Cozy Mystery Fiction

Widow and empty nester Ava Harper never dreamed of turning 40 without the love of her life. Nor did she know she would bury her favorite aunt, who raised her after the death of her mother, a few years later. Then again, she doesn't have the power of foresight. No, her powers are much darker. With her only son off to college and her life savings depleted, Ava returns home to Shipton Harbor, Maine. When an old friend of the family turns up dead, Ava must delve deep into the powers she's repressed all her adult life to find the killer. Now she must open up to her own wells of dark magic.

Normally, not even drunk on a bet would Violet Parker go to Slagton, a creepy ghost town inhabited by those too stubborn - or deranged - to leave. But a certain bullheaded Deadwood detective has a problem - his informant from Slagton has gone missing. When Violet is shanghaied into taking a hunting trip to the ghost town to search for the missing snitch, she stumbles into trouble that will take more than a double-barreled shotgun to escape. Will Violet survive this new hell that haunts her, or will she end up on Slagton's growing list of those "gutted and hung"?

Chester Henry and his adult granddaughter Clare lovingly repair old typewriters and restore old books. Who ever thought their quaint store would hold the key to some modern-day trouble? When a stranger to town demands they turn over an antique Underwood typewriter they're repairing for a customer, Clare fears she may need to be rescued. A call to the police scares the man off, but later Clare finds his dead body in the back alley. What about a dusty old typewriter could possibly be worth killing for?

Rosalind is pleased when she's invited to Cassel House to help her friend Louisa prepare for her upcoming wedding. But that's not the only event on her agenda. The trip will also afford Rosalind the chance to see Devon Winterbourne, the newly minted duke of Casselmaine. Devon and Rosalind were on the verge of betrothal before the infamous Thorne family scandal derailed their courtship. Now Rosalind wonders if there's a chance their love might reignite.

Melanie West is getting her life back on track after a messy divorce when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asks her to join her in opening a bed-and-breakfast inn. Together, Liza and Melanie purchase a purportedly haunted mansion on the Oregon coast and jump right into clearing out the cobwebs. But while attempting to remove wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, the new B&B owners stumble upon a very real skeleton in their closet.

There's never a good time for a ghost crisis. However, it's particularly inconvenient while I'm trying to tackle my first wedding season. Between 12-hour days, an assistant with a case of butterfingers (not the chocolate kind), and the flood of tourists in town, I'm struggling to keep a grip on my sanity. All I want is three months of peace from the spirit world. But when local ghosts start going missing, I have to do something.

It's the end of the summer and prodigal daughter Maggie Crozat has returned home to her family's plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana. The Crozats have an inn full of guests for the local food festival. But when the elderly couple keels over dead within minutes of each other - one from very unnatural causes - Maggie and her family suddenly become suspects in a murder.

The Cozy Corgi bookshop finally opens, and Winifred Page and her headstrong corgi, Watson, are ready to welcome their first patrons. With her new best friend, Katie, creating heavenly pastries in the bakery on the top floor of the store, Fred’s dreams are all coming together in delicious and unexpected ways. Fred and Katie are roped into a moonlight snowshoeing hike in hopes of spotting a rare owl. While the endangered bird proves elusive...the murdered man in the snow is hard to miss.

Sawyer Davis, a chef who inherited her mother's mystery bookshop, is hosting her first book signing for the world's biggest diva. Between juggling the author's lofty demands, learning how to be a surrogate mother to a 15-year-old, and dealing with the sheriff who once broke her heart, Sawyer's menu is full. She longs for the good old days when the worst thing that happened was a flopped souffle. But when the author's husband ends up dead in Sawyer's best friend Renee's ice cream shop, things really heat up. Sawyer believes her friend is being framed.

The Vampire Knitting Club decides to take part in Oxford's Holiday Market, selling exquisite hand-knit scarves, sweaters, and gift items. Their most popular item is the hand-knit Christmas stocking, brightly colored and extra-long to squeeze in a few extra small gifts. But when a sales clerk in another booth is found strangled with one of the stockings, Lucy Swift and her undead detectives are on the case, determined to find out who would do such a terrible thing. And why. In the meantime, Lucy's working hard at her spell book, learning to be a witch.

After the recent death of her mother and the dissolution of her marriage, 30-something Eden Elliott is seriously in need of a fresh start. At the urging of her best friend, best-selling author Ami Pederson, Eden decides to embark on an open-ended trip to the picturesque village of Glenkillen in the Scottish Highlands, to do some hands-on research for a book of her own. But almost as soon as Eden arrives in the quaint town, she gets caught up in a very real drama....

Allie McMurphy is up to her neck in renovations at the grand old hotel that's been in her family for generations. With its quaint Victorian charm - and world-famous fudge shop - the place is one of Mackinac Island's most beloved landmarks.

Jessica's favorite nephew, Grady, asks her to visit him in New York City - and star in a commercial he's creating. But there's little time for sightseeing when there's a murder on the set, complete with a long list of suspects. And Jessica soon finds herself not just a witness in a murder case - but the only one who can uncover the killer!

Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers...and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee cart, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley - a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That's essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus macchiato - especially in the case of one of Sage's very first customers. Sage finds the man's body in front of her cart, a fatal slash across his neck.

With the arrival of six senior reading group members at the Merry Ghost Inn, the long-awaited grand opening week has finally begun for Melanie West and her grandmother Liza. All is well with the Oregon coast-side B&B until Melanie's dog, Max, finds the dead body of one of their guests.

Tonya Kappes presents Books 19-21 in the Camper and Criminals Cozy Mystery series: Book 19: Wildlife, Warrants, & Weapons, Book 20: Blossoms, Barbeque, & Blackmail, and Book 21: Lanterns, Lakes, & Larceny, featuring sleuthing campground owner in Normal, Kentucky, Mae West....

When mystery novelist Hazel Martin receives a secretive letter from an old friend who suspects her relatives have murderous intentions, she packs her bags and heads to the country. Tampered medications, symptoms of poisoning, and suspicious accidents all add up to attempted murder, and it's up to Hazel and her Siamese cat, Dickens, to sniff out the clues. But with a house full of relatives who all have a motive, will Hazel be able to unmask the culprit before things turn deadly?

Bo Tully is the sheriff of Blight County, Idaho, where law enforcement is usually pretty mundane: tracking down truants running away from school, picking up country boys who've had a few too many beers. But Tully gets a little more than the country norm when an ex-con calls with the startling news that there's a corpse draped across one of his fences.

Ruby Mae Jewell's talents to pick the best bargains for her family's business are hotter than the hinges on the gates of Hades! But when one of her friends gets stabbed at his own wedding reception, her abilities to solve the mystery go completely cold. There are a lot more questions than answers, and with more than the groom's life in the balance, Rue might need a lot of help to stitch things back together. Will Ruby Mae's five-alarm fire powers help her find the culprit who hurt her friends or will they disappear in a puff of smoke?

Christmas has come to Lighthouse Cove, but business hasn’t slowed down for Shannon Hammer. She’s been contracted to renovate a local hotel owned by the Garrisons, a family that’s so devoted to the holidays they serve a seven-course dinner every night from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Last year’s festivities featured a train that transported guests around the breathtaking Cliffside property. This year, Shannon and her crew have been commissioned to build a Victorian-style carnival midway with games and prizes galore.