Holiday Cozy

The best thing about the holiday season is spending time with family. At the same time, sometimes the worst thing about the holiday season is spending time with family. The stories in this collection touch on that and more as Mandy Nichols, Jeff Resnick, and Judi Straub struggle through what's supposed to be the joyous season. One family contemplates murder; another wants to end what they see as a bad relationship, while another can only see their loved one for what she can do for them. Sound familiar? Happy Holidays? puts the Christmas fun into dysfunction!

Librarian and solver of mysteries, Kit Sorel has a lot on her plate this December. The eccentric but cozy island of Greengage can do that to a person. All Kit wants is to settle into her first holiday season on this quaint English isle - torn away from her past home, family, and old friends - as she is.

Dinner, dancing, dogs, and murder. A festive fundraiser to help the dog rescue turns sinister when somebody salts the tempting spread with something toxic. Food poisoning used to mask a murder, Sheridan agrees to help the victim’s daughter find the killer. As Sheridan and Rachel investigate the prominent accountant’s records, a possible motive emerges and the game is on – with a happy ending for all, except the killer. Join Sheridan and her family and friends for this holiday cozy mystery novella with a dose of holiday cheer and a favorite biscotti recipe.

After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn't seem to convince to leave, and a new family she'd never be able to live without.

It's spring in Holiday Bay, and new guests have arrived to enjoy the plentiful sunshine. Lonnie has begun construction of the four new cottages, and decisions relating to color and design keep Abby hopping. Abby's most recent manuscript has been turned in, leaving time in her schedule to pitch in as a volunteer for the annual spring events, and everything is as it should be with the exception of the disturbing emails Georgia has been receiving.

The Christmas season is supposed to be a time of joy and celebration. But for Private Investigator Melody Clue, the holidays can quickly go awry, as she discovers in this three-story collection.

Shortly before the holidays, inventor and former assassin Missi Bombay gets orders to perform one last job. It's the granddaddy of all hits-to be carried out on Christmas Eve, no less. Missi knows she has only one chance at success, so she enlists the help of her cousins Gin, Dakota, and Coney. Together the Bombay cousins come out of retirement to stamp out the world's most evil cabal.

Juliet is happy with her life. She is 38, has been divorced for a decade, has a fulfilling career, a good home, and two wonderful children. She learnt a few tough lessons from her marriage, a few tougher ones from her divorce. She has learnt to be independent, and she has made herself happy. But every Christmas, she goes back to Vermont, to her family, for the holidays. Juliet had a privileged childhood, but one without warmth. Her family approved of her marriage. It was a good match.

A teenager turns up dead in the woods, brutally murdered, and it looks like it might be politically motivated.... The short-handed homicide team can't seem to get a handle on the case...things just keep going wrong.... Is someone trying to intimidate Laurencia Rivera and her investigators, to protect the killer and prevent him from being caught?

Courtney is excited for the upcoming Community Christmas event. All the charitable organizations in town are being invited to participate, and they’re guaranteed to get the extra funding they’re always needing. Of course, the work of the shelter never ends, and Courtney is inundated with a fresh flood of feisty canines that she’s trying to foster. But when a wealthy patron is found dead, festivities are thrown into a flurry! Who would commit such a yucky yuletide crime?

When Mayfair’s newly minted Chamber of Commerce goes off the rails, and decides to build an ice skating rink, a decades-old skeleton is uncovered. The secrets it reveals threaten more than the town’s Christmas plans. Feeling responsible since the let’s-attract-more-tourists idea was hers initially, service dog trainer Marcia Banks is determined to help her police detective boyfriend solve the mystery - whether he wants her help or not. Maybe she can wheedle more out of the townspeople than he can.

For the town of White Eagle, Montana, the house that served as the subject of ghostly stories by the campfire was a huge old mansion built more than 50 years ago by a wealthy industrialist as a summer home for his wife and five children. The house, void of love and laughter, served as a sort of luxury prison far away from the hustle and bustle of Hartford Harrington’s full and busy life in San Francisco.

The entire Thomas family takes a Thanksgiving trip to a mountain cabin after Tess learns that her father visited the area every autumn to hunt and fish before his supposed death in a fiery truck accident. After arriving at the cabin, Tess and Tony, along with Mike and Bree, team up to investigate a suspicious death, while Tess and Tony secretly talk to people who live in the area and once knew her father. Hoping to finally find answers for her unanswered questions regarding her father's current whereabouts, Tess widens her search, which leads her to a startling realization.

It is Valentine's Day in White Eagle Montana, and Tess and Tilly are busier than ever delivering Valentine Cards along with the daily mail. Of course it wouldn't be Valentine's Day in White Eagle without a mystery to solve or a holiday adoption party to prepare for. When Tess happens upon a vehicle accident where one man dies, she gets pulled into a mystery with roots into the past. With Tony's help, she not only tracks down a killer but she looks into the occurrence of a missing person as well.

If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this new mystery series by Kathi Daley, author of the popular Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Series. Set in the small town of White Eagle, Montana, the series features Tess and her dog Tilly, who spend their days delivering the latest gossip along with the daily mail. When a close friend is murdered, Tess and Tilly join forces with the reclusive genius in town to sleuth out the truth behind the shocking murder that is rocking the community as it prepares for the annual Christmas Festival.

Lucy is looking forward to a holiday season that's filled with Christmas carols, remembering, and yummy food. She's also excited about all the festive recipes she'll be introducing to the menu at Sweet Delights bakery. When she finds out that an obnoxious woman at an event for the homeless has stolen some of her treats for her business, Lucy gives this lady a piece of her mind in no uncertain terms. She's left bewildered when this lady is found dead. Did Lucy's harsh words, spoken in the heat of the moment, have an effect on the lady's life, or is something more sinister at play?

You will be drawn into this small town Christmas mystery when Levi finds the body of bakeshop owner Candy Kane dead in the pantry. Meanwhile things go from crazy to insane when Scooter's dad comes to town, Zoe tries to find the perfect gift for Zak, and everyone is pulled into the fun and magic of Hometown Christmas.

Meghan takes a walk down memory lane and remembers the fright that was before Christmas when she was an aspiring actress in Hollywood. She thought she had gotten the role of a lifetime until she discovered the role she got was for something totally different. Things go from bad to worse when she's identified as a prime suspect for the murder of a key person on set. Meghan knows there are several women who had plausible reasons to want to do something diabolical to the boss from hell. She's one of those women, but she knows she didn't do it. So if it wasn't her, who was it?

It’s the holidays, and Libby Marshall and the Mariposa Café have a new neighbor - gallery owner Steve Devereaux. But, as the Mariposa Beach shopkeepers begin decorating their stores for the holidays, there’s a lot more than crystal ornaments with mistletoe to focus on. Mr. Devereaux has a skeleton in his closet...literally. Could it be the remains of a teenage girl who disappeared from the town over 40 years ago? A former prosecutor, Libby finds herself in the middle of yet another murder investigation. And no worries, she’s still involved with super-hot detective Jack Seiler.

It's finally Thanksgiving break at the Paranormal Institute for Witches. With a week off from school, the Witch Squad thinks they're finally going to get to enjoy some downtime. But as the girls start making plans for their big Thanksgiving dinner party, they discover that Alba has yet to contact Tony, her husband from back home. After finally convincing her to call him, what she discovers sends the girls into a state of shock. Will their Thanksgiving be as magical as they'd all hoped it to be? Or will the tragedy that has befallen one of their loved ones ruin Thanksgiving forever?