Cozy Domestic Thrillers

The house is haunted. While house hunting with her family, a reclusive ghostwriter unwittingly stumbles headfirst into a paranormal murder mystery where she alone can find the killer. An unending feeling of dread clings to her, letting her know she's being watched every second of every day from both sides of the grave. Her husband busies himself with his new job, and her only child becomes increasingly distant. Navigating family life was difficult before, but now she's got visions and clues to contend with. A spirit trapped in her home, her family being stalked; she must find the killer or ...

Every summer for the past ten years, six awe-struck bakers have descended on the grounds of Grafton, the leafy and imposing Vermont estate that is not only the filming site for “Bake Week” but also the childhood home of the show’s famous host, celebrated baker Betsy Martin.

Florrie Butterfield—eighty-seven, one-legged, and of cheerful disposition—believes there can't be any more adventures or surprises in life to experience. Yet one midsummer’s evening, there’s an accident at Babbington Hall—the adult residence where she lives—so shocking and strange that Florrie is suspicious; is this really an accident?

How to Plan the Perfect Murder! Modern cozy mysteries are popular with readers, but how do you go about writing one? You need to know the genre conventions (or tropes) – all the things a reader expects to find in this kind of story. In this book you’ll learn how to create a modern amateur sleuth; how to combine the investigation of a murder mystery with character relationships, all in a ‘cozy’ world with no excessive violence, bad language, or gratuitous sex scenes. You'll also see how this genre combines elements from the traditional whodunit, private eye stories, thrillers, and ...

Sophie never considered ghostwriting as a side gig, until former actress and aspiring lifestyle guru, Tilly Stratford, trophy wife of Wesley Winthrope, needs someone to write her celebrity cookbook. Sophie agrees, hoping she'll earn enough bread on this assignment to finish her bathroom renovations. But as it turns out, Sophie isn't the first foodie to get a taste for recipe ghostwriting, and if the marginalia are any indication, this project could be a killer....

Determined not to be a garden-variety diva, Sophie Winston's neighbor Natasha cultivates a plan to shine on television - using Sophie's backyard. As the cast and crew of the makeover show Tear It Up with Troy bulldoze through her backyard - and vacation - Sophie retreats to her perennial boyfriend Wolf's to replace a dead rose bush. But her tender deed goes awry when she digs up a purse belonging to Wolf's missing wife

For decades, Marge has been spying on her neighbors Doris and Bob, reporting every sordid thing she sees to her husband, Harold. Flamboyant Doris and boring Bob are an odd couple, but as Marge watches their comings and goings, she starts to wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. Is Doris’s latest hobby—flamenco dancing, of all things—an attempt to spice things up, or is there something more sinister going on in the house across the street? Soon enough, Marge learns that digging into her suspicions means digging herself into a very deep hole.

She was supposed to be the perfect mother—until the night everything went wrong. When Peyton Hayes survives a horrifying car crash with her six-year-old son, she awakens to a living nightmare: a year of her memories erased, a nagging suspicion that she wasn’t alone in the car, and cryptic warnings scrawled on slips of paper. Everyone insists her life is flawless—her ex-husband suddenly wants back in, her best friend is eerily devoted, and her son flinches whenever she asks about that fateful night. But Peyton’s half-glimpsed flashbacks scream that something far darker lurks beneath ...

Discover how Meghan Truman, Sandy Bay's latest resident and new bakery owner, navigates her way through three murder mysteries as she gets to know the quirky characters in her adopted hometown after failing to make a career as an actress in Hollywood. The town's local detective, Jack Irvin, has an eye for Meghan, but will she find time to build a romance while she tries to clear her name?

Jessica Fletcher must tread lightly when investigating a homegrown homicide...

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by. Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job.

Island life suits Susan, and she can’t imagine ever moving from her beloved Isle of Wight. So it gives her real pleasure to see her young lodger Colette settle in to life by the sea, especially knowing that she has such a troubled past.

Blanche White is working as a temporary cook and housekeeper for a right-wing Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate, Alistair Brindle, when someone tries to blackmail him. It's an ugly mess that Brindle's political team is eager to sweep under the carpet and that Blanche can't resist cleaning up herself...especially after a young black man is killed who knew too much about Brindle's dirty laundry. Her investigation raises dark secrets involving sex, environmental contamination, and political corruption, difficult stains that someone is trying to remove with murder.

Mystery and heartbreak await estate sale organizer Audrey Nealon when she accepts a lucrative new job in a posh New Jersey town. Eager to settle their mother's estate and close the door on their elegant family home, the Eskew children hire Audrey to run an estate sale as their mother lies dying, tended by a home health aide. Every day Audrey works in the house, she discovers another valuable artwork and another family secret.

Whispers in the Hydrangeas: Some Gardens Hide More Than Beauty Eleanor Wilson's beloved blue hydrangeas aren't just beautiful—they're the perfect cover for watching her quiet suburban street. When the Chos move in across the way, Eleanor's keen eye notices something off about the couple and their elaborate greenhouse. Behind Vivian Cho's polished exterior and her mysterious midnight gardening sessions lies a dangerous secret. When Eleanor discovers exotic plants with deadly properties and George Cho's unexplained injuries, she realizes her new neighbor's "botanical research" may be far ...

Kicking off season three of their hit reality TV show Domestic Partners is a home renovation project with an irresistible hook. Woods Hall is a lavish 1913 manor home in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, once belonging to the town's founding family. It also comes with its own ghost. Twenty-five years ago during a Halloween night party, automotive heiress and beauty queen Emma Wheeler-Woods, wearing a white Princess Diana wedding gown as a costume, fell from a third-floor balcony to her death. Or was she pushed?

After her husband's plane goes down in a WWII battle, a poor nurse becomes the wealthiest widow in town. And she never leaves her mansion for 70 years. When estate sale organizer Audrey Nealon enters the Tate Mansion after the widow's death, she discovers nothing's been changed since the day the house was built. Why did the heiress and her maid eat canned soup and read used paperbacks surrounded by magnificent art and antiques? Why were the house and its contents bequeathed to a small local charity?

Peter's first play is having its world premiere at Pleasant Woods's community theater. His handsome one and only, JP, has the lead. Rehearsals have begun. And New York City's award-winning, hotshot helmer, Xander Sherwood Deva, is directing. Unfortunately the controlling, arrogant, poison-barbed, egomaniacal diva has everyone on edge. No wonder he finally pushes someone over it . . .

Burdensville has a few skeletons in its closet… and they’re piling up fast. Scott Sharp thought he’d grab a bite to eat during a brief layover at a small-town train station. The sun was shining, the town was quaint, and the waitress sure was cute. What could possibly go wrong?

Attorney Danny O’Brien thought her biggest problem was that her middle-aged widowed mother went to law school and insisted on joining Danny’s law practice. Until Danny heads to court for an uncontested divorce trial and a gun is found in her briefcase. Until the gun is linked to a murder trial in which her hotshot criminal lawyer husband represents an alleged cop killer. Until her husband is found dead, naked with a woman in a hotel room in Boston. Life can only get better. Until Danny unearths her husband’s clever secret life and starts to question whether he is alive and stalking ...