Holiday Thriller

USA Today best-selling author William W. Johnstone built a reputation for crafting unmatched stories of true Western courage - a tradition J. A. Johnstone now continues. In A Rocky Mountain Christmas, Matt Jensen’s scenic trip on the Denver railway is derailed when an avalanche strikes the train. Far from an accident, its cause is a reckless band of outlaws out to free their leader. Surrounded and outgunned in a driving snowstorm, Matt must lead to safety a ragtag group of survivors that includes a senator’s sick daughter and a beautiful woman with a dark past.

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.

It's the Christmas season and veterinarian Kate Turner is not feeling very jolly. She's overworked, unappreciated, and dealing with two dissatisfied clients. Throw in a very complicated personal life and Kate's definitely got a case of the holiday blues. To make matters worse, Kate's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is mugged and robbed after they have a heated argument in the hospital parking lot. Then, two of her dissatisfied clients turn up dead (which really gets Kate's tinsel in a tangle). All of these events seem like coincidences, but they add up to something much more venomous.

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.

The Williamson family sets out on a road trip to reach their family for the holidays. When a near accident forces them off the road, they meet a man who befriends the father. He tells him of this motel not too far up the street, in case they need a place to wait out the approaching snowstorm. When the family is forced to find a place to stay, that motel seems to be their only option. Everything seems normal at first, but the longer they stay, the more sinister things become, until the family is forced to fight for their lives. Will they make it through? Will they survive the snowstorm?

As Charlotte Pitt's grandmother Mariah Ellison finds herself investigating a long-unsolved slaying, it becomes clear that grappling with intrigue and foul play runs in the family. A festive Christmas package left on Mariah's doorstep contains an ominous present, sparking memories of a 20-year-old murder that shattered her friendship with the victim's widow. Though the gift is a bitter reminder of that tragic time, in the spirit of the season Mariah travels to Surrey in hopes of reconciling with her estranged friend and solving the crime that drove them apart.

In Rudolph, Christmas in July heralds Santa's arrival by boat to begin his summer vacation at the lake, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus's Treasures, is looking forward to a busy weekend. But she's caught off guard when her ex-fiance, Max Folger, arrives with a team from a lifestyle magazine wanting to do a feature on the July festivities. It's clear that Max's visit has less to do with business and more to do with winning back Merry's heart. Merry has too much on her plate to deal with an old flame, but when Max is found strangled to death, she must find out who wanted him dead.

Miranda did not put adventure on her Christmas list, but thanks to her 85-year-old neighbor Joy, that's exactly what she's getting this year. When Joy tells Miranda that she plans to drive an old RV decked out in Christmas decorations from their Chicago neighborhood to her new retirement digs in Phoenix - in the dead of winter, no less - the much younger Miranda insists that Joy cannot make such a trip by herself. Besides, a crazy trip with Joy would be more interesting than another Christmas home alone.

After working for Charlotte and Thomas Pitt for years, Gracie thought her maid-work was behind her. But when her good friend turns up at her doorstep just before the holidays, frantic because she's lost her job and has no references for a new one since she was unceremoniously fired, Gracie knows she has to find out what happened. Her friend, it seems, was concerned about what was going on in the house, and the husband and wife who lived there got rid of her to stop her talking.

This wry collection of Hanukkah noir features eleven stories by critically acclaimed authors that run the gamut from hardboiled to heartfelt, curated by New York Times bestselling author Tod Goldberg. Across eleven stories, award-winning authors spin tales of family, corruption, buried treasure and delightful yet twisted capers that will entertain listeners through all eight nights of the Festival of Lights.

Lindsey prefers to keep her bakeshop's Halloween decor light and autumnal, rather than gruesome and ghoulish. But everyone knows her lighthouse home is haunted. Some intrepid teens have even tried to break in to witness the resident ghost themselves. Dreading Halloween night, Lindsey reluctantly allows her influencer and podcaster best friend, Kennedy, to host a live ghost hunting investigation in the lighthouse, conducted by a professional team. Protective of her ghost, Lyndsey is understandably nervous about what they might uncover.

The festive season is in full swing - parties, champagne and Christmas crackers abound. You're having a breather at the hotel bar when a stunning young woman catches your eye. Could she really be interested in you? She flutters her eyelashes and takes your hand. Her Christmas party dress glitters with sequins. What you don't know is that your life is now in her hands - as she leads you up to her room there's only one thing that will determine whether you live or die. Are you a good person? Are you really?

Life was going well for 25-year-old repo agent Andrea Sloan. She hadn't stumbled across any more naked dead guys at work, and her love life was pretty much wonderful. When she picked up a part-time job working at the mall for some extra cash as an elf, she never imagined she'd witness Santa gunned down in the parking lot. Just like that, Andi became tangled with friends and foes from her past in a race to find Santa's stolen bag of cash before Christmas.

The year is 1857, soon after the tragic Siege of Cawnpore. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when these baffling crimes were committed.

Ruby Holmes is delighted to be celebrating Christmas with her close friends in Carmel Springs, Maine. The tree in the center of town is about to be lit, the mistletoe is up, and the town is decorated in reds, greens, and whites. Everything is perfect. Until the lights come on and reveal the dead body of the mayor himself. It’s murder, and with very few leads for the local detectives to follow, it’s time to shut the town down until further notice - no celebrations, no parties in the street, and certainly no caroling. Can Ruby and Bee solve the mystery?

Christmas has arrived in Rudolph, New York, and Merry Wilkinson is looking forward to a much needed rest. But before that can happen, Luanne Ireland walks through her door. Luanne had asked Merry to help make decorations for her wedding, but has suddenly moved the wedding months earlier and is now demanding that everyone follow her lead, regardless of the cost. But that cost is much higher than anyone anticipated. When Luanne's fiance is found murdered at their proposed wedding venue, Merry resolves to restore peace and calm to the community of Rudolph.

It’s a cold and snowy Christmas Eve in the rowdy mining town of Deadwood in the Dakota Territory. Rather than enjoy some drinks in front of a warm fire with her friends, contracted Slayer Clementine Johanssen has her horse saddled and weapons packed to head out into the hills and hunt down some deadly scallywags—alone. When her friends catch wind of her intentions, they set out to waylay her long enough to change her way of thinking...in spite of her mule-headedness.

Antoine Verlaque, examining magistrate for the beautiful town of Aix-en-Provence, doesn't like Christmas. The decorations appear in the shops far too early, festive tourists swarm the streets, and his beloved Cours Mirabeau is lined with chalets selling what he regards as tacky trinkets. But his wife and partner Marine Bonnet is determined to make this a Christmas they can both enjoy, beginning with the carol sing at the Cathedral Saint Sauveur, a beautiful service in a packed church. Just as the holiday cheer is in full swing, a man is poisoned, sending the community into a tailspin.

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!

Mildred Kilgore and Earlynne Biddle are planning to open a bakery on the square - if they can come up with the right recipes. Charlie Dickens faces two of the biggest puzzles of his career as an investigative reporter, and one of them involves his wife. Cute little Cupcake's talent as a singer and dancer makes her a tempting target for an unscrupulous exploiter. Lizzy must enlist the Dahlias to protect her while she herself is confronted by a romantic puzzle. And Sheriff Norris is forced to reopen a puzzling mystery that the town thought was solved.