Mystery Reads

Melanie Trenholm should be anticipating Christmas with nothing but joy - after all, it’s only the second Christmas she and her husband, Jack, will celebrate with their twin toddlers. But the ongoing excavation of the centuries-old cistern in the garden of her historic Tradd Street home has been a huge millstone, both financially and aesthetically. Local students are thrilled by the possibility of unearthing more Colonial-era artifacts at the cistern, but Melanie is concerned by the ghosts connected to it that have suddenly invaded her life and her house.

It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home, at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. But then a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.

This Christmas, Callie Aspen returns to her childhood hideout Heart's Harbor, Maine, where her great aunt runs Book Tea, a vintage tearoom where every sweet treat contains a bookish clue. Upon arrival in the fairy-tale snowy town, Callie is drawn into the preparations for a special tea party at Haywood Hall, the rambling house of Heart's Harbor's oldest resident, rich but lonely widow Dorothea Finster, who invited her estranged relatives, old friends, and the elite of the town to make a mysterious announcement about her will.

Summer is in full swing as tourists flock back to the Northwoods and travel to Lofty Pines, Wisconsin. For Rain Wilmot, owner of the Lakeside Library, this is the perfect opportunity to bring back her mother’s summer book club. But the summer sun starts to really heat up when one of the club’s members, Lily Redlin, is found dead in her own home not long after the first meeting.

Isidore Smythe is in danger. He has received threating letters and he does not see a way out. John Angus offers Smythe his help and Smythe is escorted back to his flat. Angus is determined to find out who has sent the letters and he heads out to the former criminal Flambeau and the private detective Father Brown. Before he leaves Smythe’s apartment, he instructs four people to keep an eye on him. Yet when he comes back Smythe is missing and there's a bloodstain on the floor.

When her new editor is murdered right next to her, Poppy knows she needs Ophelia's help to get justice for Ellie. The two of them quickly find themselves in the middle of a scandal rocking the world of professional chess that could lead them to the killer.

New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson pens a spectacularly spine-chilling novella in which an American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village’s grim history.

The story of "The Three Musketeers" continues in "The Man in the Iron Mask" but the plot is even more intricate. D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis return to the scene but this time each of them is fighting for completely different things. D’Artagnan remains in the service of the corrupt King Louis XIV while his "brothers" try to remove him from the throne.

Edmond Dantes is falsely accused of treason on the day of his marriage. He is directly imprisoned in the fortress of If without any investigations being conducted. Edmond does not give up and he is determined to find his way out. The endpoint is the Isle of Monte Cristo which hides a great fortune.

Michael wanted to back out of this trip to the South of France after his wife left him, but his sister and their friends wouldn’t hear of it. His fellow houseguest Rupert isn’t in the mood, either, having recently been widowed. But rather than bonding, Michael is unsettled by Rupert’s constant needling. That and the bug bites are enough to suck the life right out of an idyllic holiday.

From Matt Shaw comes the story of a new breed of serial killer - a stranger who travels the country kidnapping his victims before torturing them and discarding them in a field, dressed up as scarecrows.

A classic mystery for the festive season: mulled wine, mince pies...and murder. Mordecai Tremaine, former tobacconist and perennial lover of romance novels, has been invited to spend Christmas in the sleepy village of Sherbroome, at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame. Arriving on Christmas Eve, he finds that the revelries are in full flow - but so, too, are tensions amongst the assortment of guests.

In this short thriller from number one New York Times best-selling authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, narrated by actress Kate Mara, a young woman’s dream getaway becomes her worst nightmare. Prepare yourself for a transformative experience. Sometimes, life’s setbacks contain hidden gifts. Here at Lakewood, you’ll find the space to unwrap them. A weekend at the Lakewood Retreat is exactly what Chloe Powell needs. Freshly unemployed after her boss loses a reelection campaign, the former press secretary desperately wants a break from the bustle of Washington, DC.

I knew she was trouble from the moment I saw her. I felt it as she stood in the doorway that day: disaster. Not just because she was so different, that skin and that hair, as different from me as it’s possible to be. There was something wrong about her. Wrong for us. It was never going to work. Now she is dead and only I am left to love him. She is dead, and it’s all my fault.

Roy Grace and his family have left Sussex behind for a week’s holiday in France. The website promised a grand house, but when they arrive the place is very different from the pictures. And it soon becomes clear that their holiday nightmare is only just beginning. An old enemy of Roy, a lowlife criminal he had put behind bars, is now out of jail - and out for revenge. He knows where Roy and his family have gone on holiday. Of course he does. He’s been hacking their emails - and they are in the perfect spot for him to pay Roy back.

Winter falls on North Carolina's Outer Banks as Lucy Richardson and her friends joyfully help her favorite cousin, Josie O'Malley, plan her wedding. The owner and head baker of Josie's Cozy Bakery and her fiance, Chef Jake Greenblatt, want a small, simple wedding. But to their horror, Josie's imperious grandmother, Gloria, descends with the "Louisiana Mafia", a gaggle of aunts and cousins who intend to take control of the wedding plans. Gloria doesn't do small and simple, and cousin Mirabelle has her own ideas for Josie's wedding, something grand and lavish.

After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart. But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder.

When movie producer Cody Ziegler goes missing from The Homestead’s Millionaires’ Row, his wife, retired actress Olivia, immediately claims there’s foul play afoot. A million-dollar ransom demand soon follows, with clear instructions not to involve the cops. In desperation she enlists the help of Moira, Rick, Philip and Lizzie, aka the Retired Detectives Club. Racing against the clock, the four retirees set to work.

On the surface, Emerson, Massachusetts, is just like any other affluent New England suburb. But when a young woman is found dead in the nicest part of town, the powerful neighbors close ranks to keep their families safe. In this searing novel, Eden Perry’s death kicks off an investigation into the three teenagers who were partying with her that night, each a suspect. Hannah, a sweet girl with an unstable history. Jack, the popular kid with a mean streak. Christopher, an outsider desperate to fit in.

Spring, 1312. At Malmaison Manor, Lord Simon is concealing a dark secret - one he arrogantly assumes will never catch up with him. But someone knows about the crime he committed and they've found a way to make him pay. And he's not alone. When he is found mysteriously slain, other deaths soon follow. Meanwhile, ships on the Devonshire coast are being deliberately wrecked, their crews slaughtered, their cargoes plundered.