Humorous Thriller

Fifty-three-year-old Patricia Fisher is a trouble magnet like no other, a sad fact she has come to accept during her three-month around the world cruise. Wherever she goes, bodies just appear, or someone gets kidnapped, or she accidentally uncovers a plot to overthrow a government. Life certainly isn’t dull for Patricia. But when she arrives home in England, she plans to start a new chapter of her life.

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 someone is dead and buried, they’re supposed to stay that way...aren’t they? Claire Morgan thought so, but now she suspects the dead guy whose treasures she’s been digging up is not only breathing, but spying on her, too. Crap! When someone is divorced from a pain in the ass, they’re supposed to stay that way....at least, that’s what Ronnie Morgan had hoped when she dumped her husband. But then he rolled over on some bloodthirsty criminals. With him tucked away in prison, they’ll settle for taking their revenge on her. Fudge!

Doreen Diller wants to be a movie star. But after 15 years of failed auditions, she’s yet to garner a single callback from a Hollywood producer. Determined to hit the big time before she turns 40, she pins her hopes on a job assisting soap opera heartthrob Tad Longmire. He could be the answer to her dreams—or the beginning of her nightmares. While filming a new TV series starring Tad, a stabbing death rocks the set. Unfortunately for Doreen, the role of murder suspect is finally one she appears ideally suited to play.

Twenty years ago, I stole something that could win the war between Heaven and Hell. Don't get me wrong, I'm no do-gooder. I wanted to rule everything with the King of Hell. However, I have serious qualms with killing eight billion people in order to get what I want. He didn't. Irreconcilable differences, right? So, I did what any witch would do. I faked my death and hid out in the Seattle suburbs, living as a mundane. Stay at home moms are practically invisible here!

It's basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can’t get much worse. But they’re wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary.

After a life long battle with his inner demons, Alan Reed must face his after a girl is abducted, and the cops think he may have something to do with it.

Charlie McGinley writes detective novels. At least he did, until writers block kicked in. He owes his publisher a book, multiple wives alimony and a loan shark is about to break his thumbs. Charlie hightails it out of L.A. two steps ahead of the police and his latest ex. On Route 66, he runs into Ben Fox, a mysterious Native American hitchhiker who just happened to know Ernest Hemingway Charlies favorite writer.

Nights out are hard to come by for new parents. So when Kate’s new mommy club, Roo & You, holds a dinner cruise, she and her husband leave baby Laurie with Kate’s mom and join the grown-ups for some fine dining on the San Francisco Bay. But when one of the cofounders of Roo & You takes a fatal spill down a staircase, the police department crashes the party. Suddenly, every mom and her man has a motive. Kate’s on deck to solve the mystery—but a killer’s determined to make her rue the day she joined the first-time-mom’s club....

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 magic and good witches don't mix, but I make it work. Spellbooks are a witch's best friend, especially when they're passed down from your beloved dead Grandma. So, when an anonymous caller is interested in buying mine, my answer is nope, not ever, go away. Problem is, they won't take no for an answer. With suspicious newcomers in town and the increasing odds someone thinks my spellbook is full of dark magic, I find myself with no shortage of motives or suspects. Good thing I'm dating Ian, the world's sexiest paranormal problems expert.

Dorothy Scarborough was an academic and author who had a particular interest in the supernatural. The following collection, first published in 1921, features stories that have a strong comical or satirical focus.

Everybody’s got their coping mechanisms. Val Fremden is no exception. But when her longtime boyfriend Tom Foreman takes off without even saying goodbye—well, that’s just the kind of thing that can make a good woman go bad. Out to track down Tom or die trying, everyone Val meets seems like a potential suspect. Especially her new coworker, Gary. Ever since he showed up, women around town have begun disappearing. And the macabre clues left behind at each woman’s last known address keep Val on the run like a chicken with its head cut off.

Cassidy Delgado’s digital world is on fire; only she can extinguish the blaze. In this sequel to the Interstellar Online series, Cassidy’s fury is more intense after being torn from her dream job and creation—a binary-code baby with a potentially fatal flaw. Now working a new job but haunted by her past, Cassidy infiltrates her gaming software to reconnect with old allies. Her mission takes a dramatic turn when she must rescue a key investor lost in the game, putting her future on the line.

A blood-thirsty being is on the rise, resurrecting Old West outlaws. But who is this El Diablo? All evidence points to an eccentric billionaire whose estate lies just outside our jurisdictional reach. Worse, an old-school sheriff seems determined to keep it that way. As menaces teeter into full-blown madness, I’m counting on James to ramp up his smarts and spell-casting. Success will mean the end of the Croft and Wesson era, but failure could condemn all of Grimstone to a hellish oblivion.

Twenty years ago, the Metcalf sisters witnessed a murder and formed a pact of silence. Now they're estranged and scattered because they all fell in love with the same man. When the sisters converge at their childhood home, old wounds are laid open against the backdrop of liquidating their parents' antiques business. And when the playboy who broke up their family shows up, things go from bad to worse!

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.

Tophet County's Midnight Carnival has it all: a mesmerizing (literally) Phæras Wheel, the racy delights of Sphinxter's All-Archonic Peep Show, and the lip-smacking lure of "things which never should have been fried." It's the perfect prelude to the witch's romantic night with her boyfriend, Chad . . . until a creepy fortune teller makes dire predictions with an enchanted deck of Garbage Pail Kids cards, an otherworldly pyromaniac sets the moon on fire, and a shipload of pasta-faced beasties from Lovecraft's backlist lands on the Dunwich Park softball field.

Partying to death? A parlous party at the Castle Perilous comes to a dead halt when the body of viscount Oren is discovered and foul play is suspected. But who is the killer? And where is the murder weapon? The rambunctious revelers at Castle P. join in a treacherous treasure hunt for party favors of a decidedly deadly nature . . . the murder weapon must be hidden behind one of the 144,000 doors, or will it be buried in the back of the next victim?

Barker Mifflin never leaves home without his go bag, his army boots, and his trusty flyswatter. As the town of Nevermind’s resident eleven-year-old survivalist, Barker knows catastrophe can strike anytime, anywhere. But now that school is out for the summer, he might be able to let his guard down. After all, he and his friends all got jobs picking strawberries at McFadden Farm. What could possibly go wrong?