New Releases For The Week Of January 2nd, 2022–Part 1

Stella never expected a visit to the candy factory would turn on its head like this!

In the midst of the holidays, Stella is scrambling to keep up with her house showings. When the great Candy King is killed in the playhouse at one of the homes, Stella’s is shocked to find out it’s Charity Valentines long time friend.

Little did she realize she has more in common with Charity than she realized. As Stella is unwillingly dragged into the investigation, she discovers everything isn’t all chocolate bunnies and ever-lasting gob-stoppers. She must fight to save the chocolate factory before it’s too late.

Check out the Flamingo Realty series that has readers saying, character-driven mystery that’s full of clean fun. Between bookstores, library, a bed and breakfast, and spooky mansions, the Flamingo Realty mysteries deliver cozy suspenseful whodunits that are both heartwarming and humorous. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Welcome to Button, where everything’s perfect except for the occasional murder.
 
Louisa Henry has had the worst year. She never imagined she would be a widow before the age of forty. To cope with the sudden loss of her husband, Lou moves across the country to live near her best friend in a town as cute as a button. Even though it means quitting her fancy New York editor job, she now owns the bookstore of her dreams.
 
Well, almost. She definitely didn’t dream about a dead body showing up in her alley.
 
Found with no identification, the police plaster the man’s face everywhere, along with the name of her bookshop, inundating Lou with negative press before she can even open. Worse, Lou was one of the last people to see him alive, and she didn’t even get his name.
 
Worried the mystery man’s family is left without the answers she so desperately needed in her husband’s death, Lou tries to help find the man’s identity. On closer inspection, she realizes her conversation with the mystery man was full of clues. Starting with a confusing book page he left behind, Lou follows the trail.
 
If she can solve this mystery, her bookstore might have a chance at being known for something more than murder.
 
Dear reader, if you love rescue cats, goats who wear pajamas, and a cozy bookstore, you’re going to love this new series by Eryn Scott. Hold on to your hats. The town of Button is as cute as they come, but that doesn’t mean it’s free of murder. These books are clean with no foul language or gore. Curl up under a cozy blanket, cuddle with a cat (or two), and come join Lou as she solves mysteries in the town of Button. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

Valentine’s Day is about to take a turn for the worse.

Charlotte McKay has a passion for baking cupcakes, but when the owner of the Soup Alleyoop restaurant is attacked, she trades in her baking hat for a chef’s apron to help in the kitchen making soups. The beloved Gus wouldn’t hurt a fly, so when he ends up in the hospital after being attacked, no one quite knows where to point the finger.

With the restaurant hanging on by a thread and a criminal on the loose, Charlotte knows she will have to solve this crime with a soup ladle in one hand and a cupcake pan in the other. When it becomes clear that there is more to the coveted soup recipes than meets the eye, Charlotte is certain that the person who attacked Gus won’t stop until Gus is silenced once and for all.

“Red Velvet Villainy” is filled with layered clues and cozy moments, written by Molly Maple, which is a pen name for a USA Today bestselling author. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle

A fake fiancée. An alive deceased husband. Samantha’s life just got more complicated.

When Stella MacInerney asks Samantha to be her maid of honor, she’s surprised. The woman has enough stepdaughters from her three previous marriages to ask one of them. Why didn’t she? Then Leo asks Samantha to be his plus one to the wedding, as his fake fiancée. What’s up with that? So when Stella is kidnapped the eve of her wedding it’s up to Samantha to get to the bottom of these mysteries. Samantha vows three things:

1. Find Stella’s kidnappers and make them pay. She can’t wait to use her highest voltage stun gun on this bad guy.
2. Discover why Leo needs a fake fiancée? Who knew he had a past with the wedding planner? And when asked, he clams up.
3. Track down a key eyewitness in Stella’s disappearance who is a dead ringer for Carson. Could her dead husband really be alive?

When Stella’s ransomed for three million dollars, Samantha has twenty-four hours to find her alive. All while pretending to be engaged to Leo to keep the smiling devil of a wedding planner at bay, never mind Samantha’s facing her own matrimonial past. Samantha doesn’t know how she’ll feel if the witness turns out to be Carson. But she might just have to use her highest voltage stun gun on him, too. Unless her fake fiancée does it first.

Warning: May cause spontaneous laughter. This mystery offers witty banter, characters you’ll want to be friends with, and is a perfect escape to the Pacific Northwest. Laughing out loud in public may cause curious glances from strangers.

This book is a 2-4 hour read. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback

Angie Turner’s Idaho restaurant, the County Seat, is the perfect site for a picturesque country wedding, but the party planning skids to a halt when the groom-to-be is implicated in a murder investigation…

When Angie’s best friend and business partner, Felicia Williams, picks the County Seat to host her upcoming nuptials, Angie wants it to feel like a family affair–especially since Felicia is set to marry the farm-to-fork restaurant’s talented sous chef, Estebe Blackstone. Unfortunately, the bride’s actual family is far less enthusiastic about the union. They’re pulling out all the stops to cancel the couple’s wedding, even arranging for a surprise visit from Felicia’s ex-fiancé (and her father’s current lackey). But when her ex is killed days before the ceremony and Estebe is framed for the crime, Angie and the County Seat crew must scramble to solve the murder and save the wedding . . .
 
Praise for Lynn Cahoon’s Mysteries
 
“Well-crafted . . . Cat and crew prove to be engaging characters and Cahoon does a stellar job of keeping them—and the reader—guessing.”
—Mystery Sceneon A Story to Kill

“One Poison Pie deliciously blends charm and magic with a dash of mystery and a sprinkle of romance.”
—Daryl Wood Gerber, Agatha winner and nationally bestselling author of the Cookbook Nook Mysteries and Fairy Garden Mysteries (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback Audiobook

Murder never takes a break…

Sisters Rita and Rhonda Knight hope that their homicide investigations can take a hiatus long enough for them to celebrate their upcoming weddings. But when Billy’s crazed cousin appears right on the heels of a murder, the pair soon realize that one more case stands in their way.

Caught up in a whirlwind of clues that carries them from the small town of Clovedale Falls to the bustling streets of LA, the sleuthing sisters are faced with a slew of questionable characters who put their wits and skills to the test – and things only get more complicated when a famous old-school private eye steps in with his own ideas about the case.

But nobody can protect them from the killer on the loose. With millions of dollars at stake and secrets lurking around every corner, Rita and Rhonda race against time to unravel the most perplexing case of their career… before it’s too late.

Will the sisters live to see their wedding day? Or will a vicious killer throw a wrench into their plans?

Blending all the thrills and excitement of a head-scratching who-dun-it with a beautiful setting and plenty of hair-raising suspense, Rita and Rhonda’s next puzzling mystery in Bake My Breath Away is a page-turning cozy mystery that will keep you on your toes. (Amazon)

Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback