A Bit About Me...
A former farm kid, I'm now a wife, mom, Gigi (the name bestowed upon me when our eldest grandson was ten months old), and fur baby mama. Our daughter has given us the yummiest grandsons. Our son is married to his high school sweetheart and just had their first baby... another grandson for us to spoil! And we are so fortunate to have them all living nearby! My husband and I love to travel, whether it's to a relaxing beach or road-tripping to small towns looking for vintage goodies for our home.
My writing journey started later in life, as I was a stay-at-home mama until my kiddos were in school. Since I'd always been crafty and loved to sew and decorate, I took interior decorating courses and became a Certified Interior Designer. I loved turning houses into homes and hitting thrift stores to make the proverbial "one man's trash is another man's treasure" a fact.
Eventually, I decided to take a giant leap and go back to college. I received my degree in Radiological Sciences, and I've been a Radiological Technologist for over a decade. You can't hide anything from me...I can see right through you! (wink, wink!) Taking care of people makes my heart happy!
I am so blessed to have an incredibly supportive family that encouraged me to finally go for my ultimate dream... to become an author! They are my biggest cheerleaders and have never let me even think of giving up. So, here I am, and I'm happy to have you come with me on my writing journey!
WARNING! I am prone to getting involved in all sorts of shenanigans and tomfoolery... as well as the occasional bouts of laughter.
Northwoods Mysteries
A Cozy Mystery series set in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin - home of tall pines, sparkling lakes, and plenty of adventures!
When Emmy Cooper’s life in Chicago is turned upside down, the young interior designer retreats to her family’s lake cottage resort in the beautiful Wisconsin Northwoods for a much-needed break. Hoping to clear her mind and gain a fresh perspective, she looks forward to enjoying a slower pace and the crisp, clean pine air at her beloved Cooper’s Cove Resort with her family, dogs, and her best friend, Whitney.
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Unfortunately, her homecoming isn't as calm as she'd hoped when Emmy finds out a ruthless development company is relentlessly pressuring Lake Covington property owners, including Emmy's family, to sell their land so they can build an extravagant, modern resort that would ruin the quaint aesthetic of the area. Things only get worse when Emmy finds the dead body of one of the developers floating in the lake—murdered!
Suddenly the police are involved, and since Emmy's father was leading the fight to stop the shady development from getting approval, he's quickly painted as the prime suspect. Now it's up to Emmy to prove her father’s innocence, save the reputation of Cooper’s Cove, and find out who would resort to murder.
Available in
Paperback, E-book, and Audiobook!
It's the 4th of July in the Wisconsin Northwoods, and no one is more excited than Emmy Cooper. She's happy to be back in her hometown, settling once again into small-town living and helping her family run Cooper’s Cove, their lake cottage resort. Emmy and her teen crush, police officer Dean Erickson, are enjoying getting reacquainted, while she and bestie Whitney are closer than ever.
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Lake Covington and its quaint namesake town are bustling with visitors celebrating during the annual three-day Independence Day Freedom Fest. Everything is Yankee Doodle Dandy until a local man with a reputation for trouble starts fireworks of his own. And the explosions just keep on coming when Emmy stumbles over a dead body at the celebrations!
The dead man is Jordan James, and as Emmy soon finds out, there's no shortage of people who might want him dead. From a jealous jerk to a conniving cousin and even a former friend from his past, suspects are more plentiful than ants at a July picnic! Despite promises to stay out of the investigation, Emmy finds herself smack in the middle of it. Can she and Whitney figure out the truth and find liberty and justice for all?
Available in
Paperback, E-book, and Audiobook!
Available in Paperback and E-book!
Winter has wrapped the Wisconsin Northwoods in a bitter chill, and Emmy Cooper's family lake cottage resort, Cooper’s Cove, is no exception. But it's someone from Emmy's past who's about to bring the real frostbite!
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A stormy mix-up at a local hotel reroutes an unwanted group of guests to Cooper’s Cove Resort, including Emmy's former boss and the reason Emmy slunk home with her tail between her legs, Gwenda Caperwell. As if being face-to-face with an old grudge wasn't bad enough, a fierce blizzard picks that moment to strike, leaving Emmy snowed in with her least favorite person on earth. But things go from bad to downright chilling when Gwenda suddenly turns up dead—colder than the January air—and Emmy's snowed in with a corpse!
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With the roads impassable and the safety of the other guests at stake, the local law enforcement had no choice but to rely on Emmy and her parents to help solve the mystery and catch the real killer, much to the dismay of Emmy's love interest, Officer Dean Erickson. But it quickly becomes clear that plenty of the other guests snowed in at Cooper’s Cove had a reason to want Gwenda dead. Battling through drifts of secrets and lies, Emmy must navigate the frosty web of suspicion to uncover the murderer—before the next victim is iced!
It’s Christmastime in the Northwoods, and Emmy Cooper is ready to deck the halls, frost the cookies, and enjoy Covington’s biggest event of the year—the annual Christmas Celebration. Visitors flock to the festive lakeside town, where Emmy's family runs the Cooper's Cove Resort, for holiday treats, handmade crafts, and the beloved tree-lighting ceremony, led by none other than Santa Claus himself.
But when Emmy stumbles across a very dead Santa, the season takes a chilling turn.
With Emmy's boyfriend, Officer Dean Erickson, trying to keep the investigation under wraps, Emmy and her best friend Whitney find themselves more tangled in this mystery than in last year’s Christmas lights. Between town gossip, a Scrooge of a new health inspector, and long-buried secrets rising to the surface, Emmy’s holiday cheer is draining faster than Ol’ Robert’s eggnog. Unraveling the killer’s identity might take a Christmas miracle—and Emmy’s running out of time. If she’s not careful, she just might be the next one sleighed.
Coming September 1, 2026!
From author Annie McEwen comes a book of secrets that refuse to stay buried...
While Emmy Cooper is happy to have settled back in her hometown in the Wisconsin Northwoods, leaving her life as an interior designer in Chicago behind, her skills come in handy when her good friends need help restoring a rundown Victorian mansion into a B&B on the shores of Lake Superior. But things take a turn for the sinister when Emmy uncovers a hidden tunnel on the property—and a skeleton that’s been keeping its secrets for over a century! The discovery points to a possible Prohibition past and a mystery that spans decades.
While trying to uncover the skeleton's long-dead secrets, Emmy is also helping at her family's Cooper’s Cove Resort, where her grandparents’
high school reunion fills the lodge with laughter, memories, and familiar faces. The stories shared begin to reveal more than anyone expects, and as the gossip mill spins, new clues surface...along with another dead body! Emmy—alongside her closest friends—must uncover a killer in the present while untangling a century-old mystery, before Emmy herself becomes history!
What my readers are saying...
"I just loved this book! I think it’s going to be one of my favorite series!" Debi P. on Goodreads
"This story has a mystery with twists and turns to unravel with likable characters in a close-knit lakeside community with a thread of faith, including an old crush back in town on the police force. After the ending, I cannot wait to read the next in the series."
Gloria on Goodreads
"Annie McEwen's Northwoods Mystery series is quickly becoming a favorite series of mine, but this holiday addition just brought things to a new level. If you are looking for a cozy mystery to put you in the Christmas spirit, I really don't think you could do better than this one."... Deborah A.
“‘Resort to Murder’ is a fabulous debut novel! Annie McEwen has an engaging writer’s voice and a compelling story to tell. I love the Cooper family dynamics (such a cozy draw) and Emmy’s besties, Whitney and Marcus-with-the-mullet are a hoot!”
— Amazon Review
“I’ve been hearing lots of good things about this series, and I can see why. The setting is wonderful. It’s one of those places I’d love to visit between murders. The cast of characters are fantastic as well. You can tell just how much they all care for each other. ”
— Barnes and Noble Review
“I was hooked from page one! This was such a cozy mystery and I loved getting to know Emmy, her family, her friends and all the locals of Covington. ”
— StoryGraph Review