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Book

Bless your Heart by Leigh Dunlap
Bless your Heart by Leigh Dunlap
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Bless your Heart

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Motherhood and murder link five very different women when a working-class detective clashes with wealthy moms in this upmarket thriller in the vein of May Cobb and Jeneva Rose.

Anderson Tupper, a member of one of Atlanta’s richest families, has been murdered in the dugout of the Little League field where he was a volunteer coach, and it’s up to Detective Shay Claypool, a single mother from the other side of town, to find his killer.

With the exclusive area of Buckhead threatening to secede from the city of Atlanta and take its tax revenue with it, Shay is under pressure to solve the murder of one of Buckhead’s own. Accustomed to handling drug dealers and prostitutes, she must now contend with an even more sinister group: the Buckhead Betties, the insufferably entitled women of Georgia’s most affluent zip code. One of them might be a murderer, but who? Is it the old-money queen of Buckhead? The mysterious new girl in town? The drug dealing trophy wife?

It seems secrets and lies are as plentiful as luxury handbags in Atlanta and everyone’s guilty of something. Shay’s investigation will make her examine her own prejudices and discover that, as women and mothers, she might not be that different from the Betties after all. And if she isn’t careful, they just might take her down with them.

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Praise

“A little bit Desperate Housewives, a little bit Jacqueline Susann, and the delicious whiff of camp… This is a hoot.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Clever, engaging, and a cozy mystery lover’s delight from cover to cover, Bless Your Heart by author Leigh Dunlap is all the more impressive when considering that it is her debut as a novelist. A fun and thoroughly engaging read for police procedural mystery buffs and a highly recommended pick…”

—Midwest Book Review

“[A] luscious, wickedly entertaining novel set in Atlanta’s rich Buckhead enclave that leads its readers on a merry chase to the finish. And what a finish: the book has one of the most satisfying resolutions of any murder-mystery novel readers are likely to have recently encountered. The writing is superb. The characters are appealingly diverse and equally well drawn. The plot twists and turns but stays mostly attuned to the characters. A social satire glosses over the whole tale, binding the parts together into one absorbing novel. Be prepared to be totally engrossed and totally entertained..”

—Claire Matturro, Southern Lit Review

“Audacious, wry, and darkly hilarious. This murderous mix of revealing social commentary mixed with a solid mystery is magnolia sweet and sharply mordant as only an insider’s southern gimlet eye can be. Designing Women meets Big Little Lies in this witty, voicey page turner.”

—Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest

“Equal parts murder mystery and social satire, Leigh Dunlap’s Bless Your Heart is a savagely gleeful take on the Atlanta elite, Law & Order meets Desperate Housewives. Beneath the glamorous surface, though, Dunlap considers weighty issues such as race, class, and money.

As a longtime resident of Atlanta, when reading Dunlap’s debut I both laughed out loud and squirmed in my seat, although I laughed more often. Dunlap is a witty and vicious satirist in addition to being a compelling mystery writer. Murder mysteries open all kinds of doors, allowing readers access to hidden truths that are both shocking and shallow. Dunlap accomplishes this with particular verve and skill, sparing no one. ‘Who killed Anderson Tupper?’ may be the question at the heart of the plot, but as Dunlap leads us inside the privileged walls of Atlanta mansions and into the worlds of both the Buckhead Betties and the detective searching for a killer, we may start wondering if there are more deserving victims.”

—Christopher Swann, 2022 Georgia Author of the Year

“A riveting thriller that lays bare the tensions in a steamy Atlanta neighborhood—this page-turner is perfect for fans of May Cobb and Jeneva Rose.”

—Aggie Blum Thompson, author of Such a Lovely Family
“Dunlap masterfully weaves class tension and maternal instinct into a heart-pounding thriller that grips you from the first page. Detective Shay Claypool crashes through the pristine veneer of Buckhead society, exposing the dark secrets lurking beneath designer handbags and country club memberships. The ‘Buckhead Betties’ circle their wagons as Shay hunts for a killer among Atlanta’s elite, challenging everyone’s assumptions about privilege and justice. Brimming with southern charm and lethal ambition, Bless Your Heart delivers a wickedly entertaining reminder that motherhood might unite women across social divides, but murder reveals who they truly are.”
—Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author

News

Author Spotlight: Leigh Dunlap
Atlanta News First — August 13, 2025

Fall 2025 Fiction & Nonfiction Preview: Literary Fiction
Publishers Weekly — June 27, 2025

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Bless Your Heart by Leigh Dunlap
The Nerd Daily — March 14, 2025

BIO

Bless your Heart by Leigh Dunlap
Leigh Dunlap began her writing career in first grade when she spectacularly failed her first math test. It was then that she realized her kindergarten dream of being a Wall Street finance guru was probably out of reach. She pivoted to writing and after somehow making it through Calculus in high school, she went to film school at the University of Southern California to study screenwriting. That expensive education led her to a job selling socks at Fred Segal and eventually to an assistant’s desk at a Hollywood talent agency. That’s where she really learned how to write—while reading hundreds of scripts sent in for actors. A few years in the muddy trenches of Hollywood finally led to her writing her first screenplay, a modern-day version of Cinderella. Like every overnight success story, it was another five years before A Cinderella Story, with Hilary Duff, was made by Warner Brothers. Since then, Leigh has written two other movies (The Standoff and 16-Love) that were produced and a whole lot of other ones that weren’t. The twin catastrophes of the pandemic and the writer’s strike led Leigh to write her debut novel BLESS YOUR HEART. It’s about a murder in the South and a bunch of Buckhead Betties (Atlanta’s version of Karens) who may or may not have killed someone. Leigh once lived in Atlanta but won’t admit to having been a Buckhead Betty. When she’s not writing (which is never—including right this moment while she’s writing this bio), Leigh searches for buried treasure, because after Wall Street finance guru, screenwriter and novelist, pirate is next on the list.
Contact Leigh

Praise for Leigh

“The greatest screenwriter in the history of motion pictures.”
—Nora, Leigh’s grandmother
“Leigh Dunlap makes the best almond, coconut and chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!”
—Farrell, Leigh’s son
“I’ll say something nice if you just leave me alone.”
—Random Stranger, On Ventura Blvd

MOVIES

MAKING MOVIES — They say it’s a lot like giving birth. It takes forever, it costs a fortune, and it’s incredibly painful. But afterwards, you can’t wait to do it again…
The tale of Cinderella gets a 21st-Century makeover in this endearing teen classic starring Hilary Duff, Jennifer Coolidge and Regina King.
They can barely stand each other but can they stand next to each other for three days, without sleep, for the chance to win the car of their dreams?
16-Year old Ally “Smash” Mash lives between the carefully painted white lines of a tennis court. Unbeaten and climbing in the rankings, she has no time for newcomer Farrell Gambles. But when fate and a twisted ankle intervene, she teaches Farrell what it takes to win on the court, and he shows her how to live off of it.

CONTACT

Bless your Heart by Leigh Dunlap

Email Leigh

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Publicity

Megan Beatie
MB Communications
megan@meganbeatie.com

Agent

Lesley Sabga
The Seymour Agency
lesley@theseymouragency.com

Film & TV Rights

Quest Entertainment and Management
323-452-9300

Media

Download official bio
Leigh Dunlap
Bless Your Heart by Leigh Dunlap