Becca Flynn, an artist-turned private investigator, never dreamed underwear could cause an uproar. But that’s what happens when her best friend, Pix, opens a lingerie boutique in quaint Bayleys Landing. The too-hot-for Main Street undies infuriate the staid residents, and making matters worse, a tabloid TV show invades the town to cover the controversy. Shockwaves rumble along the quiet lanes when one of the Hollywood team is murdered. But when Pix’s life is threatened, Becca begins to draw abstract clues into a portrait of a killer lurking in plain sight. She will have to work fast to put the case to rest–before Pix becomes the town’s next unsuspecting victim. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
A Newborn, a Baby Carriage, and an Ice Cream Cone Leads to a Lingering Mystery in DEATH SENDS A MESSAGE by Kate Flora
—Freeport, Maine, Present Day—
Independent school consultant Thea Kozak is adjusting to motherhood and enjoying maternity leave, having just purchased a hat for her newborn son, when a hysterical woman gains her attention. The woman, also a new mother, claims her baby has just been kidnapped. Determined not to get involved, Thea flags down a police officer and hands off the problem. She returns home to her husband Andre, intending to enjoy their precious weeks of parental leave.
But Thea’s kindness soon brings trouble to her doorstep when a police officer asks questions about her relationship with Addison Shirley, the mother of the kidnapped child, who claimed Thea was a friend before she disappeared.
The couple’s hopes for a peaceful respite are quickly replaced with a break-in, a stalker, and a private school crisis involving star athletes and sexual assault that only Thea can handle. Thea and Andre wrestle with the lingering mystery and competing priorities while reexamining their future…if they live to face it.
Publisher’s Note: Kate Flora is known for taking readers on a near breathless experience with a surprise at every turn. Fans of Sara Paretsky, Laura Lippman, Sue Grafton, and Julia Spencer-Fleming will not want to miss this series.
“If you like your heroines smart, brave, tough, and exuberantly aware of the possibilities of the human heart, look no further than Thea Kozak.” ~S.J. Rozan
“…a terrific, in-your-face, stand-up gal…Stephanie Plum and Thea Kozak have a lot to say to each other.” ~Janet Evanovich
“Kate Flora does what all the great writers do: she takes you inside unfamiliar territory and makes you feel right at home; you climb in and are along for the whole ride.” ~Michael Connelly
“I’ll follow Thea Kozak anywhere. She is simply one of the most refreshing and original heroines in mystery fiction today. And Kate Flora is the rare, graceful writer who pays close attention to how long it takes the body and the heart to heal.” ~Laura Lippman
THE THEA KOZAK MYSTERY SERIES, in order
Chosen for Death
Death in a Funhouse Mirror
Death at the Wheel
An Educated Death
Death in Paradise
Liberty or Death
Stalking Death
Death Warmed Over
Schooled in Death
Death Comes Knocking
Death Sends a Message
About the Author
Maine native Kate Flora’s fascination with people’s criminal tendencies began in the Maine attorney general’s office. Deadbeat dads, people who hurt their kids, and employers’ discrimination aroused her curiosity about human behavior. The author of twenty-four books and many short stories, Flora’s been a finalist for the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, and Derringer awards. She won the Public Safety Writers Association award for nonfiction and twice won the Maine Literary Award for crime fiction. Her most recent Thea Kozak mystery is Death Sends a Message; her most recent Joe Burgess is A World of Deceit. Her crime story collection is Careful What You Wish For: Stories of revenge, retribution, and the world made right.
Flora is a founding member of the New England Crime Bake and the Maine Crime Wave and runs the blog Maine Crime Writers. Flora’s nonfiction focuses on aspects of the public safety officers’ experience. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Maine, where she gardens and cooks and watches the clouds when she’s not imagining her character’s dark deeds. She occasionally swims in the shark-filled sea. She’s been married for decades to an excellent man. Her sons edit films and hang out in research labs. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
What could be more entertaining than a professional mourner’s convention? An actually dead actor lying in a prop coffin. And a heroine who realizes if she doesn’t find the killer fast, somebody else is going to die. Namely her.
MayBell is excited to attend her very first Professional Mourner’s convention. She’s looking forward to meeting other mourners and picking up tips to improve her graveside performances. Anticipating days filled with representative mourning situations and training, May quickly discovers that the corpse lying in the coffin is all too real. To make things worse, May appears to be the last person to have seen the victim the night before.
May quickly finds herself on the hot seat to find a killer. There are just a couple of small problems. First, her suspect pool includes over a hundred professional mourners and vendors. And second, the real killer doesn’t want May to discover the truth. Making her unusual mourning situation not only tricky but unconventionally deadly as well. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
A brand new cozy crime series set in gorgeous Tuscany…It’s murder in paradise!
A remote retreat…
Nestled high in the Tuscan hills lies Villa Volpone, home to renowned crime writer Jonah Moore and his creative writing course. It’s also the last place retired DCI Dan Armstrong expected to spend his retirement! Dan’s no writer, but maybe this break will help him to think about the next chapter in his own life story?
A gruesome murder…
But only days into the course, Jonah Moore is found stabbed to death with his award-winning silver dagger! And Dan finds himself pulled out of retirement with a killer to catch.
Eleven possible suspects.
The other guests all seem shocked by Jonah’s death, but Dan knows that one of them must be lying. And as he and Italian Commissario Virgilio Pisano begin to investigate it quickly becomes clear that everyone at Villa Volpone has secrets to hide…
But can Dan discover who the murderer is before they strike again?
A gripping new murder mystery series by bestselling author T.A. Williams, perfect for fans of Lee Strauss and Beth Byers. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback, Audiobook
The 12th book in the Juniper Grove Mystery Series!
Rachel is enjoying herself at a New Year’s Day brunch when Mary Blackwell, the host, hands her a cryptic note instructing her to check her coat pocket and remain silent about what she finds there.
Later, on discovering four disturbing items in her pocket and no explanation as to why Mary put them there, Rachel is determined to unravel the mystery. But that puzzle is quickly put on the back burner when Laura Patchett, another guest, is found murdered in her home shortly after storming from the Blackwells’ brunch.
Concluding that the four items and Laura’s murder are connected, Rachel sets out to uncover the truth. When yet another brunch guest is murdered, she joins forces with her now-husband, Police Chief James Gilroy, to crack the case. Can they hunt down the killer before more bodies turn up?
This light, cozy mystery offers a clean read with a female amateur sleuth in a small-town setting. No foul language, sex, gore, or graphic scenes of any kind. It can be read as a standalone, but it will be enjoyed more as part of the series.
Always FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
THE JUNIPER GROVE MYSTERY SERIES:
- Book 1: Death of a Dead Man
- Book 2: Death of a Scavenger
- Book 3: At Death’s Door
- Book 4: Death of a Santa
- Book 5: Scared to Death
- Book 6: Cheating Death
- Book 7: Death Trap
- Book 8: Death Knell
- Book 9: Garden of Death
- Book 10: Death of a Professor
- Book 11: Still as Death
- Book 12: Grim Death (Amazon
Editions Available: Kindle
Ready To Play Ghost Whisperer?
If There’s a Will, There’s a Ghost: A Sycamore Grove Paranormal Cozy Mystery.
A few months ago, Eden’s sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car accident. Their daughter Maddie is an adult and can live by herself, but they both are the only family each other has left. After months of driving back and forth, Eden is making the move permanent.
But then, right after moving to Sycamore Grove, Eden starts having unwanted visitors… She can see ghostly presences.
“Taking a deep breath, I convince myself it’s probably nothing. Maybe something fell. Both animals hear it as well and follow me. Chuckling to myself, I know Maddie’s not wrong. It does feel better having someone else in the space with me, even if they’re four-legged.
Peering around the corner, everything looks okay, but then I notice both Hank and Shadow pull back. I step further in and groan. Not one, but two men are sitting on the couch in the back room.
And I’d be willing to bet that I’m the only human that can see them…”
What happens when ghosts start following you around?
Readers who loved Tansy and Hank Pet Psychic Cozy Mysteries by Miranda Rose Barker will also enjoy If There’s a Will, There’s a Ghost, a totally gripping and entertaining mystery full of twists and turns that will keep you up reading all night.
Click the “buy now” orange button to get your copy! (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
They say you can never go home again, but I say otherwise. Just don’t expect things to be the same as when you left, and you’ll be fine. And ignore the dead woman. If you can.
With her first grandbaby on the way, Allie misses her mother and feels nostalgic for the town where she grew up. A trip to Goose Bay, Alabama, is in order where she and the women in her family are planning an early baby shower for the new arrival just days before Halloween.
Allie’s Aunt Loretta has moved in and is a bit more cantankerous than she remembers. When one of the ladies from church is murdered, Aunt Loretta is accused of the crime. Can Allie and the crew find the real killer, or will they discover that Aunt Loretta isn’t who she seems to be?
Welcome to Sandy Harbor, Maine–er, um, Goose Bay, Alabama, a small town with a lot of heart. And a dead body or two. (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
a It’s Spring Break and a trio of California college kids head out, not to the beach but to the mountains of New Mexico, where they plan on a week of snowboarding, beer, and fun. But the instructions to reach their vacation rental are less than precise and it’s late and snowy when they arrive at Taos Ski Valley. They’re
to find an older couple in the cabin they believed to be theirs but hey, Casey Hardwick, the ringleader of the group, is not known for reading directions or getting all the facts. Maybe the place is actually a B&B. They troop inside and are shown to a bedroom.
Days later, Casey’s sister is calling the only friend she knows in Taos—Kelly Sweet—hoping to get word to her brother that their mother’s condition has worsened and she doesn’t have long to live. No one has heard from Casey, and she urgently needs to reach him. Samantha and Kelly are together when the call comes, and the mystery only deepens once they talk to Sheriff Evan Richards. Yes, the family reported the missing boys and he investigated. He found no evidence that they’d ever arrived. His theory is that the boys changed their plans at the last minute and are living it up somewhere else.
But Sam has a bad feeling about it. Without the help of law enforcement, will she and Kelly figure out how the boys disappeared? And can they find the boys and get Casey home before it’s too late to see his mother again? Their only clues seem to come from the mysterious book of runes.
Readers are raving about these lighthearted, relaxing, well-written books—Samantha may not be young, beautiful or have the perfect body, but she is intelligent, independent, and hard working, the kind of person you feel you already know.
~ ~ ~
Praise for Connie Shelton’s previous mysteries:
“The best yet!! Not only was Sweet Magic fantastic, it left me dying to see where life is headed for Samantha and her family! Heart-gripping, fast-paced, and amazing.” – J.J. 5-stars, online review
“LOVE, LOVE these books!” —5 stars, online review
“Fantastic! Impossible to put down!” – 5 stars, Amazon reader
“Shelton again has done a superb job in bringing New Mexico to life.” —Albuquerque Journal
“Connie Shelton gets better with every book she writes.” —The Midwest Book Review (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
Librarian Nina Foster is honored to present a program at Pacific Northwest University’s Lit Fest. She especially looks forward to reconnecting with her former English professor and mentor. But then her professor falls to her death from the campus bell tower. The police rule the death accidental, but Nina suspects foul play and begins her own investigation. Newspaper reporter and Nina’s significant other, Stephen Kraslow, is on hand to assist and support her. Will they solve the mystery before the killer strikes again? (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle, Paperback
Last Christmas genealogist Mags Murray organized her grandmother’s wake. This year she’ll be spending her holiday with her dad, and for the first time, her recently discovered biological father. To add to her stress, Mags offers to help her friend Gretta locate her grandson, who was adopted thirty-one years ago. Having uncovered her own paternity thanks to a DNA test, Mags is prepared for the surprises Gretta’s test may reveal. Or so she thinks.
Within twenty-four hours of Gretta receiving her DNA results, a police detective requests Gretta’s assistance in identifying her closest match, a wanted criminal. Devastated by the shocking news, Gretta refuses to disclose the match is her grandson. Mags soon suspects the police aren’t the only ones searching for the man. Fearing Gretta’s grandson might be in danger, Mags and her best friend, Biddy McCarthy, attempt to track him down so they can warn him and hopefully prove his innocence.
Over the past year, Mags and Biddy have encountered a forger, kidnapper, murderer, and other dodgy characters. Who knows what they are up against now! (Amazon)
Editions Available: Kindle
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