Humorous Cozy Mystery

Hayley Powell, food and cocktails columnist for Bar Harbor's Island Times, is...well, kind of broke. So when she's selected for that extreme coupon-clipping reality game show coming to town...she's thrilled, especially when her competition is nasty nurse Candace Culpepper. But when Haley stumbles across a face-down-in-the-snow Candace - scissors gleaming between her shoulders - she knows the next thing she'll be selected for will probably be a police line-up.

The second in this hilarious cozy mystery series features a woman who is a talent agent for showbiz animals and discovers that she has a talent herself: solving crimes. Kay Powell, theatrical agent to non-human animals, is babysitting - that is, birdsitting - her client, a parrot named Barney, on the set of his new TV show, Dead City. When the show’s charismatic star is shot in his trailer between scenes, the only eyewitness to the crime is - you guessed it - Barney.

Doreen’s acting career was in the dumpster—until she played a serial killer on TV. Now she can’t seem to live the infamy down. It’s not helping that her Aunt Edna is a member of the Southern mafia. Or that the gang of elderly ladies at Edna’s apartment complex consider Doreen their rising new star.

When last we met, good people, the biggest wish I've ever made came to fruition. My outrageously handsome, smart, sometimes persnickety (read mostly persnickety) Spy Guy, Winterbottom, is finally here on earth with me, recuperating from his afterlife jaunt. Sure, he can be a difficult patient. Add in the fact that some of the spells I've cast to make this dream a reality have had repercussions (an understatement), and it's been sheer chaos. When my favorite men decide that I should take a day for myself, I hesitantly head out. And then I die. You can imagine, it only goes downhill....

All Doreen Diller wanted was to be an A-List movie star. But after finding out her family in Florida is related to the mob, she may have to settle for Plan B—a hasty exit, stage right. Sophia, the reigning Godmother, is about to turn one hundred. But someone is determined to end her centennial celebration with a bang and grab the throne for themselves.

Missing shoes, stolen paperclips, and stalkers. Oh, what an afterlife! Bridget finally gets her first assignment as an Independent Authority agent: The not-so-glamorous case of The Paperclip Theft. Regardless, she is determined to close the matter quickly and move on to something more challenging. And then, the dead body of the Afterlife Arrivals commander topples out of the stationery cupboard.

Stevie here, reporting to you live from Ebenezer Falls, Washington, with my disaster of a day. It started off like any other day, with the exception of Win's strange behavior, that is. But it's all gone downhill from there and I have questions. So many questions.... For instance, why is everyone else in Eb Falls behaving as strangely as my International Man of Mystery? And who the heck is Donna? For that matter, who's Candy Cane and why does she have snow? Who's the blonde picking up Win in our driveway? And was that an Aston Martin I just saw drive by?

A bloodbath is a shocking new challenge for Megan and Brigit when Detective Audrey Jackson calls them to the scene of what could only be a brutal murder. But the one thing the nightmarish scene is missing is a victim. The frantic homeowner's husband is gone, seemingly without a trace - and so is the money he was holding. Has a vicious killer committed what might just be the perfect crime?

Fired. Tara Holloway can't believe it. After all she's done for the IRS, a few too many shots fired from her weapon and suddenly she's public enemy number one. To add insult to injury, another agent has replaced her, and a 10-million-dollar assault case is hanging over her head. So much for traveling to Tokyo with Special Agent Nick Pratt, former partner and current boyfriend. Tara's stuck in Texas, and using green tea ice cream to soothe her disappointment, as well as the terrifying prospect of a life behind bars.

It's bad enough that Tara has to go on trial against the mortgage-frauding "Tennis Racketeers" who cheated banks and homeowners out of millions in between doubles matches. Now she has to go undercover - in a strip club - to strip the sleazeball owner of his indeed illegal livelihood. At least she's working as a bookkeeper, not a pole dancer. And who needs tips when her undercover crush, Special Agent Nick, is the club's bodyguard?

Cricket Crosby is back . . . and she's licensed to snoop! Fresh off divorce and a private investigator's course, Cricket's ready to balance running her antiques store with proving her PI chops . . . if someone will take a chance on her. When a local PI catches a case involving the theft of luxury goods, he hires the former debutante to go undercover to trap a thief. But snooping during PTA meetings and cotillion parties is harder than it looks, especially when Cricket's missteps cause a hunky police detective to cast suspicion on her new bestie, Ruby Balthazar.

The time has finally arrived! The Trials are in full swing and celebratory parties fill the Isle as Candidates go head-to-head to prove themselves worthy of the coveted Ranger title. Drinks, dances, and masquerade balls set the stage for a glamorous series of events until suddenly, it all changes. The most dangerous criminal on the island escapes from prison. Tragedy strikes. The Isle is thrown into chaos due to old, forbidden black magic, and only one person can help.

There is nothing cake can't solve. Not. One. Thing. Except, perhaps, the escape of a crazy homicidal ex-ward of Bridget Sway's handsome parole officer. Since Bridget has taken the ex-ward's place in the group home, and in the handsome parole officer's roster, it's likely she's a target for Crazy Katie's homicidal rage. When the bodies start dropping, what does Bridget do? Simple. She lets best friend, and ex-PI, Sabrina talk her into a "straightforward" evade and capture mission so they can hand the murderer over to the police and life can go back to normal. Yeah. Foolproof plan.

Cam is taken aback when she stumbles upon a murdered neighbor behind her sister's shop, Dog Diggity. The timing couldn't be worse, as it's only a week until the store's grand opening during Canal Days, the biggest festival of the year. When the police arrest her handyman, Cameron knows they have the wrong suspect, so she and the rest of her Metamora Action Agency set out to crack the case.

Murder meets menopause. Take a guess which wins. A romantic vacation for...five? This wasn't exactly what Jessie and Wilson had in mind when they planned their trip to the tropics. The fun begins when Jessie's delightfully spry mother, Wilson's surfer dude son, and Jessie's rabidly hyperactive New York agent decide to tag along. What kind of trouble can these three oddest of odd balls possibly get into? Take a guess.

Life is hard. Change is difficult. But adjusting to being a ghost? Well, that is just darn near impossible. And Bridget Sway is struggling. It's not just the job, the uniform, the housemates, the rules, the community service. It's everything. And now she's facing a week-long group assessment to evaluate her adjustment.As if that isn't bad enough, some inconsiderate soul has shoved another dead ghost in her locker. Things are looking bleak for Bridget. If she fails the assessment, she'll be "re-educated."

Dr. Georgia Thackery is back at home with her parents after finding a new adjunct position at Bostock College. Everyone is excited for their first family Christmas with nothing to hide. Why? Because Georgia’s daughter, Madison, is now in the know about Sid, their walking, talking family skeleton. But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog, Byron, goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur clutched between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again

When the ladies of the Enchanted Cafe get invited to the prestigious 3P cooking event, they couldn't be happier. But when the King of Pasta falls over dead after eating their event special pie, things take another turn. Soon another body turns up and the mystery unravels as multiple suspects and multiple bodies add up to one amazing mystery! Death by Rolling Pin is set in the small mountain town of Kissing Bridge. Magic and miracles live here along with some of the nicest people you ever met.

Bad news comes in . . . fours? For romance author and former pool shark Jessie Hewitt it does. She hasn't written a decent sex scene in months, she hasn't shot a decent game of eight ball all year, and don't even ask about her supposed love life. And just when Jessie thinks things can't get any worse, a body lands on her car. Uber-hunky and altogether infuriating cop Wilson Rye suggests she concentrate on solving her other problems and leave the murder investigation to the experts. But does Jessie agree? Take a guess.

As an ex-star of a hit teen detective show, Maizie Albright gets the youth demographic, or so she thought. Now that she’s adulting, today’s kids make Maizie feel out of date. But at least the teen YouTube stars of Bigfoot Trackers want to hire her to look into the disappearance and possible murder of their producer, a murder the police find as likely as Bigfoot.