Cozy Mystery Fiction

Starting a new life in Florida means year-round sunshine, beautiful beaches, and balmy breezes. For most people, anyway. But not for thirtysomething Piper and her grandmother, former members of a motorcycle gang in Oregon. For them, it means entering the witness protection program and moving to Bitter End in the Sunshine State. Yes, to Bitter End. It doesn’t get much more ironic than this.

Torie Bliss thought that being over 40 and having your husband dump you over your favorite meal would be rock bottom. Then she learned that the perfect life he had created for them was built on a foundation of lies. A very public fall from grace leaves her penniless and homeless. Thinking she had nothing else to lose, she decides to move in with her estranged mother in a picturesque town in the mountains of North Carolina. Only to discover that her mother is quite the witch. Literally.

"This series is my favorite new addiction! I want the Miss Fortune to escape to Maui, too!" ~ Reader My name is Kat Smith, and my new life as postmaster of the tiny town of Ohia on Maui was beginning to settle down. No new dead bodies had turned up for months! And then, the UPS guy spotted a little girl in the window of a house where no child was known to live. My former Secret Service training kicked in. I had to investigate, no matter what Mr. K, my boyfriend, attack cat Tiki, or Aunt Fae said about how far I'd go to find out what happened… to a child who might not even be real. "Pau ...

As owner of Coffee, Books, and More, Jill Gardner looks forward to the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers. But when the mayor ropes her into being the liaison for a new work program, 'tis the season to be wary. Local businesses are afraid that the interns will be delinquents, punks, or worse. For Jill, nothing's worse than Ted Hendricks - the jerk who runs the program. After a few run-ins, Jill's ready to kill the guy. That, however, turns out to be unnecessary when she finds Ted in his car - dead as a doornail.

College English professor Alison Bergeron thought that dating a cute NYPD detective like Bobby Crawford would be exciting and involve a lot of riding around in cruisers and putting away sleazy crooks, but he has yet to invite her on any stakeouts.... Then when a friend asks her to help him find his nephew, she goes to Bobby for advice only to find out that he already knows about the case. He pulled the boy out of the Hudson River a few days earlier. The boy’s employer calls it an accident, but Alison and Bobby aren’t convinced.

Maureen's career as a sportswear buyer hits a snag just before Halloween, when the department store declares bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Finn's lost his way as a guide dog after flunking his test for being too friendly and easily distracted. Sadly, only one of them can earn unemployment, so Maureen's facing a winter of discontent in Boston - when she realizes she can't afford her apartment. Salvation comes when she receives a mysterious inheritance: an inn in Haven, Florida.

Librarian Molly Kimball and her mother, Nina, need a change. So when a letter arrives from Nina's Aunt Violet in Cambridge, England, requesting their help running the family bookshop, they jump at the chance. Thomas Marlowe - Manuscripts and Folios, is one of the oldest bookshops in Cambridge, and - unfortunately - customers can tell. When Molly and Nina arrive, spring has come to Cambridge and the famed Cambridge Literary Festival is underway.

Siobhán O'Sullivan's hopes for a quiet Irish Christmas are dashed when the local Santa turns up dead in a carnival dunk tank of hot cocoa. Now instead of hunting down holiday gifts, she's pursuing a heartless killer. Seems the dead Santa was no angel either, stealing neighborhood dogs to guide his sleigh. But was it his holiday antics - or worse - that led to his death by chocolate?

Yes. I'm the daughter of the infamous couple, June Heal and Oscar Park. One teeny weeny problem, I'm a mortal. Yep. I guess I got my granny Darla's DNA. Good news! I might not have spiritual powers but I have a mean set of baking skills. I'm delighted to be moving out of Whispering Falls, where y'all know I can't live since I'm mortal, and to Celestial Falls, another small Southern town where I'm opening Heavenly Desserts. Of course, The Marys wouldn't let me leave unless I took my new kitten with me.

Cupcake-loving croupier Tiffany Black is determined to leave her job at the casino for good. She's one small step away from acquiring her private investigator license and has her eye on the prize. Accepting her first real case - investigating the murder of casino-mogul Ethan Becker - should be exciting. Instead, things spiral out of control, and Tiffany finds herself in over her head as she confronts secretive suspects, corrupt casino henchmen, and a bodyguard with a mysterious past.

When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline's Cupcakes, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend, Caroline, is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine's sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, Caroline's fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a custom-designed marble rolling pin. Now, just 10 days before Christmas, Holly's up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle.

Kate Osborne, a divorcée, reappears with a fortune and a strange story about how she obtained it. Meanwhile, a terrible car crash involves tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two mysterious men steal the car - and the secret treasure hidden inside its doors. When one of the thieves ends up dead, Joe must discover if the events are connected - and why. With the investigation in trouble, will they find the killer…or be left chasing their tails?

The Crozats feared that past murders at Crozat Plantation B&B might spell the death of their beloved estate, but they've managed to survive the scandal. Now there's a très bigger story in Pelican, Louisiana: the upcoming nuptials between Police Chief Rufus Durand and Vanessa Fleer. Maggie Crozat, inexplicably tasked with being Vanessa's maid of honor, quickly discovers why everyone else refused the assignment when the bridezilla hands her a long list of duties.

When the body of a young woman is discovered in the cowshed of Cricket Farm, the tranquility of the British countryside is shattered. Inspector Jess Campbell is on the case, but with few leads, a grumbling partner, and the new superintendent Ian Carter piling on the pressure, she's beginning to wonder why she chose to be a detective in the first place.

The new mystery series for fans of Agatha Christie and cozy crime. Penny Küfer has finally realized her lifelong dream by beginning her first week of training as a detective. But instead of the hoped-for well wishes from friends and family, she finds herself disinherited by her class-conscious mother and dumped by her grasping fiancé. There is only one consolation left to her: the long-dreamed-of trip on the Occident Express, the most luxurious train ever to run on Europe's rails. But even before the ambitious young sleuth can enjoy her first glass of champagne, she finds herself with a ...

It will take everything she has to face her past. Can this wayward woman find her way back into the hearts of her Amish Community? When a mistake forces Lydia Troyer to leave her Amish roots in exchange for a new life as an Englischer, she finds herself running from more than her past as Wally Troyer's rebellious daughter. Upon her father's untimely death, she is called home to take over The Book Cellar, Willow Springs's favorite Amish bookstore. A series of strange happenings and whispers among her people lead her to suspect there are more than books hidden in the cellar. Will she chance ...

Love and Shakespeare have come to town! Harlow Torrent, Slip Witch, is just trying to make a buck as assistant to Hans Holtz, tyrant director of The Taming of the Shrew. When he's poisoned by an unknown assailant and the play comes under attack, Harlow is pulled into a dangerous mystery decades in the making. All is fair in love and war... but Harlow is going to need help if she is to survive this one....

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.

Turning the one-time seaside B & B into a Halloween haunted house for a local fundraiser seems like a good idea. After all, Eva and Marie's ghosts are willing to help. However, the two spirit friends of Marlow House are not the only ghosts to stop by. Danielle and her friends are about to learn there might be something to that old legend that says on Halloween night the barrier between the living and dead becomes blurred and the spirits of the dead visit earth. Maybe not all of earth - but at least Marlow House.

Doreen Diller wants to be a movie star. But after 15 years of failed auditions, she’s yet to garner a single callback from a Hollywood producer. Determined to hit the big time before she turns 40, she pins her hopes on a job assisting soap opera heartthrob Tad Longmire. He could be the answer to her dreams—or the beginning of her nightmares. While filming a new TV series starring Tad, a stabbing death rocks the set. Unfortunately for Doreen, the role of murder suspect is finally one she appears ideally suited to play.