In a brand-new culinary cozy series with a fresh edge and a delightful small-town setting, the acclaimed author introduces Maddy Montgomery, a social media expert who’s #StartingOver in small town Michigan after inheriting her great-aunt’s bakery…and a 200-pound English Mastiff named Baby.
When Maddy Montgomery’s groom is a no-show to their livestream wedding, it’s a disaster that no amount of filtering can fix. But a surprise inheritance offers a chance to regroup and rebrand—as long as Maddy is willing to live in her late, great-aunt Octavia’s house in New Bison, Michigan, for a year, running her bakery and caring for a 250-pound English mastiff named Baby.
Maddy doesn’t bake, and her Louboutins aren’t made for walking giant dogs around Lake Michigan, but the locals are friendly and the scenery is beautiful. With help from her aunt’s loyal friends, aka the Baker Street Irregulars, Maddy feels ready to tackle any challenge, including Octavia’s award-winning cake recipes. That is, until New Bison’s mayor is fatally stabbed, and Maddy’s fingerprints are found on the knife . . .
Something strange is going on in New Bison. It seems Aunt Octavia had her suspicions, too. But Maddy’s going to need a whole lot more than a trending hashtag to save her reputation—and her life.
“Everyone is a suspect in Valerie Burns’s entertaining new mystery, filled with surprising twists, suspicious characters and a mastiff named Baby who will win your heart. Top that off with humor and delicious recipes and you have a delight of a cozy.” —Valerie Wilson Wesley, author of A Fatal Glow (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
As one of the Black Sheep Knitters prepares to become a mother, a new member becomes a suspected killer . . .
Spring has reached Plum Harbor, Massachusetts, and the weather isn’t the only thing that’s changing. Eight months pregnant, Lucy prepares to enter an exciting phase in life while weaving together loose threads from her past. It feels like fate when she reconnects with college friend Rebecca Hurley, whose eclectic Happy Hands Café is the perfect locale for Black Sheep gatherings. But just as charming Rebecca joins their closely knit circle, she’s suspected of murder.
It appears to be an accident when Rebecca’s writer husband, Colin, is crushed by a fallen bookcase at the café. But his death is quickly determined to be murder. Adding to the horror, police believe Rebecca committed a heinous act of revenge against Colin for planning to end their marriage—a move that would cut off Rebecca’s contact with the stepdaughter she adores. Despite the incriminating evidence growing faster than her belly, Lucy is convinced that she must prove her old friend’s innocence.
As her due date approaches and a dangerous mystery unravels, Lucy and the Black Sheep shift from knitting baby booties to chasing down the cunning culprit who’s always a few steps ahead. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover, Paperback
Murder, She Wrote meets The Golden Girls in the award-winning author’s brand-new series! Two cantankerous septuagenarians, opposites in every way, put aside their differences to stop a killer… if they don’t throttle each other first!
Rose Donovan looks for the good in everyone. With her sister-in-law, Peg, that sometimes requires a lot of searching. Even a sixty-something former nun like Rose has her limits, and gruff Peg Turnbull sure knows how to push them. But after forty years of bickering, they’re attempting to start over, partnering up to join the local bridge club.
Peg and Rose barely have a chance to celebrate their first win before one of the club’s most accomplished players is killed in his home. As the newest members, the sisters-in-law come under scrutiny and decide to start some digging of their own. Bridge is typically seen as a wholesome pastime, yet this group of senior citizens harbors a wealth of vices, including gambling, cheating, and adultery . . .
By comparison, Peg and Rose’s fractious relationship is starting to feel almost functional. But as their suspect list narrows, they’re unaware that their logic has a dangerous flaw. And they’ll have to hope that their teamwork holds steady when they’re confronted by a killer who’s through with playing games . . .
“Engaging…[Peg and Rose] stand on their own as capable, witty women who are more than up to the task of crime-solving.” –Bookpage (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Hardcover
Mystery and magic collide in this thrilling, all-new collection of short stories by some of the top talents in the crime-writing field. Tales of fantasy worlds and stage illusion, of magic-users and magic-abusers, fill these pages with a heady, deadly mix!
Here you will find—
WHAT’S A LITTLE MURDER BETWEEN MAMMALS, by Rosalie Spielman
COURTING DISASTER, by Cathy Wiley
THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE, by Jaquelyn Lyman-Thomas
THE MIDNIGHT SHOW, by Stacy Woodson
THE WIG, by Tara Laskowski
A TOUCH OF MAGIC, by Shari Randall
THE SNOW GLOBE, by Greg Herren
SOMETHING DARK AND DANGEROUS, by Donna Andrews
A CHARMING SOLUTION, by Smita Harish Jain
WHAT GOES AROUND, by Robin Templeton
EVERYDAY MAGIC, by Pam Clark
PYEWACKETT, by KM Rockwood
BEHIND THE MAGIC 8-BALL, by Marcia Talley
WHISKERS McGRUFF AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING CLUE, by Eleanor Cawood Jones
ABRACADAVER, by Alan Orloff
MR. FILBERT’S CLASSROOM, by Adam Meyer
Includes an INTRODUCTION by Daniel Stashower.
Edited by Donna Andrews, Barb Goffman, and Marcia Talley
PLEASE NOTE: Due to an Amazon glitch, this entry is showing reviews for a prior volume in the Chesapeake Crimes series. Any reviews dated before 2022 are not for Magic is Murder. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
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