Amateur Sleuth Mystery

Forty-something Maggie Sharpe is returning to her quaint childhood town of Dogwood Mountain, Missouri, nestled in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, Maggie recently inherited Dogwood Bakery, along with a cute little cottage, from her aunt Marjorie. With a son in the Navy, deployed six months at a time, and an ex in Kansas, Maggie decided that it was time for a change, but she soon learns that life back home is not all sprinkles and jelly-filled donuts.

Addie's getting into the spirit for the upcoming Charity Auction - especially since she's got an 1843 copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to donate. Her former colleagues at the Boston Public Library have confirmed that its worth runs toward the high five figures, which should help with the new pediatric wing. Her mood darkens, though, when a visitor from the past appears - Jonathan Hemingway, the father of her late fiance. His presence stirs up sad memories for Addie, but also has her fuming when Jonathan runs off for a lunchtime liaison with Teresa Lang.

A joyful Christmas festival turns deadly when a corpse ends up as the chilling centrepiece. Can an amateur sleuth unwrap the tinsel-tangled mystery before the merry cheer melts away? Talented antiques enthusiast, Dotty Sayers, is thrilled to be organising a Christmas display at a Yorkshire country house. She enjoys decking the halls, but the season is far from jolly when the chief guide is found dead, her body as cold as ice. When cops dismiss the death, Dotty turns to her prickly American colleague, only to learn he has his own secrets to solve. But when he disappears, this amateur ...

Curiosity just might be the death of Mrs. Murphy - and her human companion, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. Small towns are like families: Everyone lives very close together. . .and everyone keeps secrets. Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town - until its secrets explode into murder. Crozet's thirty-something post-mistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tucker), a pending divorce, and a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her.

Dotty Sayers is back - but some truths should never go under the hammer. Taking over a prestigious Cotswold auction house should be a dream come true for antiques expert Dotty Sayers. But when a scandal involving its owners hits the headlines, the business teeters on the brink of collapse, and Dotty must fight to keep its doors open. Amid the cluttered antiques and dusty heirlooms of a routine house clearance, Dotty uncovers a discovery tied to a long-concealed secret. But as she digs deeper, it becomes clear someone will do anything to keep the truth from coming to light. Dotty’s best ...

Mabel doesn't know a stinkin' thing about garlic farming. She knows how to develop an app and how to code. But when her aunt, Peggy Skinner, dies suddenly, Mabel inherits her Stinkin' Stuff Farm in Western Massachusetts. She arrives during peak harvest time - with three days to bring in the entire crop before rain can destroy it. But Mabel has an even bigger problem: She suspects her aunt's "accidental death" was murder.

As far as Carol Spencer is concerned, the war has spoiled everything. She and Don had been engaged for years and were on the verge of marriage when he was shot down in the South Pacific, leaving Carol on the verge of spinsterhood at 24. She wants to take some kind of job in the war effort, but her invalid mother demands that Carol accompany her to the family's summer home in Maine. But when they arrive at the faded mansion, they find it completely locked up. The servants are gone, the lights are dark - and there is a body in the closet.

Ruth and Nelson investigate a string of murders and disappearances deep within the abandoned tunnels hidden far beneath the streets of Norwich. Norwich is riddled with old chalk-mining tunnels, but no one's sure exactly how many. When Ruth is called in to investigate a set of human remains found in one of them, she notices the bones are almost translucent - a sign they were boiled soon after death. Once more she finds herself at the helm of a murder investigation.

Saffron Skye has inherited a little piece of Hawaiian paradise. Only it's filled with the leftovers of her late uncle's life and overrun with his enormous flock of chickens. When her new friend, the oldest man in town, dies, no one else finds it suspicious. But as the town's newest poultry keeper, Saffron recognizes "fowl" play when she sees it.

This boxed set features 18 stories from the Majestic Cove series including: Chocolate, Clues, and Catastrophe Pretzels, Problems, and Peril Cake, Coincidences, and Casualties Truffles, Tirades, and Trouble Shortcake, Surprises, and Secrets Cookies, Curiosity, and Craziness Donuts, Death, and Dread Tarts, Tears, and Tragedy Honey Cake, Heartbreak, and Hazards Cupcakes, Conundrums, and Calamity Caramels, Custody, and Cruelty Brownies, Bistros, and Betrayal Dessert, Destiny, and Death Treats, Threats, and Tawdry Truths Christmas Cookies, Cravings, and a Curious Case Christmas Chocolate, ...

Melanie Turner has made quite a name for herself remodeling historic houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. But now her reputation may be on the line. At her newest project, a run-down Pacific Heights mansion, Mel is visited by the ghost of a colleague who recently met a bad end with power tools. Mel hopes that by nailing the killer, she can rid herself of the ghostly presence of the murdered man - and not end up a construction casualty herself....

Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College. The mayor would like Charlie to preserve and to substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy - something that could benefit her son Beck as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Newport, Rhode Island, August 1895: She may be a less well-heeled relation, but as second cousin to millionaire patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt, 21-year-old Emma Cross is on the guest list for a grand ball at the Breakers, the Vanderbilts' summer home. She also has a job to do - report on the event for the society page of the Newport Observer.

Popsicle Poisons Terrible Tourist It's summer in Pelican Cove and the Boardwalk Cafe is doing brisk business. Jenny is hired to cater a party for a group of tourists. Things go downhill when one of them, a middle aged woman who looked down on everyone drops dead. Jenny's sangria popsicles are found at the scene of the crime, laced with poison. Did Jenny know the woman in her prior life and have a motive to kill her? Or did someone from the woman's group settle a score? Jenny embarks on a roller coaster ride of lies and deceit as she talks to everyone related to the dead woman. Was it the ex...

As the proud proprietor and head pastry chef of Tea by the Sea, a traditional English tearoom on the picturesque bluffs of Cape Cod, Roberts has her hands full, often literally. But nothing keeps her busier than steering her sassy grandmother, Rose, away from trouble. Rose operates the grand old Victorian B & B adjacent to Lily’s tea shop...for now. An aggressive real estate developer, Jack Ford, is pushing hard to rezone nearby land, with an eye toward building a sprawling golf resort, which would drive Rose and Lily out of business.

A murder on stage. Her father a prime suspect. Can an amateur sleuth step into the limelight and find the killer before the final curtain falls? Dotty Sayers and her cat, Earl Grey, are anxious about visiting her parents in Edinburgh, Scotland. When Dotty and her father accept a stranger’s VIP tickets to a Fringe Festival play, they discover more than the best seats in the house. On stage for the first act, Dotty hears a shot in the dark and presumes it’s part of the script. So she’s shocked when a spotlight illuminates a controversial politician’s dead body. Befriended by a local ...

Kidnapping is Andrew Douglas's business: they take them, he finds them. But it isn't so simple when Alessia Cenci, golden-girl jockey, disappears, followed by the young child of a derby winner and the senior steward of the Jockey Club. From Italy to England to Washington, D.C., Andrew's caseload is suddenly, violently overflowing. And he must fight triply hard to keep his own name off the growing list of victims.

In London's fashionable Hyde Park, six murders have been discovered since the King's recent coronation. The gossip columnist known as 'Lady Whispers' is the latest victim—was she killed because her last column ridiculed an upstart duchess for announcing an upcoming conation ball? Enter Nellie Bly, fearless reporter with a nose for trouble. Fynn, the plucky Irregular with a hero's heart, finds himself in a daring rescue—that is, until Bly disappears into the night. The Baker Street team enters a whirlwind of clues and shadows.

Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peters and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive 19-year-old novice. Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before a boy's pure passion, not evil intent, leads a novice to the noose.

When Kelly volunteers to take a troop of tourists to visit Vickie Claymore's alpaca farm, she discovers Fort Connor isn't as sedate as it seems. Instead of a warm welcome, they find Vickie splayed out on her original hand-woven rug, her blood seeping into the design. The police jump on the case, but Kelly can't resist doing a little investigation work of her own.