OLD FLORIDA KEPT SECRETS.
LENA CARTER KNOWS WHERE TO LOOK.
Step into the dangerous Everglades of the 1970s with Lena Carter—a determined investigator who notices the clues everyone else overlooks.
Moved survey stakes. Wrong mud. Hidden roads. Altered maps. Silent birds. Black water.
In Marie Fletcher’s Florida mysteries, murder is only part of the secret. Land, water, corruption, environmental danger, and Old Florida history all leave clues behind.
NEW TO LENA CARTER?
Begin where her story begins with the Ground Series.
Already know Lena?
Featured Books
Dive into Lena Carter’s shadowed Everglades cases.
START HERE: THE GROUND SERIES
Before Lena Carter became known as an investigator, she was a woman who noticed when the paperwork did not match the ground beneath her boots.
The Ground Series begins Lena’s journey through the hidden side of 1970s Florida—crooked land deals, altered records, environmental danger, murder, and the small clues powerful people hoped no one would notice.
BOOK 1 — PERMITTED GROUND
The body should not have been there.
Neither should the road.
When Lena Carter discovers a dead man near a questionable South Florida land parcel, the easy explanation does not fit what she sees. Wrong mud, a moved survey stake, suspicious paperwork, and a hidden road lead her toward something much larger than murder.
This is where Lena Carter’s investigative story begins.
BOOK 2 — STANDING GROUND
One solved case does not make the land safe.
Lena follows another trail of secrets buried beneath Old Florida, where property, power, and the truth rarely follow the same boundary lines.
BOOK 3 — HOLLOW GROUND
Some crimes are buried deeper than others.
Lena faces a darker investigation as old secrets, dangerous ground, and a killer’s history begin to connect.
BOOK 4 — BROKEN GROUND
The Ground Series reaches its reckoning as Lena follows the evidence through a Florida landscape where old decisions continue to leave dangerous consequences.
READ THE SERIES IN ORDER
Permitted Ground
Standing Ground
Hollow Ground
Broken Ground
Book 1
BLACK WATER WAKE
A death in the dark Everglades water pulls Detective Lena Carter into a dangerous investigation filled with buried evidence, uneasy alliances, and secrets someone is willing to kill to protect.
Book 2
DUSK OVER BLACK WATER
As dusk settles over the Everglades, Lena follows a trail of fading clues into a case where the water hides more than evidence—and the people closest to the truth have the most to fear.
Book 3
BLACK WATER VEIL
Secrets, oil, land, and murder collide as Lena uncovers a scheme hidden behind the beauty of Old Florida. The truth is not buried. It is being deliberately concealed.
Book 4
BLACK WATER RECKONING
The Black Water cases reach their final reckoning. Old lies rise to the surface, dangerous alliances break apart, and Lena must follow every unfinished clue before the Everglades claims the truth forever.
The Black Water cases are closed. The air has only begun to speak.
Read the exclusive mystery that connects the Black Water Series to Painted Air, the first book in the upcoming Air Series.
GET A FREE LENA CARTER MYSTERY
THE FEATHER LEDGER
The Black Water cases are closed.
But something is wrong with the sky.
When poisoned birds begin falling over an Everglades rookery, Lena Carter follows a strange trail of altered weather reports, missing flight records, suspicious paintings, and clues someone has tried to disguise.
The Feather Ledger is a free bridge mystery connecting the Black Water Series with Painted Air, Book One of the upcoming Air Series.
Enter your email and join Lena’s next investigation.
You’ll also receive occasional Old Florida history, Lena Carter clues, mystery news, new-release announcements, and reader extras.
The Feather Ledger is a complete Lena Carter mystery set after the Black Water cases and before Painted Air, the first novel in the upcoming Air Series.
When poisoned birds begin falling over an Everglades rookery, Lena follows a trail of altered weather reports, false ceremonial clues, missing flight records, and evidence hidden inside paintings.
Inside this exclusive prequel, you will meet conservation researcher Colin Trathen, wildlife artists Elizabeth Evans and Sierra Williams, and young tribal historian Shawn “Savage” Osceola
Watch the birds. Watch the dust. And never trust a sky that looks too clean.
Enter your email below to receive The Feather Ledger.
You will also receive occasional mystery news, release announcements, reader extras, and special offers from Marie Fletcher Writes. You may unsubscribe at any time.
Lena Carter’s world pulled me deep into the Everglades’ shadows—unforgettable.
J. M.
Marie Fletcher’s storytelling feels like a secret case file come to life.
R. T.
★★★★★
★★★★★
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