Christmas Thriller

Axel’s parents are visiting for the holiday and Pepper wants things to go smoothly. But when his mom insults the town Scrooge things turn rocky fast. Worse, when the town Scrooge is murdered, fingers quickly point to Axel’s mom.

Rebellious Christmas wreaths. Mysterious welly-dwelling eggs. A plague of irate water fowl. And ten ladies of a certain age who are by no means the least troublesome of Toot Hansell's residents, as far as Detective Inspector Adams is concerned. She's entirely certain her training never covered dealing with the Women's Institute, dragons, or festive magic spills. Not to mention invisible dogs with caffeine dependencies. But Christmas is almost here. Things can't go too wrong. . . can they? Well. It is Toot Hansell.

Pathologist Toni Day and her husband, Hal, are mystified when she starts receiving grisly Christmas cards depicting murders, each accompanied by a twisted verse from The Twelve Days of Christmas, and she and her partners are suddenly inundated with autopsies on the corresponding bodies. The victims are members of a jury that convicted Toni’s old boyfriend Robbie of kidnapping and sent him to prison.

O du tödliche Weihnachtszeit. Es ist kurz vor Heiligabend. Schnee fällt auf die Straßen der englischen Kleinstadt – und auf die Türschwelle von Rätselexpertin Edie O'Sullivan. Dort liegt ein mysteriöses Päckchen: sechs Puzzleteile, die den Ausschnitt eines blutigen Tatortes zeigen. Dazu eine bedrohliche Nachricht: Wenn es Edie nicht gelingt, alle Teile zusammenzufügen und den Absender aufzuhalten, werden bis Weihnachten mindestens vier Menschen sterben.

A few days before Christmas 1939, Dr. Benjamin Bones is in a "Bah, humbug" sort of mood. It's the coldest winter on record, his country is at war, and his love life has run aground. But magic as well as mysteries abound in Cornwall. When Ben makes a bargain with an elfin little man, it leads him to an old woman who longs to make amends - and a chance for Ben to show that certain someone how much he cares.

Being an undercover poison taster for the rich and famous is hard enough without being dragged into clearing the name of your former nemesis.... Especially when you think he might be guilty. To make matters worse, Izzy and her elderly accomplice aren't the only ones digging into the murder case, and the other parties are a whole lot more dangerous. And if her old nemesis didn't do it, then the real killer won't appreciate their interference.

It wouldn’t be the holidays without a little extra sparkle - and nobody does sparkles quite like Miss Elva. When she decides to debut her Spring resort wear line during a fashion show at Lucky’s, all of Tequila Key turns out for the holiday event. Althea doesn’t know which is more shocking - the fact that the models are wearing glitter boy shorts and Santa hats, or the fact that she kind of wants to see her husband, Trace, in said shorts. Either way, all bets are off when Miss Elva’s eye candy for the night takes a sip of her drink and gets poisoned.

Who better than food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell to book a caterer for the Island Times holiday party? But Hayley's quest for a cook turns into the pursuit of a killer who caters to no one....

As I walk into the pine-scented air of my seaside childhood home, gripping my husband Neil’s hand tight, I have a brief moment of hope. Maybe this Christmas will be different — for once my family might get on fueled by mulled wine and festive cheer. But the sound of happy carols are replaced by my older sister Christy’s over-loud laugh and slurred words. Rebecca, my younger sister, stalks out of the room as soon as I enter, as though I’m the Grinch here to steal Christmas. And their husbands, brash and arrogant, slap Neil’s back in a way that promises torment rather than welcome.

Why can't they just leave Christmas alone? Kris Kringle left behind his mercenary life to atone and accept the responsibility of delivering presents to the children each year. The children will smile on Christmas morning at all costs. Someone has set a trap for Kris Kringle - but the problem is, Kris is willing to go anywhere to get those gifts to the children. Including to his dark place. Be careful, world. You don’t want to piss off Saint Nick.

Everleigh Beckett’s plans for Christmas are simple: Forget her ex is getting married to another woman, keep her cat Roscoe in the lifestyle he’s accustomed to, and hunker down until all the Yuletide cheer is over. Hoping to forget the season, she agrees to work extra shifts in the Missing Persons Division so her partner can spend time with his family. What Everleigh doesn’t realize is that one of the most infamous baby-snatching cases of 1986 is about to land in her lap.

Natalia Chase just wants the first family Christmas with her husband and his pride of unruly lion shifter brothers to be perfect. But a simple trip to pick out a Christmas tree turns into a rescue mission when they discover three shifter wolf cubs abandoned in the forest. Between finding the cubs' parents, a surprise Christmas Eve visit from Mama Chase, and Natalia's increasingly difficult pregnancy, will the Chase pride get everything they've asked for from Santa, or will their perfect holiday be a perfect disaster?

When her beloved dog passes away just before Christmas, Gloria isn't sure about her best friend's advice. Holiday hilarity ensues when a new cat shows up on her doorstep each day. Who's leaving the cats? And why? Will Gloria's Christmas go up a poof of pet fur, or will it prove to be the most purrfect holiday ever?

It's almost Christmas and, in a ballroom just beyond the cobbled streets of Edinburgh's Old Town, the most important event of the year is taking place–the Foxtrot Oscars. Mrs Hubbard's whole senior citizenship has been building towards the moment she and her Douglas take the Over Sixties Swingers Cup. What could possibly go wrong, dearies?

Tommy and Evelyn Christie are looking forward to a quiet Christmas holiday at the home of Hugh Norton-Cavendish, the 9th Earl of Clifford, who recently married Tommy's cousin, Elise. However, the suspicious death of Albert Lewis, a businessman hoping to buy land from Hugh, means the Christmas festivities are quickly over. Tommy is distracted by his sister's new relationship with a man he distrusts. Evelyn is busy with her pack of dogs, brought for the traditional Boxing Day shoot.

Christmas has descended on Lana Cove. It should be a time of merriment, but in one swoop, a news broadcast changes everything. Michael, an author, finds himself on the trail of a rogue Santa, intent on ruining Christmas and the lives of some residents. George is the usual Santa for Lana Cove, so who is the secretive newcomer, and why is he taking over all of George’s jobs?

Detective Mike Nash is going to have a very unmerry Christmas. In an ordinary terraced house, a family dies. Poisoned by carbon monoxide. Then comes a suspicious house fire, with more bodies at the charred scene. A drug addict is murdered in the most bizarre medieval manner. And a scientist's daughter disappears. There's a killer on the loose this holiday season. DI Mike Nash follows the leads of these disparate crimes. One very dangerous person seems intent on revenge. Can he stop the killer before anyone else pays the ultimate price?

Some say that casting crusty attorney Allen Sharpe as Scrooge in the Kindred Players production of A Christmas Carol is just playing to type. He's not the most beloved man in town. In fact, you'd have a dickens of a time finding someone who liked him. Still, it's a shock when the Ghost of Christmas Past stabs him during the first rehearsal. Suzanne, the co-owner of the Cackleberry Club Cafe (Kindred's favorite combination diner, craft store, and bookshop), chases the murderer out of the building but loses him in the alley. As the days pass, the list of suspects grows longer.

It’s Christmas in Riddleton and crime-novelist-turned-amateur-sleuth Jen is in desperate need of a cozy festive season running the town's local bookstore. But, between trying to drum up business for Ravenous Readers and attempting to finish her latest novel, Jen is totally run off her feet. Matters get worse, however, when a man's body is found outside the bookstore, along with a scrap of paper in his pocket with none other than Jen's address on it!

As the Christmas decorating season approaches, Thyme & Seasons proprietor China Bayles feels overwhelmed. While she tries to balance her new roles of wife and step-mom with the demands of her thriving herbal shop, her business partner and best friend, Ruby, mysteriously disappears. Soon China's cantankerous mistletoe supplier Carl turns up dead. With Ruby missing and friends suspected of murder, China must investigate before tragedy strikes again.