New Releases For The Week Of December 27th.2020–Part 1

Pastry chef and amateur sleuth Juliet Capshaw finds herself on thin ice as she attempts to solve her latest case of small-town murder in Ellie Alexander’s Chilled to the Cone: A Bakeshop Mystery.

The deep freeze has thawed in Ashland, Oregon and Torte is gearing up for a busy spring. When a surprise opportunity to launch a pop-up ice cream shop comes her way, Jules jumps at the chance to showcase Torte’s signature iced drinks and cold custards. But selling the desserts of her dreams comes at a price. . .and, before she knows it, Jules’s life swirls into a nightmare. One of the town’s most colorful characters, a street performer known for wearing capes and a cone-shaped hat, turns up dead just as Torte 2.0 is set to open its doors. Can Jules get the scoop on what happened to “The Wizard” of Ashland before her new business venture reaches a chilling conclusion?

The Bakeshop Mysteries are:

“Delicious.”—RT Book Reviews
“Marvelous.”—Fresh Fiction
“Delectable.”—Portland Book Review (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

In the fifth book of the popular Seaside Café Mysteries, Closely Harbored Secrets, Everly Swan just wants to make Halloween-themed treats and specialty teas for her customers. But when it seems that she’s being haunted by the phantom of a sailor straight out of a ghost story, her plans are capsized. Could this be the bitter end for Everly?Hitting all the sweet-tea spots, this series is:A delightful Tea Shop and Café Culinary MysteryThe ideal cozy beach readPerfect for fans of Laura Childs and Kate Carlisle

It’s almost Halloween, and the small island of Charm, North Carolina is decked out for the festivities. When Everly Swan agrees to close her iced tea shop early to help her aunts host their annual haunted historic walking tour, she expects some good-natured spooks. But the night turns grave when one of the ghostly actors is found dead. To complicate matters, the victim scratched Everly’s name into the ground before she died, making her a key suspect.

The murder mystery heats up when Everly’s potential boo, Detective Grady, takes the case―and he definitely doesn’t want her getting involved. Will their seaside romance be threatened by all the ghostly drama? But when a phantom sailor straight out of local legend starts leaving Everly threatening messages, she has to get involved… With a local election under way, ghosts on the loose, and a search for long-lost buried treasure, Everly can’t help but stir the pot!

The fifth tea cozy in Bree Baker’s acclaimed Seaside Café Mystery series, Closely Harbored Secrets is culinary fiction with a frighteningly fun twist!

INCLUDES DELICIOUS FOOD AND DRINK RECIPES (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

For bargain hunter extraordinaire Sarah Winston, starting life over in Ellington, Massachusetts, has been a true trash-to-treasure success story, except when there’s a run on dead bodies…

Sarah’s latest client, Alice Krandle, is sure she has a fortune in antiques on her hands. She’s already gotten a generous offer for the whole lot before her garage sale has even begun, but she thinks she can earn more with Sarah’s expert help. The problem is that while Sarah’s sorting through items from decades past, her landlady, Stella, faces a clear and present danger.

Stella’s kidnapper has contacted Sarah with a set of instructions, and “Don’t call the police” is at the top of the list. But they didn’t say anything about Sarah’s friend Harriet–who happens to be a former F.B.I. hostage negotiator… (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

FBI handler Meg Jennings and her search-and-rescue K-9 partner are heading south where it’s hunting season. But this time the prey is human.
 
“For dog lovers and action fans. Dogs-in-action junkies will be transported.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Fascinating…Fans will look forward to Meg’s further adventures.”
—Publishers Weekly

One arrow through the heart could be a tragic hunting accident. A second one, within days, looks more like a crime. That’s when Meg Jennings and Brian Foster of the FBI’s Forensic Canine Unit head to Georgia to investigate. With their dogs Hawk and Lacey, Meg and Brian are enlisted to follow the scent of a killer. At first, nothing seems to connect the two victims–a county commissioner and State Patrol officer.  But the blood sport around the southern town of Blue Ridge is just beginning.

As the body count rises, the compound bow killer becomes even more elusive, appearing and vanishing like a ghost. However, with each new slaying Meg is beginning to suspect the grim design that’s escalating in the shadows. At its heart, a tragic event that reaches back nearly two centuries in Georgia’s history is now turning Blue Ridge into a hunting ground. But as Meg gets closer to solving the puzzle, the closer she is to stepping into the crosshairs of an elusive murderer with deadly aim, and motives as deep and dark as the woods . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover

In Pennsylvania’s Amish country, Daisy Swanson finds herself going back to school expecting to serve tea–only to get a crash course in criminal justice . . .
 
 The faculty of Willow Creek High School are having a get-together after the spring concert with refreshments provided, courtesy of Daisy’s Tea Garden. Oolong tea and chocolate biscuits are just what the staff needs to help them unwind from Althea Higgins’ demanding curriculum. Her lessons on such controversial subjects as school uniforms and underqualified substitute teachers are earning her an F from her colleagues.
 
But a failing grade was preferable to Althea falling victim to foul play. Daisy was there when her body was discovered in the school swimming pool, murdered by strangulation. Althea was certainly a strict, opinionated taskmaster, unliked by both teachers and students, but would any of them actually want to kill her? As Daisy starts asking questions, she gets a real education in Althea’s history, discovering more than enough enemies with more than enough motives to cancel her classes permanently . . .  
Includes delicious recipes!
 
Visit us at kensingtonbooks.com (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

A Gilded Age ghost helps psychic painter Celeste Cabot catch a killer . .
 
Rising up against the beautiful backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Biltmore Estate is a magnificent mansion in Asheville, North Carolina, built as a summer home for George Washington Vanderbilt II—yes, of those Vanderbilts—during the Gilded Age. Nowadays, it’s the site of an annual craft fair. Unfortunately, it’s also about to become a crime scene . . .
 
Celeste is hard to miss as she pulls up with her pink and white Shasta trailer and adorable Chihuahua, Van Gogh—Van for short. But before she can show off her artwork at the fair, a tour guide is found strangled by a velvet rope barrier and a valuable painting goes missing. With a rogues’ gallery of sketchy suspects, Celeste welcomes the help of a pair of handsome detectives—and a ghost with a special interest in the case . . .
 
Includes tips and recipes!
 
Praise for Rose Pressey and Her Haunted Craft Fair Mysteries
 
“Plucky, self-employed heroine, cute pet, scary ghost, and two eligible suitors: everything a cozy needs.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“The paranormal twist adds a bit of flair to this quirky new series.” —The Parkersburg News & Sentinel
 
Visit us at http://www.kensingtonbooks.com (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

Librarian Josie Way moved to small-town Oregon to lay low. Instead, thanks to newfound magic abilities—and a killer on the loose—she’s leapt out of the frying pan and into a cauldron of trouble . . .
 
Josie Way loved working among the Library of Congress’s leather-scented stacks—until she uncovered corruption and made herself a target. As Wilfred, Oregon’s new librarian, Josie can stay undercover until the case goes to court. But life in this little town isn’t as subdued as she expected. The library, housed in a a Victorian mansion, is slated to be bulldozed. Still digesting the news that her safe haven is about to become scrap lumber, Josie discovers a body in the woods . . .
 
Almost as shocking, Josie learns that she’s descended from a long line of witches—and her powers have suddenly sprung to life. With help from a spoiled alley cat who just may be her familiar, Josie’s thumbing through a catalog of suspects, hoping she can conjure a way to save her library—and her life. . .(Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

Sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons are used to catering lip-smacking treats to an artsy group of book lovers—until fiction spills into reality . . .
 
If anything can be said about endearingly predictable Margo Hemsley, it’s that she always serves elaborate desserts at her mystery book club meetings. That’s why everyone fears the worst after she doesn’t pick up her order from Bernie and Libby and skips out on the monthly gathering. The Simmons sisters can’t imagine their acquaintance vanishing like a character from one of her favorite novels, at least not willingly.
 
When the search ends with the discovery of a dead body, Bernie and Libby agree to help the nine remaining book club members prove their friend was murdered. But a speed read through Margo’s background reveals there was more to the victim than harmless hobbies and frumpy cardigans would suggest. As the sleuthing sisters unearth scandalous secrets about the book club members, they’ll have to determine who was connected to Margo’s shady dealings—and who sent her to an early grave . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover

Emma Reed and her beloved Corgi move from London to Cornwall with the dream of opening a tea shop—but first they’ll have to collar a criminal in the first book in a charming new series.

Emma leaves London and her life in high finance behind her and moves to an idyllic village in Cornwall, with its cobblestone streets and twisting byways. She plans to open a village tea shop and bake the recipes handed down to her from her beloved grandmother, and of course there’ll be plenty of space for her talking corgi, Oliver, to explore. Yes…talking. Emma has always been able to understand Oliver, even though no one else can.

As soon as Emma arrives in the village she discovers that the curmudgeonly owner of the building she wants to rent for her shop hates dogs and gets off on the wrong foot with Oliver. Although some might turn tail and run, Emma is determined to win her over. But when she delivers some of her homemade scones as a peace offering, she finds the woman dead. Together, Emma and Oliver will need to unleash their detective skills to catch a killer. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

A killer may craft the perfect crime, but as every knitter worth her yarn knows–murder wool out.

Mother’s Day should be a cinch for the good folks of the Crandalsburg Craft Fair, and knitting enthusiast Lia Geiger has a good feeling about this year’s yield. But things quickly get knotty when Lia’s daughter announces she’s quit her job and Lia finds herself tangled up in the murder of her best friend’s ex-husband. While Belinda’s alibi quickly gets her off the hook, nasty rumors spread throughout Crandalsburg that shroud the entire fair in suspicion.

Could the vendors be responsible for the murder of a man hell-bent on unraveling the fair just days before his death? Lia and her crafty group of Ninth Street Knitters must put down their needles to gather clues and save the crafting community they’ve grown to love. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

When a heartless killer ruins a Valentine’s Day wedding, teddy bear shop manager Sasha Silverman vows to solve the crime . . .

At the Silver Bear Shop and Factory, Sasha will be selling plenty of bride and groom teddy bears come springtime. But this Valentine’s Day weekend, she’d take any of those silent, stuffed couples over the real thing. Sasha and her sister Maddie are bridesmaids at Cissy Davidson’s upcoming wedding in Silver Hollow. Cissy is fuming over the worst choice of best man—the jerk who broke her sister Debbie’s heart—and the groom-to-be won’t budge in his decision. At the rehearsal dinner you could cut the tension with a wedding cake knife.

That is, until best man Dylan is found dead, impaled with an ice pick. Although jilted Debbie is the most likely suspect—the blood on her dress doesn’t help her case—the bride begs Sasha to prove her sister’s innocence. If anyone’s going to walk down the aisle, Sasha will first need to find the cold-hearted killer who iced Dylan . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

What happens when your past catches up with you?

Lillian Frost and Edith Head investigate a series of bizarre poison pen letters sent to a leading Hollywood actress in this mesmerising mystery.

1939, Los Angeles. Marion Davies has a problem. The actress has received poison pen letters highlighting an embarrassing event in her past from the mysterious ‘Argus’. Can Lillian Frost and her friend and partner-in-crime, celebrated costume designer Edith Head, expose the writer before they expose Marion? Lillian’s boss, millionaire inventor Addison Rice, seems to think so, but when Lillian speaks to her idol, Marion is reluctant to reveal her secrets, fearful of jeopardizing her affair with newspaper tycoon W.R. Hearst.

Is a prankster simply trying to tarnish the reputation of one of Hollywood’s leading ladies, or is something more sinister going on behind the scenes? As Lillian and Edith are drawn into increasingly dangerous and disturbing territory, their enquiries take an unexpected and stunningly dark twist . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover

Catching a kidnapper takes teamwork

…and a St. Bernard.

Alanna Morgan was raised in remote Alaska by a couple who called themselves her parents—not kidnappers. A jailbreak brings her face-to-face with the past she wants to escape and on a collision course with the woman who stole her childhood. Alanna can’t let other helpless victims be abducted and sets out with Chance, a therapy St. Bernard, by her side. But Desparre rookie police officer Peter Robak has other plans for the civilian investigator. Together, in the mountain wilderness in frigid temperatures, criminals aren’t the only threat they face. A wary alliance and a rescue dog will have to be enough to keep them alive and to catch a desperate fugitive.

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

A K-9 Alaska Novel

Book 1: K-9 Defense

Book 2: Alaska Mountain Rescue (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

I’m Barbara Gold. Age: 71. Height: 5’5″. Eyes: blue. Hair: gray. Weight: none of your business. Specialties: Undercover surveillance, small arms, chemical weapons, Middle Eastern and Latin American politics. Current status: Retired CIA agent, widow, and grandmother.

Barbara Gold, a retired CIA agent, volunteers to accompany her thirteen-year-old grandson, Martin, on a group camping trip with his peers. Out in the wilderness with no phone coverage, the teens and their guardians are enjoying fresh air and mountain views… until Martin’s photography teacher is found dead in an abandoned mine.

Barbara quickly gathers evidence before the rain can wash it away, but she and the campers quickly become the hunted. A psychopath is loose in the woods, tracking their every move. Barbara must use her old spy and combat training to outsmart the killer and keep the kids safe. But doing so might reveal secrets from her past to her beloved grandson.

Read the hilarious 9th book (30,000 words) in the Secret Agent Granny mystery series. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A brand new thriller by USA TODAY Bestselling Author Gina LaManna

For fans of Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg, and Kendra Elliot…

Summer in the Twin Cities is hard to beat, and Detective Kate Rosetti is excited to show FBI Agent Jack Russo a nice, relaxing time while he’s back in town. Unfortunately, her plans go belly up when Tommy “Two-Toed” Bianchi is found floating face down in Kate’s favorite lake.

To complicate matters, Alastair Gem turns up with a brand-new girlfriend… which is all fine and dandy until his girlfriend goes missing. Gem begs the already-strapped-for-time detective for help, and Kate can’t refuse.

One murderer, one kidnapper, and one boyfriend are a lot for the detective to handle. But if Kate doesn’t focus on finding the killer before time runs out, she’ll be the next victim in his deadly spree…(Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback