Entertainment Weekly hails the Secret, Book, and Scone Society series by the beloved New York Times bestselling author as “a love letter to reading.” In this entrancing new story, bookshop owner, bibliotherapist, and occasional sleuth Nora Pennington must enlist the help of her brilliant, brassy librarian friend to unravel the connection between The Scarlet Letter, an obscure 19th century writer, and a dead hiker…
While January snow falls outside in Miracle Springs, North Carolina, Nora Pennington is encouraging customers to cozy up indoors with a good book. Even though the shop and her bibliotherapy sessions keep Nora busy during the day, her nights are a little too quiet—until Deputy Andrews pulls Nora into the sci-fi section and asks her to help him plan a wedding proposal.
His bride-to-be, Hester, loves Little Women, and Nora sets to work arranging a special screening at the town’s new movie theater. But right before the deputy pops the question, Nora makes an unsettling discovery—someone has mutilated all her store’s copies of The Scarlet Letter, slicing angrily into the pages wherever Hester Prynne’s name is mentioned.
The coincidence disturbs Nora, who’s one of the few in Miracle Springs who knows that Hester gave up a baby for adoption many years ago. Her family heaped shame on her, and Hester still feels so guilty that she hasn’t even told her future husband. But when a dead man is found on a hiking trail just outside town, carrying a rare book, the members of the Secret, Book, and Scone Society unearth a connection to Hester’s past. Someone is intent on bringing the past to light, and it’s not just Hester’s relationship at stake, but her life. . .
“Captivating…Bibliophilic cozy fans will be in heaven.” – Publishers Weekly (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Audiobook
Hey girl! This opportunity could be deadly…
Sadie Moose needs a vacation. It’s been a long winter, what with a murder investigation, breaking up with her boyfriend, her bakery business booming, and watching her friends go through major life events. A week at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico should do the trick.
But she has one last stop to make on her way out of town—delivering desserts to a chalet in the mountains where her college friend, Amy, is attending a retreat for Glamarosa Clothing, the multi-level marketing company she represents.
When the road closes behind her, Sadie finds herself stuck at the retreat, her plane taking off without her. Thrust into a world of cutthroat competition, big hair, and wilder leggings, she hopes she can lay low just long enough for the road to reopen.
But when a killer strikes and they’re further cut off from the world in a late spring blizzard, Sadie must investigate to clear Amy’s name, working with a man from her past who’s pretending to be someone he’s not, a celebrity chef who knows more than he says, and an iron-fisted housekeeper that doesn’t like her much.
As the killer gets closer, motives and secrets are revealed…showing that this pyramid is about to topple.
Boss Babe Murder is a classic mansion murder mystery with a modern multi-level marketing boss babe twist! My not so cozy mysteries feature an amateur sleuth, diverse and quirky characters, and mature language. It’s the third book in the Jackson Hole Moose’s Bakery Not So Cozy Mystery series, but stands alone. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
Aspiring witch and culinary entrepreneur, Mia Malone, must dispel a deadly plot to wreck her clients’ wedding in this charming continuation of New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s Kitchen Witch Mystery series.
Business is bubbling at Mia’scatering service and cooking school, Mia’s Morsels, but toil and trouble are not far behind. Mia just accepted her toughest gig yet: last-minute wedding planner for Magic Springs’ own Romeo and Juliet. Though the small town is fairly accepting of magic, two families have been locked in a vicious feud spanning generations. Unfortunately for both families, they’re about to become in-laws! Amethyst and Tok are excited to wed in a few weeks and somehow Mia must ensure the event is flawless.
But when she goes to pick up paperwork from the couple’s previous wedding planner, Mia discovers the woman murdered in an apparent attempt to stop the contentious union. Now, not only is Mia a prime suspect, as the new planner she may also be the killer’s next target. Backed by her squad, her charms—literal and figurative—and a protective amulet from her Grans, it’s up to Mia to save the star-crossed couple’s wedding, her professional reputation…and maybe even her life!
Includes Recipes!
Praise for Lynn Cahoon
“One Poison Pie deliciously blends charm and magic with a dash of mystery and a sprinkle of romance.”
—Agatha Award–winner Daryl Wood Gerber (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
When Ellison Russell Jones returns from her honeymoon, she’s ready for a restful summer.
But while she was away, an older woman was murdered in her bed. And the police have questions only Ellison and her friends can answer.
She gets to be a sleuth. A real one! But with a new husband, her mother in the hospital (targeted by the murderer?), her sister as a house guest, one too many animals, and a full social calendar, Ellison can’t catch a break, much less a killer.
She’d better focus, or she may be the next victim. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
As San Francisco’s Chinatown prepares for the Lunar New Year festivities in the fogbound month of February, astrologer Julia Bonatti finds herself with three new clients, all in desperate straits who don’t seem to heed her advice. Tracy is the victim of a brutal husband with nowhere to run and Jeanette is worried sick about her son, whom she suspects has fallen in with a bad lot.
But most frightening of all to Julia is Frankie Chang’s dilemma. Frankie’s only eleven years old and he’s terrified. His mother is missing and no one will help him. Julia’s heart goes out to him but her hands are tied. Frankie won’t let her talk to the police and neither will his family.
Julia eventually discovers that the three worlds of her clients intertwine. Those lives inevitably collide exposing a dangerous smuggling cabal. Julia knows too much and becomes a victim of both a ruthless environmental group and criminals who will stop at nothing, including murder.
“Connie di Marco’s twin loves of Astrology and the detective fiction genre are on full display in her latest installment of the Zodiac Mysteries: Serpent’s Doom. It makes perfect sense to fuse these two disciplines in which intelligence, intuition, and interpretation play such a key role. It’s also a delight to see Astrology driving the plot forward rather than employed as a mere gimmick. This adds dimension and suspense to how the mystery plays out and di Marco’s wonderfully cinematic prose keeps you turning the pages in increasing anticipation.”
—Christopher Renstrom, astrologer for the San Francisco Chronicle, SF Gate and Astrology Hub, author of The Cosmic Calendar and creator of rulingplanets.com (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
“Here’s small town life portrayed with humor and affection, peopled with quirky characters you’ll care about.”
—James Patrick Kelly, winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards
Wanda Duff is an unconventional New England clergywoman, addicted to chicken wings, high-octane ice cream, and saying yes to anyone in need of a prayer, even the folks her town might think don’t deserve one.
When parishioner Niels Pond dies unexpectedly at the Fair Havens assisted living facility, Wanda’s duty to minister to his family is beset by her suspicions about the circumstances of his abrupt passing. Wanda finds an unexpected co-detective in high school vice principal Prudence Rye, who fled town on graduation night a decade ago and returned only recently.
Rye puts her job on the line to investigate the mourning Ponds with the surprisingly edgy Wanda. As they expose difficult family truths and uncover a dangerous conspiracy operating out of Fair Havens, Rye and Wanda discover curiosity has an unanticipated cost.
Comfortably gossipy, with a fresh take on the characters and ethos cozy mystery fans will love, Maria Mankin and Maren C. Tirabassi’s Death at Fair Havens launches a series that celebrates intergenerational women’s friendship and the power of inclusion, curiosity, and love.
Maren C. Tirabassi’s forty years’ experience in mainline ministry shape Wanda Duff’s professional life (but not her personality). Tirabassi is a former Poet Laureate of the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and has published poetry and short stories in fifteen anthologies, as well as twenty nonfiction titles. Maria Mankin, Maren’s daughter, has written five nonfiction books and a thriller, Circ (Pigeon Park Press). Rye’s dilemmas are influenced by Mankin’s ten years in education as a teacher and administrator. She holds a degree in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
I’m Millie Wentworth and I never thought I’d be involved in another murder, but here I am smack dab in the middle of a crime wave at the swanky resort where I’m Assistant General Manager. It started with a major diamond heist and ended with a dead body on the beach.
When one of my grandmother Lulu’s group of fun-loving septuagenarian friends is a prime suspect it’s time for Lulu’s Crew, Spud the corgi, and me, to get sleuthing and uncover the real criminals.
And because dodging mobsters, international jewel thieves, and solving crimes isn’t stressful enough, my hypercritical parents are in town too. My mother doesn’t approve of Lulu and me in the best of times, and these are decidedly not the best of times. Plus she’s already planning my imaginary wedding to my kinda-sorta boyfriend Scott.
All I need to do is catch a murderer plus a jewel thief and survive my parents’ visit. No problem, right?
Port Sunset Mysteries:
Book 1: Penthouse, Pools, & Poison **Best Cozy Mystery Finalist, N.N. Light Annual Book Awards
Book 2: Diamonds, Dunes, & Death Coming April 28, 2022
Book 3: Sunshine, Selfies, & Smugglers Coming Autumn 2022! (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
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