Short Cozy Mysteries

Five thrilling tales of mystery, mayhem, and murder from an exceptional quintet of Edgar, CWA Dagger, and National Book Award winners.

A casual glance out his apartment window turns Magician Eli Marks’ life upside down. After spotting a dead body in the projection booth of the movie theater next door, Eli is pulled into the hunt for the killer. As he attempts to puzzle out a solution to this classic locked room mystery, he must deal with a crisis of a more personal nature: the appearance of a rival magician who threatens not only Eli’s faith in himself as a performer, but his relationship with his girlfriend.

Her life was once filled with love and the promise of new beginnings. But she'd given up on her hopes and dreams of marriage and a family and instead buried herself in her big city career and the small home in her quiet home-town neighborhood. Then everything changed. Jessie Richards found herself in just about the worst possible position. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been in difficult situations before in her life, but this one pretty much outdid all the others. And it didn’t help that she had no choice but to tell her new boss. The feelings that she had for the man…romantic feelings...

Did Artificial Intelligence exist in the ancient past? Is it possible to kill someone from beyond the grave? Do demons and Bigfoot exist? Are Leprechauns and zombies real? The novella, "The Mystery of the Fox Down Dog," and a series of seven short stories, answer these questions in the author's own unique way. From the cozy, to the humorous, to the creepy, these stories will keep you guessing and turning the pages to the very end.

Discover how Meghan Truman, Sandy Bay's latest resident and new bakery owner, navigates her way through three murder mysteries as she gets to know the quirky characters in her adopted hometown after failing to make a career as an actress in Hollywood. She's finally started a relationship with Jack Irvin, a detective, but will she find time to build a romance while she has to deal with betrayals, ungrateful staff, culture clashes and murder? Three complete best selling cozy mystery stories in one boxset!

Disillusioned, with their dreams of running an island hotel shattered, the McInnes family return to Glasgow. Hugh and Annabella are planning to go travelling, leaving Leger in the care of the Goldsworthy family while they are gone. He wastes no time on self-pity though and throws himself back into his work. Shortly before arriving back in the city, he learns Nicole has been attacked. With the police taking too long to track down the culprit, Leger and Bob get on the case. However, Isabella can't stop flirting, Ginger is acting out of character and Amber is taking risks that put lives in ...

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 ...

The second of the Leger Hotel Mysteries Series sees an unexpected visitor with a massive grudge against Leger arrive - his son, August. Confused when August first arrives at the hotel, Leger asks how the young tomcat made the journey from Glasgow. He learns that August travelled with Verity, the sister of the man who attacked Hugh almost two years ago. Unaware who Verity is, Annabella and Hugh give her a job at the hotel but alarm bells ring when the young girl falls victim to one crime after another. Leger suspects she is conning her trusting employers and friends out of money. August is ...

Successful attorney Larry Scott checks his watch and realizes that he is still working in his law office at four minutes past midnight which means that Larry has just turned sixty years of age while chained to his desk. He is disgusted with his workaholic ways and decides right then and there to retire from the Indianapolis law firm where he has toiled for his entire thirty-five year legal career. Larry has no idea that a bizarre set of circumstances will soon have him sorting through cryptic clues to solve three very old murders back in his home town of Vevay, Indiana. Can Larry make the ...

Halloween is supposed to be fun, right? It's Flynn family tradition to host Keyhole Lake's annual Halloween party. This year, Noelle is in charge and she’s about to lose it. Between forgetting to pick up the candy and trying to work around a histrionic, living-impaired aunt, things are spiraling out of control fast. The situation goes from bad to worse when she buys a cool crystal pendant in a thrift shop, because it isn’t long before she finds out that what she really bought is trouble.

Haunted by her ex-husband’s deceits, can Skye unravel the clues to discover a new life?During an ill-fated job hunt in Miami, Skye O’Shea wants to run away from the betrayal of her loved ones. A black bird's ominous message, a cryptic warning from a resident at a retirement home, and the echoes of a raven's caw all beckon her toward a destiny she never imagined. A revelation sets her on a journey where every twist and turn reveals a new enchanting secret, and every new puzzle brings Skye one step closer to the extraordinary destiny she never knew awaited her. A Mystical Legacy: A Skye ...

When Tabitha Clive is on the case, nothing stays hidden for long. Question: What does a jailhouse interview, a fugitive out for revenge, and a kidnapped judge have in common? Answer: Tabitha Clive! Amateur sleuth, part-time reporter, and baker extraordinaire, Tabitha Clive is back to make sure justice is served. Now that the Butler cousins are locked away, Tabitha and the good people of Kornville, Nebraska, are returning to their peaceful way of life. The Clive family won’t let their guard down while one smart and dangerous mastermind remains at large. When a well-respected judge vanishes...

Enjoy three stories of romance, mystery, and the magic of Christmas! THE OXFORD STREET COFFEE HOUSE DETECTIVES Two young women and one young man lead unobtrusive lives working at a Victorian coffee house, for the owner Mr. McDougal. But when a famous painting is stolen, they must assume their other identities--for they moonlight as apprentice detectives under the employ of Mycroft Holmes. THE ROOKS OF MISSELTHWAITE - PART 1: IN THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN Lilias Lennox and her sister Evelia have lost everything. Their parents are dead, their brother is serving in India, and now their sole ...

Dark and hazy nights were both their sword and shield... Liz Danger surrounded her. Escape seemed impossible. Hope came from the last place she expected. She knew his name...everyone did. But she knew nothing about the man he really was. Or if he had any chance at saving her. Sam The plan was a good one. If it worked. He had the perfect cover story. He’d be the one asking all the questions. Looking for answers was the story of his life and everyone knew it...expected it. This time though...the stories could turn out differently than expected. Sam and Liz knew the trip wouldn’t be easy ...

Manhattan ghostwriter Jake O’Hara has been meaning to get her so-called love life—and her career—back on track. But lately, it hasn’t been easy. Especially now that her soon-to-be-married mother has witnessed a murder—in a confessional, no less. Shortly after Maura O’Hara arrived at the church, Father Billy Blake—controversy-plagued priest, anti-death penalty activist, and spiritual advisor to a notorious hit man—was shot dead. It’s no secret that Father Blake had a number of enemies—from a scheming drug lord to a dangerous clan on death row. Coming up with a list of ...

It’s just one thing after another for magician Eli Marks: The bizarre death of a barista. Performing close-up magic at a funeral. A homicidal husband looking for ideas. An unexpected customer encounter. An impossible stabbing during a show. A Halloween murder. A life-changing magic lesson. A mystifying murder/suicide. A puzzling jewel heist and an even odder painting theft. And more! A dozen new Eli Marks short stories (10 never-before published), which means you now have a dozen more reasons to spend some quality time with Eli Marks.

Dark and hazy nights were both their sword and shield... Liz Danger surrounded her. Escape seemed impossible. Hope came from the last place she expected. She knew his name...everyone did. But she knew nothing about the man he really was. Or if he had any chance at saving her. Sam The plan was a good one. If it worked. He had the perfect cover story. He’d be the one asking all the questions. Looking for answers was the story of his life and everyone knew it...expected it. This time though...the stories could turn out differently than expected. Sam and Liz knew the trip wouldn’t be easy ...

Maintaining good personal relationships with their suppliers is one of the secrets of the Cackleberry Club Café’s success, so Suzanne doesn’t mind going out to Mike Mullen’s dairy farm to pick up some wheels of cheese. She’s looking forward to a nice visit with the mild-mannered farmer before heading back to the café’s hectic kitchen. But when she arrives, Mike’s nowhere to be found. The moaning of his cows leads her to look in the barn, where she discovers a bloodcurdling sight - the farmer’s dead body.

Gus has traveled out of state and up to the city of Seattle to visit his daughter. She’s sharing an apartment with two criminology majors. Naturally their thoughts turn toward talking about crime and they ask Gus to talk about one of his cases. Since he doesn’t want to discuss anything too recent or else his daughter might know the people involved, he digs down deep into his memory banks for the perfect case from his first year as a sheriff. It also just so happens to be the first case he crossed path with Father Xavier. As he remembers it, Gus was called in to investigate an apparent ...

Susan Becker keeps finding herself mixed up in mysteries when she should be busy cooking up something sweet in her bakery in the small tourist town of Lakeside, Missouri. Her best feline friend, Mr. Giles, is one of those curious cats who can't keep away from a fresh crime scene. Detective Kip Fletcher has the unpleasant job of finding out who dug up and stole the corpse of one of the town's leading citizens. A missing body. A mysterious skeleton key. Unexplained lights that could be the town's first ghost....