Alex Matthews - Mystery Writer

Alex has received the Readers' Choice Best Series Character Award, the Cat Writers' Muse Medallion, and the Wordweaving Award for Excellence. Out of the many positive reviews that have come her way (she prefers not to think about the negative ones) her favorite quote is:

"Although I enjoy hundreds of books a year, including many mysteries, Cassidy McCabe has managed to capture and hold my heart through the years like no other heroine." -- Cindy Penn, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

Healer's Heresy
The Tenth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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Psychotherapist Cassidy McCabe is unnerved when her doorbell rings late at night. Her reporter husband Zach answers it, then returns to tell her their visitor is a former client with booze on his breath and blood on his shirt.

Overriding Zach's objections, Cass takes her client into her home office and listens to what he has to say. When he tells her what he wants from her, she is shocked.

Against her better judgment, she believes her client is telling the truth and accedes to his wishes. Later that night, Cass and Zach find a woman's naked body covered by a sheet, her hair fanned out around her head, a bullet hole in her chest. It's Claudia, the doctor who took out an order of protection against Cass's client.

As Cass and Zach work together to uncover the truth, they learn that Claudia wasn't who she seemed to be...and asking the wrong person the wrong question could prove fatal.

Murder's Madness
The Ninth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"With her remarkably savvy style, Matthews once again creates a world of murder and mystery devoted fans of Cassidy McCabe will find impossible to put down. Very highly recommended. – Cynthia Penn, Midwest Book Review.

Cassidy and her husband, Zach, rent a highrise condo to a schizophrenic woman stabilized on medication. Later, when the woman goes off her meds, she tells Cass that she went to an isolated rooftop room where she saw the Angel of Death draining blood from a body hanging in a janitor's closet. When Cass discovers that a man went missing from the highrise that same night, she is drawn into an investigation that brings her face to face with the Angel of Death.

Blood's Burden
The Eighth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"Cassidy McCabe is a great character – sensitive, empathic, and smart. Blood’s Burden has three interlocking plot lines that move the story with speed." – Barbara D’Amato, author of the Chicago cop series and winner of the first Mary Higgins Clark Award.

"Ms. Matthews has written such a well crafted book in Blood’s Burden that I am eager for more from her. I was hooked from the first few pages. The dialogue and language are extremely natural; the story flows from the first to last page." – www.coffeetimeromance.com

"The latest Cassidy McCabe thriller is a terrific amateur sleuth tale in which this time the investigation is personal. . . . An exhilarating mystery that will send newcomers seeking the seven previous Cass capers." – Harriet Klausner, Reader’s Robot, a reader’s advisory service

Psychotherapist Cass McCabe is horrified when her stepson is arrested for murder, even more horrified to learn that her husband thinks he’s guilty. She risks everything to prove to the police, her husband, and herself that the boy is innocent.

Wedding's Widow
The Seventh Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"This series, set in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, uses local color
well and profits from an appealing heroine." – Booklist

"Author Alex Matthews once again proves her excellence at creating well
constructed mystery and a cast of characters readers cannot help but love." – Cynthia Penn, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

At a wedding in a lush green park, psychotherapist Cassidy McCabe and her husband, Zach, witness the violent death of the groom by a sniper's bullet. Did one of the guests hire the hit? What dark secrets lie in the groom's past? And why did someone want to see him die at the altar?

Death's Domain
The Sixth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"One of the best, if not the best cozy type mystery that I have read in a very long time. . . . Once you start reading, you won't want to stop until the very heart-thudding ending." – Pauline Bennett, Romance Reviews Today

"Death's Domain is one intense rush." – Tracy Farnsworth, TheRomanceReadersConnection.com [Read the review]

". . . a fast-moving, thought-provoking adventure . . ." – Kathy Thomason, The Butler County Post

Cassidy McCabe, everyone's favorite psychotherapist cat lover, is forced to face a traumatic event from her past when what first appears to be a prank turns out to be far more ominous. Recognizing that she will need to draw on the investigative skills of her reporter husband, Zach, Cassidy confides a most terrible secret.

Cat's Claw
The Fifth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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". . . Devilish mystery, realistic Chicago ambiance and crisp pacing." – Booklist

". . . suspenseful and heartwrenching . . ." – Publishers Weekly

Every street has its resident cat lady, but psychotherapist sleuth Cassidy McCabe’s neighbor is more reclusive than most. She never speaks to her neighbors, never has visitors, never raises the blinds. Cats surround the house, and Cassidy decides to find a home for the strays when she suddenly finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation with her as the next target. In Cat’s Claw, the fifth book in the series, Alex Matthews delivers another relentless page-turner while also exploring the delicate psychological qualities that allow people to interact with the world around them.

Wanton's Web
The Fourth Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"A good, exciting read; in fact, a real nail biter ending." – Mysterious Women

Cassidy's fiancé, Zach, receives a letter from a past lover, and a son he never knew shows up on their doorstep. When the woman is murdered, Zach becomes the chief suspect.

Vendetta's Victim
The Third Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"A frisky brew, to be sure." – Chicago Sun-Times

A stranger sends women letters recommending that they see Cassidy for therapy. Puzzled, Cassidy counsels a woman only to discover the stranger's vendetta against the woman whom he's seduced and infected with HIV.

Satan's Silence
The Second Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"Good enjoyable reading." – Mystery Review

During therapy, Cass's client Dana undergoes a regression to childhood in which she remembers a Satanic ritual. Is it a true experience or simply a case of unbalanced thinking?

Secret's Shadow
The First Cassidy McCabe Mystery

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"The prose is punchy, vivid, and lean. Combined with seamless plotting and a compelling story, this makes for enjoyable reading" – I Love a Mystery

It's a therapist's worst nightmare when a client apparently commits suicide and his note blames Cassidy.