Short Cozy Mysteries

Two Cherringham locals, roaming a farm with metal detectors, discover an amazing treasure - a silver Roman plate worth millions. They must share the reward with both the farmer and the owner of the land, the formidable Lady Repton, but there will be plenty for everyone. That night, while the village pubs do a roaring trade, archaeologist Professor Peregrine Cartwright offers to keep the plate safe in his massive wall safe. But when the British Museum expert arrives to verify the find next morning, the safe is empty! Police blame a notorious gang of art thieves operating in the county.

When a UFO is sighted hovering in Branson Falls, Ella and Sophie make it their personal mission to meet some aliens. With those two scheming together, shenanigans are bound to happen and Kate decides she better go along for damage control. Waiting for a potential abduction is pretty dull...until one of Kate’s sexy suitors shows up. Suddenly, a UFO is no longer the most exciting thing happening in the mountains above Branson Falls.

Just two weeks to go before the Cherringham Charity Christmas Concert. Choir rehearsals are in full swing. Then the worst thing happens: Kirsty Kimball, one of the singers, is found dead from a severe allergic reaction to one of the home-made rehearsal cakes. Jack is pulled in to help bolster the depleted choir - and soon he's convinced that Kirsty's death was no accident. Sarah agrees, and the two of them are soon immersed in the jealousies, rivalries, and passions of Cherringham's Rotary Club choir.

Workaholic sleuth Abi Anderson is being forced to take some long overdue vacation, so she heads to the picturesque village of Milton By The Lake to visit her aunt who runs a popular café and bakery. Though the scenery is stunning and her aunt’s iced biscuits are the most delicious on the planet, Abi is soon bored, so when she uncovers incidents of trouble and sabotage at a local hotel, she’s eager to get investigating, strictly off-the-record of course! To make matters even more intriguing, the hotel is being run by Abi’s teenage sweetheart. Ed and Abi split up when university ...

Accidents happen to Charley Clutterbuck. Always just scraping by, living on his ramshackle boat, not above the dodgy deal here and there... So when his body is found floating down river, accidental drowning seems the logical conclusion. But Charley's pal Ray thinks it's murder. And when Jack and Sarah get involved... they find themselves facing an unexpected danger as they uncover the strange truth. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack.

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...

When he manages to sell his martial arts studio in New York, Gregory Grantham is handed the chance to start a new life. He selects the small city of Poplar Bluff, Missouri as his temporary new home in order to care for his Aunt Vera who needs help after undergoing an operation. Rather than being a sleepy part of the state, southeastern Missouri torments Greg with a series of knife attacks by bank robbers, political activists and insane stalkers. Greg will need every ounce of his fighting skills to survive each violent ordeal. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donald W. Desaulniers is a retired Canadian ...

Innkeeper Max Moran is again involved in solving a murder when the actor playing the victim at a murder mystery dinner held at the Fireside Inn gives the best performance of his life and actually dies. Chief of police Philpot, who hates Max with a passion, dearly wishes to prove that Max is the killer, thus forcing Max to discover the killer's true identity. As usual, Max travels unsteadily along a twisty road that eventually leads him to the culprit. At the same time, Max has a starring role in the local Christmas play, Curzin' Toward Bethlehem, which reinterprets the story of the three ...

Inspired by vintage Film Noir and Alfred Hitchcock, enjoy this eclectic collection of short stories regarding clumsy attempts at retribution or retaliation, also known as a bit of comeuppance. Come on, everybody has that urge now and then. BTW: resemblance of these characters to ANY colleagues of friends (past or present) is PURELY coincidental! (No, really!). Stories include: OFF THE BEATEN PATH: A bickering couple and a robbery that goes from bad to worse . . . to unexpected. LIVING DOLL(Badgers and Colors): A little girl, a doll who looks like her and people who don’t seem to notice ...

Livia Andersen was a woman who held her family together with a quiet smile and an iron will. It’s been months since her death and her children and grandchildren she leaves behind continue to grapple with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone. For some of them it is about far more than adjusting to her absence in their lives. Trisha Andersen doesn’t do anything without careful deliberation. She can’t remember the last time she made plans involving a man that had her questioning her own judgment. Maybe it’s the simple fact that she’s never made plans with a man ...

Family meant everything to Ayden Stratton. It always had even when he didn’t always allow it to show. Because of that, he understood the fury in Tobias Blaise’s eyes when they learned that his sister had been dragged out the backdoor of her restaurant despite every effort to stop her from being kidnapped. Fury didn’t begin to describe what he saw in his brother’s face. Cassidy Blaise might be Tobias’s sister, but she was Benjamin’s entire world. Tobias Blaise never expected to find any woman he wanted to spend his life with, let alone one who looked at him the way Ellis did, ...

Bernard Mandeville loves trains. Every Sunday, the elderly and frail Bernard, in perfect attire, purchases a ticket on the Great Cotswold's Steam Railway, takes a seat in First-Class and revels in a journey from the past. But on one particular Sunday, in the midst of that short trip, the impossible happens. Bernard vanishes without a trace... The family reaches out to Sarah and Jack who must make their own remarkable journey on the rails...to track down the vanished gentleman!

On the edge of Cherringham lies St. Francis' Convent, home of the Sisters of St. Francis, a small Catholic teaching order. Here a handful of nuns worship, contemplate, and pray. And here one Easter the beloved local priest Father Byrne meets his unexpected demise. The circumstances of the death are suspicious, and soon Jack and Sarah are on the case: what secrets did Father Byrne take to the grave? Who wanted him dead? And is religious faith ever a guarantee of innocence?

Gus somehow won the church raffle. It was a miraculous feat given that he’d never entered it-the church or the raffle. He suddenly finds himself with two tickets to paradise and one of them premade out for Father Xavier. Paradise in this case being the Caribbean Island of Saint Hubbins. They’re joined at the hotel by two couples that appear to be engaged in a tangled web of extra-marital affairs with each other. Gus isn’t too interested in the affairs of others until one of them ends up dead. Another person is arrested by the local police for the crime. It’s not that Gus feels he ...

When a hiker falls from a cliff edge while walking the Cotswolds Way, it seems like no accident. The more Jack and Sarah investigate the walkers on the trail that day, the more likely it seems that danger is still afoot. Is there a potential killer in this Cherringham tour group? And when will he or she strike again? Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo: English web designer Sarah and American ex-cop Jack. Thrilling and deadly - but with a spot of tea - it's like Rosamunde Pilcher meets Inspector Barnaby.

When a $3 million Bulgari diamond necklace disappears into thin air during a locked photo shoot, the suspects are all on set. There’s the magazine’s new editor-in-chief with much to prove, the tarnished photographer she’s indebted to, the fallen star who swooped in when her young rival got sick, and the grandiose stylist. But it’s the lowly assistant who must solve the case—and find the gems before taking the blame.

Gus is having one of the best things a man that works in law enforcement can have, a very slow day. His slow day only gets better when he discovers that an ice cream shop is opening near the law enforcement complex. Even though the ice cream shop only serves gelato, that’s not enough to spoil his good mood on this slow day. The only real way his slow day could get ruined was if someone mysteriously dropped dead in the yoga studio across the street from the ice cream shop while at nearly the same time Father Xavier volunteered him to speak at the weekly Tuesday prayer breakfast at town ...

Kathleen finishes what Paul started… The series isn’t over until true justice is served… Kathleen O’Brien will stop at nothing to honor Paul Madison’s memory and legacy. Chuck Gaylord will do whatever it takes to make sure justice is served and to protect Kathleen. Delilah Rossi, the untouchable crime boss, will have her moment of reckoning. Can Kathleen find a way to honor the loved ones she’s lost without compromising her integrity? A short read cozy mystery filled with mystery, romance, and a touch of magic. After three years of mourning Paul Madison’s death, Kathleen is ...

When a big movie production comes to Cherringham, complete with lords, ladies, and flashing swords, the whole village is abuzz with excitement. But when a series of dangerous accidents threatens the life of the young lead, Zoe Harding, Sarah and Jack get involved. Are these really accidents? Or could they be something more sinister - even deadly? Who is trying to destroy the career of the beautiful young star - and why?

Who gave a baby away on Christmas Day? DNA tests seemed like perfect gifts for the elderly Perkins sisters. They can settle an old argument with bragging rights going to the winner—that’s the intent, anyway. But when the results arrive, everything changes, including the original question. One sister was born on Christmas Eve eighty-three years ago, but not to the Perkins family. So, who is she? The Nineteenth Gift is a heartwarming story of arguments, lies, and blackmail, and a special gift no one was expecting. This Eastern Shore Mysteries Short Holiday Read features Ellender York.