Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 2753 items
From the authors of the “excellent” Mr. and Mrs. North Mysteries: Captain Heimrich’s vacation in Key West turns stormy when… a Communist snitch is silenced (TheNew Yorker). Capt. M. L. Heimrich of the New York State Police may not have the flash of hard-boiled city detectives, but there’s no lead the intrepid investigator won’t follow until his every hunch is satisfied . . . There’s no better place than Key West for relaxing under a palm tree with a daiquiri in hand. It should be the perfect location for Captain Heimrich to recover after being shot in the shoulder during a confrontation with a killer. But Heimrich’s recuperation soon turns into a working vacation when a fellow guest at the Coral Isles is murdered. A former Communist famous for exposing his compatriots, Bronson Wells wasn’t much liked—giving the local authorities a long list of suspects to sort through. And even though Captain Heimrich is outside his jurisdiction, the experienced detective can’t resist doing some investigating of his own. With the assistance of his associate, Dr. Barclay MacDonald, and Miss Mary Wister, a young artist from New York, Heimrich will forgo the sand and sun of the Keys and digs into possible motives for wanting the arrogant Wells silenced forever. Death by Association is the 5th book in the Captain Heimrich Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
Single mom Colbie Summers has a lot to be grateful for in the run up to Thanksgiving. Relocating back to… her California hometown has brought her irascible dad and adolescent son closer. Her gourmet cat food line—vetted by her trusty taste-tester, Trouble—is about to get a big re-order. And she’s made wonderful new friends and colleagues. Too bad one them has just been accused of murder . . . Sunnyside’s most gifted students have been at the mercy of a shadowy network of college fixers—including an abusive oboe teacher whose recommendation is necessary to get into Julliard and a school secretary who alters grades for cash. When they turn up dead, Colbie has to untangle a cat’s cradle of suspects and motivations—from livid parents and students whose dreams have been crushed to an entire secret Facebook group of spurned lovers. Suddenly, holiday preparations just got a lot hairier. With the big re-order now on hold and the real killer still at large, Colbie discovers that someone has been grading on a very dangerous curve—and it will take all her newfound sleuthing talent to land safely on her feet.
When the ladies of the ton of Regency London need discreet assistance, they turn to Rosalind Thorne—in these mysteries inspired… by the novels of Jane Austen . . . Trust is a delicate thing, and no one knows that better than Rosalind Thorne. Lady Melbourne has entrusted her with recovering a packet of highly sensitive private letters stolen from her desk. The contents of these letters hold great interest for the famous poet Lord Byron, who had carried on a notorious public affair with Lady Melbourne's daughter-in-law, the inconveniently unstable Lady Caroline Lamb. Rosalind is to take up residence in Melbourne House, posing as Lady Melbourne's confidential secretary. There, she must discover the thief and regain possession of the letters before any further scandal erupts. However, Lady Melbourne omits a crucial detail. Rosalind learns from the Bow Street runner Adam Harkness that an unidentified woman was found dead in the courtyard of Melbourne House. The coroner has determined that she was poisoned. Adam urges Rosalind to use her new position in the household to help solve the murder. As she begins to untangle a web of secrets and blackmail, Rosalind finds she must risk her own life to bring this desperate business to an end . . .
The last thing gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister needs in her life is more drama—or more murder . . . … Poppy thought her toughest challenge this winter would be sticking to her Paleo diet and filling all her orders for her gluten-free goodies, but now she has to choose between two suitors. She&’s not the only one with boyfriend drama. Aunt Ginny&’s long-ago high-school beau, Royce Hanson, a retired Broadway actor, has returned to Cape May, New Jersey, to star in a Senior Center staging of Mamma Mia. Leaving Aunt Ginny to wonder: What's his motivation? Slated to open February 13th, the problem-plagued production seems to be cursed—with stolen props, sabotage, and even a death threat. But when a cast member plunges to his death from a catwalk, it soon becomes clear a murderer is waiting in the wings. Now Polly, Aunt Ginny, and a supporting cast must take center stage to catch the killer—before it's curtains for someone else . . . Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy&’s Kitchen! &“Fans of Chopped will have fun juggling the complicated set of suspects and following a romantic triangle that has yet to be resolved.&”—Kirkus Reviews on Restaurant Weeks Are Murder
When a firecracker becomes a murder weapon, Emily Westhill pursues a killer with a short fuse … It is a truth universally… acknowledged—cops and donuts go together. Exhibit A: Deputy Donut Café, owned and operated by detective's widow Emily Westhill and her father-in-law, the retired police chief of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Named after Emily's adored and adorable tabby, the donut shop is a favorite among cops, firemen, and EMTs, as well as tourists and townspeople. So when Fallingbrook needs donuts for their Fourth of July picnic, Emily's shop gets deputized. But a twisted killer has found another use for Emily's treats. At the picnic, a firecracker is hidden in a stack of raspberry-filled donuts and aimed at the unwitting queen of the festivities. When it explodes, she is killed. Having her jelly donuts involved puts Emily in a sticky situation, and when a shady shutterbug tries to frame her with incriminating photos, she finds herself in quite a jam. To preserve her freedom and her shop's reputation, Emily needs to solve this case—before the fuse-lighting felon goes off again … Praise for Goodbye Cruller World “Food scenes tantalize with description of single-origin coffee as well as classic and trendy donuts—solid recipes included.”—Publishers Weekly
Alberta Scaglione and her twentysomething granddaughter, Jinx, love to spend time—and solve crime—together . . . Ever since Alberta Scaglione… inherited her spinster aunt’s Cape Cod cottage, she’s been enjoying the good life in Tranquility, New Jersey, with her black cat, Lola. But since things are mostly quiet in this town, she finds other things to do—like joining Jinx for morning jogs in Tranquility Park. She has to do something to stay healthy, as long as it doesn’t involve Jinx’s healthful tofu sausages and gluten-free pasta. But when they stumble across a treehouse hidden in the trees, and a dead body underneath it, they take a detour into solving a murder. Now the Ferrara ladies will have to exercise extreme caution to avoid a permanent decline in their health . . . Includes Italian recipes from Alberta’s kitchen!
Mystery shopper Josie Marcus digs into another meaty murder investigation when a local restaurant owner is charged with picking off… a problem customer…Josie is getting a taste of St. Louis’s foodie scene—Travel America Guided Tours just hired her to test area restaurants for an upcoming package. Their list includes Tillie’s Off the Hill, a classic Italian joint owned by Tillie Minnelli, a former classmate of Josie’s mother. It should be a pretty sweet gig, but the assignment quickly turns sour when an unruly customer dies after eating Tillie’s special sauce.While detectives move to put Tillie on ice for murder, Josie’s mom implores Josie to whip up another amateur investigation. The case has more secret ingredients than anyone anticipated: a jilted lover, a greedy real estate developer, and even a disgruntled employee. But there’s no time for Josie to savor all the possibilities, she must skewer the culinary killer before someone else is served a final course.
Beloved New York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit T.V. show—is back… on the case again in Hot to Trot.When Private Detective Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover Charles Fraith is to be married to a mysterious socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Coming up empty, Agatha—out of selfless concern for Charles, of course—does the only sensible thing she can think of: she crashes their wedding, which ends in a public altercation. Nursing a hangover the next morning, she gets a phone call from Charles, with even more disturbing news: Mary has been murdered.Agatha takes on the case, and quickly becomes entrenched in the competitive equestrian world, in which Mary had been enmeshed—as well as the victim’s surprisingly violent past. Agatha finds no shortage of motives among a wide range of characters, from Mary's old riding competitors, to enemies from her schoolgirl days, to her surly father, who threatens Agatha to mind her own business. Meanwhile, the police department has its money on another suspect: Agatha. Will she track down the criminal in time, or end up behind bars herself?
Following Susan Cox’s Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel award-winning debut, The Man in the Microwave Oven is… her next delightfully quirky mystery featuring San Francisco transplant Theo Bogart.Fleeing from a murder and family tragedy in her native England, where she was the scandal du jour for the tabloid press, Theo Bogart changed her name and built an undercover life in a close-knit San Francisco neighborhood. She didn’t expect to find love and friendship there, and now she doesn’t know how—or if—to reveal the truth. After a confrontation with a difficult neighbor, Theo fears her secrets are about to be uncovered after all. When the woman who threatened to expose her is murdered, Theo is embroiled in the kind of jeopardy she crossed an ocean to escape. Worse yet, dangerous family secrets have followed her. Theo’s grandfather unveils a glimpse of the shadowy world he once inhabited as an agent for the British Secret Service, bringing an even bigger breed of trouble—and another death—to Theo’s doorstep. She finds herself fighting to protect herself, her family, and her new friends, aware that one of them might be a murderer. Susan Cox has once again painted a delightfully quirky portrait of a colorful San Francisco neighborhood and a woman finding her way through exactly the kind of scandalous mystery she was trying to leave behind.
A missing teenager, a mysterious cult and a case of mistaken identity – just another day&’s work for Epiphany Bloom.… Epiphany &‘Pip&’ Bloom is down on her luck. She can barely afford cat food, and just because Most has three legs doesn&’t mean he eats any less. So she absolutely can&’t afford to mess up her latest temp job. But when she walks through the door of the private investigation firm, her new boss mistakes her for a missing persons expert. He then charges her with finding Matty Price – the teenage son of two A-list celebrities – who has mysteriously disappeared from his home in Kensington. It ought to be a disaster, but Pip reckons it&’s actually an opportunity. She&’s always been curious (nosy, her mother calls it) and has an uncanny knack for being at the wrong place at the right time (she doesn&’t want to know what her mother thinks of that). After years of trying to find something she&’s good at, has Pip managed to walk straight into the job she was born to do? She owes it to herself and poor missing Matty to find out. But searching for Matty takes Pip into the strange, intimidating world of the rich and famous. And it soon becomes clear that some of these people&’s love for themselves doesn&’t extend to their fellow humans. As Pip investigates further, she realises the question isn&’t whether Matty ran away – it&’s whether Pip will find him alive and make it home safely herself... An absolutely brilliant, light-hearted cozy mystery for fans of M.C. Beaton, T E Kinsey, Lauren Elliott and Joanne Fluke, featuring an irresistible new heroine. Readers are loving The Kensington Kidnap&‘Epiphany Bloom is my new favourite female sleuth!... What a wonderful character… I am looking forward to more from this author!&’ Netgalley reviewer ????? &‘I really loved this book, and super excited to know it&’s book one of a series! Pip is such a likeable character, she is such an accident prone woman but her heart is in the right place… Such a quirky story that keeps you gripped, making you want more and more. I can&’t wait for book two! Highly highly recommended.&’ Goodreads reviewer ????? &‘Hilarious…I really enjoyed this story. Liked Pip and the other characters and hope to read more.&’ Goodreads reviewer ????? &‘It&’s a giggle a minute joining Pip in her adventures… addictive and amusing… I just loved Epiphany Bloom. She&’s a fabulously funny, frivolous character who can make the sun shine even on the most gloomy of days… Fans of cozy mysteries should find this book a sheer delight!&’ Goodreads reviewer ???? &‘I had a great time reading this book. Pip is such a quirky character, and her antics made me laugh out loud… I&’m looking forward to reading more in this delightful series…
Determined to make the First Edition Library a success, Hayley Burke wasn&’t expecting to have to solve an old friend&’s… murder in this all-new mystery from USA Today bestselling author Marty Wingate.Hayley Burke, curator of Lady Fowling's collection of first edition mysteries, is settling into her position at the First Edition Library in Middlebank House. She's even made progress with Lady Fowling's former secretary, the ornery Miss Woolgar. The women are busily preparing for an exhibition that will showcase Lady Fowling's life and letters. Hayley knows the exhibition is a huge undertaking and decides, against her better judgement, to hire Oona Atherton, her former boss from the Jane Austen Centre to help with the planning. Oona is known for being difficult, but all seems to be going swimmingly until she and Hayley uncover a one-page letter that alludes to a priceless edition of MURDER MUST ADVERTISE signed by several Golden Age of Mystery authors. Oona feels this book could be the focal point of the exhibition and becomes obsessed with finding it. When they find clues that appear to point to the book being somewhere in the First Edition Library, Oona is certain she's unraveled the mystery and texts Hayley the good news, but upon arriving back at Middlebank, Hayley finds her old boss dead at the bottom of the stairs. Did her discovery of the rare book get her killed or was it some angry shadow from her past? Hayley must read between the lines to catch a malicious murderer.
Contractor Shannon Hammer gets tangled up in murder at a spooky old asylum in the latest Fixer-Upper Mystery from New… York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle. . . .Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career. Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of the Gables, formerly the old state insane asylum, located on a bucolic hillside two miles northeast of Lighthouse Cove. Jane plans to turn her section into a small luxury hotel complete with twenty ocean-view rooms, a spa, and a restaurant.Shannon is raring to get started on the enormous project and is shocked when a group of unruly protesters shows up at the groundbreaking ceremony and wreaks havoc. She&’s even more freaked-out when someone pushes her into a pit of bricks in a closed-off room of the asylum. Despite her close call, Shannon wants nothing more than to get back to work . . . until she finds a body not far from where she was pushed. Now Shannon is determined to get to the bottom of the goings-on at the Gables even if it kills her. . . .
It's vintage Poppy McAllister when the gluten-free baker and B&B owner tries to solve a murder at a Cape May… winery . . . When Poppy and Aunt Ginny agreed to host a Wine and Cheese Happy Hour for a tour group at their Butterfly House Bed and Breakfast on the Jersey Shore, they never anticipated such a sour bunch. Grumpy guest Vince Baker should be in a better mood—he&’s filthy rich and on his honeymoon with his much younger wife Sunny, who seems to dote on him almost as much as her high-spirited teacup Pomeranian, Tammy Faye Baker. But the honeymoon is over when Vince drops dead the next day touring the Laughing Gull Winery. Turns out he's been poisoned, and it seems like everybody on the tour is hiding something. Now Poppy has to put her gluten-free baking on the back burner and bottle up her feelings for the two men in her life while she charges after a bitter killer with a lethal case of sour grapes . . . Includes Seven Recipes from Poppy&’s Kitchen! &“Fans of Chopped will have fun juggling the complicated set of suspects and following a romantic triangle that has yet to be resolved.&” —Kirkus Reviews on Restaurant Weeks Are Murder
Hosting a reality cooking show could be the perfect career boost for Chef Courtney Archer—as long as the contestants aren&’t… suspected of murder . . . Despite a few early hiccups, Courtney is thrilled with her starring role on The American Baking Battle, filmed at a grand resort in the Pocono Mountains. The icing on the cake? The new season has a wedding theme—complete with formalwear. But the first day on set, the producer seems to care more about profits than pastry—and the topper comes when her cohost Skylar falls ill. Little does she know things are about to end in tiers . . . When a barely coherent, blood-covered Skylar is discovered at the doorway of his room, Courtney is horrified to walk inside and find a towering wedding cake—thoroughly smashed by the body of a woman in a bridal gown. Now suspicion is filling the studio and falling on Skylar, and Courtney has to look at coworkers and contestants, working through layers of deception to find the real culprit . . .
Alberta Scaglione thinks her cooking is better than anyone&’s in Tranquility, New Jersey—but she doesn&’t mind an occasional visit to… Veronica&’s Diner. Too bad today&’s special is murder . . . During the breakfast rush, waitress Teri Jo seems stressed out. Not surprising on a busy morning, though Alberta, her sister Helen, and her granddaughter Jinx find it odd when Teri Jo asks them to deliver a package for her &“just in case.&” Minutes later, Teri Jo rushes back to their table—not with a check in her hand but with a knife in her back. Veronica is upset but says she knows virtually nothing about her employee&’s past, and the ladies aren&’t sure whether to view her with sympathy or suspicion. Then they find an unusual figurine on the ground while snooping in the vicinity, and it becomes clear that this is a case for the Ferrara Family. With such a crowd at the crime scene, there are plenty of potential murderers on the menu, and the Ferraras will travel everywhere to figure out exactly where that figurine fits in . . . Includes Italian recipes from Alberta&’s kitchen! Praise for Murder at Tranquility Park &“Imagine the Golden Girls starting a detective agency and you&’ll get the general idea of J.D. Griffo&’s charming Ferrara Family mystery series.&” —Criminal Element
&“The Amish Miss Marple strikes again…exciting.&” —Kirkus Reviews&“Refreshing…Flower combines quirky characters, close-knit community, and first-class sleuthing to great effect. Fans of… Amish mysteries will love this.&” —Publishers Weekly &“There is nothing cozier than the second &‘Amish Matchmaker Mystery.&’&” —Library Journal Between minding a pair of rambunctious goats, meetings with her quilting circle, and matchmaking, Millie Fisher has plenty to keep her busy through her golden years. But the witty widow always makes time to solve the odd murder . . . Some Amish men don&’t know what&’s good for them. That&’s what Millie Fisher told herself when young Ben Baughman set his heart on marrying Tess Lieb. With Tess&’s father refusing to give his blessing and Tess&’s ex-boyfriend being a wet blanket, the hapless couple was bound to butt heads more than Millie&’s Boer goats. But when Ben tragically dies in a mysterious fire, Millie wonders if someone in her hometown of Harvest, Ohio, wanted Ben out of the wedding picture altogether . . . With the help of her quilting buddies, and her outspoken Englischer friend Lois, Millie is determined to patch together all the clues without even dropping a stitch. She only hopes it won&’t be the death of her . . . Praise for Amanda Flower and her Amish cozies &“As it turns out, Amanda Flower may have just written the first Amish rom com.&” —USA Today &“Flower has hit it out of the ballpark . . . and continues to amaze with her knowledge of the Amish way of life.&” —RT Book Reviews &“At turns playful and engaging . . . a satisfyingly complex cozy.&” —Library Journal
Single mom Athena Spencer is back in Michigan working at her family&’s garden center, raising a pet racoon, and digging… up clues in the smart new mystery series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries . . . The entire family has been put to work when a big fat Greek wedding rehearsal is booked at the Parthenon. All hands are needed for rolling grape leaves, layering moussaka, and keeping the bride calm. But then the groom goes MIA and there&’s far more to worry about then just whether Yiayia&’s lemon rice soup has gone cold. No matter how tangy the tzatziki, everyone&’s appetite is ruined when the groom is found dead, a pair of scissors planted in his back. When the bride accuses Athena&’s sister Selene, a hairstylist, of seducing and stabbing her fiancé, it&’s all-out war—and it&’s up to Athena to dig up the dirt on the suspects and nip these suspicions in the bud . . . &“Kate Collins delivers an entertaining, amusing, and deliciously suspenseful mystery.&” —Cleo Coyle, New York Times bestselling author
When exotic pet-sitter Belinda Blake moves into a carriage house in tony Greenwich, Connecticut, she’s hoping to find some new… clients. Instead she discovers a corpse in the garden—and a knack for solving murders . . . Pet-sitter Belinda Blake doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful, to say the least. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom—just as she met Stone Carrington V, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge—attached to a woman’s dead body. The victim, Margo Fenton, was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But though she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life . . . “A humorous series debut with exotic pets and a zany cast of characters. Gilbert’s cozy will make you smile.” —Amanda Flower, USA Today bestselling author of Premeditated Peppermint “Cozy fans will root for pet-sitter Belinda Blake as she unravels this cleverly-crafted mystery in a delightfully-deadly new series by Heather Day Gilbert.” —Elizabeth Spann Craig, author of the bestselling Myrtle Clover Mysteries “Smart and fresh, with a compelling mystery at its heart, Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass is an enchanting cozy that will hook you from page one. As will amateur sleuth Belinda Blake, a delightfully original heroine you’ll want to meet again and again.” —Karin Kaufman, author of the bestselling Juniper Grove Cozy Mystery Series “Snakes rank only slightly more favorably with me than spiders, leeches, and ticks. So you can imagine my surprise when, by the end of this book, the snake was my second favorite character after Belinda herself. On top of being a great book for animal-lovers (trust me, you’ll love even the snake), this was a fun read with a smart sleuth. I can’t wait to see what Belinda does next, where both pets and perps are concerned.” —Emily James, award-winning and bestselling cozy mystery author
The roots of the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency reach back to the 1980s in the little town of McGill, Georgia—where… Stella Reid and her seven grandkids enjoy some spooky Halloween fun and stumble into murder . . . Even if she has to stick to a budget, Stella Reid always makes holidays like Halloween memorable for twelve-year-old Savannah and the rest of her grandchildren. After joining trick-or-treating and the annual parade down Main Street, Granny Reid and the kids head to Judge Patterson&’s antebellum mansion, where a corn maze awaits. Most of the youngsters are too terrified to make it all the way to the middle. It&’s lucky for them, because when Savannah and Granny get there, it proves to be even scarier than they expected—half buried in the mud at the center of the maze lies a human skull. The grisly discovery uncovers a mystery that stretches back decades—and seems to be related to the long-unsolved murder of Granny Reid&’s own part-Cherokee mother. After all this time, the culprit may be long gone . . . or still hiding among them. It&’ll be up to Granny to dig into this Southern town&’s history and a mess of old family secrets . . .
Halloween in the small town of Fallingbrook, Wisconsin, is the perfect season for Deputy Donut owner Emily Westhill to unmask… a killer. October 31 is just around the corner and Emily Westhill&’s Boston cream donuts, carved with a scream, have made an indelible impression on local eccentric Rich Royalson. So much so that he&’s ordered three dozen, with no screaming faces and twice the fudge frosting, for his seventieth birthday—a special event in more ways than one. It&’s to be held on fog-shrouded Lake Fleekom where, twenty years ago, his wife mysteriously drowned. But the next day, when Emily arrives with her Boston cream donuts, she stumbles upon Rich&’s corpse. The poor guy wanted a unique birthday bash—just not one to the side of his skull. With a guest list of possible perpetrators left at the scene, Emily soon discovers that the Royalson closet is rattling with skeletons. As the fog thickens, motives mount, and the tricks outnumber the treats, Emily fears that Rich may not be the last one in Fallingbrook to go out screaming. Praise for Jealousy Filled Donuts &“Charming . . . Yummy donut recipes round out a whodunit (or is it a whodonut?) sure to please cozy fans.&” —Publishers Weekly