New Releases For The Week Of November 28th, 2021–Part 2

“Too late” isn’t a factor for Isabel Puddles—until the clock starts ticking on a deadly mystery in the cozy town of Gull Harbor, Michigan . . .
 
Isabel is living life on her terms as summer stirs the peaceful shores of Lake Michigan. Only slowing down to meet her oldest friend for daily coffee, the newly licensed PI has found herself chipping away at the college degree she never completed—and, to her surprise, eagerly awaiting letters from her pen pal, an admired British mystery writer. But when her latest client turns out to be an extravagant recluse who’s rich both in secrets and money, Isabel becomes embroiled in the strange world of Rust Belt royalty and the Memorial Day Weekend disappearance of a handsome young heir.
 
Beyond the famous family name and ugly rumors surrounding her, Abigail Bachmeier is an enigma. With one great nephew presumed dead after vanishing off the side of a ferry, Abigail makes the strange request to locate another missing relative. As Isabel investigates and gets closer to revealing at least one more possible murder, she begins to suspect yet another life could soon be in terrible danger—her own.
            
Praise for Meet Isabel Puddles
 
“Fans of Garrison Keillor’s tales of Lake Wobegon will be enchanted.”
—Publisher Weekly (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

* This humorous, contemporary travel mystery was originally published as Murder of a Po’ Boy in the When the Cat’s Away Anthology

A food tour in New Orleans where murder is on the menu…

When Mallory Beck wins a food tour experience in New Orleans, she invites teenage Amber, her foodie BFF, to join her on a road trip of French and creole cuisine. Mallory’s cat-sitter cancels at the last minute, and presumptuous, cheeky Hunch helps himself to shotgun in Mallory’s Prius. A good thing, too, because when a know-it-all food tour participant turns up dead and wrapped in Mardi Gras beads, they’ll need Hunch’s keen nose to sniff out any foul play.

Surrounded by tight-lipped locals and voodoo theories, Mallory and her team of sleuths have their work cut out for them to clear Amber’s name from suspicion and get to the bottom of what happened to the Po’ Boy who didn’t make it through to the last stop on the food tour.

You’ll love the strong friendships and the cranky crime-solving cat who thinks he’s a dog in this new whodunit. Order Murder in New Orleans now! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

One of BookRiot’s Best Upcoming Cozy Mysteries for the Second Half of 2021!

When murder follows Mimi Lee to her romantic island getaway, she puts on her best sleuthing hat with her sassy cat in tow in this adventurous cozy mystery by Jennifer J. Chow.
 
Mimi Lee just found an extra perk to being a pet groomer at Hollywoof (other than cuddling animals all day long, that is). Pixie St. James, one of Mimi’s clients and the investor behind Hollywoof, has offered her and her boyfriend, Josh, a getaway at her vacation home, nestled on beautiful Catalina Island. With the island just outside of Los Angeles but still far enough from the hustle and bustle, Mimi, Josh, and their cat Marshmallow (who, of course, wouldn’t be caught dead in a dingy pet hotel) are excited for their relaxing stay.
 
That is, until Pixie’s last renter, Davis D. Argo, turns up dead. Mimi and Josh’s romantic getaway immediately turns into an enormous buzzkill, especially when Pixie asks Mimi for help. The police suspect Pixie, and Mimi knows a thing or two about wrongful allegations. Mimi figures it couldn’t hurt to snoop a little since she’s already there, and soon discovers that a valuable item is missing. Except Pixie isn’t the only one in the neighborhood who has been robbed. There is something strange happening on the island, and Mimi won’t stop until she finds out what it is. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

“Wilde’s heroine is not only a useful woman but a highly entertaining one.” 
 —Kirkus Reviews on And Dangerous to Know

Among the ton of Regency London, one breath of scandal can be disastrous. Enter Rosalind Thorne, a young woman adept at helping ladies of quality navigate the most delicate problems—in this charming mystery series inspired by the novels of Jane Austen . . .

It is every mama’s dearest wish that her daughter marries well. But how to ensure that a seemingly earnest suitor is not merely a fortune hunter? Rosalind is involved in just such a case, discreetly investigating a client’s prospective son-in-law, when she is drawn into another predicament shockingly close to home.

Rosalind’s estranged father, Sir Reginald Thorne—a drunkard and forger—has fallen into the hands of the vicious scoundrel Russell Fullerton. Angered by her interference in his blackmail schemes, Fullerton intends to unleash Sir Reginald on society and ruin Rosalind. Before Rosalind’s enemy can act, Sir Reginald is found murdered—and Fullerton is arrested for the crime. He protests his innocence, and Rosalind reluctantly agrees to uncover the truth, suspecting that this mystery may be linked to her other, ongoing cases.

Aided by her sister, Charlotte, and sundry friends and associates—including handsome Bow Street Runner Adam Harkness—Rosalind sets to work. But with political espionage and Napoleon loyalists in the mix, there may be more sinister motives, and far higher stakes, than she ever imagined . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover

In a tourist town on Lake Michigan, Athena Spencer keeps busy raising a son (and a pet raccoon named Oscar) while working at her family’s garden center. But sometimes, she also has to get the dirt on a murderer, in the new series by the New York Times bestselling author of the Flower Shop Mysteries . . .
 
Athena has invited Case Donnelly, recently relocated from Pittsburgh and awaiting his PI license, to accompany her to a Save Our Dunes fundraiser and art festival. And her date proves helpful when the body of a disgraced photographer turns up during a nature walk.
 
The crime—and the photos taken by the dead man—raise a lot of questions about local politics, environmental battles, and the victim’s womanizing ways. As Athena’s endearing Greek-American family strives to solve a mystery of their own (uncovering the identity of Athena’s anonymous blog), she and Case try to find the tangled roots of this murder and make sure there’s no sanctuary for a killer . . .
 
“Mean girls, stalkers, and a jealous brother are all fair game as suspects in this clever and amusing mystery.”
—Kirkus on A Big Fat Greek Murder

“Kate Collins delivers an entertaining, amusing, and deliciously suspenseful mystery.”
—Cleo Coyle, New York Times bestselling author on Statue of Limitations

“A rewarding and satisfying delight.”
—Kings River Life Magazine on Statue of Limitations (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

“A fabulous read packed with suspense, unexpected twists, glamour and humor. Prepare to be gripped from the first to the last page!” —Liane Moriarty 

For readers of Lisa Jewell, Liv Constantine, and Megan Miranda, a lightning-paced psychological thriller about two women, a tragedy that connects them as teenagers, and the terrible reckoning that will decide their fates a decade later.

Jane Ellison is a “super recognizer” able to identify strangers by the slightest facial details—the curve of a head, the arch of an eyebrow. When she spies human rights activist and heiress Bella Valencia in a crowded Boston airport, Jane’s convinced she’s found the person responsible for her sister Kit’s disappearance and presumed death eleven years earlier. But her attempt to detain the suspect ends with Jane herself fired and humiliated. 

As Bella prepares to marry Will Pease, scion of the uber-wealthy, influential, and ruthless Pease family, famous for their wholesome wellness and lifestyle brand, on their private Cape Cod island, she grows increasingly anxious that her dire secret will be revealed and used against her by—of all people—the man she loves.

She has reason to fear: Jane is ready to risk everything for the chance to publicly expose Bella’s crimes at her upcoming celebrity wedding. But the more she digs into what happened that night, the more she questions her own assumptions. 

Combining magnetic, wise-cracking narration and a skillfully layered plot, Do I Know You? is a gripping psychological thriller and tale of redemption that reveals the power of a sister’s love. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook

When murder turns out to be the special of the day at her friend’s seafood restaurant, bicycle shop owner Mackenzie “Mac” Almeida and her fellow book club sleuths have to net a killer . . .
 
From clam chowdahs to oysters on the half-shell, Tulia Peters’ Lobstah Shack offers locals and tourists in Westham, Massachusetts, some of Cape Cod’s most amazing cuisine. But when the body of Annette DiCicero is discovered in the kitchen’s walk-in freezer—with a custom-made claw-handled lobster pick lodged in her neck—spoiled appetites are the least of Tulia’s worries.
 
After a heated public argument with Annette, Tulia is a person of interest in the police’s homicide investigation. To clear Tulia’s name, Mac and the Cozy Capers Book Group snoop into Annette’s personal life. Between her temperamental husband, his shady business partner, and two women tied to Annette’s past life as “Miss New Bedford”, there are now several suspects and multiple motives. And they’re getting crabby about Mac intruding on their affairs. . .
 
Includes Recipes! (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook

Heiress-turned-sleuth Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter step out of the elite society of Gilded Age New York as they venture into the city’s crime ridden streets and most dangerous neighborhoods to search for two missing children . . .

THE DEAD CRY JUSTICE

May 1890: As NYU Law School finally agrees to admit female law students, Judge MacKenzie’s daughter Prudence weighs her choices carefully. Chief among her concerns is how her decision would affect the Hunter and MacKenzie Investigative Law agency and her professional and personal relationship with the partner who is currently recuperating from a near fatal shooting.

But an even more pressing issue presents itself in the form of a street urchin, whose act of petty theft inadvertently leads Prudence to a badly beaten girl he is protecting. Fearing for the girl’s life, Prudence rushes her to the Friends Refuge for the Sick Poor, run by the compassionate Charity Sloan. When the boy and girl slip out of their care and run away, Prudence suspects they are fleeing a dangerous predator and is desperate to find them.

Aided by the photographer and social reformer Jacob Riis and the famous journalist Nellie Bly, Prudence and Geoffrey scour the tenements and brothels of Five Points. Their only clue is a mysterious doll with an odd resemblance to the missing girl. But as the destitute orphans they encounter whisper the nickname of the killer who stalks them—Il diavolo—Prudence and Geoffrey must race against time to find the missing children before their merciless enemies do . . . (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover. Audiobook