New Releases For The Week Of November 15th, 2020–Part 1

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? (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook

An ambitious TV personality takes a star turn in murder in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!

With the cranberry farm in full harvest mode, Monica is thrilled to learn that they’ll be the featured guests on a local TV news show. Certain the exposure will give her bakery products and the farm’s store a welcome boost, she’s also nervous about how she’ll come across on-screen. But her real worries begin when the show’s ruthless star is found bludgeoned to death on a side road of the farm—and Monica’s own brother heads up the list of suspects.

Launching an investigation to find the real killer and clear her brother, Monica discovers there was no love lost between the victim and those closest to her. From the dead woman’s husband, a calculating politician with his sights set on more lucrative pastures, to the timid cameraperson she repeatedly bullied, there’s no shortage of suspects or motives. And when Monica unearths a compromising secret that turns the spotlight on one of them, she suddenly realizes the solution has been staring her in the face. As she closes in on the killer, she’ll need sharp wits and steely nerves to avoid taking her final bow . . .

Includes tasty recipes!

Praise for Berried Secrets:

“Cozy fans and foodies rejoice—there’s a place just for you and it’s called Cranberry Cove.” —New York Times bestselling author Ellery Adams

“A fun whodunnit with quirky characters and a satisfying mystery. This new series is as sweet and sharp as the heroine’s cranberry salsa.” —New York Times bestselling author Sofie Kelly

About the Author:

Peg Cochran is the USA Today bestselling author of the Lucille Mysteries, the Gourmet De-Lite Mysteries, the Cranberry Cove Mysteries, and also, writing as Meg London, the Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie series. She has two daughters, a stepdaughter and stepson, a beautiful granddaughter, and a Westhighland white terrier named Reggie. You can read more at http://www.pegcochran.com and http://www.meglondon.com. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

An English Christmas has mince pies, cheerful carols, a twinkling tree… and a murder? Thank goodness Lady Swift is on the scene!

Winter, 1920. Amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is feeling festive. She is playing host to the entire village at Henley Hall for gifts, games and gingerbread. She’s also purchased perfect presents for each of her household – not forgetting the biggest bone in the butcher’s shop for her partner in crime, Gladstone the bulldog – and is looking forward to celebrating her first English country Christmas.

As snowflakes fall, Eleanor is cheering on contestants in the traditional Christmas fun run in the grounds of the Hall. But tragedy strikes when one of the runners drops dead at the finish line. Dashing Detective Seldon is convinced it’s just a heart attack, but Eleanor isn’t so sure. When she finds a rather distinctive key where the man fell, Eleanor knows she’ll never rest until she finds out the truth about what happened in her own home.

Next the vicar is taken ill with what looks like poison and Eleanor starts to wonder if the two cases are linked. When someone tries to frame her by planting poisoned berries in her own kitchen, she knows speed is of the essence. But the entire village was at Henley Hall for the festivities and Eleanor has enough suspects to stuff a town full of turkeys. Can she nail the true killer and clear her name in time for Christmas?

Christmas won’t be complete without it! A festive treat for fans of Agatha Christie, TE Kinsey and Lee Strauss.

Readers are utterly addicted to Murder in the Snow!

‘Can I give it six stars please?… Pretty much perfect… Bright has the amazing gift of bringing the reader into that world where the characters are alive.’ Goodreads Reviewer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘Such fun! As usual!… It’s Christmas time so, what more could you ask for?… Ellie’s character just keeps getting better and better. She’s strong, intelligent, helpful, down to earth and with a clever sense of humour… The murder mystery was a good one… Lovely series with a cast of endearing characters you can’t help but love.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘The Lady Eleanor Swift books are such a delight to read, and this one is no different!… I love how the book leads you in many directions and just when you think you’ve uncovered the killer, you find that you’ve got it all wrong! The twists add the right amount of mystery to this great read. Looking forward to more books in this entertaining series.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘Put your feet up, take a sip of parsnip perry or chestnut liqueur, a slice of Christmas cake, a mince pie or a morsel of Stilton and transport yourself back to Christmas 1920… Oh the sheer joy of escaping these dark times in the company of these wonderful characters… A twisty mystery… A delightful, fun and entertaining read but try not to read when you’re hungry as I guarantee you’ll want to reach for the cake tin! If you like Christie or Dorothy Sayers then I think it’s well worth giving this novel a go.’ Goodreads Reviewer

‘An old-fashioned, festive whodunnit, a fabulous cozy Christmas read!… I absolutely adored this book! it reminded me a of a cozy Christmas TV special. If you are a fan of such things as Poirot, Miss Marple and Downton Abbey then this book is definitely for you! I loved all the characters especially the elderly, mischievous and very humorous bulldog named Gladstone… It kept me guessing right up to the very end. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the series now.’ My Reading Narnia ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

Landscape architect Tory Benning returns in a holiday mystery tied up with a bow!

Still struggling with the death of her husband, Tory Benning is doing her best to get into the festive spirit of the holiday season, but when her landscaping company’s email is hacked and there’s a break-in at the office, it’s enough to make her see red. And then the unthinkable happens, when the owner of a specialty food truck is brutally slain at the company’s Christmas tree lot, and Tory finds herself mired in murder once again.

With a long list of suspects—including an untold number of revelers disguised in Santa suits, seasonal employees handling tree sales, and even a vengeful jilted suitor—the police investigation grinds along slowly and methodically. But as Tory begins piecing together clues on her own, she finds she’s the target of a menacing stalker who may be out to do more than just scare her. Refusing to be intimidated, Tory vows to nab the culprit, even if it means that catching a Christmas killer has become her lot in life . . .

About the Author:

Judith Gonda is a mystery writer and Ph.D. psychologist with a penchant for Pomeranians and puns, so it’s not surprising that psychology, Poms, and puns pop up in her amateur sleuth mysteries featuring landscape architect Tory Benning. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but Private Investigator Liz Talbot is struggling to feel festive. She hasn’t seen her best friend, Colleen, in weeks and fears she may never see her again in this life. Meanwhile Nate, Liz’s husband and partner, is spending money like he prints it in the attic on a mysterious family Christmas celebration. Liz’s nerves are shot, and she hasn’t even decked a single hall. But there’s simply no time to fret.

On a morning beach run, Liz spots a wooden rowboat run aground with Santa inside. Did Old Saint Nick have too much eggnog at the boat parade? No indeedy—Santa’s been shot. And he’s none other than C.C. Bounetheau, patriarch of one of Charleston’s wealthiest families.

Liz and Nate already unwrapped quite a few family secrets while searching for the Bounetheau’s missing granddaughter last year—enough to make them swear to steer forever clear of the entire clan. But as Mr. Bounetheau’s body is found in Stella Maris, and Liz and Nate are the police chief’s on-call detectives, they’re on the case.

With no shortage of suspects, Liz and Nate dash to find a killer who may be working his or her way down a naughty list.

Spend Christmas in the Lowcountry with the Talbot family and their friends in Susan M. Boyer’s latest Southern charmer, Lowcountry Boughs of Holly. Tis the season for merry mayhem!

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

LOWCOUNTRY BOUGHS OF HOLLY by Susan M. Boyer | A Henery Press Mystery. If you like one, you’ll probably like them all. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

Fiction. Cozy mystery fans rejoice, The Reverend Tom “Father” Christmas is at it again. Brimming with wit, full of cunning, and featuring one of the most memorable (and unlikely) detectives in mystery fiction, C. C. Benison’s latest Father Christmas mystery will delight readers with twists that are sure to astound readers. THE UNPLEASANTNESS OF THE BATTLE OF THORNFORD shows the detective Tom Christmas at his best and marks yet another brilliant entry in the Father Christmas annuls. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Paperback

June Wright had already published three popular mysteries by the time she created her most memorable detective, the Reverend Mother Mary St Paul of the Cross. The kindly Mother Paul may seem vague and otherwordly, but little escapes her attention―she has a shrewd grasp of everything that’s going on beneath the surface. In Reservation for Murder, the first of three Mother Paul novels (originally published in 1958), she is in charge of a residential hostel for young women who work in offices and shops in Melbourne. A tense atmosphere pervades the house―many of the residents have received unpleasant anonymous letters, and there is much speculation as to their author. When Mary Allen finds a stranger stabbed in the garden, who dies after uttering a mysterious name, and a few days later one of the residents is found drowned, an apparent suicide, the tension reaches fever pitch. Is there a connection between these two deaths? Or between them and the letters? The police investigation, abetted by the resourceful Mary Allen, proceeds in fits and starts, but meanwhile Mother Paul pursues her own enquiries. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Paperback

It’s beginning to look a lot like murder . . .
And Cassandra is knee deep in . . .

Suspects.
Her boss is dead, and the police are calling it burglary gone wrong. But when the killer comes after her, it’s going to take more than a pair of furry boots to keep the smart, witty Morton College administrator, Cassandra Sato, out of the deep. . .

Snow.
Her first Christmas in Nebraska could be her last unless her friends help unravel the mystery and housebreak her dog.

Buy now for a fast-paced, holiday themed whodunit.

Dead of Winter Break is the third book in Kelly Brakenhoff’s popular Cassandra Sato Mystery Series. Death by Dissertation was a 2020 RONE Award Finalist. Publishers Weekly called Dead Week, “a diverting whodunit.” (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

USA Today Bestselling author Kathi Daley brings you a heartwarming mystery series about finding answers and fostering hope while building friendships and embracing the magic of life by the sea and small town holidays.

Ainsley Holloway had come to Gooseberry Bay to find answers about her past. She’d come to find an explanation for the dreams that haunted her after the death of the cop who’d both rescued and raised her. And she’d come to identify the family she couldn’t remember but knew in her heart she’d once belonged to.

Ainsley hoped that by finding these answers, she’d also find healing. She hoped that once she’d resurrected the memories buried deep in her mind, she’d find peace.

The Cottage at Gooseberry Bay is a series about, not only finding answers, but finding hope.

It’s a series about family and friendship.

It’s a series about shared holidays, festivals, and celebrations.

It’s a series about shared heartbreak and hardship.

And it’s a series about the bond that can be forged amongst strangers when tragedy binds two or more individuals with a common goal.

In book 3 in the series, Ainsley decides to set aside her search for answers to her past and enjoy her first Gooseberry Christmas by volunteering along with the rest of the gang for the Christmas Festival on the boardwalk. Normally Ainsley didn’t bother much with Christmas and all its trappings but this year she is excited to join in as most of the locals are prone to do. Of course it does put a bit of a damper on the festivities when a body is found in the tree lot where the gang had offered to help out, but that doesn’t stop Ainsley from making the most of the season in spite of the crazy investigation she can’t help but get pulled into. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

When Tiffany and Ian go to Uncle Joe’s family reunion party, they don’t expect to run into a killer…

A Cupcakes-and-Crime Caper

But that’s exactly what happens when Uncle Joe’s ex-wife Beryl is found dead!

Trapped inside Beryl’s creepy old house by an avalanche, Tiffany and Ian must work quickly to uncover who among the other houseguests is the killer.

As Beryl’s unsavory past starts coming to light, Tiffany realizes that quite a few people staying in the house have secrets of their own, and good reason to want Beryl dead. From disgruntled family members to secret lovers, to grudge-harboring staff and swindled business partners…

As the body count increases, Tiffany and Ian wonder if they might be outwitted – until help shows up in the form of an unexpected friend.

Praise for A.R. Winters:

“You fall in love with Tiffany Black from the start, and the mystery starts immediately” – Melissa Greenberg, Amazon.com Top 1000 Reviewer

“Fans of Stephanie Plum, meet Tiffany Black, A.R. Winters’s new heroine.” – Rea, Amazon.com

“The perfect balance of being lighthearted, but still a serious page-turning mystery.” – Jaycie D, Amazon.com

Dinners and Disasters in Las Vegas is the twenty-fourth book in The Tiffany Black in Las Vegas Mystery Series. Though it can be read as a standalone, it’s best read in series order.

This is a lighthearted cozy mystery featuring a strong female protagonist, some unusual friends and family, and a mystery that needs solving! It has no graphic gore, bad language or sex. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

“

Romance, a lovable bunch of eccentrics, and a collection of recipes with murder most foul.”
–Kirkus

“Scrumptious… Fans of culinary cozies will have fun.”
–Publishers Weekly

“A sweet Southern mystery with a delightful plot and quirky characters who quickly make you feel at home.”
–San Francisco Book Review

Welcome to Normal, Kentucky~ where nothing is normal. A Campers and Criminal Mystery Series is another brainchild of USA Today Bestselling Author Tonya Kappes. If you love her quirky southern characters and small town charm with a mystery to solve, you’re going to love her new cozy mystery series!

Mae West is busy this Christmas season. She’s running around Normal getting the town ready for the first Winter Festival, which she hopes will become an annual event for the tourist town.

The freshly fallen snow sure does make the Daniel Boone National Park beautiful and ready for Santa’s arrival, but it also makes the curvy roads through the forest very slick. Unfortunately, Mae finds out just how slick the roads are after her car slides off the road and hits a tree, putting Mae into a deep coma.

Mae is one of the lucky patients who does wake up and happy to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.

One of the patients in the emergency room with Mae didn’t die that night of natural causes, and Hank Sharp has himself a new homicide case on his hands.

Mae starts having memories about the fire that took her family and a memory of a murder plot that she thinks happened when she was in her coma. Only, she’s having a hard time distinguishing between the two memories and the clues seem to have blurred lines. There’s one thing she does know for sure, both incidents come with clues that neither were accidents.

Once again, Mae West with the help of the Laundry Club Ladies put on their ameatur sleuth cap to help solve the mystery of the murders before the killer sends her Christmas gift she can’t return. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

It is almost Christmas and Charlotte and Ally Sweet are excited to be making delicious chocolate creations, planning for the upcoming Christmas celebrations and Ally and Detective Luke Elm’s impending wedding.

But… their plans come to a grinding halt when someone is murdered. With Christmas just around the corner everyone wants the murderer caught so that Christmas can go off without a hitch. So, Ally and Charlotte decide to lend a helping hand. Along with their adorable pot-bellied pig, Arnold, and mischievous feline-friend, Peaches, they do a little snooping. But they uncover more than they anticipated and have to unravel a perplexing mixture of clues and suspects in order to get to the truth.

Will the murderer be revealed before there is another victim? Or will their Christmas celebrations need to be put on hold?

Recipe Included: Chocolate Yule Log

Join Charlotte, Ally, Arnold and Peaches for a fun, puzzling, Christmas-themed cozy mystery by USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author Cindy Bell. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Snowed in for Christmas—with her entire wedding team. And a dead body.

Wedding planner Annabelle Archer was looking forward to her first Christmas with her new husband. She wasn’t expecting a blizzard to hit DC or to get snowed in with all her wedding colleagues in her one-bedroom apartment. And she really wasn’t expecting to find one of her neighbors…dead.

While caterer Richard Gerard attempts to keep holiday spirits bright, her detective husband Mike Reese sets out to find out who murdered their neighbor. The problem? There aren’t many residents in the small apartment building and most of them are stuck in her apartment. Will Annabelle’s first Christmas as a newlywed be spent with a killer?

Slay Bells Ring, a novella, is the 17th book in the Agatha Award-winning Annabelle Archer Wedding Planner Mystery Series. If you like hilarious-yet-deadly whodunits, charming characters, and delightfully witty tales, you’ll love Laura Durham’s cozy mystery series.

Buy Slay Bells Ring today for a Christmas you’ll never forget! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

The 6th book in the Knitorious Murder Mystery series!

*Paperback and Kindle Unlimited available from November 16th, 2020*

When the most hated man in Harmony Lake runs for mayor and turns up dead on election night, two of the people closest to me are suspects in his murder. 

But needling out the real culprit isn’t easy when everyone in town has a motive and an alibi.

Someone has to dig deep into the lives of the residents of this tight-knit community and unravel their secrets.

That someone is me.

My name is Megan and I solve murders.

People have a knack of dying where I happen to be, and evidence has a way of finding its way into my hands. 

I know this town and its residents like the back of my hand. With some help from my friends, I’ll figure out who’s telling the truth, and who’s spinning a yarn of lies.

Can I stitch together the clues and find the real killer before the wrong person is charged with murder?

If you like your cozy mysteries with a bit of humour, small town Canadian life, a hint of romance, a close circle of quirky, lovable characters that you wish you knew in real life, dogs and cats, and free knitting patterns, there’s something in this series for you

Clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language.

Other books in the series:

• Knit One Murder Two
• Killer Cables
• Murder & Merino
• Twisted Stitches
• Son of a Stitch
• Crime Skein

Each book in the Knitorious murder mystery series is a standalone mystery that is solved by the end of the book. The books can be read in any order, however the characters lives and relationships evolve and change over time. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Margaret is planning a promotion while someone else is planning a murder.

Excited about spring being just around the corner, Margaret comes up with the perfect new promotion: milkshakes! Just a few days later, she notices that a new ice cream parlor is going to open in West End.

And just a few days after that, a woman is murdered in her own home. Margaret now has another case to solve, along with dealing with milkshake flavors and flagging spirits.

When the unthinkable happens and Margaret’s loved ones are fighting for their lives, realization dawns. But will Margaret be able to solve the crime and save lives? Or will this be her last case?

This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle