Deadly Magic


Elisabeth Crabtree - 2012
    None more so than Grace Holliday. After all, it's not every day she gets invited to the annual costumed bash at the Dragon's Lair, the premier magic theater in Manhattan.What promises as a night of magic and mystery, quickly turns into a night of mayhem and murder when the boss' equally tyrannical wife dies on stage.According to the police, it was an obvious suicide. Now it's up to Grace to discover which one of her co-workers pulled off the trick of the year before she becomes the killer's next victim.

Center Stage


Denise Grover Swank - 2016
    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.

Good to Go


Marg McAlister - 2015
    Goode hadn’t realized that she was ready to rebel—not until she uttered a very decisive “NO” and had the rest of her family staring at her in shock. Her father, founder of the enormous Johnny B. Goode RV Empire, couldn’t believe it. What was going on with his daughter? Every year until now she had done what he asked: picked out a late-model motorhome for herself ready to showcase it at his giant RV Expo. A late-model motorhome just doesn’t do it for Georgie. Her first love is the tiny retro travel trailer and vintage van division of her father’s empire…but he and her brother Jerry think she’s crazy wanting to build it up. They deliberately don’t make it easy for Georgie. She takes to the road to prove she can live and travel in a vintage gypsy caravan, and meet her father’s outrageous sales targets as well. What she doesn’t count on is her great-grandmother Rosa’s determination that she should carry on the family gypsy tradition of fortune-telling on the road. What with brother Jerry’s conniving tricks, her father’s unreasonable demands, and dozens of people flocking to her vintage van to have their fortunes told… Georgie really does wonder if she’s bitten off more than she can chew. And somehow, she has to figure out what the crystal ball is trying to tell her before Kaylene hooks up with a guy who is oh so wrong for her!

Long Man's Shadow


Anne Wilkinson - 2016
    This is useful as she has ‘downsized’ to a flat in Stoke Newington and needs to organise her ‘tat’. While sorting through her boxes, she comes across one containing photos, labelled the Brittan albums, which she had bought with her late husband at a car boot sale in Essex 10 years earlier. The photos were taken in the 1930s. On a foray to Sussex to stay with her sister, a body is discovered. It is in a well at Willmans House, Fairlingly, where renovation work is being carried out. Apparently the female body has been there some time. Our amateur detective realises that this is where the photographs in the albums were taken. Using her new-found skills from her evening classes on family history, she begins to research the families in the photos, the Brittans and, their close neighbours, the Jeavingtons. Gradually their profiles begin to emerge. However, in Sussex, despite the help of her sister and the local vicar in unravelling the mystery, there is unexpected local opposition to her enquiries. Why so many years after a murder had been committed should there be so much local interest? As Mrs Stonier digs deeper, the questions multiply… Anne Wilkinson is a retired marine lawyer with a PhD in the history of amateur gardening, on which she has written three books. She has had a life-long interest in crime fiction and true crime stories, and in her own fiction she combines her experience of genealogical research with rediscovered crimes in a unique way. Anne's other interests include gardening, cooking and vintage and retro antique collecting, all of which have appeared, or will soon appear, in her books.

Loose Screw


Rae Davies - 2011
    She even lets a cat shove her around.When Lucy trips over the body of a buckskin-clad relics trader, her ex-boss asks her to cover the story. She tries to tell him no, but old habits die hard and soon she finds herself directly in the path of a killer and the exasperating, if attractive, detective in charge.Can Lucy catch a killer or is this the last confrontation for her—period?

Dixie Divas


Virginia Brown - 2009
    "Where? Mexico? Paris? In Tupelo with a cocktail waitress?" "In your closet," I answered. "Dead." Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case. Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. Just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious small-town scandal. But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name. Virginia Brown is the nationally acclaimed, award-winning author of fifty novels.

Take the Monkeys and Run


Karen Cantwell - 2010
    Typical, that is until she sets out to find the missing link between a bizarre monkey sighting in her yard and the bone chilling middle-of-the-night fright fest at the strangely vacant house next door. When Barb talks her two friends into some seemingly innocent Charlie’s Angels-like sleuthing, they stumble upon way more than they bargained for and uncover a piece of neighborhood history that certain people would kill to keep on the cutting room floor.Enter sexy PI Colt Baron, Barb’s ex-boyfriend who would love to be cast as new leading man, filling the role just vacated by her recently estranged husband, Howard. When Colt flies in from out of town to help Barb, events careen out of control and suddenly this mini-van driving mother of three becomes a major player in a treacherous and potentially deadly FBI undercover operation. It’s up to her now. With little time to spare, she and she alone, must summon the inner strength necessary to become a true action heroine and save the lives of those she loves. The question is can she get them out alive before the credits roll?

Hidden Treasure at the Cat-Nip Hotel


Luna Snow - 2016
    With five cats and an old mansion to look after Eleanor wonders what she should do, and finally decides to open a Cat Lovers Hotel. Bea has also left her great niece a draft of her final novel -yet to be published. When the strange Reginald Williams arrives and asks for a room in the hotel it is just the start of her adventure. The old eccentric man has a psychic gift and can hear the dearly departed Bea Traverne speaking to him from beyond the grave. What messages are the spirits sending? Is great aunt Bea's last book purely fiction and what exactly did happen to the Lost Blue Diamond of Jaipur? Not all is as it first appears in this cozy mystery full of intrigue, romance and of course cats!

Bed-Bugged


Susan J. Kroupa - 2010
    Sniffing out bed bugs? Easy as pie. Well, easier, actually, as getting pie can be a problem for a dog. Doodle finds best part of the new job is Molly, the boss’s ten-year old daughter, who slips Doodle extra treats when she’s not snapping photos with the camera she carries everywhere. But Molly has secrets of her own. And when she enlists Doodle’s help to solve a crime, his nose and her camera lead them straight into danger.Readers have called the Doodlebugged mysteries perfect of fans of Spencer Quinn’s popular Chet & Bernie mysteries, and best-selling author Virginia Smith called Bed-Bugged, "a first-rate mystery" and a "triumphant beginning to a series."

Maids of Misfortune


M. Louisa Locke - 2009
    Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.

A Little Taste of Murder


Carolyn L. Dean - 2018
    With only her beloved doggie as a companion, even the promise of hopping a ferry for the beautiful San Juan Islands seems like an impossibility when everyone is trying to point fingers at each other. Right in the middle of it all, Claire has to convince the tight-knit town that she’s not the murderer, even if the clues tell another, horrible story. Originally published as part of a three-book collection of classic cozy mysteries, THREE CAROLS OF COZY CHRISTMAS MURDER. If you've already got that book (which has been newly edited and updated, too), this book would be a duplicate.

Legwork


Katy Munger - 1997
    Casey is a big, bad bottled blonde who takes no prisoners as she delves into cases for those who are marginalized on the outskirts of society. Set in North Carolina and the surrounding states, LEGWORK features a colorful cast, solid plot and writing that is both laugh out funny and vry moving at times.

Cozy Up To Death


Colin Conway - 2020
    The cute shop has a loyal customer base as well as an ornery cat.Unfortunately, Brody doesn’t know the first thing about running a legitimate business, he doesn’t want to be in the small town, and he hates cats. On top of all that, he hasn’t read a book since high school.When a cute woman walks into the store, he thinks his bad luck is about to change. But as she starts asking about the previous owner’s whereabouts, his safe new existence begins to unravel.For Brody Steele is a man with a secret he must protect at all costs. The U.S. Government has invested a lot to keep it hidden, and his enemies will stop at nothing to expose him.Does happiness or death await Brody in this charming seaside community?If you like stories with a solid male lead, wonderfully odd characters, and a troublesome cat, then this book is for you.

A Deadly Delivery


April Fernsby - 2018
    But this is the first time she’s used them to solve a murder. Things are changing rapidly for Karis. As well as filing for divorce from her unfaithful husband, she decides it’s time to make peace with her estranged sister, Erin. With trepidation, Karis visits the café which Erin owns. To her great relief, Erin welcomes Karis back into her life with open arms. During their reconciliation, a young woman, Carmel, calls into the café with a bread delivery. As Karis watches Carmel, she experiences a strong psychic vision. She sees two shadows following Carmel. Only one of the shadows belongs to Carmel — the other belongs to the person who is going to murder her later that day. With help from her sister and an old neighbour, Karis does all that she can to find out who murdered Carmel. It doesn’t help that the investigating officer is an ex-boyfriend who broke up with Karis because he couldn’t cope with her psychic abilities. Despite this, Karis won’t rest until she finds the killer.

Medicine Wheel


Kelly Running - 2013
    Her efforts to clear her brother's name lead her on an odyssey of Navajo visions, sweat lodges, medicine wheels, and mysticism. The journey promises to waken her latent psychic abilities if she survives numerous attempts on her life and figures out who wants her dead.