Holiday Thriller

Millie Kay is easily charmed by Mother's Day Festival, but her sweet Southern charm doesn't go over well with everyone. While Violet is running all over Holiday Junction to report for the Junction Journal, Millie Kay is joining in on the festival activities. Millie Kay and local Sally Westin get into a public fight over a dessert Millie Kay says she won fair and square in the cake walk. And when Sally Westin is murdered, everyone is pointing the finger to the non-local in town, Millie Kay Rhinehammer.

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.

After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a seaside mansion, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos.

Stephen Fox may be a moron, but he may also be America's next president. The dimwitted legislator is just smart enough to know when to smile for the camera. But two women stand in the way of his campaign: his mistress and his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their daughter, a pain she manages by devoting herself to fundraising for children with Down syndrome.

After suffering a personal tragedy, Abby Sullivan buys a huge, old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn't seem to convince to leave, and a new family she'd never be able to live without.

Christmas in a castle shouldn't involve booby traps and impending death. Can you build a catapult from rakes and flowerpots? When Beryl finds her aunt dead, she flees before the cops blame her. Unfortunately, the killers are after her. Rural Michigan isn’t Gramercy Park, but it does have a great castle to hide out in! “Gibbs” arrives home from the hospital (broken leg and all) to find someone living on his third floor, hiding out from “goons,” and making boobytraps to fend off an attack! Beryl is determined to beat the goons at their own game. Gibbs just wants to keep her alive.

Mae West is bound and determined to stay in shape for her wedding day and with all the delicious Southern dessert Mary Elizabeth is serving for Thanksgiving Mae has joined the local running group to race in Thanksgiving's annual Turkey Trot. She never figured murder would be on the menu and a couple of people she loves have a perfect motive. The list of suspects isn't exactly brief especially when one of the governor's recently pardoned prisoner is at the top of the list.

As Melanie attempts to deck the halls in a house overrun by pampered poodles, her event planner friend, Claire, is busy playing Santa for the wealthiest clientele on Connecticut's Gold Coast. A personal shopper gig in the affluent town of New Canaan seems like business as usual. Except Claire's stylish stint comes at a higher price than she bargains for when she stumbles over her newest customer's dead body. Named a prime suspect for murder, she begs for Melanie's help, then vanishes like cookies and milk on Christmas Eve.

Dr. Georgia Thackery is back at home with her parents after finding a new adjunct position at Bostock College. Everyone is excited for their first family Christmas with nothing to hide. Why? Because Georgia’s daughter, Madison, is now in the know about Sid, their walking, talking family skeleton. But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog, Byron, goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur clutched between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again

It's Christmas and a chocolatier shows up at Sweet's Sweets, offering to create a special line of hand-dipped chocolates for Sam's customers. He says he will work for no pay, just to prove himself. But she learns that he has connections to the wooden box that seems to give Sam her mystical powers, and discovers that certain evil people will do just about anything to take it away from her.

Mayor Cora Mae Bingham has a new friend that has come to town to straighten up the coal mine’s failed finances and keep the paychecks flowing faithfully through the holiday, but his financial fixes may cause some unanticipated fallout. Canine Officer Briscoe helps find a missing photographer, but the developments turn dark when the police probe into her marriage. Only the dark room offers some light on the situation. Despite these concerns, the citizens of Spicetown have a full heart at Christmastime and are busy preparing for the community play and choral presentation.

England, 1851: When Clara Chapman receives an intriguing invitation to spend Christmas at an English manor home, she is hesitant yet feels compelled to attend - for if she remains the duration of the 12 day celebration, she is promised a sum of 1,000 pounds. But is she walking into danger? It appears so, especially when she comes face to face with one of the other guests - her former fiancé, Benjamin Lane.

Charlotte Pitt’s mother, Caroline, travels with her young husband, Joshua Fielding, and his theatrical troupe to Whitby, where Dracula first touched English soil. Joshua has arranged to produce a stage adaptation of Dracula by the daughter of Whitby millionaire Charles Netheridge, but the amateurish script produces a disastrous first read-through. As tempers flare and wind and snow swirl around Netheridge’s lonely hilltop mansion, a black-cloaked stranger emerges from the storm - an eerily opportune arrival, for this enigmatic figure, one Anton Ballin, turns out to be a theatrical genius.

When Lori Shepherd's husband, Bill, is summoned to a will reading at the Earl of Harrisford's resplendent Palladian home, Lori herself thinks she is just along for the ride. But this gathering of the entire Harrisford clan, all of them affected by the earl's new will, devolves into a dangerous family dispute. Burning topiaries, threatening notes, suspicious maids, and family intrigue lead Lori to seek her phantom aunt's help in identifying the culprit before he or she can torch the whole house and its guests within.

Christmas in Serenity is a magical time of year TJ has always looked forward to with happy anticipation. This year her holiday spirit is marred by the impending arrival of two new men in her life. When one of them ends up dead, TJ must juggle community plays, Christmas tree cuttings, sleigh rides, and holiday shopping with a complex murder investigation. As the facts begin to unravel, she realizes she may have to risk everything to save someone she loves.

The entire Thomas family takes a Thanksgiving trip to a mountain cabin after Tess learns that her father visited the area every autumn to hunt and fish before his supposed death in a fiery truck accident. After arriving at the cabin, Tess and Tony, along with Mike and Bree, team up to investigate a suspicious death, while Tess and Tony secretly talk to people who live in the area and once knew her father. Hoping to finally find answers for her unanswered questions regarding her father's current whereabouts, Tess widens her search, which leads her to a startling realization.

The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey. This book of short stories is his ninth appearance and introduces another detective, Montague Egg. Poisoned port, pet cats in peril, purloined pearls... Lord Peter Wimsey solves the mysteries of the man who was blown into the fourth dimension and the murder in fancy dress.

Cupcake caterer Emory Martinez is hosting a Halloween bash alongside her octogenarian employer, Tillie. With guests dressed in elaborate costumes, the band is rocking, the cocktails are flowing, and tempers are flaring when the hired Bavarian Barmaid tries to hook a rich, hapless husband. Except one of her targets happens to be Emory’s brother-in-law, which bodes ill for his pregnant wife. When Emory tracks down the distraught barmaid, instead of finding the young woman in tears, she finds her dead.

This year, all Melanie wants for Christmas is a dull moment. Between her son Davey, her teaching job, and showing her Standard Poodle puppy, Eve, there just aren't enough hours in the day. But when Davey's usual bus driver, Henry Pruitt, disappears and is replaced by a surly, pierced, twentysomething, Melanie is concerned. The elderly, amiable Henry was a friend to all in the neighborhood, so she decides to check on him.... only to find that he died two days earlier, under suspicious circumstances.

It’s bitterly cold in Sunny Cove after the holidays, but nothing could be as icy as the chill that runs down your spine when you hear that your neighbor has come to a grizzly end! Sammy is looking forward to hosting a New Year’s Eve party. She’s spending her free time practicing new dishes for the occasion and researching everyone’s favorite traditions. But when the pipes freeze in her apartment, Sammy’s plans must change quickly. She finds a temporary place to stay with the help of her friends, but a nearby murder puts Sammy on the case once again.