Showing titles in Animals

Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, have started a new Christmas tradition. Their local pet store has a Christmas tree, where instead of ornaments there are wishes from those in need. One poignant wish leads Andy to a child named Danny, whose selfless plea strikes a chord. Danny asked Santa for a coat for his mother, a sweater for his dachshund, Murphy, and for the safe return of his missing father.

When librarian Kathleen Paulson moved to Mayville Heights, Minnesota, she had no idea that two strays would nuzzle their way into her life. Owen is a tabby with a catnip addiction and Hercules is a stocky tuxedo cat who shares Kathleen's fondness for Barry Manilow. But beyond all the fur and purrs, there's something more to these felines. When murder interrupts Mayville's Music Festival, Kathleen finds herself the prime suspect.

It's summertime in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Bertie James' college class is having their 40th-anniversary reunion. The opening-night reception is held at the Lighthouse Library, and Lucy and her colleagues have assembled an exhibit of library artifacts showing how libraries have changed over the years. After the reception, some of the women take a walk down the boardwalk to the pier, using flashlights to illuminate the dark path, but what's scarier than the dark is finding the former director of the Lighthouse Library floating lifeless in the water.

It's the grand opening of Daybreak Island's cat cafe, where customers can get cozy with an assortment of friendly felines - and maybe even take one or a few home. Co-owner Maddie James is purring with excitement over her new warm-and-fuzzy venture, until she becomes entangled in a petty drama between one of her volunteers and a wealthy woman who insists on adopting a calico kitty. The catfight that ensues is bad enough for business. But when the snubbed socialite is found dead with a tell-tale catnip toy on the scene, suspicion lands squarely on Maddie's staffer.

The Tail Waggin' Winterfest is the highlight of the season in the famously pet-friendly Pocono Mountains town of Sylvan Creek. But despite attractions like an ice sculpture display, a dogsled race, and gourmet hot chocolate, Daphne Templeton finds herself annoyed by TV producer Lauren Savidge, who's filming the festivities. She's critical, controlling, and as chilly as the January air. Daphne would like to tell her to go jump in a lake - and as a matter of fact, that's exactly what they're both going to do....

Charlene, recently widowed, has renovated her historic mansion just in time to greet guests arriving for the town's annual Halloween festivities. She's lucky to have a helpful staff to provide support - as well as a handsome ghost named Jack standing invisibly by her side. Unfortunately, while the revelers head out on haunted tours, have their fortunes told, or grab a drink at Brews and Broomsticks, a killer walks among them. When Charlene discovers Morganna, a local Wiccan, dead in her shop, she starts getting cozy with the local coven, looking for clues to locate the crafty culprit.

Wagtail, Virginia, has it all. It's a gorgeous lakeside town with picturesque mountains, old-fashioned inns, friendly pet-loving townsfolk - and the highest murder rate for miles around. A group of wealthy pet moms has come to Wagtail to pamper their furry friends and to organize a glamorous ball to raise money for animal rescue. At the same time, a pet detective also strolls into town working on a case and winds up offending the luxurious ladies. When he's found dead, Hollie and her faithful four-footed companion, Trixie, must now sniff out clues to catch an upper-crust killer.

Winifred Page and her sidekick corgi, Watson, join an assortment of family and friends to celebrate her uncles’ anniversary at Baldpate Inn, nestled above Estes Park, Colorado. A blizzard is approaching, but the prospect of being snowed in means more time in the lovely mountain retreat - complete with river rock fireplaces, log cabin rooms, and a collection of thousands of keys from around the world.

The last thing Jane expected was to meet Cherri, her ex-husband’s new wife, but that’s exactly what happens. It’s bad enough that Jane’s Amish sister has a broken arm, so Jane has to run the cupcake store with dubious help from feisty octogenarians Matilda and Eleanor and naughty little cat Mr. Crumbles...but Cherri wants Jane’s help in solving a murder.

Jim Qwilleran has officially inherited a fortune and his freedom, which leaves him with a serious dilemma: What should he do next? Seeking a place of peace and isolation to make up his mind, he heads to the Potato Mountains for the summer. But Qwill lands in the middle of controversy, not solitude. Developers are eager to turn the pristine Potatoes into a tourist trap, and one of the locals has been convicted of murdering millionaire J.J. Hawkinfield. Some people swear the wrong man was convicted, and Qwill is inclined to agree. But if Forest Beechum didn't do the dirty deed, who did?

I am not a consulting detective, Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 10-year-old Lauren Tierney, when the little girl comes to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium to beg Gemma to find her missing cat, Snowball. Gemma might not be able to follow the clues to find the cat, but her dog, Violet, follows her nose to locate the missing kitten in a neighbor's garden shed. Gemma and Violet proudly return Snowball to her grateful owner, and Gemma basks in praise for a job well done. But a few days later, Lauren is back with $10 in hand, wanting to once again hire a consulting detective.

Krissy's helping a friend clean out her late mother's house when she learns that although the deceased died peacefully at an advanced age, her brother did not. In fact, Wade was killed more than 30 years ago, and the case was never closed. What surprises Krissy even more is that she has a personal connection to the story - her friend Rita was seeing Wade at the time, scandalizing the town with the couple's large age difference.

Corey Douglas and his K-9 partner, a German shepherd named Simon Garfunkel, are recently retired police officers turned private investigators. Along with fellow former cop Laurie Collins and her investigating partner, Marcus, they call themselves the K Team, in honor of Simon. The K Team’s latest case - a recent unsolved murder - gives Corey a chance to solve "the one that got away".

On a culinary tour of the British Isles, retired Detective Superintendent Albert Smith and snarky former police dog Rex Harrison find something quite unexpected waiting for them at their B&B.... It’s the almost-dead body of their landlady. Refusing to believe in coincidence, Albert and Rex set out to discover why her "accident" is the second terrible event there in two days. Something is stirring in Bakewell and it’s not the ingredients for a famous tart.

Zoey sells tacos next to a bookstore that doubles as a bar, but her quiet life in the one-stoplight town is turned upside down when a dead body is discovered near her taco truck. When Zoey and her friends emerge as the leading suspects in the investigation, she knows she has to do something. She has too many secrets in her past to let the investigation continue.

"Harry" Haristeen and her friends and animal companions pursue the threads of a mystery dating back to Virginia's post-Revolutionary past, introduced in A Hiss Before Dying, while their 18th century predecessors continue to struggle with the challenges of the fledgling country.

With Meri at her side, Kinsley is ready to pull out all the stops and make this year's Midnight Magic Festival the best her hometown has ever seen. There's just one problem . . . A new witch, Astra Argent, has moved to Coventry and opened a competing shop across the street from Kinsley's store. When Kinsley comes to work one morning only to find her windows smashed, decorations destroyed, swag bags missing, and Astra's wallet in the glass, she's furious. A confrontation the whole town witnesses goes down in front of Astra's shop, The Summoning Scroll.

Lawyer Andy Carpenter and his wife, Laurie, enjoy walking their dogs, Tara and Sebastian. By this point in their marriage, it’s routine. When out for one of their strolls, their simple ritual isn’t so simple anymore. Across the street, a man is mistreating his dog. Three things happen at once: Andy yells, Laurie runs to stop the abuse, and so does a closer passerby, who so thoroughly beats the owner that both are arrested when the cops arrive.

Caught in a rainstorm, Dixie takes cover in the gatehouse of a mysterious mansion only to make a terrible discovery: The guard has been murdered. Given her recent history, she's had quite enough of homicide investigations, detectives, and police tape, so she sneaks away, confident that someone else will report it. But that somebody else sees her leaving the scene of the crime. It's up to Dixie to find out which as she finds herself at the center of a dangerous mystery fueled by dark secrets...

Lee has been promoted from field reporter to program director. Keeping track of all the shows and managing the local TV personalities - including a cowboy, a clown, and a performing dog - has her head spinning. Perhaps that's what makes her take pity on the distraught woman she finds sitting alone on a bench on the Salem common. When she realizes that the poor woman doesn't even know her own name, Lee takes her into the warmth of the home she shares with her Aunt Ibby and their clairvoyant gentleman cat, O'Ryan.