Christmas Mystery Thriller

Quilt appraiser Keely Fairchild is thrilled that the Danger Cove Quilt Guild has teamed up with the Historical Museum to make miniature quilts to decorate the museum's Christmas tree. To join in the holiday spirit, she offers free appraisals of holiday quilts during the ornament-making workshop.

The theft of a Rolex worth more than most new vehicles begins a series of burglaries casting a dark shadow on the Christmas season for Folly Beach, the small South Carolina barrier island. The number of suspects drastically increases when Mackey’s Miracle Troupe, a group of singers and actors, arrives on Folly. The Troupe’s leader Peter Mackey claims the visit is to bring an upbeat message to the community while performing good deeds throughout the island, but its arrival at the same time the burglaries begin is too coincidental to be overlooked.

In Book Two of the Cat in the Attic series, in addition to the time she spends at the animal shelter, Callie has a new sideline writing human interest stories for the regional newspaper. It is a job she loves and hopes to grow - until she is asked to reveal the man behind the mask when Secret Santa comes to town and begins committing random acts of kindness. Meanwhile, Cass has a new murder to solve, Gracie has gone crazy with the decorations, and Naomi's friend Hancock comes to town.

December, 1959: The Korean War rages on. Protesting the bloody conflict, a Korean-American man by the name of William Yang suddenly blows himself up in the middle of a Los Angeles department store just before Christmas, which leads the U.S. government to reopen the internment camps used during World War II. President Joseph McCarthy's America has never been more on edge, paranoid, and above all, dangerous.

The police hone in on Austin’s ex-girlfriend as their number one suspect, but Scarlett isn’t sure they’ve found the right culprit. Her feelings about the woman are complicated, and she is tempted to let the police handle this mystery. But pleas from Austin and her insatiable curiosity won’t let her sit idly by without poking around in search of some answers.

A drive-by murder signals the end of a relaxed Christmas. Donna refuses to accept that organized crime is moving into town, but to do so, she must find the murderer. In the meantime, she needs to host a Victorian tea, pin down a certain detective's romantic intentions, keep a boozy Santa sober, deal with a cursed clown doll, and hide a hunky underwear model. It's just another holiday at The Painted Lady Inn.

And high-ranking members have taken an interest in FBI Special Agent Megan Luchek. Money Makes It Deadlier: Agent Luchek steps into high heels and deep danger when she gets assigned to investigate a bank. Revenge Makes It Sweeter: Megan gets a late-night summons to the hospital to speak with a gunshot victim. Christmas Makes It Chaos: Agent Luchek goes to Philadelphia for an antiterrorism conference only to face off against real terrorists. Treachery Makes It Tense: Megan gets an unlikely ally in the desperate fight to save Dan’s family from a madman.

Amateur sleuths Jessie Harper and George Jenkins, of the Dale Street Private Investigations Agency, and Jessie’s companion, the mysterious talking cat Khan set off on another murder investigation in 1930's Liverpool, England. Their old friend and mentor, Detective Sergeant Bill Roberts of the Liverpool City Police asks them to take on a cold case, a dockland murder with supernatural elements. They agree and start their own investigation just before the fifth anniversary of the murder on Christmas Eve.

Defendant Henry Edmonds, a homeless man who believes he works for Santa Claus, is on trial for stealing a flash drive full of secrets which may hold the key to Christmas but which is zipped tight in an evidence bag. Several people want Edmonds in jail, including a man who says he works for an international toy company. Witness by witness the facts come out but who is to be believed and are there any True Believers? As the courtroom clock ticks down on Christmas Eve, it becomes clear that the fates of the defendant and Christmas are inextricably intertwined.

Gemma Rose, ihres Zeichens Tearoom-Besitzerin und unfreiwillige Detektivin, freut sich auf ein Fest voller köstlicher weihnachtlicher Leckereien, auf Zeit mit Freunden und Familie und mit etwas Glück sogar auf „weiße Weihnachten“, die in Oxford nur alle Jubeljahre einmal vorkommen. Doch dann schneit sie auf einem Landsitz ein und stolpert über einen rätselhaften Mord - mit einer Leiche in der Bibliothek, einem Haus voller Verdächtiger und einer Spur aus mysteriösen Fußabdrücken!

When the curtains open on the Fenleys department store Christmas window display, there’s a shock in store. When a friend becomes the police’s prime suspect, crime reporter Emma Fletcher has to decide who has been naughty or nice before someone else gets hurt.

Sophie is thrilled her life is going so well. Her pub is (mostly) financially secure. She’s dating her hunky pub manager. Her best friend, Oliver, is visiting from California and she’s rented out her macabre guesthouse to a group of skiers on holiday. She’s even handling the cold weather with aplomb. That is, until they are hit by an unexpectedly bad Nor’ Easter. Now, the skiers, along with most of her staff, are stuck at Steamys pub. Sophie is creative, so she’s confident she can make the most of a bad situation. Then one of the skiers is found dead, frozen outside her llama, Jack’s, barn.

A short story from British Library Crime Classic The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories. A Christmas Eve party at Clevere Hall ends in tragedy when the host is found stabbed to death. Major Ceely certainly wasn’t short of enemies, but who hated him enough to commit the crime?

Chris Landrum is dragged out of peaceful retirement when the theft of a priceless, hand-carved figurine from a church’s nativity scene threatens to suck the spirit of Christmas out of Folly Beach. If that's not bad enough, pieces of valuable jewelry and surfboards are stolen off homeowners’ porches on the small, South Carolina island located in the shadows of historic Charleston.

It's Christmas in Hopeless and the Christmas Cookie Tournament has made its way to town. But Hope Walker, the local investigative reporter, learns there's something much bigger at stake than a top cookie prize. This cookie competition has turned serious. Deadly serious! Join Hope, Katie, Granny, and Alex as they sift through recipes and motives to find the killer. And along the way, find out if Hope is going to finally get her dream job. Or learn if sometimes, dreams really do change.

Cringe with embarrassment, as Lady Amanda Golightly acts like a bad-tempered five-year-old in the face of a family crisis. Cheer her on, as she and her live-in friend at Belchester Towers, Hugo Cholmondley-Crichton Crump, plan a new business venture for the old place. Join them for Christmas, then wish them luck as they embark on a trial run of their new enterprise. Then gasp at Lady Amanda's reaction (delight!) at the discovery of the body of a dead guest, found slumped on the library table, murdered FIVE TIMES!

More than stockings are hung when hunky chorus members drop like snowflakes. Once again, our favorite thespians will need to use their drama skills to catch the killer and make the yuletide gay before their Christmas balls get cracked.

Book four in the Kate Lawrence Mystery series: Christmas has never been Kate Lawrence's favorite time of year, but when a body turns up at Hartford's venerable Wadsworth Atheneum, she knows the holidays are really going to be murder this year. In the long-awaited fourth installment of this popular mystery series, Kate's realty business is on hiatus due to the down economy, friends and family are falling victim to the flu, and daughter Emma has a loathsome new beau. To top off the merriment, Kate's ex-husband has persuaded her to host an at-home wedding for their nephew. And then a murderer strikes....

It’s been a long school year down in sunny Somerset, Florida, and it’s only halfway over. Logan, a teacher, and his freshman son Ulysses are really looking forward to their long Christmas break together, especially after both Adairs nearly died solving the one percent murders earlier in the school year. They are both in need of a nice, relaxing family Christmas break. So they go back to their New England roots, up in Maine. It will be a classic Maine Christmas at Logan’s parents’ new Victorian bed and breakfast on a small island on the Kennebec River.

A caroling donkey arrives in Clover Grove before Christmas with tidings of a new murder. Stray rescue animals are business as usual for hobby farmer Ivy and her sheepdog Keats. Misfits blend seamlessly into the menagerie, and the more the merrier. When a mouthy, grieving donkey demands room at the inn right before Christmas, however, Ivy bites off more than she can chew. He’s got a message that’s far from festive, and he won’t stop singing the blues till she figures out his secret.