Carol Ayer, Mystery and Romance Author

Writing Mystery and Romance in California

Welcome to my website! I write two cozy mystery series: The HSP Mysteries and The Mother-Daughter Realty Team Mysteries. The HSP Mysteries are set in the charming fictional town of Oceanville on the coast of California. Protagonist Kayla Jeffries is a home baker and an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). The Mother-Daughter Realty Team Mysteries are set in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California, in a fictional gated community called Forest Lake. Protagonists Sierra Madison and her mother, Autumn Cassidy, live and work together. Both series include cats and a little bit of romance.

Rejection is Murder, an amateur sleuth mystery, releases on July 14, 2026. This is the first book in The Cat and Mowse Mysteries. The series features cozy mystery writer Cat Summers and her literary agent, Whitney Mowse.

I’ve also written two standalone romances, A Goulden Christmas and Accidental Santa, as well as a standalone psychological thriller, Imprinted (under the pen name Elizabeth Charles).

All book covers other than Writing the Cozy Mystery were created by the author using Canva.