{"product_id":"the-best-little-motel-in-texas-9780063469327","title":"The Best Little Motel in Texas","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A sharp, funny mystery bursting with heart and small-town secrets. I adored every page of\u003ci\u003e The Best Little Motel in Texas - \u003c\/i\u003epure escapist joy with a wicked edge.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- Joanna Wallace, author of \u003ci\u003eYou'd Look Better as a Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An overall, absolute delight.\" - \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA charming, edgy mystery about a young woman who unexpectedly inherits the best little motel in Texas - replete with a feisty set of golden working girls, a poisoned priest, and a sleepy hometown thrown into chaos.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a childhood spent combing the dive bars of Sarsaparilla Falls to collect her fun-loving momma, Cordelia West now enjoys a simple, respectable life in Dallas. Then one phone call from the hometown she's spent years trying to forget throws it into chaos.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCordelia's great-aunt Penelope has passed away, naming Cordelia the sole heir to the Chickadee Motel. She has no memory of a great-aunt and no interest in hospitality, but the will stipulates that the motel can't be sold until its residents leave or pass away - so she reluctantly heads back down to Sarsaparilla Falls to figure out who's living in the Chickadee, and how to get them out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut upon her arrival, Cordelia discovers the Chickadee isn't a motel--it's a brothel, housing three women in their sixties known as the Chicks. For decades, Daisy, Arline, and Belinda Sue have entertained the men of Sarsaparilla Falls (with their wives' blessings)--including the upright Pastor Reed-Smythe, who thunders against the town's favorite sins when he's not indulging. Cordelia doesn't want to be a hotel manager or a madam, but she can't just sell the only home the Chicks have known--especially not after the pastor is found poisoned in Daisy's bed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the Chicks--and the town--on the verge of a breakdown, Cordelia steps up to mop up the mess. For a small town, there are plenty of suspects: could it be the obsessed nurse with access to arsenic? Developers eager to gobble up the land? The righteously angry town librarian? Things are heating up in Sarsaparilla Falls, and with the Pastor's obnoxiously attractive son Archer--Cordelia's childhood nemesis--investigating the Chicks and getting close, straightlaced Cordelia may just have to get a little dirty to make a killer come clean.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lyla Lane\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/03\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.47lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.31w x 0.65d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780063469327\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2026 pg. 39\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/05\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLane, Lyla:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLyla Lane\u003c\/strong\u003e is a pen name for Sonia Hartl, author of the romcoms \u003cem\u003eRent to Be\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eHeartbreak for Hire, \u003c\/em\u003e which has been optioned for television, as well as the YA novels \u003cem\u003eNot Your #Lovestory, Have a Little Faith in Me, \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Lost Girls\u003c\/em\u003e, also optioned for television. She lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and two daughters.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Lyla Lane \/ Paperback \/ English","offer_id":47712184041629,"sku":"9780063469327","price":35.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/files\/img_f3023748-3bae-43ca-bb3e-cb45a8b991ed.jpg?v=1773171966","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-best-little-motel-in-texas-9780063469327","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}