Emma, who has never left her hometown, is coping with a recent divorce, and Alex is reeling from the breakdown of his small business—and the smear campaign his former business partner is running. When he mentions his dreams for opening a small tea shop (dreams that have been shattered by his lost business), Emma and Laura pile one, keen to go in on the project. However, on the day of the opening, the body of Alex’s former business partner is discovered…and Alex is now the prime target. Out of loyalty to her friend, and a burgeoning romance, Laura resolves to find the killer—but can Alex be trusted?

     Kari and Kasi Sweet aren’t twins, but they are as close as two sisters can be. Not only do they share a house, but they both own and run On Bitter Grounds. The little coffee house is their pride and joy, and it’s one of their small town’s most popular businesses. One night while out on an after-dinner stroll, the Sweet sisters are doing a little window shopping. Their favorite store is closed for the evening, but the lights are still on, and Kari and Kasi think their friend might let them in for a little after-hours shopping. What they find is not what they bargained for, and the sisters stumble upon the body of Lila Baldwin. Who would want one of Mills Township’s most successful businesswomen dead? Can the sisters figure out who committed the heinous crime, or will they find themselves caught in a killer’s deadly snare?

    At least it was, before the murders started. Megan Montaigne has always secretly wanted to be a forensics investigator. The small-town library director has just begun rebuilding her life after tragedy tore it apart less than a year ago, and is happily settling into her new apartment on the top floor of the library by the river. But when a local celebrity turns up dead, the time has come to put her sleuthing fantasies into action. Has she unwittingly invited the murderer into her own home? And will she be able to prove her innocence before she becomes a victim herself?

    She has the unfortunate habit of finding murdered people. In this story, Julia travels to Edinburgh University to visit her son, Sam. It’s not long before she stumbles upon a dead body. Julia is happy to leave the murder investigation to the police – until her son becomes one of their suspects. Julia has no option but to get herself involved, despite the danger she puts herself in.

    Can Nicole crack the case of her missing professor and finish her thesis paper, or will Nicole herself crack under the pressure?

    Sneaking out of St. Penrith's for Girls and with the promise of adventure in the air, Flora packs her hip-flask, Gauloises, and pistol and sets off for Europe. Accompanied by a new friend and with nothing but the telegram to go on, she finds herself suddenly plunged into a world of espionage, danger and thrilling excitement.

    This is their first full-length story. When San Francisco Homicide Inspector Rebecca Mayfield arrives at the scene of a deadly shooting, she's shocked to find that the witnesses have caught the killer, and that he's someone she knows. Rebecca's a by-the-book detective, and she's always done her job according to the rules, without hesitation ... until Richie Amalfi comes back into her life. Richie knows his way around everything and everyone in his city. When people say they "know a guy who knows a guy," Richie's the guy they're talking about. He can usually help people out of tight situations, but suddenly finds he can't get himself out of hot water when he's accused of murder. Richie's on the run, and he runs straight to Rebecca to help him prove his innocence. From the nightclubs of North Beach to the scenic heights of Twin Peaks, dangers lurk and more deaths happen. As Rebecca discovers there's a lot more to Richie than she thought, and a lot more to like than she imagined, she soon fears not only for her life, but also her heart.

    Has she been caught in the perfectly designed crime?

    Lila is charmed by the people of Auburn, from the blue-eyed lawyer with the southern drawl to the little old lady who unceasingly tries to set Lila up with her grandson. But when strange things begin to happen, Lila realizes some of her new friends are guarding a secret like it's a precious family heirloom. It's a dangerous secret, and it has come back to haunt them. Lila is caught in the middle, and her life may depend on uncovering it. But even if she can, can she stay in Auburn when not everyone is what they seem, and even the house wants her gone?

     A suspicious death leads to an investigation, a manhunt, and the capture of the self-confessed killer. But when Sheriff Henry "Bud" Blair reads the autopsy report, he begins to suspect that someone other than his prisoner is the actual murderer. Set in Oregon's high desert country, Spider Silk introduces you to a compelling cast of characters and sets you on a fast-paced, page-turning adventure to find out who is behind a string of (seemingly) unrelated murders. Moving from the backdrop story of a remote ranch and a lonely widower to the dark and pervasive reach of organized crime, Spider Silk is not only intriguing... it's an entirely believable saga. Surprising forensic evidence and sharp detective work keep your interest level high and the suspense palpable in this police procedural cliffhanger. Spider Silk is also a love story. Badly burned by divorce, Bud Blair steers shy of women. But his work makes it almost impossible to avoid contact with Nancy Sixkiller, the beautiful Yakima Indian woman who manages the Emergency Services Center in Lake County, Oregon. That contact is intensified when Bud is injured and Nancy takes on the role of caregiver. When you dive into this gripping western fiction tale, you'll enter the sparsely settled, high desert landscape blessed with the hot springs, big lakes, and timbered mountains Collins knows and loves.

    Now Fiona McCabe has a murderer on her heels. Worse still, the local Garda sergeant seems to think she was involved in her old friend's murder. With the police sniffing around her bar and a murderer on the loose, things aren't looking good for Fiona. Luckily for her, she's got the McCabe clan fighting her corner. Can they dig through their small town's web of secrets to solve the mystery and find the real killer?Apple Seeds and Murderous Deeds is the first novel in the Fiona McCabe mystery series. All of the books are standalone mysteries.

    Enjoy the sights and smells of Provence, the Côte d'Azur and Paris as Maggie uses her amateur (and very American) sleuthing skills to detect and confront the vilest murderers on the continent! Check out the series for yourself with the the first three books, bundled together and priced at the cost of less than two books at full price!Warning: This series is set in France so do NOT read hungry!

    Now, Ellen is fully invested in finding the murderer. With handsome police chief Andy, her precocious friend Kelly, and Scampy the dog by her side, Ellen is determined to find the killer before he or she goes free.

    A few days later, the husband is found dead, his head bashed in. Fearing she’ll be considered the most likely suspect, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him. Though none of these four fun-loving, take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders. Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations and their weekly mah jongg game keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them. This cozy mystery, the first in the Mah Jongg Mystery series, features four retired amateur sleuths who live in the small Florida town of Serendipity Springs, all female and all friends who play the game of mah jongg together. Though they don't set out to investigate murder, after their first experience in this story, others start looking to them to help investigate subsequent homicides and questionable accidents. In this first book, Sydney Bonner takes the lead, although she turns to her three friends for help. Though this series features four protagonists, the others will take the lead in subsequent stories. Two are married, one is divorced and the fourth, who has been single all her life while she tended to her ailing mother, now finds herself the object of the sheriff's attention in this series. The four don't seek out murder; somehow the circumstances and those affected drag them in. Meanwhile, as they attempt to gather information, life goes on in their community in such activities as a women's club, a social group for those over 50, real estate transactions, numerous stops at the local coffeehouse, and even a shopping trip to Naples. Sydney's husband, Trip, and her friend Marianne Putnam's husband, Beau, are golf buddies who spend many a day on the course. When not there, Trip is busy seeking to build a new post retirement life, and Beau is often prevailed upon to join in Trip's latest activity, which in this first book is a town follies. Kat Faulkner has lived a frugal life until winning big in a lottery shortly after her mother's death; suddenly, Kat has money and doesn't know how to spend it. But her divorced friend and freelance writer, Micki Demetrius, does, even if it's to guide Kat through a makeover and wardrobe change for her lounge act. This cozy mystery is the first book in the Mah Jongg Mystery series. Barbara Barrett is already published in contemporary romance. She is a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. Like her protagonists, she is retired and is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in her home state of Iowa. She spent over three decades as a human resource management analyst with Iowa state government. She can be contacted at barbarabarrett747@gmail.com. Check her website at barbarabarrettbooks.com.

    Ten years ago, Magnolia Steele fled Franklin, Tennessee after an incident that left her with hazy memories and a horror of the place where she had been born and bred. Though her abrupt departure destroyed most of her treasured relationships, she vowed never to return . . . until she has no choice. When Magnolia’s breakout acting role in a Broadway musical ends in disgrace, there’s only one place she can go. She finds herself on her momma’s porch, suitcase in hand. Drama follows Magnolia around like a long lost friend. She reluctantly agrees to help her momma’s catering company at a party for a country music star, only to find herself face-to-face with a sleazy music agent from her past. After a very public spat, Magnolia not only finds him dead but herself center stage in the police’s investigation. Now she must scramble to prove her innocence, relying on the help of acquaintances old and new. But the longer Magnolia stays in Franklin, the more she remembers about the big bad incident that chased her away. The past might not be finished with her yet, and what she doesn’t remember could be her biggest danger.