Holiday Mystery Thriller

At age 65 widower David Roche has finally had enough. Sick of the hurtful insults hurled at him by his own elderly mother, and tired of being hit up for endless loans by his younger brother and sister, David leaves his small home town in Maine looking to start a new life. David will soon discover that he isn't the only one who has been stuck with a vile family when he meets Sharon Crane who desperately needs to escape her own control-freak daughter. Their chance meeting results in a tale of love and unexpected danger. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donald W. Desaulniers is a retired Canadian attorney ...

It's Christmas time at the Paranormal Institute for Witches. Excited to go home for the holidays and be reunited with their families, Mercy, Jax, Holly, Sweets, and Alba say their goodbyes. However, when an unpredicted snowstorm ravages Aspen Falls, the girls must scramble to figure out their next move. Tempers flare as blame is placed and feelings are hurt. By the looks of it, Christmas will surely be ruined. But when a surprise visitor arrives, the girls are forced to find out what friendship really means and decide whether or not it's worth saving.

Welcome to Holiday Hills, a magical small town full of quirky and sometimes strange magical beings, talking cats, coffee, and books! Things aren’t always what they seem here in town. Here, our secrets are as dangerous as a cursed love potion! I'm a paranormal cozy mystery author, and what’s happening? Even I couldn’t make this up!

When Lou Prescott bought the bookstore at Holiday Bay, she wanted it to be so much more than a quaint seaside business. She wanted it to be home to the cozy gathering of friends, she knew in her heart, would come together to share their lives, their hardships, and their victories. With the change of the seasons, comes shorter days, cozy fireside get-togethers in the courtyard, and a new mystery or Lou and her group of amateur sleuths to solve.

Rumpole isn't particularly fond of Christmas; he finds it has a horrible habit of dragging on as he and She Who Must Be Obeyed go through the usual rituals in Froxbury Mansions. After the exchange of presents (lavender water for her, a tie for him) they settle down to a supermarket turkey with all the trimmings, followed by a glass of port. The only excitement comes in deciding whether to stand for the national anthem after the Queen's Speech.

When Dan Coast is notified by Town of Webb police investigator, Eric Stone, that the caretaker at his camp in Old Forge has been murdered, Dan and his trusty sidekick, Red Baxter, head to New York. And what could be better for two Key West guys than a winter in upstate New York. What starts out as a search for a new caretaker, soon ends up being a search for a killer.

It’s summertime in Holiday Bay, and between the outdoor dining options provided by the new rooftop bar and eatery and the summer concert series held on the roof every Thursday night, the Bistro is busier than they’ve ever been.

The Bistro, which consists of a restaurant, bar, and live music platform, was exactly the sort of project Shelby needed to find her footing in the new life she was still trying to fit into. She knows she'll need help, so she enlists the help of new chef and frequent guest to The Inn at Holiday Bay, Amy Hogan, as well as part-time waitress and longtime local Nikki Peyton. Together with the staff and regular customers that seemed to have come with the place, Shelby is certain she'll be able to create something special.

Penny Küfer's latest assignment feels like a walk in the park: she is supposed to ensure the safety of a world-famous shipowner and his fiancée on the maiden voyage of a stunning new cruise ship. But what sounded like luxury and relaxation on the high seas quickly turns into a survival trip. Instead of breathing fresh sea air and putting her feet up by the pool, Penny finds herself dealing with a deadly mystery surrounding a legendary pearl. The first murders are not long in coming...

Lou is invited by good friend Abby Sullivan to co-host a writer's retreat in an isolated hunting and fishing lodge off the beaten path. Lou and Abby, along with helpers Georgia and Velma, think they've done everything they needed to do to host the twelve writers for a week of creativity and workshops, but what they couldn't have prepared for was the death of one of the writers during what turned out to be the biggest blizzard in decades.

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?

There is a new murder to investigate when a friend of Nikki's turns up dead. It seems that the death might be tied in with ghostly happenings at a new art gallery in town, but there are problems with that theory as well. Meanwhile, a whole new group of guests check in, including a man in town to investigate a century-old murder and a woman seeking answers to her past.

'Tis the season to be jolly and the ghosts of Lottawatah are determined to horn in on the holiday revelry. In Giving Thanks in Lottawatah, Brianna Sullivan must find an engagement ring that has been missing for 35 years, deal with the mother of her boyfriend who is holding a grudge because Brianna almost killed her with crab dip, and wrangle family ghosts to give up old secrets and enjoy the holiday.

In book 12 in the series, Lacy takes over as director for the local Thanksgiving Pageant after the director they had appointed is bitten by a snake. The pageant seems to have met with bad luck from the beginning, but when the star is found dead in the trap-room, Abby becomes convinced the entire production is cursed.

Five years ago, award-winning actor Rhett Crawford threw a Halloween party. On the third night of the party, the groundskeeper found the body of one of the guests bludgeoned and left in the toolshed. It was eventually determined that the victim’s date had most likely killed the woman before fleeing the scene of the crime.

When a traveling Egyptian exhibit stops in picturesque Pomme Valley, all hell breaks loose when a valuable artifact is stolen and a dead body turns up in an unexpected location. The prime suspect has already been identified, but there's a catch: He's more than 3,000 years old. Pomme Valley's newest crime-fighting crusaders are on the case with Sherlock, new packmate Watson, and their reluctant human, Zack. Can they solve the murder and locate the missing loot before any more misfortune can befall the town?

When Mrs. Claus is found murdered days before the Annual Heywood Christmas Festival, Sheriff Mallory Richards cancels the beloved event. As the flu takes out the whole sheriff’s department—except for Deputy Jordan Branson—he begs Sam to help him find the killer. She and Annabelle set out to catch the murderer but land themselves in a tangled web of deception and danger.

When Santa Claus is a cop, you better watch out. It’s not looking like a very merry Christmas for San Diego cop Nick Pappas. Suspended from his job, alienated from his family, and persecuted by the press, he’s sorely tempted to turn his gun on himself. Except for his first name, he couldn’t possibly have less in common with jolly old St. Nicholas. But when a local mall decides it needs a secret Santa to help collar some vicious muggers preying on its holiday shoppers, Nick’s persuaded to red-suit up so as to take the naughty punks down and avert a ho-ho homicide.

There's more to celebrate this Halloween when Bailey's college friend Raven prepares to walk down the aisle in spooky seasonal style. As a bridesmaid, Bailey is overwhelmed helping with wedding preparations while the annual holiday festival scares up business for her bookstore. She also finds herself playing peacekeeper between fellow bridesmaids Colby and Ivy, whose arguments add even more conflict to the already simmering tensions within the wedding party between the groom's traditional family and the bride's bohemian parents.

In the New England town of Frog's Ledge, the Holiday Light Festival is a Christmas tradition. Killing Santa is not. To bring joy back to the season, organic pet patisserie owner Kristan "Stan" Connor will have to find another Santa before it's too late . . . To the townspeople's delight, the annual lighting of the tree is a spectacular success. Unfortunately, Santa pulled up in his sleigh, DOA. At first Stan is sure it's Seamus, her boyfriend's uncle, inside the red suit. But the victim turns out to be an employee from the town's Christmas tree farm.