New Releases For The Week Of January 17th, 2021–Part 2

How dangerous can an amateur pet show be?

Rylee is about to find out after she enters her cat Barley in a local costume competition. When a trail of powdery paw prints leads her to the scene of the judge’s death, she soon finds herself in the middle of another mystery with a spirit in desperate need of her help.

Not only does Rylee discover there’s more to the world of show animals than cute and furry faces, but she stumbles across some clues that suggest the cause of death for her newest ghostly visitor might be enchanted in nature.

With time running out and magical forces at work, will Rylee and her friends be able to find the killer in time to compete in the show? (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

As Emma gets closer to Tim Stewart, she’s hit with two problems. The first is that she a part of an investigation that has uncovered additional victims of the strangler. The serial killers crimes go far deeper than originally suspected.
The second is that Tim’s boss played a far greater role in Emma’s aunt’s life than the sheriff let on. His deceit makes Emma wonder how much she can trust law enforcement – and Tim – as she gets closer to a situation that will prove dangerous to her and her family. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Robberies are running rampant in Little Valley, and the quiet small-town lives of the Amish community are suddenly thrown into chaos. Trusting that the local sheriff and deputy team have everything under control, things get even worse when the sheriff is found dead and their beloved shop owner stands accused of murder.

Amish twin sisters, well known as the wise women in their community, step up to do their own investigation alongside a brash big city detective. Whether he likes it or not, the women are determined to help solve the complicated crimes of theft and murder and clear their family name.

The two amateur investigators soon question whether they are in over their heads and begin to doubt if they can solve the mysteries in front of them… (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Astrid Atwood has just been invited to the Pirate Parade by the hottest police officer in town. A day of sailing around on the Raven Bay lake and flirting with Evan Brooks sounds like a dream, what could go wrong?

Before she can even think of stepping foot on a boat, her mom warns her that the coven needs to stay on the shore to protect the sailors from angry water spirits. These are the types of things she has to deal with now that she is a witch.

Rumors start to fly around town that someone is making an attempt to dive to the bottom of the lake at this year’s parade to retrieve sunken treasure. When two boats collide out on the water, the police investigate and discover one of them is completely empty, has someone fallen overboard?

The coven had been there to prevent this very thing from happening, right? So did their magic fail? Or is something else going on? Astrid volunteers to help out with the missing-persons hotline, only to receive a number of strange phone calls that make no sense.

Batten down the hatches, it’s about to get weird in Raven Bay.

Murder & Marigold is the second book in the Wicked Witches of Raven Bay mystery series. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

You’re invited!

It’s the wedding everyone in Fletcher Canyon has been waiting for. The bride is beautiful. The groom is nervous, and…

There’s a dead body. 

But no need to worry, Mom and Christy are on the case.  (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

When it comes to dead bodies, yoga can only relieve so much stress.

Ellie Vanderwick’s life is perfect. Sure, she doesn’t have friends, family, or a steady job. But she does have her pet pig, Penelope, and her VW Microbus, Mona.

If only she could get her hair under control. Some might call it magic, Ellie just calls it annoying.

Mad, sad, happy, or scared—it always starts the same way: with a little tingle. That’s when she knows her hair is about to go berserk. Whether it pulls itself into curls, turns bright purple, or goes completely limp is beyond her control.

But when she gets a letter from her newly departed grandmother telling her she inherited a farm, she knows it’s time to get a handle on the hair situation. Especially, if she wants to find out why her mother left her at a fire station all those years ago.

Cliff Haven, Iowa is the perfect small town. Friendly people, warm smiles, and almost no crime.

Until Ellie shows up.

When she finds a dead body in her cornfield, the entire town seems to think she did it.

Will she be run out of town? Will her big hairy secret come out? Or will she be able to solve the crime and learn more about her family?

Meet Ellie in this first installment of the Magical Mane Mystery Series! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Loveda Brown has inherited more than a tiny hotel in Idyllwild, California, as yet the Wild West of 1912, she’s inherited trouble. A pretentious lawyer, a Boy Scout troop invasion, insufferable suffragettes, and a pair of pompous honeymooners are about to interrupt her best laid plans. Between murder and a kidnapping, the pressure is on for Loveda to clean up the town she longs to call home. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A mysterious, heartwarming tale of small-town intrigue, family secrets, and the possibility of new love–

The new sawmill brought jobs and economic stability to the town of Loblolly. New businesses have popped up. Previously closed shops have re-opened. And a slew of new residents have moved to the sleepy town nestled on the Chattahoochee River. But new residents bring new secrets, and one of the new arrivals holds the key to solving the mystery of a missing family in Central Florida.

________________________________ 

Morning TV anchor Harper Knowles relentless goal of winning a coveted spot on the national news stage is upended when her six-year-old son and soon to be ex-husband is reported missing under mysterious circumstances. The heart-wrenching news catapult into a nightmare when the detective plays a video of Harper at the scene.

 No matter what’s on the security vid–on the night in question, Harper was miles away from her estranged husband’s condo. But when the police uncover conclusive DNA evidence and charge Harper with a double-murder, she’s forced to fall back on her skills as an investigative reporter to unwind the meticulous web of deceit her husband fabricated to ensure Harper spent her life behind bars.

Harper vows to rescue her son, uncover the truth, and prove her innocence. And every clue she unearths leads her closer to a woman residing in a small southern town called Loblolly. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Skeletons in the closet
The living have them, but what about ghosts? Geoff’s about to find out! He’s convinced his ghostly neighbor Ginny was murdered. When he starts digging for answers, he unearths more than facts.

Join Geoff, his favorite bobcat Clarence, Sylvie and a gang of supernatural misfits as they investigate murders, both past and present! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

How was I supposed to know the town founders sank a trunk full of cursed objects?

Seriously, they should have at least put a warning label on it because had I known, I would have left it at the bottom of the ocean. But they didn’t, so I didn’t, and now we’ve set dozens of artifacts into the hands of the blissfully unaware non-magicals who live in our small town.

It’s not entirely my fault, though. Everything would have turned out fine had my pathologically organized sister not catalogued them and sent them to auction before I had a chance to test them for magical mojo. Now the items are scattered all over town, and I’ll have to track them down one by one.

Lucky for me, I’ve got a heaping helping of ancient magic coursing through my veins, a best friend who’s as powerful and loyal as he is sarcastic and charismatic, and a family with generations of experience managing dark artifacts behind us.

Join Sage Parker on her first adventure as she tracks down a pendant haunted by an angry spirit bent on finding a new body regardless of who she has to hurt to get it.

This is Book 1 in the Paranormal Artifacts Cozy Mystery Series. If you like lots of laughs, magic, and a town full of people you’d love – or hate – to have as neighbors, then this is the book for you! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Perfect for fans of Molly Fitz and Christy Barritt…

An eye witness to a murder, a crush-worthy cop who needs her help, and a cat with a hunch. What could possibly go wrong?

Mallory Beck isn’t in the habit of involving herself in local politics, but when she supports a new friend at a Ministry of Education meeting and the main speaker is found dead on the steps of the Town Hall, she finds herself smack-dab in the middle of another murder investigation. Her cat, Hunch, who loves a good mystery, is thrilled, and as usual, helps her discover the first clue.

Mallory’s clever friend and former pre-teen crush, Alex, is on the case. He was recently promoted to detective within the Honeysuckle Grove Police Department, but when he’s paired with a lackadaisical superior who continually botches investigations, Mallory and her famously delicious baking comes to the rescue.

After all, the easiest way to a suspect’s truth might just be through their stomach.   

Order this cozy culinary caper now to follow the clues and help Mallory discover the truth! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

When reclusive artist Julie Hartfield is found strangled in her boat, Bette is on the case. Chesapeake Cove is packed with tourists excited for the Crab Festival, and finding the murderer will be like searching for lobster in a crab trap. When another victim is found a day later, there seems to be a human shark hidden in the Cove, picking off vulnerable prey.

The victims are connected, Bette’s sure of it, even if she can’t figure out how. One woman lived in Chesapeake Cove, the other was visiting for the first time. Then a stranger, discovered in Julie’s home, is hiding a dark secret and Detective Marcus is racing to capture the murderer before they strike again. With the Crab Festival looming on the horizon, Bette needs all the help she can get.

She gives safe harbor to a young man in need, and with his help, she’s prepared to uncover secrets that could span the globe. But Bette might be heading towards international waters and be in over her head as secrets begin to unfold around her. She can only hope that Detective Marcus can keep her out of hot water long enough to capture a murderer. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A sister with a broken heart, a grandmother with a penchant for popping in at inappropriate times, a goose with an identity issue and a crush, and two men who pull at different parts of her heart.

Coping with an influx of power she’s not sure she’s ready for, Piper fights the need to open the book that brought her dead fiancé back to her as well as her conflicting emotions between a man who soothes her soul and a man who makes her feel alive.

As more residents move into Piper’s townhouse, she has to accept that she’s responsible for what happens to those she loves even as she can’t make their choices for them.

How is that fair?

When Piper gathers the courage to face the truth about the book and her family, she takes on an impossible task to find her mother and heal the fractures in the Evans family tree.

Searching for answers unearths more questions and Piper has a growing list of enemies out to destroy her. The secrets she reveals might destroy the magic community altogether. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

According to Daisy, nothing is ever quite what it seems. In her case, that’s the truest thing ever spoken.

Daisy moved to the village a few miles from Kings Lynn in Norfolk a year ago, after a very unfortunate incident in London made her decide village life was the best option. Now she trundles around on a mobility scooter, even though she doesn’t actually need to. She’s adapted to country life quite well, although she rather unkindly refers to the village of Great Wiltingham as the ‘place people go to wilt’.

It’s not entirely populated by retired folk… there are some families, and even a few young couples. But it has to be said the village has more elderly residents than anything else. It’s a beautiful place, with a duck-pond that’s more like a lake, a second pond at the other end of the village, and a lot of open green spaces.

Daisy has been married to Aidan for thirty-five years. No one in the village knows that, because although he spends most of the time in Daisy’s thatched cottage, he has his own place just around the corner.
Given what Daisy used to do before she retired, and the very unfortunate incident in London, they both decided it was best people didn’t know just how much of a couple they actually were.

Daisy is seventy-one now. But for her, old habits die hard. And for some strange reason, trouble seems to follow her around. It’s been a peaceful twelve months settling into village life, but that’s about to end…

‘The Root of all Evil’ is the first book in the Daisy Morrow series. After some strange goings-on and a murder in the village, Daisy and Aiden, together with a young police-woman called Sarah, whose curiosity gets the better of her, set about solving the mystery.

They discover the village is being secretly abused by some very unsavoury people, a fact Daisy has very good reason to hate, so she sets off on a personal vendetta against those responsible. Yes indeed, old habits die hard!

And it all begins with a rose bush, mysteriously uprooted in the middle of the night…

‘The Root of All Evil’ is available for ebook pre-order now, and launches on 22nd January! Order your copy now! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

At 11-years-old Clancy Evans uncovers her innate inclinations for investigative work while learning some painful yet valuable lessons about her unusual family. Ignoring the overt objections of her mother, Clancy helps her Pitt County Sheriff father solve murders in their small Virginia town.

Fast forward

Female sleuth Clancy Evans dives headfirst into a double murder mystery that has plagued her for far too many years – the murder of her father.

Clancy and her black lab Sam travel to where the crime takes them, solving one murder at a time. But her insistence on uncovering the truth could be the death of her…

“M. Glenn Graves has captured an endearing and charming private investigator. Her dry wit and underlying humor have its own appeal, as Clancy confronts each fact and potential witness.”

The Clancy Evans Cozy Mysteries: Volume One includes – Dead Times Revive In Thee, One Lost Soul More, Mercy Killing, The Peace Haven Murders, Revenge and Desperate Measures. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Something sinister is afoot in the streets of Dundee, when a puppeteer is found murdered behind his striped Punch and Judy stand, as children sit cross-legged drinking ginger beer. At once, Dandy Gilver”s semmingly-innocuous investigation into plagiarism takes a darker turn. The gruesome death seems to be inextricably bound to the gloomy offices of Doig”s Publishers, its secrets hidden in the real stories behind their girls” magazines The Rosie Cheek and The Freckle.

On meeting a mysterious professor from St Andrews, Dandy and her faithful colleague Alex Osbourne are flung into the worlds of academia, the theatre and publishing. Nothing is quite as it seems, and behind the cheerful facades of puppets and comic books, is a troubled history has begun to repeat itself. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A light-hearted legal mystery! A corrupt corporate officer is colluding with a greedy union boss, and line worker Jim Vandenberg is caught in the middle. When his young lawyer, Bill Hood, gets in over his head, Bill calls in his grandfather Henry, the ex-FBI agent turned private investigator, to help out. They have three days to extricate Jim from the hands of the company, and save him from an angry union boss. But why does the company want him out so badly, and why does the union turn on him as well? The answers can only be found through clandestine maneuvers that are patently out of Bill’s skill set. Bill gets caught up in the case and his infatuation with Henry’s new assistant, Laurel, and and he can’t stay away from either one. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a propulsive thriller featuring an ordinary woman who will stop at nothing to find the missing people that the rest of the world has forgotten

Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman, a recovering alcoholic with more regrets than belongings. But she spends her life doing what no one else will–searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. When the police have given up, when the public no longer remembers, when the media has never paid attention, Frankie starts looking.

A new case brings her to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation. She is searching for Angelique Badeau, a Haitian teenager who vanished from her high school months earlier. Resistance from the Boston PD and the victim’s wary family tells Frankie she’s on her own–and she soon learns she’s asking questions someone doesn’t want answered. But Frankie will stop at nothing to discover the truth, even if it means the next person to go missing could be her. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook

What happens when South Florida’s most unscrupulous real estate salesman meets South Florida’s biggest con artist? And what happens when they meet on the roof of the Florida mansion belonging to the world’s most ruthless scrap dealer? Who knows? But sparks are bound to fly, especially with that hurricane coming straight at them.

Another fast-paced Todd Jones comic thriller/caper by bestselling author JR Ripley!

Praise for the Todd Jones comic thriller series!

“…Joins the growing list of Florida crime writers (Carl Hiaasen, Laurence Shames, Tim Dorsey) who mix capers with comedy. This lightweight romp stars unscrupulous real-estate salesman Todd Jones, whose wheelings and dealings have landed him a hot Ft. Lauderdale condo and an even hotter girlfriend but who seems to have run out of luck. The story opens with Todd being threatened at gunpoint by his best friend, Dr. Doug Freeman, who is miffed that Todd slept with his wife, Caroline. When Doug is killed in a boating accident, and Caroline is found dead soon after, things don’t look good for Todd. To make matters worse, he has sold a bum property to a mobster and unwittingly involved himself in a drug deal with a surfer dude. Then his mother comes to visit. Readers will fall hard for this lovable loser as he struggles to stay alive while keeping his girlfriend from finding out what he is doing and his mom’s pet pig from eating his stuff. Further adventures would be most welcome.” Booklist

“..A darkly funny, rip-roaring novel about a fast-talking realtor who is quite possibly the world’s worst judge of character. Hunted down by drug dealers, irate customers, a betrayed girlfriend and the husband of a married woman he had an affair with, he has five minutes to live at the opening of the story – perhaps more if he can persuade the angry husband not to point the gun at his head. Then again, perhaps not. Oh, and his mother has come to live with him and won’t take no for an answer. A wildly frantic novel about a ne’er do well whose bad deeds have caught up with him, and his wacky struggle to stay just one step ahead of the trigger, suspenseful to the very last word.” Midwest Book Review

“It’s a comic thriller with a wacky plot. Todd Jones is a hotshot realtor in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a hot girlfriend. The story begins with Todd getting a routine physical from his doctor and friend Doug Freeman. After the physical Todd asks Doug how healthy he is, Dr. Doug tells him he has five minutes to live. Todd laughs and says no, really is there a problem? Dr. Doug repeats that Todd has Five minutes to live. The doctor goes to a cabinet and pulls out a gun and points it at Todd and tells him he has five minutes to live because he slept with his wife. As Todd is trying to deny everything and stop the madness the doctor is counting down. He does get away and is constantly followed by the obsessed Dr. Doug who continues to try to kill him. Lots of great characters…the last sentence in the book is extremely clever. The book is only 245 pages and is a quick read. I liked it.” Just Plum Crazy

“As Oliver Hardy used to say” well…here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into “. As a former RE guy myself, luckily, I have never encountered such an obvious set up, but Todd had his thinking mind disconnected when the knockout babe started talking big money. From there it rolls downhill quickly and actually picks up considerable speed at the ending. That all this conniving takes place in South Florida is no surprise…But makes it easier to digest. The love for money is the root of all evil and the roots go very deep in this story. Great characters brought to life by great and humorous writing (as usual) in any JR Ripley story. I loved Todd’s mom…what a hoot….and the addition of Mr. Squeals was icing on the cake. Another triumph!” Eddie D Amazon Vine Voice (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle