Christmas Thriller

When Gina Temple decides to go Christmas shopping for her girlfriend, Detective Sergeant Kate Brannon, in the Norfolk town of King's Lynn, it seems like an easy enough task. If only life were that simple. A split-second event, months in the planning, tips their safe world upside down.

Clive and Henrietta (and baby, Teddy!) return to Highbury to spend Christmas with the family. Clive’s mother, Antonia, schemes to increase her social standing at her club by introducing the pair during the annual Christmas ball as the newly minted Lord and Lady Linley. Her plans go awry, however, when the club’s collection of gifts for the poor mysteriously goes missing. Henrietta and Clive are reluctantly drawn into the case, though Clive suspects it is nothing more than a silly prank.

Something is wrong with Ace Wales. After being separated from his twin brother Walid, he is forced to live with his oldest brother Spacey, who does not think his malicious actions are cute or adorable at all. Keeping him in line, Spacey also comes to terms with his marriage falling apart. While also caring for his morbidly obese wife and young son, he finds himself in over his head. It does not help that Ace has grown obsessed with getting a bow and arrow for Christmas. After a near-death experience in the family, Mason summons the entire gang to the estate on Christmas Eve.

On 1st of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.

Ainsley Holloway had come to Gooseberry Bay to find answers about her past. She’d come to find an explanation for the dreams that haunted her after the death of the cop who’d both rescued and raised her. And she’d come to identify the family she couldn’t remember but knew in her heart she’d once belonged to. Ainsley hoped that by finding these answers, she’d also find healing. She hoped that once she’d resurrected the memories buried deep in her mind, she’d find peace.

Lady Marjorie's plans for a quiet time are in tatters when her son asks her to host his business guests the week before Christmas. Time to bring in reinforcements. The "awesome foursome" get together again. Pandemonium isn't a word Marjorie Snellthorpe is used to, but when an array of eccentric guests descend on her London home, along with a quirky cook and a large dog, even Edna Parkinton's advice is welcome.

Sixteen delightful holiday short stories by some of your favorite Soho crime authors! This captivating collection of short mysteries and crime capers - which features New York Times best-selling authors, Crime Writers Association Gold and Diamond Dagger winners, and Edgar Award nominees - contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season.

No place is more perfect for the winter holidays than the charming mountain town of Estes Park. As the Cozy Corgi Bookshop and Bakery glistens with lights and garlands, Winifred Page allows the seasonal merriment to brush away all worry and fear. Watson, her grumpy corgi, is about as far from stressed as possible-after all, with the holiday baking, delectable crumbs are everywhere.

As the first snowfall blankets Maplewood, the town is filled with holiday cheer. The annual Christmas Market is in full swing, with stalls selling everything from handmade ornaments to hot cocoa. Emily and Rebecca are busy decorating the Sunny Side Inn and preparing for their annual Christmas Eve feast for the guests and townsfolk. However, the holiday spirit is dampened when the town's beloved Santa Claus impersonator, jovial postman Bob "Santa Bob" Davis, is found dead in his home, a list of the town's residents labeled "Naughty" and "Nice" by his side.

Meet old and new characters in the Bay for Christmas fun and frolics. With both the Corner Shop and Cockleberry Café in safe hands, Rosa turns her attention to Ned’s Gift, the charity set up in memory of the great-grandfather whose legacy turned her life around. Over at the Ship Hotel, Lucas has his work cut out with his devious new girlfriend and the mystery poisoning of an anonymous hotel inspector. Will the hotel still get its three-star Seaside Rosette? Will Mary find true love at last? Can Titch cope with the demands of the shop and being heavily pregnant?

It's July in Christmas River, and the temperature isn't the only thing flaring out of control. After a fire destroys her best friend's ornament shop, pie baker extraordinaire Cinnamon Peters soon discovers that the blaze was no accident. Just days before the annual Christmas River in July Parade and Play, it becomes clear that a maniac is roaming the tourist-packed streets of Christmas River. And he's got a flair for the dramatic.

The festive season is in full swing - parties, champagne and Christmas crackers abound. You're having a breather at the hotel bar when a stunning young woman catches your eye. Could she really be interested in you? She flutters her eyelashes and takes your hand. Her Christmas party dress glitters with sequins. What you don't know is that your life is now in her hands - as she leads you up to her room there's only one thing that will determine whether you live or die. Are you a good person? Are you really?

Ah, the pleasures of Christmas: the hanging of lights, the traditional feasts, the gathering of families, and...a bit of murder, conspiracy, and theft. The holiday season seems to inspire the imagination of the best mystery writers, and their talents shine here in these delightful tales of Yuletide crime. In this busiest of seasons, seize a few hours to enjoy a sleigh—or slay--full of mysterious treasures, served with the finest of flair.

It’s Christmas, and James and Beth are preparing for Harrington’s festive dinner and dance. This year, famous diva Olivia Dupre is singing; a wedding is taking place, and they’re hosting a reunion of PALs - ex-army comrades from the Great War. When Olivia falls ill and claims she’s been poisoned, James puts his sleuthing hat on. But things take a sinister turn when a further attack takes place.

Natalia Chase just wants the first family Christmas with her husband and his pride of unruly lion shifter brothers to be perfect. But a simple trip to pick out a Christmas tree turns into a rescue mission when they discover three shifter wolf cubs abandoned in the forest. Between finding the cubs' parents, a surprise Christmas Eve visit from Mama Chase, and Natalia's increasingly difficult pregnancy, will the Chase pride get everything they've asked for from Santa, or will their perfect holiday be a perfect disaster?

Melanie Travis has her hands full with her two young sons, a part-time job, and a half dozen poodles to her name. But even with the busy holiday season approaching, she still has time to sniff out a Christmastime killer.... There's nothing lovelier than Christmas in Connecticut, but Melanie can scarcely find a moment to enjoy the festivities.

PI Jackson Rivers and Defense Attorney Ellery Cramer have barely recovered from last November, when stopping a serial killer nearly destroyed Jackson in both body and spirit. But their previous investigation poked a new danger with a stick, forcing Jackson and Ellery to leave town, so they can meet the snake in its den. Jackson Rivers grew up with the mean streets as a classroom, and he learned a long time ago not to give a damn about his own life. But he gets a whole new education when the enemy takes Ellery.

Danni and friends are back and ready to take on an evil entity snatching more than Christmas joy.

Once a peaceful, picture-perfect village in the Peak District, Merrywell has recently become the setting for more than just postcard-perfect views. This Christmas, while the festive markets are brimming with mulled wine and holiday cheer, a shocking murder throws everything into disarray. Enter Violet Brewster, amateur sleuth extraordinaire (when she's not balancing a cup of hot cocoa and avoiding suspicious-looking mince pies). With her sharp wit and even sharper instincts, Violet must navigate the holiday chaos to solve the case before the season’s spirit turns even more deadly.

It's Christmastime again in Christmas River. And all hell is breaking loose. Pie baker Cinnamon Peters has plenty on her plate this season. Between running her popular pie shop, planning her upcoming wedding to the town's sheriff, and trying to lose weight to squeeze into her oh-so-perfect and oh-so-tight wedding dress, it's all Cinnamon can do to keep her head on straight.