gruesome murders of several not-so-innocent women, the wearily homicide detective goes into overdrive. If Mace wants to solve these murders, he'll have to find Munch. And if Munch wants a new life, she's got to find a way to cut a deal. But as they will both discover, there's a precarious line between trust and betrayal--and the temptation to cross it may be too strong to resist.
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Book 2No Offense Intended
by Barbara Seranella
If only expert mechanic Munch Mancini could keep her life running as smoothly as the cars she repairs. A former substance abuser, Munch is doing her best each day to keep the sins of her past behind her, but it seems that there's always some old friend or temptation blocking her path. Like her ex-lover, Sleaze Garillo, a shady hustler who comes around looking for a favor. When Sleaze drops out of sight under troubling circumstances--possibly as the victim of a sniper attack on the freeway--Munch can't help but get involved. The cops are after her for answers. But Munch doesn't have any--yet. Unlike the police, she's the only one with the friends and connections to find the truth. Of course that means revisiting the lingering characters from her past--friend and foe--and dealing with them once and for all. She's used to battling drug smugglers, bikers, and the law, but this time, she's facing the hardest fight of her life--protecting the baby daughter Sleaze left behind.
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Book 3Unwanted Company (Munch Mancini Novels (Paperback))
by Barbara Seranella
Miranda "Munch" Mancini has seen the worst of times, but she's still looking for the best. A recovering addict and auto mechanic, she's now a single mother and a fledgling businesswoman trying to run a limousine service. But being her own boss means she can't afford to turn down a client, even when a seedy government type offers her big money to drive around a foreign businessman... The problems start when Munch promises to hire Ellen, an old friend fresh out of prison, as a driver. Next thing Munch knows, though, her friend, her client, and her Cadillac are missing in action, and the police are at her door. With the custody of her adoptive daughter on the line and Ellen's life in Jeopardy, there's nothing Munch won't do to help her pal, police detective Mace St. John, solve the case. But if there's a brutal murderer on her trail, what can Munch do -- which won't get her killed -- to stop him?
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Book 4Unfinished Business
by Barbara Seranella
Munch Mancini finally has her life together. A former drug addict and biker who lived rough on the streets, she's now a respectable mom with a regular job. By day, Munch is one of the Brentwood Texaco's best mechanics. By night, she drives a limo. Even better, she owns the limo, and at forty-six bucks an hour, it brings in some nice change. Like tonight, when the meter metaphorically ticks as she takes in the view outside a cliffside Pacific Palisades mansion while the glamorous types inside drink champagne at a charity gala. Munch sees things while she waits. Two people come out of the house. They argue. Munch senses a threat. Soon one of her customers will be murdered, another will be raped and tortured, and Munch will find herself trapped in the mayhem. She knows something important, perhaps from that night in the Palisades, perhaps from her work at the garage. Whatever it is, it's significant enough for her to become a target. Munch has much to worry about already. There's her seven-year-old adopted daughter, Asia. Munch would sacrifice anything to keep her safe and secure. There's the current man in her life, Garret Dimond. He's perfect in many ways. She's always prayed for a lover who won't drive her crazy, but she also needs a guy who will keep her awake. Which brings her to Mace St. John, the cop who arrested her back in her biker days. Now they are friends, but Munch sometimes yearns for more. That's impossible. It won't happen. It mustn't. All is tested when they're thrown together in the hunt for a killer. Vulnerable, courageous, unpredictable, Munch Mancini packs a powerfully entertaining punch in this riveting novel from one of the brightest new stars of crime fiction.
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Book 5No Man Standing: A Munch Mancini Crime Novel
by Barbara Seranella
A new Munch Mancini novel from the nationally bestselling author whose Unfinished Business was a Los Angeles Times "Best Book of 2001" Munch Mancini is a busy woman, what with her auto mechanic's job, her fledgling limo business, and single motherhood, but she hasn't forgotten her old friends: she's still close to Ellen Summers. Munch and Ellen were young and foolish together. They drank, they did drugs, they did other things they'd rather forget. But somewhere along the line, Munch went straight and Ellen went to prison. Now, Ellen is about to be freed form the California Institiution ofor Women. She'll have another chance to make a life. Or will she? Just a day before her release, her world falls apart when someone tortures and murders her mother and stepfather, Lila Mae and Dwayne Summers. Ellen may be the next target. Ellen has something the killer wants, and she's not about to give it up. Alone and threatened, she flees to Munch. Munch wants to help, but is Ellen telling her the truth? Too much of Ellen's story doesn't make sense, and what if helping Ellen puts Munch's eight-year-old daughter, Asia, at risk? That's where friendship stops and motherhood takes over. Where Asia's concerned, Munch takes no chances. Unwilling to confide completely in the police because the whole truth would send Ellen back to prison, Munch embarks on a mission to find the killer and to cut the best possible deal for her friend. Work, friendship,loyalty, motherhood, men, and even Munch's sobriety are all put to the test in the six harrowing days leading up to a heartbreaking showdown. Munch must ask herself some tough questions. If she comes through this one, she'll never take anything for granted again. Besides her dealings with Ellen, Munch has some problems of her own. The jealous mother of one of Asia's playmates is stalking Munch, convinced she's stealing her husband. The woman could be dangerous. She can't be ignored. She's wrong about the husband, though. The chemistry is between Munch and Homicide Detective Rico Chacón, who's investigating the Summers murders. Munch hasn't felt this way about a man in a long time, but canshe trust him? With riveting action and one of the most unconventional and appealing heroines in all of crime fiction, No Man Standing is the best yet from a superbly gifted author.
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Book 6Unpaid Dues: A Munch Mancini Crime Novel (Munch Mancini Novels (Paperback))
by Barbara Seranella
Munch Mancini - mechanic, limousine driver, mother - has lived a hard life and done it all: sex, drugs, you name it. But now she has her adopted eight-year-old daughter, Asia, a house and job she loves...and she also has trouble when the battered body of her former pal is washed up in a Los Angeles drainage canal. Munch's policeman friend Mace St. John runs the dead woman's prints: her name is Jane Ferrar, but in her arrest report Mace finds Munch's photograph and fingerprints. What's the tie between the two women? Who killed Jane and what is the significance of the baby doll tied to her arms? Despite severing all ties with the people she used to know, especially Jane Ferrar and a dangerous man named Thor, Munch soon learns that it's not that easy to escape the past. Now, her whole new life is in danger of unravelling unless she can stop a killer.
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Book 7Unwilling Accomplice: A Munch Mancini Crime Novel (Munch Mancini Novels)
by Barbara Seranella
Munch Mancini and little daughter Asia are doing just fine. Munch rejoices in her job as an auto mechanic at the Brentwood Texaco. She and Asia have a house -- not in tony Brentwood -- and a dog, and Munch has been off drugs for years. She plans to stay that way. It's tough, though, when people from her old life resurface. Such a person is Lisa Slokum, Asia's aunt. Lisa has always meant trouble, and why should now be any different? It seems she has bolted from the Witness Protection Program with her two daughters, fifteen-year-old Charlotte and eleven-year-old Jill, and she needs Munch's help. Would that it were so simple. Munch will need to call upon Rico Chacón, a fine cop but not-so-fine boyfriend whose commitment to her on the nonprofessional side seems to be wavering. And before Munch can sort out her love life she must try on the role of auntie to Asia's new cousins -- not easy when the teenaged Charlotte goes missing and her mom, Lisa, lands in jail. Why did Charlotte run away, and where is she now? Is she in danger of becoming one of Hollywood's lost street children? Does she have information about the recent death of school friend Steven Koon? And why was a lock of her hair found stuck to a piece of duct tape in a ransacked storage locker? Munch must unravel the mystery of young Charlotte's complex life before it's too late to save her. To do that, she needs help from Rico, who's investigating the Koon boy's death. Will their professional alliance rekindle their romance? Should she take him back? Does he want to come back? Can she trust him? With its pulsating suspense and penetrating look at family relationships and the universal need for love and affirmation, Unwilling Accomplice is the best yet from a versatile author whose passionate voice shines through her fast-moving prose.
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Book 8An Unacceptable Death (Munch Mancini Novels)
by Barbara Seranella
The eighth book in this series finds Munch Mancini much removed from her former life of abuse and prostitution. She now works as an automobile mechanic, work she loves and does so well that even her male co-workers acknowledge her skill (if somewhat grudgingly). She has a daughter, a little girl left in her care by a dying friend. And she is about to marry a police officer whom she loves deeply.It all comes crashing down when a friend in the Police Department calls to tell her that her fiancŽ is dead, shot down by his fellow cops in a drug bust gone wrong. Refusing to believe the explanation she is given, Munch goes on a dangerous mission, first for knowledge, and then for revenge.
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