Holiday Mystery Thriller

DI James Walker is ready for a quiet family Christmas in the sleepy village of Kirkby Abbey. But when he opens an early Christmas present left on his doorstep, he soon realises it is no gift. Inside is a gruesome surprise and a promise - 12 days, 12 murders. Not long after, the first body is found, half frozen in the snow. As the blizzards descend, panic spreads through the remote Cumbrian village - there’s a killer amongst them, and with 11 more victims to go, anyone could be next.... Can James stop the killer before they strike again?

When Mrs. Claus is found murdered days before the Annual Heywood Christmas Festival, Sheriff Mallory Richards cancels the beloved event. As the flu takes out the whole sheriff’s department—except for Deputy Jordan Branson—he begs Sam to help him find the killer. She and Annabelle set out to catch the murderer but land themselves in a tangled web of deception and danger.

Christopher Gilhaney isn't a popular man, and he proves why once again when he insults every guest at Abigail Chase's Guy Fawkes Night dinner party. When Gilhaney is shot dead under the cover of the night's fireworks, his murder is deemed a robbery gone wrong. But when the case hasn't been solved six weeks later, Inspector Witherspoon is called upon to find the killer - and quickly!

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.

On a leafy suburban street in Dublin, beautiful, poised Stella Greene lives with her successful husband, Matt. They're the perfect couple in every way, and Stella appears to have it all. Next door, at number 72, however, lives Rea Brady. Gruff, bad tempered and rarely seen besides the twitching of her net curtains, rumour has it she's lost it all...including her marbles, if you believe the neighbourhood gossip. But appearances can be deceiving, and when Stella and Rea's worlds collide they realise they have much in common.

Weihnachten steht vor der Tür und kommt Agatha wie gerufen. Denn sie will sich ein für allemal ihren Ex James Lacey aus dem Kopf schlagen. Sie stürzt sich so sehr in die festlichen Vorbereitungen, dass der Brief der Witwe Tamworthy völlig untergeht - obwohl diese behauptet, einer ihrer Verwandten wolle sie vor Jahresende tot sehen. Ein fataler Fehler. Wenig später ist die Dame tatsächlich mausetot. Und damit hat Agatha noch mehr Ablenkung als durch den ganzen Weihnachtstrubel: Ein Mörder muss gestellt werden!

Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, have started a new Christmas tradition. Their local pet store has a Christmas tree, where instead of ornaments there are wishes from those in need. One poignant wish leads Andy to a child named Danny, whose selfless plea strikes a chord. Danny asked Santa for a coat for his mother, a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy, and for the safe return of his missing father.

Violet Rhinehammer finally gets the call! She's been working so hard in her hometown of Normal, Kentucky, as a reporter for Channel Two News and the Normal Gazette to get the national attention to she believes she rightfully deserves! Now is her time! Violet gets an interview of a lifetime with a huge national news network. It doesn't take her long to pack her bag and hop on an airplane leaving Normal, Kentucky, behind!

Everyone knows a Juniper Holiday Halloween party is to die for. To get an invite is the most talked about topic in Crescent Cove. To experience the Holiday mansion in all its (supposedly) haunted glory is the stuff of legend. Of course, no one has actually seen a ghost in residence—but how could they when they’re having the time of their life?

This Christmas season, genealogist Ellie McLellan is put in charge of organizing the Percyville holiday festivities. Together with her dwindling senior genealogist group, she endeavors to plan an exceptional event for the town. But when a family feud is unexpectedly thrust upon her, she must find a Percyville treasure before the last generation renews the feud or destroys the the town's Christmas tradition. Will the elders of the community have the clues Ellie needs to solve this mystery?

The five of us have been friends since we were children. We think we know every scar, every secret, every story. But by the third night, one of us will be dead. How far will we go to keep our secrets hidden? And when does being close to someone start becoming dangerous?

This wasn't the secret she expected from her Secret Santa! Security expert for a British bank by day, horse trainer at night, Izzy Paterson is a multi-tasking, dressage-riding computer whiz with an addiction to strong coffee and a penchant for CSI on Netflix. So when the Secret Santa at her office Christmas party hands her a perplexing riddle, she just can't ignore the mystery. Penned by a modern-day Robin Hood, the anonymous rhyme hints at financial misconduct that could put the future of everyone at her work in danger.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are shopping with little Maylin when they see Sandra and Janet outside a bookstore, fur flying, and when Sandra vanishes from her own gala later that night, suspicion turns to Janet. Janet accuses Sandra of attempting to manipulate the media by a fake disappearance, but is it a stunt, or is something more sinister at play? Sarah Booth and Tinkie will have to dive deep into the history of Bay St. Louis, and even Al Capone himself, to get to the bottom of this case.

Mariah Ellison, Charlotte Pitt's grandmother, accepts her longtime friend Winnie's gracious invitation to spend Christmas with her and her husband, Barton, in their picturesque village. But upon arrival, Mariah discovers that Winnie has vanished without a trace, and Barton rudely rescinds the invitation. Once Mariah finds another acquaintance to stay with during the holiday season, she begins investigating Winnie's disappearance.

Quilt appraiser Keely Fairchild just wants to have a quiet little Thanksgiving dinner at home with her boyfriend, but as the guest list grows, so do the distractions from meal preparations. First, she gets dragged into investigating the theft of miniature quilts that were supposed to be featured in the guild's entry in the Danger Cove Thanksgiving Parade.

Kate and the team couldn’t be spending the holiday season in a more picturesque town. They are in Franklin, Tennessee, to find the person setting off bombs at random. Or could it be that the explosions aren't as random as it appears? Can the team stop the bomber in time for Franklin’s big holiday festival? Kate herself is having a hard time dealing with the fact she can’t go home for Christmas...or can she?

'Tis the season to be jolly and the ghosts of Lottawatah are determined to horn in on the holiday revelry. In Giving Thanks in Lottawatah, Brianna Sullivan must find an engagement ring that has been missing for 35 years, deal with the mother of her boyfriend who is holding a grudge because Brianna almost killed her with crab dip, and wrangle family ghosts to give up old secrets and enjoy the holiday.

All of Alvirah's deductive powers and Willy's world-class common sense are called upon as the two stumble into a Christmas mystery. A woman abandons her newborn at a Manhattan church. Simultaneously, a thief is absconding with a treasured artifact, a chalice adorned with a star-shaped diamond. To elude police, he grabs the stroller and disappears.

Opening your apartment door to see a woman sliding down it is distressing. Especially when that woman has a knife in her chest. How could a murderer be roaming the halls in the middle of the night? After all the times she has encouraged Jolie to mind her own business, Aunt Madge has had a change of heart. It's Jolie's boyfriend Scoobie Madge turns to help her figure out who the murderer is.

Enjoy the holiday season with three festive mysteries set in coastal Maine. This anthology includes "Yule Log Murder" by Leslie Meier, "Death by Yule Log" by Lee Hollis, and "Logged On" by Barbara Ross.