Welcome to Jeffries, Indiana, a railroad town in the heart of the Great Depression, where coal smoke hangs over the rooftops, Prairie Creek runs alongside the Ghere family home, and nothing is ever quite as quiet as it looks.
If you’re new here, this page will tell you who Anna is, where her story begins, and which book to pick up first.
Meet Anna Ghere
Anna “Annie” Ghere wants what every other child on her street has: a happy, ordinary childhood. But Anna notices things. She asks questions. And she has an uncanny gift for puzzling things out.
That gift keeps pulling her into the mysteries her small town would rather forget: an unidentified body in the creek beside her house, a boy from a wealthy Chicago family who vanishes without a trace, and a stranger with a hidden past who steps off the train one day.
As the series unfolds, Anna grows from a sharp-eyed girl into the trusted partner of Sheriff Clyde Boggs. She follows the clues wherever they lead, case by case, through the heart of small-town Indiana.
The World of Jeffries
The Anna Ghere books take you back to the 1930s, when hard times touched every family and neighbors leaned on one another to get by. You’ll get to know:
- Popo and Mother, Anna’s parents, whose marriage is more complicated than it looks
- Aunt Loretta, the family storyteller, who never lets the facts get in the way of a good tale
- Gem and Thea, Anna’s older and younger sisters
- Cousin Charlie, who lives with the family during the school year
- Prairie Creek, where more than one mystery begins
Anna tells her own story, looking back across a long life at the events that shaped her. These books are mysteries, but they are also stories about family, faith, small-town life, and the people who made Anna who she is.
The World of Jeffries
🔍 Edge of Summer: Book One of the Anna Ghere Mysteries
Aunt Lo calls it “the edge of summer,” that fleeting season between late August and mid-September. It’s the season when Anna’s first mystery finds her. This is where the case-by-case adventures begin.
🎄 Christmas Angels: A Companion Novel
It’s 1933, the darkest year of the Depression, and despair has settled over the Ghere household. Then nine-year-old Annie wipes a thrown egg off a stranger’s front door, and that one small act of kindness changes her family’s Christmas, and her life. This is a warm holiday story set in Anna’s world.
👉 Where to begin: Start with Christmas Angels to meet Anna and her family. Then follow her into Edge of Summer, where the mysteries begin.
Is This Series for Me?
You’ll feel right at home in Jeffries if you love:
- Historical mysteries with a strong sense of time and place
- Clever young heroines who outthink the adults around them
- Small-town settings full of secrets
- Stories about family, faith, and hope in hard times
- Books that feel like listening to a beloved relative tell stories by the fire
About the Author
Patra Ann Taylor grew up in Lima, Ohio, along the Nickel Plate line. She spent many happy summers in Frankfort, Indiana, a railroad town that bears a remarkable resemblance to Jeffries. She spent many of those summer days retracing her mother’s footsteps, reliving the life LouDell Taylor once lived there. The Anna Ghere books are dedicated to her mother’s memory. Her mother gave her many things, including the memories that bring Jeffries to life.
Can You Puzzle It Out?
Anna isn’t the only one who can crack a case. Every month, a new mystery opens on the Home page. Read a cold case from the past or help Anna follow the clues to the truth.
[Anna’s Cold Case →]
Don’t Miss What Happens Next
Once you’ve tried your hand at sleuthing, sign up to be the first to hear about new releases, new mysteries to solve, and behind-the-scenes stories from Jeffries.