Mystery Reads

It’s springtime, and septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins is celebrating new blooms and old books. To her delight, the Georgia Antiquarian Book Society has brought its annual fair to Catalpa Springs in honor of Cleo’s gentleman friend, respected antiquarian bookseller and restorer, Henry Lafayette. But trouble rolls in with the fair when a flirtatious book scout makes the rounds, charming ladies of a certain age out of prized books.

She bought the cabin on a whim. But will it transform into her perfect getaway? Burnt out from her high-flying author career and dreaming of escaping her busy Manhattan life, when Laura discovers her husband cheating on her with another writer, she knows it’s time for a change. After her brother calls her about a country Bed and Breakfast for sale, Laura ditches New York and buys it on the spot… only to realize that the run-down cabin will need more than a little elbow grease to restore it to working condition. As she’s swept up in the quiet joys of small-town life, an ad in the local...

Recently re-edited for your reading enjoyment. Bribing Saint Anthony is an entertaining and humorous mystery. A missing husband. A plot to blow up a national treasure. Fortune telling aunts. Mary Catherine, MC for short, didn’t move as the Queen of Boca Vista, Babbs La-Fleur, placed a pile of cash, which appeared out of a purse she knew cost more than her car, smack dab in the middle of her desk. Word at all the cocktail parties was that MC had a skill that came in handy for an aging socialite going through a divorce. She was good at finding cash in hidden bank accounts. Cash to pay for a...

A Southern war widow seeking to reinvent herself in the West. A Union cavalryman haunted by his deeds. Can they survive a thousand-mile journey beset by bandits and warring Sioux to discover a life together? After losing everything in the war, Annabelle sets out with her extended family on a wagon train for the goldfields in Montana. Helping to lead the way is Josey Angel, whose reputation as a notorious killer is belied by a thoughtful manner and wounded soul. A bond grows as they tend to the settlers’ needs—until secrets from Annabelle’s past provoke new dangers and the frontier ...

After being placed in witness protection, Ruby Shaw and her daughter move to the former ghost town of Paradise, Arizona, which is nothing like its name implies. The US marshal handling their case has this advice: Fly under the radar—but that’s difficult to do after their neighbor is murdered. ==================== New Yorker Ruby Shaw arrives in a hillside town in Arizona with a brand-new name, a duffel bag on her shoulder, and her daughter, Allie, at her side. Before arriving, Ruby witnesses a murder that lands her in the witness protection program. That decision means she’s gone from...

The Holidays bring her back to Nantucket—could they also bring her a second chance?When a youthful fling went sour, Maddy Fisher abandoned Nantucket to find herself. Now a single parent at 38, an urgent plea from her ailing mother drags her back to her hometown to save the family shop from bankruptcy. Maddy always had a strained relationship with her mother. But as she pours herself into running their business, she slowly begins to rediscover the cozy small-town charm of this chilly and stunningly peaceful island. And when she meets Ethan, a handsome property manager who’s new to the ...

Christmas Eve, and the Lee family's reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man....

If you liked the way your heart pounded when you read John Grisham’s The Firm, then Royce Wilson’s first book in the Preston Hollis series, The Diamond, is tailor-made for you. Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be in business with organized crime, and want to get out? They say there is only one way in, and only one way out. The way in… is through someone else’s murder. The way out…well, you know. Detective Preston Hollis had never killed anyone during more than a decade in law enforcement. That all changes when one of his informants turns up dead and he is pulled, like a ...

He’d made mistakes...more than a few and probably didn’t deserve the second chance he’d been given. But he was going to do everything he could to prove himself worthy of it. And now with Jansen’s arrival to the canyon...one more person in addition to himself and his grandfather with ties to the island...the stakes were even higher. Ray didn’t have a single doubt that a number of individuals were wondering where he’d disappeared to. With luck it would stay that way...but if it didn’t he probably wouldn’t be around to worry about it. He’d arrived on the island with a ...

Ashley Brooks’s life isn’t working out as planned. After years of struggling to make it in Hollywood, she’s still waiting for her big break. When fate leads her to the doorstep of legendary casting director Louisa Lake George, Ashley thinks her luck is about to change: the prickly old pro knows about a role she’s perfect for. The aspiring actress never gets to thank her, though, because the day after the audition, Louisa is dead. The bigger shock—she left all her money to Ashley.

“Non-stop action! This book is AWESOME!” Military bases under attack, tank battles, blizzards, planes going down, the freedom of the entire world is threatened. Flying through the middle of it all is stealth pilot Eric Brown. Eric has been tasked with the impossible mission of getting King Straunsee, his daughter Allesandra, and their top secret briefcase safely to America. If he fails, America and freedom around the world will be eliminated. Dodging enemy fire, winter’s ferocity, and treacherous espionage, Eric struggles to stay one step ahead of total annihilation. Join fighter ...

Detective B. Richard North, “Brick” to his friends, is the lead detective of the LaSalle Harbor PD. In the Summer of '57, the body of a young blonde is discovered at Lakeland Airport. North is assigned to figure out who she is, how her body got to be dumped in a vacant hanger, and who killed her. While investigating that murder, another victim is pulled from the waves of Lake Michigan. Are the murders connected, and how is "Lucky" Como of the Chicago mob involved? North, damaged emotionally by the Second World War, and fettered by the ghosts of the past, sleeps too little and drinks too...

After years of playing the field, I'm finally ready to settle down. Rather than waste time with the endless aggravation and frustration of dating, I decide to go through the What The Heart Wants matchmaking service. When the matchmaker pairs me with Scarlett, I'm more than intrigued. She's smart as hell and incredibly sexy, but too many cheating boyfriends have left her with a singular focus: getting pregnant and raising a child on her own. I may want a wife and family, but being an absentee baby daddy is a whole different story. Too bad Scarlett is more interested in her pregnancy project ...

In 1989, the Alphabet Killer, Professor Rodney Boone, murdered eight students. The victims, A to H, were each found with their surname initial carved into their neck. Victim nine narrowly escaped, and the murderer was left to burn to death. Eight years later, rookie Police Officer Rebecca Angell is thrown headlong into assisting a murder investigation. A body is found floating in the sewer, bearing the initial J. The investigators are convinced they are dealing with a copycat killer, but Boone's body was never recovered....

A lonely, grieving woman, a quaint cottage by the sea, a mysterious painting on the wall, and the power of love. When Meg's sister dies, she is devastated. The last of three children, Meg misses her siblings and has never felt so alone. She's an author, but her emotional state hinders her writing ability, and she can't sit in front of her computer without trembling. A trip to Port Revere, MA, recalls memories of the summers spent there with her family when she was a girl, and Meg decides to buy the Christmas Cottage, an abandoned little house on a bluff near town. She refurbishes it and, ...

Grace had never been more terrified...the pain was relentless. Nothing in her life prepared her for this. She desperately needed somewhere safe...someplace she could hide. Someone she could trust with her life. It was dark...and getting darker. Ronan Hendricks didn’t recognize her voice. Not family...not friends. Probably not an enemy. But he didn’t need the years he’d spent as a detective to recognize what he did hear... Fear. In a desperate moment of hope, a single number saved her life. Then a complete stranger opened his home offering safety yet Grace knew danger surrounded them.....

In the shadows of the Pakistani frontier, danger runs deep—and time is running out. When elite operative Radford is tasked with rescuing three CIA agents held by a brutal faction, he finds himself on the most perilous mission of his career. The captors’ demands are as ruthless as they are unexpected, pushing Radford to the edge in a high-stakes game of survival and strategy. Packed with heart-pounding action and unexpected twists, this gripping thriller will keep you turning pages long into the night.

When Abbie Coleman is asked to host a relaxing wellbeing retreat at the Hummingbird Hotel after a stressful photoshoot on board celebrity fashion designer Pierre Fontaine's luxury yacht, she knows it's the perfect opportunity to showcase the peace and tranquility on offer. But when a member of the local goat fraternity is discovered in a guest's room munching on a pair of his paisley boxer shorts, and a delicious avocado and kale smoothie has unexpected soporific properties, Abbie must once again join forces with local vineyard owner to unravel the mystery and save the hotel.

Don’t get me wrong. I love magic, just not when it is used for evil. It’s bad enough when some poor soul is murdered in my hometown, but when he’s near and dear to someone I care about, I have no choice but to look for the killer. Since magic seems to be involved in his death, my teenage cousin and I might be the only ones who can discover the killer’s identity. After all, we are witches. I was hoping this would be a run-of-the mill case, but no. The number of suspects keeps mounting, making our job more difficult. Considering most suspects live across the state makes it doubly hard...

When movie producer Cody Ziegler goes missing from The Homestead’s Millionaires’ Row, his wife, retired actress Olivia, immediately claims there’s foul play afoot. A million-dollar ransom demand soon follows, with clear instructions not to involve the cops. In desperation she enlists the help of Moira, Rick, Philip and Lizzie, aka the Retired Detectives Club. Racing against the clock, the four retirees set to work.