Holiday Mystery Thriller

New Year's Eve has always been a special time for the small town, Holiday Junction, with its annual tradition, the Sparkle Ball, along with the town Merry Maker spreading joy and cheer to all its residents. But this year, the joy is short-lived when local nuisance and troublemaker, Hillary Stevens, is found murdered in holiday town’s mini-village.

Krissy Hancock is staying in her adopted hometown of Pine Hills, Ohio, for Christmas this year - and she even has a whole week off from her combination bookstore-cafe. Unfortunately, she's been roped into filling in for a sick elf in the local holiday musical extravaganza. With a demanding director, backstage gossip, and two men in fierce competition for the starring role, it isn't all sweetness and Christmas lights. Then a murder puts a stop to the production, and Krissy is faced with a pageant of suspects.

In the festive village of Holiday Junction, April Fool’s Day takes a sinister turn when a notorious troublemaker is found dead after a heated altercation. Violet Rhinehammer, sharp-witted journalist for the Junction Journal, is knee-deep in covering the town’s Fool’s Festival when a palm reader’s cryptic prophecy shakes her to the core. The tension only rises at a surprise party for her boyfriend, Darren, where an argument with a rowdy bar regular leads to a shocking discovery: the man from the party is dead, and suspicions swirl.

Christmas Eve, 1925. The Honourable Cressida Fawcett is delighted to attend an exclusive ball at London’s glamorous Mayfair Hotel. When she steps out into the moonlit courtyard with her little pug Ruby wrapped in her furs, she is thrilled to see a dashing man propose to her best pal under the swirling snowflakes. But instead of squealing ‘yes’, Dotty lets out a terrified scream… Because floating in the fountain, with her long blonde hair rippling in the ice-cold water, is the body of their dear friend Lady Victoria Beaumont.

Mysterious men have a way of showing up in Stephanie Plum's apartment. When the shadowy Diesel appears, he has a task for Stephanie - and he's not taking no for an answer. Annie Hart is a "relationship expert" who is wanted for armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Stephanie needs to find her, fast. Diesel knows where she is. So they make a deal: he'll help her get Annie if Stephanie plays matchmaker to several of Annie's most difficult clients.

Meg's sister-in-law, Delaney, is pregnant. Since her due date is on or around Christmas Day, this is putting a bit of a damper on the usual holiday festivities. Meg and Michael are NOT hosting the usual house full of relatives and parties. Instead, Meg, along with her mother, her grandmother, her cousin Rose Noire, and her good friend Caroline, are militantly doing everything they can think of to keep Delaney quiet and healthy.

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women's Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner's office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco. Then, a fearsome criminal known only as "Loman" seizes control of the headlines. He is planning a deadly surprise for Christmas morning.

Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he's happy - eager, even - to take the case that's just come his way. Andy's long-time friend Martha "Pups" Boyer takes in stray puppies that the local dog rescue center can't handle, raises them until they're old enough to adopt, and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires the work Pups does as much as Andy does, however.

Christmas has come early to the town of Paterson, New Jersey, in the form of a snowstorm that dumps two feet of snow on the ground. Lawyer Andy Carpenter likes snow – white Christmas and all that – but it can cause problems for the walks he takes his dogs on every day. When Andy’s golden retriever, Tara, goes to play in the snow and instead discovers a body, Andy ends up on the phone with the local newspaper editor. The murder victim is Mayor Alex Oliva, who had an infamous relationship with the newspaper.

Evanovich fans rejoice for Plum Spooky! Stephanie Plum is back in town, along with her sidekick Lula, her Grandma Mazur, and an ever-widening cast of freaks, criminals, deranged felons, and lunatics looking for love. And just when Stephanie thinks her life can't get any more complicated, in walks the mysterious Diesel. A man who seems to show up at the most inconvenient moments.

Sarah Booth Delaney and her friends can't help falling in love with Christmas this year, which they plan to spend celebrating the King of Rock n' Roll at the annual Elvis Festival in Tupelo. The main attraction is an Elvis impersonator competition, drawing impersonators from all over the world to honor the king. But before the revelry can get underway, a priceless jewel-encrusted belt once belonging to Elvis is stolen from its display case, and Sarah Booth and Tinkie are roped into the biggest heist in the history of Mississippi.

It's the Christmas season and veterinarian Kate Turner is not feeling very jolly. She's overworked, unappreciated, and dealing with two dissatisfied clients. Throw in a very complicated personal life and Kate's definitely got a case of the holiday blues. To make matters worse, Kate's ex-boyfriend, Jeremy, is mugged and robbed after they have a heated argument in the hospital parking lot. Then, two of her dissatisfied clients turn up dead (which really gets Kate's tinsel in a tangle). All of these events seem like coincidences, but they add up to something much more venomous.

In the dark, wintry highlands of Lochdubh, Scotland, where the local Calvinist element resists the secular trimmings of Christmas, the spirit of old Saint Nick is about as welcome as a flat tire on a deserted road. Nor is crime taking a holiday, as Constable Hamish Macbeth soon finds himself protecting an unhappy girl, unlocking the secrets of a frightened old woman, and retrieving some stolen holiday goods. Now the lanky lawman must use all his Highland charm and detective skills to make things right.

Sarah Booth and Tinkie are shopping with little Maylin when they see Sandra and Janet outside a bookstore, fur flying, and when Sandra vanishes from her own gala later that night, suspicion turns to Janet. Janet accuses Sandra of attempting to manipulate the media by a fake disappearance, but is it a stunt, or is something more sinister at play? Sarah Booth and Tinkie will have to dive deep into the history of Bay St. Louis, and even Al Capone himself, to get to the bottom of this case.

December 25 is right around the corner. The last thing Charlie expects is to gain several new additions to his family. Charlie finds a box on his doorstep with five kittens inside and a note begging him to keep them safe. With Diesel's help, Charlie welcomes the tiny felines into the Harris household just as his neighbor Gerry decides it is time to throw a lavish holiday party. Determined to make her mark on Athena, Gerry instead winds up dead at her very own party.

Lee Barrett has landed her dream job at Salem's WICH-TV. As the new field reporter, she'll be covering events live as they're unfolding. Next on her holiday checklist is an interview with the beloved chairman of a popular walking tour through Salem's historic districts. But it may be his ghost walking this snowy Noel season after Lee finds him murdered in his stately offices, bloody Santa hat askew.

Christmas in Paris… What could possibly go wrong? Ava Sext, an amateur sleuth and transplanted Londoner who sells books from an outdoor stand that overlooks the Seine, has vowed that this Christmas will be the best Christmas ever. It has to be! It's her first Christmas in Paris as a Parisian. But when someone pushes a book dealer in the Seine at a Christmas Fair leaving him between life and death, Ava, with the help of her fellow bookseller, Henri DeAth, a former notary in a country where notaries are a powerful caste, sets out to solve the crime before someone else dies. A little Paris ...

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. In Book 4 in the series, Lou receives a package, that by all appearances, seems to contain clues without a mystery. She is stumped as to how to proceed, so she enlists the help of the Tuesday night sleuthing group, who she hopes, will be able to help her to untangle the backwards puzzle she'd been handed.

When Fisher's friends are transformed into their monstrous costumes on Halloween night, it's up to him to save the town! Halloween isn't just Fisher's favorite holiday - it's his obsession. So when he's invited to join the Halloweeners, he couldn't be more thrilled. While trying to help them win the town's annual trick-or-treating competition, the Halloweeners stumble upon a mysterious cauldron at an old haunted house. After eating the irresistible candy inside it, Fisher's new friends are all transformed into the monsters of their costumes!

In the festive heart of Holiday Junction, where the turkeys are stuffed and the traditions are age-old, shadows dance with the autumn wind. The Hardens, the town's glitz and glamour, face a pie-slice of tragedy, and suddenly everyone's holding the knife! With a dash of sass and a sprinkle of wit, it's up to our gal Violet of the "Junction Journal" to sift through the tales and tattles, from glittering pageants to art district whispers.