Holiday Mystery

December 1860. Headed for the morning shift at the Swindon Locomotive Works is an army of men pouring out of terraced houses built by the GWR, a miniature town and planned community that aims to provide for its employees from cradle to grave. Unfortunately, boilersmith Frank Rodman is headed for the grave sooner than he'd expected, or he will be once his missing head is found. Colbeck, the Railway Detective, finds his investigation into Rodman's murder mired in contradictions.

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!

Three irritable curmudgeons, each successful in their respective fields, find themselves thrown together on a comically arduous journey - all at the behest of a mysterious host. Arriving at their destination, the three men find their cantankerous hearts melting in the presence of a newborn infant.

Hank and Josie own a small nursery in Mays Landing, New Jersey. They have three kids and a house with a mortgage. Josie has worked hard making and selling wreaths to make money for Christmas presents. Two days before Christmas, while she is collecting pine cones for her wreaths, she finds a woman named Helen lying in the woods behind her house. She is bruised and beaten, but won't let Josie call for help.

It’s Christmas in Salem, and Winter Allen isn’t just playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in the community theater’s production of A Christmas Carol, she’s actually seeing them. And this spirit is worried that the people responsible for her murder are now after her daughter. Somehow the ghost knows Winter is a witch, and her ice magic may be the key to saving the ghost’s daughter. Jackson Walker is a PI in Salem, but he’s also a werewolf, and his heightened senses give him an edge. When a witch from the Coven of Light contacts him asking for help in finding a missing woman, he’s quick to agree.

After the shocking events of last Christmas, Jess Croft is determined this festive season will be the one to remember, for all the right reasons. But when a stranger turns up on her doorstep claiming to be her estranged father, Jess is shocked. Moreso, when the man claims that the little girl with him is none other than Jess’s sister - a child she knew nothing about. Jess isn’t sure she wants these strangers to stay, but she can’t turn them away, especially when she learns that their lives are in danger.

It’s Christmastime, but one old movie studio watchman won’t be celebrating. It’s now up to two patrolmen to solve the case in this murder mystery set in 1943 Hollywood. Murder On Santa Claus Lane was adapted from a pulp-fiction story by William G. Bogart, first appearing in G-Men Detective magazine.

It's New Year's Day, a time for new beginnings and setting the stage for things to come. Factory worker Kevin usually starts with a day off, but this year he's working the year-end inventory. He is disgruntled but doing as he's asked until he can get out of there and return home to his wife and kids.

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.

Emily y Linda están invitadas a la mejor fiesta de Halloween que se celebra en Blossom Creek. Pero las bromas dejan paso al terror cuando, en plena celebración, resuena un disparo. ¡Alguien ha matado...a la Muerte! De hecho, la víctima vestía un lúgubre disfraz de Ángel de la Muerte. ¡Un caso espeluznante para la Agencia Wright!

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.

There’s a Grinch in Pomme Valley! Someone is stealing presents right from under the noses of unsuspecting homeowners and leaving no trace of how he broke in. And, to make matters even more baffling, he’s stealing only presents! Corgis Sherlock and Watson are on the case! Accompanied by their reluctant human, Zack, the unlikely trio must find out who’s responsible for the thefts and stop him before anyone gets hurt. The townsfolk are scared. City officials are nervous. Can Zack and the dogs put a stop to this crime spree before Christmas is ruined for everyone?

Those two bad men, Lanky Len and Hefty Hugh, are back! They may be in the city instead of the farm, but they haven't changed their thieving ways. In fact, they're even more ambitious. They're planning to steal a monkey from the zoo and use it to pinch the Queen's crown. It's a pity for them that a certain crime-busting ladybird is holidaying in the very same city...and she's got a good idea that will ensure the dastardly pair won't get away with it!

In addition to feeding the felines Aubrey and Vincent, Jeremy Goodman has a new responsibility: filling a recently vacated trustee role at a local charity that works tirelessly to house the homeless. Jeremy is initially enthusiastic—but soon begins to suspect that all is not as it seems at the nonprofit’s headquarters.

December 1935. Director Monty Harrison's production of A Christmas Carol has had a troubled run on its tour of regional theatres. With tensions amongst the cast running high, the company reach their final stop—London's Theatre Royale. Catastrophe, however, strikes on opening night: Scrooge dies on stage, the result (it is presumed) of a heart attack. But the show must go on. Until, that is, a leading theatre critic—and old rival of Monty's—is killed backstage.

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.

Sheriff Teague Castro made a mistake 10 years ago that cost him the love of his life. But Jenny Northcutt has always been the woman for him, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to get a second chance. Teague cooks up a plan to woo Jenny, but a local theft could ruin both the Christmas holiday and his odds of winning her over. Now, with a mysterious crime to solve, Teague must once again keep a secret from Jenny. Will their painful past repeat itself, or will they get the gift of a second chance at love?

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.

Originally published in a 1892 edition of Strand Magazine, "The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle" was one of 12 short stories to be included in the first Sherlock Holmes collection, the 1892 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. In this tale, Holmes and Watson investigate two cases - one involving a Christmas goose and a hat and the other, the theft of the Blue Carbuncle, a priceless jewel. The cases are quickly revealed to be intertwined, and the spirit of the holidays influences the tale's end.

Dan Coast is all set to spend Christmas just the same way he has every year for the past few years: alone and drunk....