New Releases For The Week Of May 2nd, 2021–Part 1

One of BuzzFeed’s Highly Anticipated Mystery Novels of 2021!

The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes—one that might just be killer….

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case.

With the cops treating her like she’s the one and only suspect, and the shady landlord looking to finally kick the Macapagal family out and resell the storefront, Lila’s left with no choice but to conduct her own investigation. Armed with the nosy auntie network, her barista best bud, and her trusted Dachshund, Longanisa, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block… (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

The Fairy Tale Cupcake crew must discover the truth behind a death sprinkled with suspicion before Mel and Joe can say “I do”, in the thirteenth Cupcake Bakery Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.

Life is sweet and business is booming at the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery–and the fact that Mel and Joe are getting married is the icing on the cake. Their reception will be held at the swanky resort where Oz works as the pastry chef. The wedding planning is all fun-fetti and games until Mel and Joe meet the head chef at the resort who has been making Oz’s life miserable. When the eccentric chef insults Mel’s bakery, Oz gets into a blowout argument with the culinary prima donna. 

Things turn extra sour when the chef is murdered, and Oz is the police’s main suspect. As the countdown to the wedding day begins, Mel, Joe, and the rest of the Fairy Tale Cupcake crew must sift through clues to catch the real killer and clear Oz’s name before their wedding plans are totally battered and baked. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

“THE COLLISION OF TWO CASES FROM DIFFERENT TIMES ELEVATES THIS HAUNTING TALE…” –Kirkus

Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure and her gumshoe ghost team up to solve the stunning mystery at the heart of a madwoman’s self-portrait in this all new installment from New York Times bestselling author Cleo Coyle.

While gathering a collection of vintage book cover paintings for a special event in her quaint Rhode Island bookshop, Penelope discovers a spooky portrait of a beautiful woman, one who supposedly went mad, according to town gossip. Seymour, the local mailman, falls in love with the haunting image and buys the picture, refusing to part with it, even as fatal accidents befall those around it. Is the canvas cursed? Or is something more sinister at work?

For answers, Pen turns to an otherworldly source: Jack Shepard, PI. Back in the 1940s, Jack cracked a case of a killer cover artist, and (to Pen’s relief) his spirit is willing to help her solve this mystery, even if he and his license did expire decades ago. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

When Chet the dog, ?the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction? (Boston Globe), and his partner, PI Bernie Little of the desert-based Little Detective Agency, arrive to a meeting with hydrologist Wendell Nero, they are in for a shocking sight?Wendell has come to a violent and mysterious end. What did the hydrologist want to see them about? Is his death a random robbery, or something more? Chet and Bernie, working for nothing more than an eight-pack of Slim Jims, are on the case.

Bernie might be the only one who thinks the police have arrested the wrong man, including the perp?s own defense attorney. Chet and Bernie begin to look into Wendell?s work, a search that leads to a struggling winemaker who has received an offer he can?t refuse. Meanwhile, Chet is smelling water where there is no water, and soon Chet and Bernie are in danger like never before.

At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook

With the success of her coffee shop, Cup of Jo, Joanna Coffee is living the life she’s always dreamed about. If only people would stop dragging her into murder investigations. 

Someone leaves Jo’s glaces and an apology letter on the graves of two local teen girls, and Jo feels it’s a sign she’s meant to solve their murders. The problem is the police don’t believe it was murder. They think the girls were unfortunate drowning victims.  

Once again, Jo will need to don her detective’s hat and team up with her ex, Detective Quentin Perry, to put the guilty party behind bars. 

Fans of Joanne Fluke and Victoria Laurie will enjoy this culinary cozy mystery series.

Scroll up and one-click to start reading today! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

“We’ll do it,” Callum said.

“Of course we will,” I said. “Why would we not stalk the scary magician who might be trying to raise his son from the dead? For free?”

Like it or not, when a sorcerer asks you to track a magician, you track a magician. It’s that or spend life as a hamster. So we did.

But, turns out, the scary magician is the least of our worries. Between raging squirrel mobs, My Little Ravenous sewer monsters, and bungalow-dwelling necromancers with a good line in attack dogs, it’s all we can do to keep ourselves the right side of dead.

And that’s before we stumble onto something far more sinister. Something that makes one dead son look like small carrots. Something that’s going to raise an ancient almost-god and bring the world to its knees.

Unless G&C London, Yorkshire’s premier magical PIs – well, only magical PIs – can stop it first.

We definitely should’ve charged for this one.

◆◆◆

This is the fourth book in the Gobbelino London, PI urban fantasy series, centred around the adventures of a mercenary feline PI and his human sidekick. It contains snarky cats and other gods, many bad jokes and terrible puns, plus a large serving of mythological and real creatures behaving badly. It will appeal to anyone who likes their fantasy funny, modern, and filled with friendship rather than romance – and also to those who suspect their cat may be living a great and secret life when they’re not looking.

A Melee of Mages contains some violence, particularly toward those trying to steal the lives of cats, but none of it is graphic. It contains no sex and only mild language. It does, however, contain blasphemy. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Bay Winchester has battled ghosts, shades, poltergeists … and sometimes her own family. It’s the latter giving her fits now. Well, and Hemlock Cove’s younger set of course.
Bay thought the worst was behind her when she modified the memories of four tempestuous teenagers bent on stealing magic and wielding it in a tyrannical manner. Unfortunately for her, when one of those teenagers ends up dead behind the inn her father owns, things start to spiral.
The girl’s death is ritual in fashion, bloody runes painted on the trees, and Bay can’t wrap her head around exactly what has happened. Then things get worse when dark figures start appearing in windows, black ghosts threatening Bay and her family at every turn.
Between the horror haunting Hemlock Cove and the annoying presence of Bay’s former boss and his current fiancée, who just so happens to be a distant relative, Bay has her hands full … and that’s before her cousin Clove’s baby starts displaying a rather interesting skillset that is going to force accommodations within the family.
All Bay wants is a little break to plan her wedding and look forward to happily ever after with her fiancé Landon Michaels. What’s she’s going to get is a whole lot of trouble.
Bay’s growing powers are drawing in a new element of evil. It’s going to take everything she has – and a little help from Aunt Tillie – to fight the ultimate battle. Survival isn’t a given but Bay is determined to make it to her big day.
No matter what. (Amazon)

Editions Available” Kindle, Audiobook

A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again.

After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.

In book 15 in the series, it’s time for the annual clam bake weekend which promises to bring not only new guests to know and love but a mystery to solve and an important decision to make. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback

FROM THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF HOLY ISLAND AND IMPOSTOR

FROM THE SHADOWS INTO THE LIGHT…

When a fishing boat is wrecked off the treacherous North Sea coast and the body of a young woman washes up on the beach beside the iconic ‘Marsden Rock’, DCI Ryan cannot ignore the call to duty.

With one already dead and more human cargo missing from the wreckage, Ryan and his team race to find the remaining souls — before it’s too late, and their investigation turns to murder. As they uncover the seedy underbelly of Tyneside, cold and calculated opportunism clashes with the rock-hard arm of the Law, but there’s one thing that proves stronger than stone…

The human spirit.

Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular North Eastern landscape.

“LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers” – The Times

“A literary phenomenon” – Evening Chronicle

“LJ Ross is the Queen of Kindle” – Sunday Telegraph (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Life’s a birch and then you die in a canal wearing days-of-the-week underpants.

Forty-two-year-old Mia Thorne is settling into her new life in the small riverside town of Newberry, Pennsylvania. Part of her misses the bright lights of the big city, but Mia is determined to make the best of the cottage she inherited and its surrounding gardens, as well as her blossoming love life. Residents like Scarlet and Patrick have welcomed her with open arms and encourage Mia to embrace her special abilities with the same enthusiasm. Even Ophelia seems to have accepted her presence, although Mia’s convinced the ornery cat would be perfectly content to suck out her soul if she dared to leave the bedroom door unlocked at night.

When a body is discovered in the canal outside Scarlet’s house and the police suspect foul play, Mia rushes to her friend’s aid. Between a creepy birdwatching group and an unfriendly neighbor, Mia ends up with a list of suspects as long as Rapunzel’s hair. Unfortunately, Detective Derek Fairfax and Chief Tuck are determined to keep Mia away from the investigation under the guise of being, you know, the actual members of law enforcement–but Mia’s specialty is denial, and she’s more than happy to ignore their orders.

Can Mia identify the killer before it’s too late or will Scarlet find herself up a canal without a paddle?

Life’s A Birch is the second book in The Bloomin’ Psychic series. If you missed it, be sure to check out Petal to the Metal, the first book in the series. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Harper Harlow-Monroe thought getting to her wedding would be the hard part. She was wrong. Getting through her honeymoon is going to be a whole lot worse.
Jared Monroe decided to surprise his new wife with a honeymoon in Salem, Massachusetts. The goal was to have fun, bask in the sun, and eat some good seafood while shutting out the rest of the world. The fact that there’s a ghost hunting conference happening at the same time is just added icing on the cupcake of life.
Then the unthinkable happens and Harper’s best friend Zander Pritchett magically shows up for the conference … and decides to hijack their honeymoon.
Jared might be able to put up with Zander, but when a missing girl and several ghosts rile up the atmosphere, things threaten to spiral out of control.
Harper is who she is. When she finds out several teenagers have gone missing over the course of a month, she can’t stop herself from digging hard. What she finds is a strange nexus of ghosts who don’t act like she expects … and a story that might haunt her for the rest of her life.
Harper is determined to make this a honeymoon to remember despite Zander and the ghosts working against her. She’s going to have to survive for that to happen … and nothing is a given.
Salem is a city with a long history. Hopefully, it won’t be the end for Harper and Jared. (Amazon)

Editions available: Kindle, Audiobook

The strangled body of a young woman is discovered in a park in the West Country town of Abbeyford, clad in a leopard skin coat but with no identification, no phone, no handbag. DI Kate Redman and her team take on the case and manage to identify the victim through her role in a local theatre production.
But the questions keep coming: why was the victim estranged from her family? Who was the shadowy boyfriend she was hiding from her friends? And as Kate and her colleagues know from experience, plenty of people could be hiding many secrets…

Performance is the 13th full length novel in the Kate Redman Mysteries series, from USA Today bestselling author, Celina Grace.

Praise for the Kate Redman Mysteries series, from Amazon and Goodreads reviewers:

“Celina Grace gives us not only an unusual and well-built plot, but also a story which talks about too often forgotten humanity… Personal and choral human dramas intersect in a mystery that will keep you glued to the page until the end as it did for me.”

“I love the Kate Redman series. At this point, I feel like the characters are old friends and have been through many life changes with them. Celina Grace is a masterful story teller with the ability to set the scenes in such a way that the reader can see them exactly. “

“One of the best I have read this year. I read about a fourth of the book early in the day, then at bedtime, I thought I would read a bit more before sleep. I finished the book at 5:20 AM. Just could not put it down.”

“At last, a mystery that delivers…I found this novel superb because I got all I needed to know and none of what I didn’t.”

“…a gripping detective story but the main character engages you, and as well as wanting to know how the mystery turns out you want to learn more about her too.”

“…amazing book, read it front to back in one visit, couldn`t help myself…” (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Tommy & Evelyn Christie were hoping for a break from solving murders when they agreed to host Aunt Victoria and her daughters, Madeleine and Elise at their London home in Belgrave Square.

Recently widowed Victoria has returned from France for the London Season and to mend bridges with her estranged family.

None of them were prepared for the doubly shocking sight of a newborn baby and a dead body on the back doorstep of their imposing London residence.

Tommy & Evelyn face a race against time to solve the murder and the mystery of the abandoned baby before cousin Madeleine’s London Season is ruined. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Murder in the Marigolds book 13 in Lovely Lethal Gardens

A new cozy mystery series from USA Today best-selling author Dale Mayer. Follow gardener and amateur sleuth Doreen Montgomery—and her amusing and mostly lovable cat, dog, and parrot—as they catch murderers and solve crimes in lovely Kelowna, British Columbia. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Sunni Taylor has once again settled into her journalist position under a new boss and a new lead reporter. The fact that the new lead reporter, Dave Crockett, just happens to be her sister’s boyfriend makes things a little more complicated, but Sunni is determined to be content. She now has more time to spend planning for the opening of the Cider Ridge Inn. When Prudence Mortimer, the new owner of the Junction Times sends her on assignment to the Egyptian artifact exhibit at the museum, Sunni is excited to learn about the ancient treasures. But, as is usually the case, trouble and, yes, murder, follow her to the new assignment. Sunni soon finds herself chasing a thief and a killer. 

Book 11 of the Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery series

More in the series:
1. Death in the Park
2. Killer Bridal Party
3. Murder at the Inn
4. A Humbug Holiday
5. Calamity at the Carnival
6. Double Trouble
7. Havoc at Wildwood Manor
8. Fatal Feud
9. Trick or Trouble
10. A Crafty Killing
11. Death at the Museum
12. Murder at the Pumpkin Patch (Amazon)

Editions available: Kindle, Paperback