Island Fiction

It's the dead of winter in the Thousand Islands, and there's nothing that reminds Suzy and Josie about that fact more than sub-zero temperatures, bone-chilling winds, and finding a dead body under the ice wearing only shorts and a tee shirt. In addition, a rare Dandie Dinmont has been found wandering around the area and Suzy and Josie, while trying to figure out what might have happened to the man under the ice, are also doing everything they can to reunite the dog with its owner.

Christmas is fast approaching, and around the Inn, Suzy and Josie are looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the holiday season with their friends and family. But when a box of puppies is dropped off on their doorstep on a frigid night, the chain of events that unfolds leads them straight to a murder and an illegal puppy mill that's operating in the area.

Suzy and Josie, owners of the Thousand Islands Doggy Inn, are attending an end-of-summer party and are about to receive a sizeable charitable gift from one of their good friends, a local businessman with a love of dogs and a reputation with the ladies. A newly built yacht about to embark on a trip to Florida via the Inland Waterway is one of the party highlights, but when the engineer is killed, and Jackson, the Clay Bay Chief of Police, ends up in critical condition, the yacht becomes the focal point of the ensuing murder investigation.

Tiffany Sturgil steals the spotlight as her new boutique Naughty & Nice opens in downtown Gansett—right in time for the annual spring Race Week festivities. Finally divorced and ready for a new beginning, Tiffany wonders if sexy police chief Blaine Taylor thinks of her as often as she thinks of him since their explosive encounter last fall. Back then, he directed her to call him the second she was officially divorced, but the opening of her store and her unconventional ad campaign have put the island's lingerie queen at odds with the town's top cop.

Marine biologist and former secret operative Doc Ford is lazily poling his skiff along Southwest Florida's flat copper sea in search of sea anemones when he runs into the body of the most hated man on Sanibel Island: Marvin Rios. And when the Island's simplest and sweetest resident is arrested for the murder, Doc heads straight into the heart of the sunshine state's dark side - to save his friend from being framed, and to save Sanibel Island from a rising tide of land-grab schemes, blood money, and violence.

Smarter and packing an attitude, not to mention her Glock, Madison Westin is back with her never-say-no style. This time trouble rolls into Tarpon Cove in the form of her ex-husband, Jackson Devereaux, whom she hoped to never see again. His arrival brings unparalleled chaos and an uninvited corpse. Teaming up with her hot friend, Fabiana, the two women go from chasing the usual cast of misfits and weirdos to hunting down a murderer. The action turns deadly serious when they stir up a nasty enemy as they try to stay one-step ahead in a game of cat and mouse that threatens their lives.

Crescent Cove, a small hamlet on Vancouver Island, is the last place out-of-work investigative journalist Luke Tremblay ever wanted to see again. He used to spend summers here, until his family learned that he was gay and rejected him. Now, following his aunt's sudden death, he's inherited her entire estate, including her seaside cottage and the antiques shop she ran for forty years in Crescent Cove. Luke plans to sell everything and head back to Toronto as soon as he can . . . but Crescent Cove isn't done with him just yet.

Ex-Navy SEAL Leif Ramsey-known as Phoenix-has fallen hard for spitfire Kelly Taylor, but the first order of business is to protect her from whoever is sending her threatening texts. Her tormenter has upped the ante with a message Leif can't bear to show Kelly, but when he finally does . . .

Things in the Middle Florida Keys aren’t as idyllic as they seem. If one looks closely, there’s a layer of dirt just below the surface. The butt-ugly kind of dirt that’s hard to get off. Things move slowly in the Keys—locals call it island time—but there are some for whom it seems that time is at a standstill; whose clocks revolve only around the tides, fish migrations, and the rising and setting of the sun and moon.

Sandro Vasiliadis, a nurse at the Whidbey Island General Hospital, has died of an apparent heroin overdose. When his grieving mother bends over to kiss her son's corpse at the viewing, she shrieks, "That's not Sandro!" Convinced that her son must still be alive, Maria Vasiliadis hires Kyra Rachel and Noel Franklin to solve the mystery. With questions of foul play continuing to swirl around the death, the detectives' inquiries lead them deeper into Sandro's life and eventually to a medical clinic that specializes in transgendering.

The second in the Islands Investigations International Mystery series, Always Kiss the Corpse takes Kyra and Noel's investigation from the rush of Seattle to the seeming peace of the San Juan Islands in this thrilling pause-resistor. It's only once the detectives come to understand Sandro in life that they unlock the secret to his death.

The new, detached setting is teeming with "land mines"—highly unusual ones. Plenty of other, deadlier things would be happy to reach out and touch someone anywhere, be it the roof of a skyscraper or a subway tunnel deep underground. Tons of somnambulant extras could swing either way: cut your throat or help you, purely on a whim. Weapons are as deadly as they are improbable. Deliberately imposed multiple handicaps make any attempts at camouflage meaningless.

When I agreed to stand by my best friend, Basia, on her big day, I had no idea what I was in for. Bouquets and unflattering evening wear I can handle. But between disgruntled dates, a beach venue, and suspicious packages, what else can go wrong? Oh, right - my parents don't know I've moved in with Slash. Oops? Thankfully, I've got everything semi under control, at least as far as Basia and Xavier know. They can leave for their honeymoon happy, knowing Elvis, Slash, and I will keep things safe at home.

American doctor Tara Moore wants to disappear. On the run from an abusive husband, she seeks shelter on a windswept Irish island and dismisses the villagers' speculation that she is descended from a selkie - a magical creature who is bewitching the island. But when a ghostly woman appears to her with a warning, Tara realizes it was more than chance that brought her to this island.

Archer Steele is one of the leading vintners on the East Coast. He’s arrogant, aggressive, and has never been interested in settling down, which is what makes his hookups with his sister’s beautiful blonde best friend, hair and makeup artist Indi Oliver, the perfect escape. But Indi’s toying with moving to the island, and when she ends their no-strings trysts to focus on her business, Archer isn’t ready to let her go....

Paradise isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Few people know this as well as Jesse McDermitt, retired Marine and former government operative. In the aftermath of an intense mission in coastal Mexico, Jesse wants nothing more than to get back to his boat; to just sail away and forget all about the firefight and his warrior past. Jesse is forced to don the warrior’s mask once again. This time to catch a ghoulish killer who is stalking the villages and jungles outside Belize City.

Charlotte Madsen's whole world came crashing down six months ago with the words, "I met someone else". Thirty-seven, recently divorced, and childless. That's Charlotte when she disembarks from the plane in Getaway Bay. She wants to get away, that's for sure. She thought the best way to do that was to buy a run-down house overlooking the bay, knowing she'll need all her fixer-upper skills to get it in shape. Which is just fine. She's hoping as she overhauls the house, she'll get a life makeover too.

On a kayak outing with friends, Jesse's daughter finds and rescues a manatee suffering from respiratory problems. The red tide has returned, and fish are dying by the thousands, along with dolphins, manatees, and sea birds. The algal bloom is a naturally occurring phenomenon, but this time it's much worse. Theories abound; it's something left over from the previous spring's coronavirus outbreak, it's caused by pollution, someone is intentionally creating a super-algae....But there's something far more sinister at work, and it's up to Jesse to find out what it is and put a stop to it.

Visit Crown Island for sunshine and romance. What could be sweeter? Especially with Knox MacKenzie around. Junie Raines is ready for a second chance at life on a sunny island off the coast of Southern California. She’s managing the gift shop at the Majestic Hotel, a Victorian-era beach resort, and her sister Maileah is trying her patience with her sibling rivalry.

Fifteen years ago, a teenage girl found an ancient gold medallion on a small island off the Florida gulf coast. Soon she was having nightmares and later was found hanging from a tree. Although the death was ruled a suicide, the girl's mother, Della, is now sure there was foul play. Her trailer has been vandalized, and her daughter's coffin raided.

1333 A.D. - The lovely and educated Lady Aubrielle Grace di Witney is what is kindly termed an unmanageable woman. Her uncle, the Earl of Wrexham, has been awarded custody of his niece because her mother can no longer handle the head-strong beauty. Like a coward, the earl abdicates his duties to his most powerful knight, Sir Kenneth St. Hever with the instructions to transform her into a submissive lady. Aubrielle and Kenneth are at odds from the onset; Kenneth expects obedience and Aubrielle is less than compliant.