Keeping Secrets


Zanna Mackenzie - 2017
    Needing a job – any job – she becomes an assistant in a shop selling magical candles, charms and crystals. When she learns the truth behind the town’s paranormal vibe and discovers the locals have supernatural abilities, she starts to wonder whether running from her past has landed her in even more trouble in the present!A controversial development of executive homes on what used to be a pretty area of riverside meadows is stirring up bad feelings in Glen Falls. So, when the development is hit by vandalism, there’s a rather long list of suspects – including Kat’s new employer. Desperate to keep her boss and good friend out of serious trouble with the police, Kat wades into sleuthing mode, attempting to catch the vandals herself before things can spiral dangerously out of control.With a broken heart and more than enough crazy stuff already on her plate, risking a new romantic involvement is the last thing she needs, but then she meets the gorgeous and mysterious Alex. As the architect in charge of the housing development everybody hates, Alex is Public Enemy Number One in Glen Falls – another reason why Kat should stay as far away from him as possible. Unfortunately that’s proving rather difficult to do...Soon, she’s way out of her depth and battling magical forces, mysteries and major mayhem – as well as trying to fight her growing attraction towards the intriguing Alex, a man who seems to be keeping even more secrets about his current life than Kat is about her past.Can she track down the culprit before their vandalism escalates to murder and they end up in a prison cell? Why is charming Alex being quite so secretive? Is Kat’s disastrous past about to catch up with her?

Flea Market Fatal


Brianna Bates - 2016
    Too bad she also just found the owner of said cabinet dead in his house. She hasn’t seen her high school sweetheart, Tyler Brock, in years, and under normal circumstances she’d be excited to reconnect with him. But these aren’t normal circumstances because Missy is the prime suspect in the town’s first murder in years. Now with the help of her best friend, Noreen, and her mother (assuming Mom will actually share everything with her), Missy must prove her innocence and find the killer. But as she delves deeper into the investigation she uncovers some shocking secrets about the town, and her own family. Can this big, beautiful woman find the killer in time…and still be ready for the Flea Market? Flea Market Fatal is the first in the new Missy DeMeanor cozy mystery series. Look for Book Club Bloodshed, Diet Club Death, and Scrapbooking Slaying also.

A Shot in the Bark: A Dog Park Mystery


C.A. Newsome - 2011
    Neither do her friends at the Mount Airy Dog Park. When the apparent suicide of Lia's deadbeat boyfriend draws the attention of Detective Peter Dourson, he decides to adopt the dead man's dog to infiltrate the tight group he's certain conceals Luthor Morrissey's killer. As his investigation uncovers secrets, a grieving Lia fights her growing attraction to the laid-back detective. Meanwhile, Luthor's killer lurks, desperate to stay ahead of the investigation--no matter who has to die... If you like believable characters, a multi-layered plot, and a compelling sense of humor with your intrigue, pick up this can't-put-down whodunit for a romp through the dog park with Lia and the gang. This extended edition includes new and expanded scenes. (69,000 words)

Scarlet Oaks and the Serial Caller (Scarlets Oaks Book 1)


Michaela James - 2017
    But when an eerie sounding caller is identified as the bay area’s latest serial killer, it appears her life will never be same.With the killer continually calling into Scarlet’s show, while managing to stay one step ahead of the San Francisco police, Scarlet begins to fear she’s his next victim. Enlisting best friends, Niles and Tom, and their often-hilarious help, Scarlet sets out to find the elusive Serial Caller … before he finds her.Root for Scarlet during this heart-pounding and alternately humorous mystery thriller. Fall in love with unforgettable characters, recognize familiar family members and hold on tight for an adrenaline-filled ride.If you’re a Stephanie Plum fan, make room for Scarlet Oaks!This is the first book in the Scarlet Oaks Series. Start the adventure - buy Scarlet Oaks and the Serial Caller today.

If Errands Could Kill


Jim Bronyaur - 2012
    Their oldest daughter, Delaney, is one game away from moving onto the soccer championships, their son, Cody, skipped school yesterday, and innocent 7 year old Penny is trying to communicate with her goldfish. Eve’s days are that of a typical stay at home mom.Her typical day changes drastically after she drives Cody to school as part of his punishment for skipping school. Cody’s creepy science teacher, Mr. Jackson, approaches Eve to let her know that her check for Cody’s field trip had bounced. Knowing it had to be an error, Eve heads to the bank to figure it out. While in line, she chats with her mother in law who works at the bank. Then she notices Janet, another bank employee and self-made town outcast, acting very strange at the back counter.Eve’s concern grows when she is leaving the bank and sees Janet open the gas tank door and then drives away. Against her better judgment, Eve follows Janet. What happens next is something unheard of in quiet Marysville, Pennsylvania.Janet is murdered in front of Eve’s eyes, and the police find drugs in her car.Murder and drugs? It doesn’t make sense. Eve is now a witness and determined to disprove the “drug deal gone wrong” theory. Can she convince the police that she knows who the killer is, save her family, and make it to Delaney’s big soccer game in time?__The Minivan Mom Mystery Series is a creation from horror, thriller, and mystery writer, Jim Bronyaur. Jim has had over a hundred pieces of fiction published and won Best Horror Short Story for 2010. If you enjoy horror or thrillers, be sure to check out Jim's other books here on Amazon including Within the Walls (part one), The Failed, The Devil's Weekend, and more!Don't miss his next crime series, featuring one of the most interesting characters you'll ever meet: Johnny Cooper. The first book of the Johnny Cooper crime series is titled "Nice Day For a Red Wedding" and is scheduled for a 2012 release.*New release!*The second book in the Minivan Mom Mystery Series is now available! Don't miss A Mess to Die For, available on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Mess-Minivan-My...

Armed and Fabulous


Camilla Chafer - 2012
    That’s until she discovers the vice president, Martin Dean, in a pool of blood and herself at the center of an investigation into insurance fraud.Millions of dollars are missing, the chief suspect is dead and her mysterious, sexy, new boss is not what he seems.Recruited by the joint task force working on the case, all Lexi has to do is work out who killed Dean and where the missing millions are. That’s easier said than done when her sister insists upon the baby shower to end all baby showers, her wise-ass cop family just wants to keep her safe, someone keeps leaving her creepy gifts, and all the clues point to a seedy sex club on the wrong side of town.As the bodies start to pile up, Lexi is on a race against time to find the killer and the money, before she’s the next one in the murderer’s sights.Also in the series:Armed and FabulousWho Glares WinsCommand IndecisionShock and AwesomeWeapons of Mass DistractionLaugh or DeathKissing in ActionTrigger SnappyA Few Good Women - - coming soon!

Hot Enough to Kill


Paula Boyd - 1999
    Highly Recommended." -- Editor, I *Love* a Mystery"...makes for fast, fun summer reading." -- Nancy Cook-Senn, Shawnee Escort"Anyone who enjoys the works of Janet Evanovich or Joan Hess is going to love Ms. Boyd." -- Toby Bromberg, Romantic Times"...a terrific mystery, sharply drawn, cleverly plotted, dynamically presented, and pure sleuthing entertainment from first page to last." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch"The mystery genre has witnessed an abundance of female sleuths, but none quite like Jolene Jackson and her mother, Lucille." -- Argus Observer5 Stars and 5+ Laughs! Has to be film adapted. Would make a delightful audiobook. " ...a hoot and a half of rollicking good mystery! The best dang novel I've read all year!" -- Leann Arndt, The Midwest Book Review"Carl Hiaasen meets Texasville! ...a must read for your Sherlock funny bone." -- Judi Clark, Mostly Fiction"... comedic characters you'll just love. ...a humor you can't resist. I can't remember the last time that I read a book as light and refreshing as this." -- Pamela Stone, My Shelf"This first entry of an apparent series will leave readers loudly laughing at the antics of Jolene and her mother. Hot Enough to Kill is a tongue-in-cheek look at relationships and amatuer sleuthing. Still, the mystery has a character of its own that adds to a wonderful plot. If this tale is any example, Paula Boyd has a long running series that will provide much pleasure to fans." -- Harriet Klausner

A Body in the Bargain


Charlotte Moore - 2016
    She writes, paints watercolor landscapes and reads Jane Austen over and over. Kylie’s been married since she was 19, has twin boys and loves hunting for bargains and selling her crafts on-line. Kate and Kylie have been best friends since third grade at River Valley Elementary School. When Kate inherits her grandmother’s old house and decides to move back to peaceful River Valley, she finds there’s anything but peace in the Valley. First, she arrives to find that all her late grandmother’s old furniture has been stolen. Kylie comes to the rescue, and just a few days later the two of them are right in the middle of a murder investigation. Through it all, with Kylie’s help, Kate’s turning the old house into her own home with yard sale and thrift shop bargains and getting to know two very different men. From the author of the Hunter Jones mystery series, A Body in the Bargain is about people you might know and one or two you might just want to avoid.

Unleashed


Emily Kimelman - 2011
    This left him unconscious on the floor of my home. Amazingly, this bullet did not kill him. Ten years ago I adopted Blue as a present to myself after I broke up with my boyfriend one hot, early summer night with the windows open and the neighborhood listening. The next morning I went straight to the pound in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Articles on buying your first dog tell you never to buy a dog on impulse. They want you to be prepared for this new member of your family, to understand the responsibilities and challenges of owning a dog. Going to the pound because you need something in your life that's worth holding onto is rarely, if ever, mentioned. I asked the man at the pound to show me the biggest dogs they had. He showed me some seven-week-old Rottweiler-German shepherd puppies that he said would grow to be quite large. Then he showed me a six-month-old shepherd that would get pretty big. Then he showed me Blue, the largest dog they had. The man called him a Collie mix and he was stuffed into the biggest cage they had, but he didn't fit. He was as tall as a Great Dane but much skinnier, with the snout of a collie, the markings of a Siberian husky, the ears and tail of a shepherd and the body of a wolf, with one blue eye and one brown. Crouched in a sitting position, unable to lie down, unable to sit all the way up, he looked at me from between the bars, and I fell in love. "He's still underweight," the man in the blue scrubs told me as we looked at Blue. "I'll tell you, lady, he's pretty but he's skittish. He sheds, and I mean sheds. I don't think you want this dog." But I knew I wanted him. I knew I had to have him. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Blue cost me $108. I brought him home, and we lived together for years. He was, for most of our relationship, my only companion. But when I first met Blue, a lifetime ago now, I had family and friends. I worked at a crappy coffeehouse. I was young and lost; I was normal. Back then, at the beginning of this story, before I'd ever seen a corpse, before Blue saved my life, before I felt what it was like to kill someone in cold blood, I was still Joy Humbolt.I'd never even heard the name Sydney Rye.P.S. The dog does not die.**Beware: If you can’t handle a few f-bombs, you can’t handle this series.**

Pit Perfect Murder


Renee George - 2016
    . . and that’s no mystery! (previously published as Pit Perfect in 2016) When cougar-shifter Lily Mason moves to Moonrise, Missouri, she wishes for only three things from the town and its human population. . . to find a job, to find a place to live, and to live as a human, not a therianthrope. Lily gets more than she bargains for when a rescue pit bull named Smooshie rescues her from an oncoming car, and it’s love at first sight. Thanks to Smooshie, Lily’s first two wishes are granted by Parker Knowles, the owner of the Pit Bull Rescue center, who offers her a job at the shelter and the room over his garage for rent. Lily’s new life as an integrator is threatened when Smooshie finds Katherine Kapersky, the local church choir leader and head of the town council, dead in the field behind the rescue center. Unfortunately, there are more suspects than mourners for the elderly town leader. Can Lily keep her less-than-human status under wraps? Or will the killer, who has pulled off a nearly Pit Perfect murder, expose her to keep Lily and her dog from digging up the truth? Fall in love with Lily Mason, the shifter who only wants to live as a human, and her pit bull Smooshie, a rescue dog who in the end may be the one doing the rescuing! Pit Perfect Murder, Book 1 of the Barkside of the Moon Mysteries from USA Today bestselling paranormal cozy mystery author Renee George, is an exciting tale of mystery and suspense that will have you on the edge of your seat. A clean read full of humor and small town charm.

Final Chapter: A Megan Montaigne Mystery (Megan Montaigne Mysteries)


Pam Stucky - 2018
    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?

Dead on the Vine


J.M. Harvey - 2014
    Helena's Violet Vineyards, has a husband who would rather date a teenager than raise one, an emotionally unstable daughter with a violent ex-boyfriend and a staff of two who treat her more like a mother than a boss. But she can handle all of that. After all, things could be worse. Much worse.Claire is preparing for the bottling of Violet's Vintner's Reserve, hoping to stave off bankruptcy for one more year, when her neighbor, Kevin Harlan, is found murdered in her vineyard. That's awful enough, but when her daughter is arrested for the murder Claire is forced to pursue the real killer on her own, placing herself and everyone she loves in the line of fire.

A Hair Raising Blowout


Constance Barker - 2016
    Owner of the Teasen & Pleasen Hair Salon in the heart of Louisiana, she’s used to big hair, Southern style, and tall tales of the latest town scandal. But her quiet life is turned on its head when Savannah finds an upstanding member of the community murdered outside her salon in cold blood. Savannah investigates, only to find that her pleasant, cute town is just a façade, and that there’s more deception than truth in the lives of its residents. As the case intensifies, Savannah finds herself dealing with a bad blowout, a man who might lose a limb, and a woman scorned, leading to a firefight the village of Knockemstiff will never forget. Desperate Housewives marries GCB in this exciting murder mystery full of humor, suspense, and moonshine. Readers will be laughing aloud and gasping in shock while enjoying A Hair Raising Blowout, the first book in a stunning new thriller series by Constance Barker.

Arsenic in the Azaleas


Dale Mayer - 2019
    … Controlling to chaos. … But murder … seriously? After her ex-husband leaves her high and dry, former socialite Doreen Montgomery's chance at a new life comes in the form of her grandmother, Nan's, dilapidated old house in picturesque Kelowna … and the added job of caring for the animals Nan couldn’t take into assisted living with her: Thaddeus, the loquacious African gray parrot with a ripe vocabulary, and his buddy, Goliath, a monster-size cat with an equally monstrous attitude. It’s the new start Doreen and her beloved basset hound, Mugs, desperately need. But, just as things start to look up for Doreen, Goliath the cat and Mugs the dog find a human finger in Nan’s overrun garden. And not just a finger. Once the police start digging, the rest of the body turns up and turns out to be connected to an old unsolved crime. With her grandmother as the prime suspect, Doreen soon finds herself stumbling over clues and getting on Corporal Mack Moreau’s last nerve, as she does her best to prove her beloved Nan innocent of murder.

Rebecca Schwartz Mysteries 1-3


Julie Smith - 2015
    That dirty job done, a lovely evening turns even more delightful when she’s picked up by the cops and spends the next two hours at the Hall of Justice. Could this day get any worse? Of Course! Guess who arrives home to find a dead hooker on her living room floor? Fans of Janet Evanovich, Joan Hess, and Elizabeth Peters will get a kick out of this one. THE SOURDOUGH WARS TO YOU, IT’S JUST A FROZEN LUMP OF DOUGH; BUT TO SOME, IT’S LIFE AND DEATH… Especially to handsome Peter Martinelli, who wants to auction off the fabled sourdough starter from his family’s famous bakery. But who’d buy a frozen hunk of flour and water? Only, it turns out, every bakery in San Francisco, a national food conglomerate, and an upstart ringer with a mysterious backer. Someone would even kill for it. And does. A tasty treat of a San Francisco mystery. A crisp, tangy story you’re sure to get a rise out of. You won’t find it a bit crumb-y. TOURIST TRAP Fear stalks the streets! reports the San Francisco Chronicle. It also stalks these pages, and so do a lot of laughs. You just know the Easter sunrise service is going to be a bummer when the San Francisco fog lifts to reveal a body nailed to a landmark cross. Next: mass shellfish poisoning at Pier 39. A very different kind of serial killer is operating here—one who seems to have a grudge against the whole city. And this is a very different kind of serial killer tale—a funny one. Well, actually, what serial killer’s funny? But lawyer sleuth Rebecca Schwartz is warm and witty, never takes herself too seriously, and on one occasion offers closing testimony with green hair.