Category: Cozy Mystery

Out of the Picture by Tracy Gardner

Posted September 14, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

There’s an art to solving a mystery…

Savanna Shepherd is a former art authenticator—someone who can tell a forgery from the real thing. She’s got a talent for spotting secrets hiding in plain sight.

In the wake of a painful breakup, she moves back to her idyllic hometown on the banks of Lake Michigan. At least she’s close to her sisters again, and she’s enjoying her new job as a grade school art teacher. Savanna even rediscovers her creative soul when an old family friend hires her to paint a mural.

But sad and strange incidents occur at the woman’s mansion, compelling Savanna to investigate. With a little help from her sisters—and from Aidan, the intriguing town doctor—will she be able to figure out what’s wrong with this picture?

Titles in the Shepherd Sisters Mystery series include — Out of the Picture –

Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook

Posted September 11, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin’. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her—and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library’s resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered—run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece’s killer, but that’s no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?

Titles in the A Haunted Library Mystery include — Death Overdue – Read and Gone – Buried in the Stacks –

Pride, Prejudice and Poison by Elizabeth Blake

Posted August 12, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

Perfect for fans of Laura Levine and Stephanie Barron, Elizabeth Blake’s Jane Austen Society mystery debut is a mirthfully morbid merger of manners and murder.

In this Austen-tatious debut, antiquarian bookstore proprietor Erin Coleridge uses her sense and sensibility to deduce who killed the president of the local Jane Austen Society.

Erin Coleridge’s used bookstore in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England is a meeting place for the villagers and, in particular, for the local Jane Austen Society. At the Society’s monthly meeting, matters come to a head between the old guard and its young Turks. After the meeting breaks for tea, persuasion gives way to murder—with extreme prejudice—when president Sylvia Pemberthy falls dead to the floor. Poisoned? Presumably…but by whom? And was Sylvia the only target?

Handsome—but shy—Detective Inspector Peter Hadley and charismatic Sergeant Rashid Jarral arrive at the scene. The long suspect list includes Sylvia’s lover Kurt Becker and his tightly wound wife Suzanne. Or, perhaps, the killer was Sylvia’s own cuckolded husband, Jerome. Among the many Society members who may have had her in their sights is dashing Jonathan Alder, who was heard having a royal battle of words with the late president the night before.

Then, when Jonathan Alder narrowly avoids becoming the next victim, Farnsworth (the town’s “cat lady”) persuades a seriously time-crunched Erin to help DI Hadley. But the killer is more devious than anyone imagines.

Titles in the Jane Austen Society Mystery series include — Pride, Prejudice & Poison –

Bound: A Doyle Witch Cozy Mystery by Kirsten Weiss

Posted July 25, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Bound by magic, bound by love, bound by murder…

The Bonheim triplets live seemingly ordinary lives, hiding their magic from their neighbors in the small, mountain town of Doyle, California. But then a body is found in flighty, big sister Jayce’s coffee shop. Confronted by a sheriff with a grudge, a sister in denial, and a sexy lawyer with an agenda of his own, no-nonsense Karin must prove her sister innocent.

But as Karin works to unravel the murder, the knottier the mystery of her small mountain town becomes. Why are hikers vanishing in the nearby woods? Why are some people cursed with bad luck and others with good? And what is Jayce’s lawyer hiding?

With her sister’s fate hanging by a thread, Karin struggles to untangle the truth, and death stalks ever closer.

Titles in The Witches of Doyle Paranormal Cozy Mystery series include — Bound – Ground – Down – Witch

Peach Clobbered by Anna Gerard

Posted July 12, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

What’s black and white and dead all over? Georgia bed and breakfast proprietor Nina Fleet finds out when she comes across a corpse in a penguin costume.

Nina Fleet’s life ought to be as sweet as a Georgia peach. Awarded a tidy sum in her divorce, Nina retired at 41 to a historic Queen Anne house in quaint Cymbeline, GA. But Nina’s barely settled into her new B&B-to-be when a penguin shows up on her porch. Or, at least, a man wearing a penguin suit.

Harry Westcott is making ends meet as an ice cream shop’s mascot and has a letter from his great-aunt, pledging to leave him the house. Too bad that’s not what her will says. Meanwhile, the Sisters of Perpetual Poverty have lost their lease. Real estate developer Gregory Bainbridge intends to turn the convent into a golfing community, so Cymbeline’s mayor persuades Nina to take in the elderly nuns. And then Nina finds the “penguin” again, this time lying in an alley with a kitchen knife in his chest.

A peek under the beak tells Nina it’s not Harry inside the costume, but Bainbridge. What was he doing in Harry’s penguin suit? Was the developer really the intended victim, or did the culprit mean to kill Harry? Whoever is out to stop Harry from contesting the sale of his great-aunt’s house may also be after Nina, so she teams up with him to cage the killer before someone clips her wings.

Titles in the Georgia B & B Mystery series include — Peach Clobbered –

Calm Before the Witch Storm by Constance Barker

Posted July 11, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Series / 0 Comments

When Nann (that’s with 2 nn’s please) moves to her late Aunt Nancy’s home in Calamity Corners, she wonders why there’s a little pig running amok with a toilet seat in its mouth. But that’s the least of her worries. She has a bookstore to open.

Cemetery Center doesn’t sound like an up and coming place to open a new business, but the square footage is huge and the rent is right. Her shop neighbor Zinnia owns the art gallery next door. But Zinnia has a secret, one that occurs on the full moon. Werewolf? Not exactly.

When Nann searches for a vehicle to buy, she’s sent to the only car repair shop in town. However, Tink, the shop mechanic, has Spock’s ears. Okay…And what’s going on on the third floor of her bookstore building? Men get together and drink beer around a coffin. Someone mentioned the VHS. Vampire Hunter Society? Van Helsing Society? This town is getting weirder by the minute.

But that’s just the way Nann likes it. She’s a Druid witch, just like her late Aunt Nancy. She’s come to take over her aunt’s home and move the family bookstore business. Pokey the Pig is Aunt Nancy’s familiar and by lineage becomes Nann’s familiar. She communicates through the radio, and depending on what station you’re on, Nann either gets a red-eyed feisty porker or ‘I just want to be held’ piggy.

So when boys begin to go missing in neighboring towns, Nann is convinced it’s magic that’s gone haywire. Could it be the giant pointy eared mechanic named Tink has taken to kidnapping, or does her neighbor shifter Zinnia have an appetite for humans? Or could whatever is in the coffin on the third floor have a hand in it? The gang is also looking at Nann….they all remember Hansel & Gretel. Nann must find Aunt Nancy’s witch books so she can put a stop to the disappearances, but she’s in for more than she bargained for when forces come at her from different directions.

Titles in the Calamity Corners series include — Calm Before the Witch Storm – The Witch is in the Details – Better the Witch You Know – A Witch Axe to Grind –

Flip the Witch Switch by Amanda M. Lee

Posted July 5, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Bay Winchester and Landon Michaels are looking for a romantic outing, revisiting the past now that they know they met as children. That trip leads them to the camp they visited back in the day … and to a new adventure.

It’s a happy excursion down memory lane until they happen upon the old pool and discover a hand poking out of an ancient cover. That means their day off becomes an official investigation.

Once identification comes through, Bay starts digging … and hard … to find out why a young woman writing a book would go missing in Hemlock Cove. The information she finds is disturbing … and the answers to the present case may come from the past, and a long-forgotten missing person’s case.

There’s a lot going on. Mrs. Little is trying to buy the property and wants the crime kept a secret, which means Aunt Tillie is on a rampage to make sure her mortal enemy doesn’t win … even if the prize is something she doesn’t really want.

The Winchester witches are in turmoil. The local police chief is officially dating Bay’s mother, one of their own is keeping a huge secret, and they have a wedding coming up so that means dress fittings and place setting decisions galore.

Bay is on deck and has to figure it all out. She’s going to need help to do it. Even then, with her team in place, she might not come out on the winning side.

There’s a killer hiding in the shadows and death is coming. It’s going to take everyone working together to uncover the truth. Can they pull it off?

Titles in the Wicked Witches of the Midwest Mystery series include – Any Witch Way You Can – Every Witch Way But Wicked – Witching You Were Here – Witching On A Star – Something To Witch About – Witch Me Luck – Life’s A Witch – Charms & Witchdemeanors – The Trouble With Witches – Murder Most Witchy – A Witch Before Dying – A Breath of Witchy Air – Witch, Interrupted – Flip The Witch Switch –

Sweet Tea and Secrets by Joy Avon

Posted June 15, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

Sleuth Callie Aspen wants to light up the Fourth of July tea party by solving a celebrity’s decades-old disappearance, but her digging results in more fireworks than she expects.

Last Christmas, Callie Aspen left her tour guide job and settled in Heart’s Harbor, Maine. Now, she helps out at Book Tea, her great aunt’s vintage tearoom, where each treat has a bookish clue. Though she’s excited to start her new life, Callie worries she may regret having burned her bridges behind her. Fortunately, she finds immediate distraction in the preparations for a spectacular Fourth of July tea party, which will recreate key moments from the town’s rich history.

Intrigued to learn that 1980s TV star Monica Walker was last seen in Heart’s Harbor before she vanished—allegedly to elope—Callie probes the townsfolk for information. She’s stunned when several locals share contradictory stories about the last day before Monica’s disappearance. Did she intend to leave her hit TV series? Was she being stalked by her ex? And why is the newspaper editor who investigated the story at the time so anxious about the cold case heating up?

When one of the talkative townspeople turns up dead, Callie aims to catch the killer. But it’s no picnic: Deputy Falk doesn’t want her meddling, and the locals suddenly know more about the past than they’d been at liberty to admit. If Callie and the Book Tea crew can’t crack the case, they’ll pay a very steep price in Joy Avon’s explosive second Book Tea Shop Mystery.

Titles in A Book Tea Shop Mystery (A Tea and A Read) series include – In Peppermint Peril – Sweet Tea and Secrets – In Cold Chamomile –

Read on Arrival by Nora Page

Posted May 7, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

Death, deadly omens, and a decades-overdue book put senior librarian Cleo Watkins on a collision course with a killer in the second Bookmobile mystery.

Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins believes in gracious manners, sweet tea, and justice—library justice. For over forty years, Cleo has tried every trick in the book to get delinquent patron Dixie Huddleston to return the most overdue volume in Catalpa Springs, Georgia. When Dixie says she’ll finally relinquish the book, Cleo is shocked. She’s even more startled by the reason: superstitious Dixie says she’s seen the signs: she’s about to die and is setting her affairs in order.

Cleo dismisses Dixie’s ominous omens…until she and her gentleman friend, Henry Lafayette, arrive at Dixie’s home to find her dead. Cleo suspects murder. The police agree but promptly list Cleo among the likely culprits. To clear her good name and deliver justice, Cleo uses her librarian skills to investigate, with Henry and her trusty bookmobile cat, Rhett Butler, at her side.

However, the killer has opened a new chapter of terror. Death threats appear around town, and residents start seeing bad luck everywhere, including in Cleo and her beloved bookmobile Words on Wheels. With her bookmobile and legacy on the line, Cleo accelerates her sleuthing. Suspects and clues stack up, but so does the danger. Another death is coming due, and Cleo fears the killer may be about to turn the final page on someone she loves most.

Titles in The Bookmobile Mystery series include — Better Off Read – Read on Arrival –

Witchnapped in Westerham by Dionne Lister

Posted August 19, 2018 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

All it takes is one morning for Sydney Photographer Lily Bianchi’s life to go off the rails and over a cliff.

A well-dressed English woman turns up at her door, swearing she’s a witch. If that’s not crazy enough, she explains Lily’s brother, James, has been kidnapped and the Paranormal Investigation Bureau needs Lily’s help finding him.

And the craziest part? The Englishwoman tells Lily she’s a witch too. Before she can say, “Where’s my coffee?” she’s on a plane bound for Westerham, England. Unfortunately, England’s not as welcoming as she hoped–she’s barely arrived before she gets set up, arrested and almost shot.

Things can only get better from here, right? Yeah, right…

Titles in the Paranormal Investigation Bureau paranormal cozy mystery series include: Witchnapped in Westerham – Witch Swindled in Westerham – Witch Undercover in Westerham – Witchslapped in Westerham – Witch Silenced in Westerham

Murder in Crimson Velvet by Karen Sue Walker

Posted July 29, 2017 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

What’s worse than a demanding diva? A dead one!

Max Walters has her hands full with her job in a bridal salon when she’s called upon to help with the costumes at Crystal Shores Playhouse. When an actress confides she’s afraid for her life, Max doesn’t take her seriously until the actress ends up dead.

Is it a tragic accident as everyone is meant to believe, or is it really murder? With her friend and assistant Keiko, Max searches for the truth. Will she find it? Or will a murderer go free?

Titles in the Bridal Shop Mysteries include: Murder in White Lace – Murder in Crimson Velvet –