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 man 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.

    Maybe Vi has been snippy and distracted. Maybe Jack has been sharp and irritable. Maybe they panic when they realize they’re unhappy with each other.On an evening of romance, they dance, they kiss, they connect, and then they find a body. Of course, they aren’t surprised. Only this time, they realize they know the victim.

    After only five months, business is booming as Vermont vacationers and townspeople alike flock to lunch on her Party Havartis and other grilled cheese concoctions. All but Lyle Bagley, Carly's one-time high school boyfriend and now town bully who just bought the building that houses her eatery and wants Carly out. After a muenster of a fight, Carly's forced to put her nose to the rind and find a solution to keep her business afloat.That is...until Lyle is discovered dead behind the dumpster of Carly's shop, and one of her employees becomes the prime suspect. In order to save her eatery and prove her friend's innocence, Carly must sleuth out the killer before she's the one who gets grilled.With a delightful cast of characters, an inventive amateur sleuth, and a whole host of cheesy hijinks, Up to No Gouda is the perfect cozy murder mystery to melt into.

    

    A clever canine. A seaside sleuth.After the death of her husband, Liz McLuckie has taken early retirement and moved to Whitby, a picturesque fishing town on the North Yorkshire coast. She thinks the renovation of two ramshackle fishing cottages will take her mind off things, but soon discovers Whitby isn’t quite the peaceful retreat she imagined.When she discovers the body of a local Professor near the medieval Abbey, Liz reluctantly finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation. The post mortem reveals death by drowning. So how did he get onto the clifftop? And why did he have a fish in his pocket?Liz follows the trail of the murderer, and many red herrings - both literal and metaphorical - in the company of her friends, including an almost-reformed burglar, a disgraced archaeology student and Nelson the bull terrier - the ugliest (and bravest!) dog in Yorkshire.Death At The Abbey — Book 1 in the Kipper Cottage Mystery series. Perfect for fans of Stella Cameron and Frances Evesham.

    

    

    But tragedy strikes when one of the villagers dies. Mobile librarian Penny Finch, an avid mystery reader, immediately suspects foul play.With bumbling PC Bolton out of his depth, and Inspector Monroe new to the area, it’s up to Penny and her rescue puppy Fischer to help solve the crime. But under the surface of this idyllic English village lurk secrets and lies.Will Penny be able to dig beneath the shine to get to the murky truth? Can Fischer help sniff out the red herrings and unearth the clues they need to catch a murderer?Or will their nose for trouble lead them down the wrong track entirely?Get your paws on the first cozy mystery featuring sleuthing duo Finch & Fischer, and follow them as they attempt to solve a serious of crimes in the six villages and hamlets that make up Hampsworthy Downs.

    

    

    

    Two talents that have helped her make ends meet, playing cards in clubs and speakeasies. Now, they might just help her discover the true cause of death for a dear old family friend.Agnes Sterling has been found dead in her Long Island mansion. The official cause of death is ruled a suicide. After all, she was found in her locked bedroom with both the bottle of poison and a final handwritten note on the bed next to her.Penelope is certain Agnes Sterling’s death was not by her own hand. She’s been summoned to Long Island for the reading of the will along with the other beneficiaries. While there, she plans on doing a little sleuthing to discover what really happened to Agnes.The surprising terms of the will and a secret letter have Pen all the more certain that foul play was at hand.A Murder in Long Island is the first book in the Penelope Banks Murder Mysteries set in 1920s New York, with a spirited heroine, witty banter, and twists and turns that will leave you guessing. Perfect for readers who enjoy the feel of a cozy mystery with the excitement and daring of Prohibition and the Jazz Age.

    Not to mention a front-row seat to the great comeback of movie star Juno Bell. That is until she’s found dead in her trailer.But when our beloved local bartender and friend, Jules, turned out to be the main suspect, my English Bulldog, Sal, and I must find out who did it. Not only do we need to free the wrongly accused Jules, but my boyfriend, Owen, is stuck running Jules’s bar, and he can’t keep up with it and his firefighting job. It’s up to Sal and me to set things right.Each turn of the investigation reveals more gossip and secrets to wade through, making me wonder if I’ll ever find out who did it; but the show must go on. I press forward until Sal and I stumble upon a clue that might lead us to the killer – only if we manage to stay out of danger along the way. As always, my perfumes and my dog will help me find out who is not so inno-scent.

    James graduated college with a business degree, she never expected to find herself running a boarding house on a small island off the east coast. But life throws a lot of curves and Anna has certainly had her share of them. Now, settled into life as owner and landlady of the Moon River Boarding House on Frostfall Island, Anna couldn’t imagine living anywhere else or without the unique and somewhat eccentric tenants she considers family.Anna would be perfectly content baking and keeping house but Frostfall Island, lovely, remote and somewhat wild, always manages to throw a curve of its own. Most of the time, Frostfall is a charming island with a busy fishing boat harbor and town that attracts summer tourists. But occasionally, quite occasionally, if that’s a phrase, there’s an unexpected murder. Without a dedicated police force, the locals look to Anna to solve crimes. She’s not entirely sure how she landed the role of amateur sleuth but she takes her side job seriously.When a man dies in a pirate battle reenactment, Anna steps into gear. Only this time, she has a parallel mystery to solve. Her newest tenant, Nathaniel Smith, is quite the puzzle, a puzzle who came with a piercing blue gaze and a trove of secrets.Book 1 of the Frostfall Island Cozy Mystery series

    

    If she’s to survive what’s coming, she’ll need a new kind of Hero. And she has just the right recipe to conjure one up…

    Anthony, small-town editor Irene Ingram has a nose for news and an eye for clues.Irene Ingram has written for her father’s newspaper, the Progress Herald, ever since she could grasp a pencil. Now she’s editor in chief, which doesn’t sit well with the men in the newsroom. But proving her journalistic bona fides is the least of Irene’s worries when crime reporter Moe Bauer, on the heels of a hot tip, turns up dead at the foot of his cellar stairs. An accident? That’s what Police Chief Walt Turner thinks, and Irene is inclined to agree until she finds the note Moe discreetly left on her desk. He was on to a big story, he wrote. The robbery she’d assigned him to cover at Markowicz Hardware turned out to be something far more devious. A Jewish store owner in a small, provincial town, Sam Markowicz received a terrifying message from a stranger. Moe suspected that Sam is being threatened not only for who he is…but for what he knows. Tenacious Irene senses there’s more to the Markowicz story, which she is all but certain led to Moe’s murder. When she’s not filling up column inches with the usual small-town fare—locals in uniform, victory gardens, and scrap drives—she and her best friend, scrappy secretary Peggy Reardon, search for clues. If they can find the killer, it’ll be a scoop to stop the presses. But if they can’t, Irene and Peggy may face an all-too-literal deadline.

    

    Not only that, she offers for Annabelle to take over her position as a castle tour guide. In order to determine if Annabelle is truly interested, Grams invites her along to spend the night at a newly-restored thirteenth-century castle before it is set to open as a hotel.But not long after settling in for the night at the castle hotel, one of the elderly guests is found face down on the floor, motionless, in one of the opulent quarters. The death is quickly deemed to be of natural causes, but Annabelle has her doubts…Will the person responsible be apprehended before another victim is claimed?This fun-filled and clean Irish cozy mystery will have you guessing until the very end.

    Missing canapes? No problem. Burnt brownies? A piece of cake… But a dead body? Now that’s a recipe for disaster.Francesca is nervous about catering her first ever murder mystery party, but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling as they try to identify who killed beautiful young Becky. But days later the game takes a sinister turn when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest.From the woman having an affair to the guest hiding her true identity, everyone had a secret – and it turns out that Becky knew them all. As Fran finds herself centre-stage in a real-life murder mystery, the finger of suspicion points at each guest in turn. And Fran starts to wonder, were any of these secrets dangerous enough to kill for?Then the body of a second guest is found, and it becomes clear a deranged killer is going off-script. It seems anyone who was involved in the game that night is in their sights, even Fran. Can she unmask the murderer before the final curtain falls?A page-turning cozy mystery packed with twists. If you love Clare Chase, M.C. Beaton and The Thursday Murder Club you’ll absolutely adore this unputdownable whodunnit.

    But it's also got an aura-spotting centaur, a chain-smoking unicorn, and an omelet-addicted dragon.Oh, and a body in the center ring.Duncan — aka "Brutus Fangwrath, Deadliest Dragon in the West" — wakes one morning to find his best friend isn't just sleeping off a hangover.Suspicion for the murder quickly turns to the circus's new hire, Cordelia Quinn. After all, she's got motive, she got means, and she's got loads of circumstantial evidence stacked against her.When it looks like no one else is going to step in to help Cordelia, it's up to Duncan to unravel the case, prove Cordelia's innocence, and uncover a troubling secret along the way.As soon as he's done with his omelet, that is.Set in a 1930s that's just a tad different than what you're used to, Hoard it all Before is the start of a delightful humorous mystery series with plenty of tantalizing twists, a troupe of quirky characters, and death-defying feats both in and beyond the big top.If you like paranormal mysteries like those by Kim M. Watt and C.K. McDonnell that mix laughs in with the murderous mayhem, you'll love Hoard it all Before.Note: While this cozy mystery is mostly clean, it does have a lusty, chain-smoking unicorn who makes more than a few naughty innuendos, a dragon that drinks heavily, a tiny bit of swearing, and (obviously) there's a murder along the way.

    

    When she and her friends begin to look into who he is and why he’s dead, they uncover a heap of stories no one in town wants them to know.Will the truth set them free or get them killed?

    Will a washed-up body ruin this amateur sleuth’s chance at reclaiming happiness?Amelia Ferver never ventures outside her comfort zone. But when her beloved uncle bequeaths her his stunning Mediterranean isle on the condition she builds a grand healing hotel, she takes the risk on her favorite destination. But just as she’s about to cut the ribbon and launch the opening party, an unexpected guest checks in… dead on arrival.Vowing to keep her promise to her late relative, Amelia races to investigate her VIP guests and the local community. But when the determined woman uncovers mysterious passports, a load of cash, and another corpse, she fears her sun-soaked gala will soon turn belly up.Can this tenacious successor find the culprit before her dreams are sent into stormy waters?A Killer Opening is the captivating first book in the Amelia Ferver cozy mystery series. If you like bold but flawed heroines, dazzling settings, and twists that keep you guessing, then you’ll love Matilda Adler’s sail into suspense.