Christmas Thriller

A baby’s frantic cries lead Texas Ranger Drake Jackson to an injured woman in Big Bend Park, the infant by her side. But “Kay” has no idea who she is or what happened. All she seems sure of is that she’s in terrible danger. When someone comes after her - determined to snatch the child - Drake takes her and little Kaleb to his family’s ranch to protect them. But with the attackers circling closer as Christmas approaches, the guarded ranger knows they won’t be safe there for long.

As Charlotte Pitt's grandmother Mariah Ellison finds herself investigating a long-unsolved slaying, it becomes clear that grappling with intrigue and foul play runs in the family. A festive Christmas package left on Mariah's doorstep contains an ominous present, sparking memories of a 20-year-old murder that shattered her friendship with the victim's widow. Though the gift is a bitter reminder of that tragic time, in the spirit of the season Mariah travels to Surrey in hopes of reconciling with her estranged friend and solving the crime that drove them apart.

December 1864. As a cold winter wind scours the Worcestershire countryside, an excursion train comes through a tunnel in the Malvern Hills, only to be confronted by a blockage on the line ahead. The driver manages to slow the train down so that the impact is minimised, but the passengers are alarmed. The first person to alight is Cyril Hubbleday, the man in charge of the excursion. He walks to the front of the locomotive—and, as he is talking to the driver, fireman and guard, he is shot dead by a sniper.

Quilt appraiser Keely Fairchild is thrilled that the Danger Cove Quilt Guild has teamed up with the Historical Museum to make miniature quilts to decorate the museum's Christmas tree. To join in the holiday spirit, she offers free appraisals of holiday quilts during the ornament-making workshop.

Miranda did not put adventure on her Christmas list, but thanks to her 85-year-old neighbor Joy, that's exactly what she's getting this year. When Joy tells Miranda that she plans to drive an old RV decked out in Christmas decorations from their Chicago neighborhood to her new retirement digs in Phoenix - in the dead of winter, no less - the much younger Miranda insists that Joy cannot make such a trip by herself. Besides, a crazy trip with Joy would be more interesting than another Christmas home alone.

Detective Mike Nash is going to have a very unmerry Christmas. In an ordinary terraced house, a family dies. Poisoned by carbon monoxide. Then comes a suspicious house fire, with more bodies at the charred scene. A drug addict is murdered in the most bizarre medieval manner. And a scientist's daughter disappears. There's a killer on the loose this holiday season. DI Mike Nash follows the leads of these disparate crimes. One very dangerous person seems intent on revenge. Can he stop the killer before anyone else pays the ultimate price?

Autumn has arrived in Christmas River, but frustration levels are at an all-time high for the small town's residents as an unseasonable heat wave plagues the central Oregon Cascades. Somehow, pie baker extraordinaire Cinnamon Peters has managed to stay above it all. Recently married, Cinnamon's been happily working hard at her pie shop all summer to help pay for her and Sheriff Daniel Brightman's upcoming honeymoon to Hawaii. All that stands between them and paradise is the upcoming Christmas River Rodeo.

When asked to help judge the prestigious Chocolate Championship Showdown Competition at the last minute, Cinnamon Peters is hesitant about putting down her rolling pin in place of a clipboard. But when she discovers that one of her co-judges will be famous celebrity chef Cliff Copperstone, Cinnamon agrees to help. It's a decision she'll live to regret. When a blizzard hits Christmas River on the day of the competition, Cinnamon finds herself not only in the middle of a crisis, but also in a mystery as sinister and dark as a bar of bittersweet chocolate.

Five fun cozy mystery books with pet-sitter Polly Parrett.

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.

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.

When tragedy brings Merrin McKenzie back to St Ives, she knows adjusting might take time, even with the comfort of Christmas back in her hometown. Stepping back from her career as a solicitor, she agrees to clean holiday rentals for her friends who own cottages nearby. She anticipates dirty laundry and sandy floors, but she didn't sign up for a dead body, neatly tucked up in one of the guest beds. The police are baffled by the young man's identity and the strangeness of his death. For Merrin, however, coincidences are beginning to stack up.

A caroling donkey arrives in Clover Grove before Christmas with tidings of a new murder. Stray rescue animals are business as usual for hobby farmer Ivy and her sheepdog Keats. Misfits blend seamlessly into the menagerie, and the more the merrier. When a mouthy, grieving donkey demands room at the inn right before Christmas, however, Ivy bites off more than she can chew. He’s got a message that’s far from festive, and he won’t stop singing the blues till she figures out his secret.

It's autumn in Christmas River, and things in the small Central Oregon town are getting downright spooky this season. When Cinnamon Peters discovers an old class ring hidden behind the wall of her shop's kitchen, the pie baker extraordinaire becomes abruptly entangled in a decades-old unsolved mystery. But shortly after finding the heirloom, Cinnamon is plagued by a series of inexplicable accidents.

After suffering the tragic loss of her best friend, Lottie Beck is struggling. Aged eighteen, she's flunked school and spends her days lying in a darkened room, doing nothing. Finally, she is forced to get a job in Silver Birches Care Home. Once there, and after meeting the residents, particularly the feisty, no-nonsense Bobby, she settles in, appreciating how much history lies behind each person. A history she can read, in her own special way, via the simple touch of a hand.

Kris Kringle had a hell of a Christmas last year. This year isn't shaping up to be any better. The Workshop might have provided the enemy with a piece of jewelry she now wears around her neck. What is the purpose?

It’s just before Christmas, 1953. Grasby and Juggers are investigating a puzzling murder in the remote village of Uthley’s Bay. A fisherman has been found dead on the beach, with a stocking wound tight round his throat. Hundreds of pairs of stockings, in neat cellophane bags, soon wash up on the shore. A blizzard cuts off Grasby and Juggers from help, and the local innkeeper is murdered. Any remaining Christmas cheer goes up in smoke as the villagers refuse to talk, leaving the two detectives chasing false leads in the snow.

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?

In a gloomy flat off Islington High Street, Chief Inspector Brett Nightingale and Sergeant Beddoes find an old woman dead. The Princess Olga Karukhin, who fled from Russia at the time of the Revolution, has lived in terror of being discovered ever since. Olga's grandson, Ivan, appears to have run from the scene but is later seen returning to the flat as though oblivious to the terrible crime. Taking place between 22nd and 24th December, Nightingale's enquiry takes him across London, culminating in the wrapping up of the mystery on Christmas Eve.

Missing Persons Detective Everleigh Becket and her P.I. partner Isaac Stern have built a reputation as an elite team, able to solve the coldest cases. However, when A.D.A. Marie Schurr asks for their help in tracking down a missing witness, Everleigh isn’t sure she wants to get into the business of forcing a terrified woman to testify against a known killer. Madison Wheeler thought she’d met the man of her dreams, but when a business deal ends in murder, Madison is the only one left who can get justice for the dead man. That is if Everleigh and Isaac can find her.