Cozy Women Sleuths Supernatural

Last year, the otherworldly sleuth's devoted fans secured a place on the New York Times best seller list for Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity and the Family Tree. Now Lori and Aunt Dimity are back on the list - and this time, they're on a witch-hunt.

I finally had some answers. Except those answers only led to more questions. And the first question on my mind? Were there any other halflings in existence? Between Hunter's, and with the Council's, orders to kill me, and the immense growth in my magical powers, I'd hardly had time to explore that possibility. But I needed to. I needed to know if there was anyone else like me out there, and I needed to know now.

There's nothing like experiencing delayed "magical-puberty" at midlife, but that's where I am. One world-altering secret revealed and my safety bubble snapped into thin air. Discovering I'm the next descendant in a long line of witches was eventful enough, but it's nothing compared to finding out that I'm also the only half-fae-hybrid in existence. At least it got my mind off my divorce. Now, with my newfound abilities, the impossible seems possible and the world around me has come to life in ways I never imagined.

It's usually just routine for Casey Clark, property manager at Peller Realty. When a tenant refuses to pay rent, just evict and move on. Not so with the tenant from Hell. He draws Casey into murder, drug rings, ghosts, Indians, and a hectic trip to Hell in Georgia. Her worst problem of having to deal with her psychic cat Dixie not getting along with Casey's pirate boyfriend's parrot changes into scrambling to stay alive.

Apparently, I've been slacking on the job as a paralegal, even though the firm doesn't know that I'm secretly working as the area's premier Pet Whisperer P.I. to solve our toughest cases behind the scenes. Now, they've hired an intern to "help" me manage my workload.... But what the partners don't realize is that they've let a nefarious criminal into our offices. Trust me, Octo-Cat can smell this guy's stink from a mile away. The worst part? I'm pretty sure he can talk to animals too...and he most definitely isn't using his talents to solve crimes and defend the innocent.

Kincaid Strange cannot catch a break. After dealing with a spate of paranormal murders, there's barely time to recuperate - let alone sleep in - before there's a new problem in Kincaid's world of paranormal activity. When her roommate, Nathan Cade - the ghost of a grunge-rocker with a pathological lack of self-control - comes home bound to a dead body, it's up to Kincaid to figure out how to free him. Ideally before her new mentor, Gideon, a powerful sorcerer's ghost, discovers that Nate is trapped in the body he'd coveted for himself.

It's Christmas, and I, ex-witch Stevie Cartwright, declare this my favorite time of year. I love the decorations! The food! The Hallmark Channel holiday specials! This year promises to be better than ever because for the first time in a very long time, I'm going to have more than just Cheez Whiz, Triscuits, and the wish to be surrounded by family and friends. My carefully planned holiday bonanza includes all the usual suspects.

Gargoyles daring to seek better lives for themselves has caused the cult group, the Anti-Masons, to re-emerge and target them. As the granddaughter of one of the world's most notorious Anti-Masons, Suzy's friend Red Sumac is automatically under suspicion of murderous activity in Hemlock.

When her friend Alicia hires Turner Construction to renovate a historic lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay, Mel Turner can't wait to get her hands dirty. But trouble soon arises when Alicia's abusive ex-husband shows up to threaten both her and Mel, and later turns up dead at the base of the lighthouse stairs. With no other suspects in sight, things start looking choppy for Alicia. Now, if Mel wants to clear her friend's name, she'll need the help of the lighthouse's resident ghosts to shine a light on the real culprit....

San Francisco contractor Mel Turner is leading a volunteer home renovation project, and while she expects lots of questions from her inexperienced crew, she can't help asking a few of her own - especially about the haunted house next door . . . the place local kids call the Murder House. But when volunteers discover a body while cleaning out a shed, questions pile up faster than discarded lumber.

Life is always hectic for P.I. (and novice witch), Jill Gooder. Murder, theft, and a missing cat, she can take in stride, but a date with detective Jack Maxwell? That's a whole different ball game.

Priscilla Pratt is 377 years old, give or take a decade. She’s the best baker in Bellmare, Massachusetts, and just wants to continue to lead a quiet life in the quaint and haunted tourist destination. Not even an elaborate, last-minute wedding cake commission - a multi-tiered fondant replica of Dracula’s castle - could be a stake in her side. But when the bride turns up dead hours before the wedding, Priscilla and her pastries are the first to be suspected. Priscilla will have to get to the bottom of this murder, or her business and reputation will be six feet under.

With her wedding to Hank fast approaching, Imogen Banks has come a long way from the magical contest that brought her to Bijou Mer. But when conspirators seek to sabotage the witch's big day, she fears her latest recipe for happiness will end in disaster. And after the prince falls horribly ill, Imogen and her friends must solve one more dark mystery before her love and kingdom perish.

When Silver Hollow witch Adele Brundage curses the town with a plague of toads until her killer is found, Isolde Quinn and her cousins find themselves thrown into a dangerous world where someone will go to any lengths to keep a decades-old secret. Armed with their witchy powers and unconventional pet familiars, the Quinns set out on an investigation that puts them in the path of a dangerous killer who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried. And when that path intersects with hunky FBI agent Dex Nolan, it's a blessing and a curse.

Life at the Salty Cauldron is going well…right up until a body washes onto the beach. The dead woman, who is 40 years younger than her husband, had a run-in with Hali in her tiki bar the previous day. Authorities assume it was an accidental drowning, but a mark on the dead woman’s neck gives Hali pause. Grayson Hunter finds himself in a pickle when the identity of the body becomes public. Seems he was the one hired by the victim’s husband to investigate her extra-curricular activities. Surprisingly enough, it turns out she wasn’t having an affair.

When Violet Mooney's coworker and fellow witch calls to say that their Connecticut crystals shop, The Full Moon, has been selected as a vendor at the Spring Equinox Fair, it's welcome news. Ever since she learned about her magickal ancestry, Violet has been struggling to learn her craft while staying out of trouble. She tries to focus on the Fair, which is being run by one of her personal heroes. Horatio Hale is a proponent of ethical crystal mining, but apparently not everyone is a fan. Violet is shocked when she goes to attend a meeting and finds Horatio dead—with an axe stuck in his chest.

Francie Vespertine has lived all her life in a supernatural town full of powerful witches, but her own magic is lackluster at best. The only place she fits in is the Magical Archives. Head librarian (and bookworm extraordinaire) might be a boring job . . . if it wasn't for the ghosts of fictional characters haunting the shelves.

The election campaign for Sheriff is heating up in Devil's Orchard, but Bobbi's been called away to visit a supernatural town in the middle of the Arizona desert. The mysterious book that holds the answers to her mother's disappearance has been stolen and an explosion leaves the magical archives in a pile of rubble and ash. It's no coincidence that the blast happened the day of Bobbi's arrival, and she finds herself accused of the crime. The residents of this town are notoriously tight-lipped to outsiders, and Bobbi makes more than a few enemies during her search for the truth.

Business is booming, a certain silver-fox contractor named Cary Mann is hot in pursuit (wink-wink), and me and my bestie Fab are as tight as ever. Life is good—newly inherited boggart-in-a-crystal ball aside (don't ask; he's a handful. And libidinous. And it's more of a snow globe than a crystal ball . . .) Good, that is, until the next ghost shows up with an untimely demise to solve. Turns out, she's a blast from my past . . . a painful one at that, one I could have gone the rest of my life without ever seeing again. My loved ones—both living and dead—all have my back though.

If there was one thing I'd learned over the last few months, it was that absolutely nothing lasted forever. Which was probably why I'd been so surprised when Hunter announced he was staying in Portland. I couldn't help but think, and hope, that it had something to do with me, a 40-year-old divorcee who was half witch and half fae.