Short Cozy Mysteries

Homicide detective Tyler Odom and Daphne Janet team up once again - this time to search for a baby no one is quite sure actually exists. Tensions arise when their approaches to the case (and their apparent sympathies) diverge. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This 8500-word short story was originally published on the Kindle Vella platform.

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 ...

Hazel Arnold's mother has a strong sense of what is proper for a woman of the Arnolds' financial stature and is determined that Hazel marry a man she despises. This sets Hazel on a quest to prove the man is not who he appears to be. She enlists the help of her family's handsome chauffeur and her lady's maid. Her search takes her along a path of lies and deceit, resulting in death and destruction. Still, at the end of her quest, Hazel finds something worth much more than proving her mother wrong.

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, ...

SWEET REVENGE - COZY MYSTERY SERIES - SHORT READ If beauty had a name, it would be Anna Townsend. Adopted in Korea by an American couple and brought to the United States, Anna was forever grateful for a privileged lifestyle and family who promised her the world. As she blossomed as a sweet child into a beautiful and talented teenager, she always wondered if more was expected of her. On that fateful day of her 20th birthday party, the man who adopted her was murdered. The only person she could turn to was Father Eli.

Everyone has a story…and a dream. Patricia didn’t trust easily. Her ex-husband had taught her all the reasons not to. But Daine didn’t give up easily. Andrew wanted to make certain his granddaughter was happy with her life…then his daughter showed up. Jillian was determined to learn more about her family’s history and the mystery surrounding the woman in the painting at Daine’s house…she didn’t count on Nic being just as interested in it as she was. Hannah couldn’t be happier with her new husband…or so she thought. Livy was thrilled with her and Patricia’s business ...

When Tabitha Clive is on the case, nothing stays hidden for long. Question: What does a rusty old tin box, peach cobbler and a dead ex-boyfriend all have in common? Answer: Tabitha Clive! When the citizens of her hometown of Kornville, Nebraska, are shocked by a murder, amateur sleuth and part time reporter Tabitha Clive takes it upon herself to investigate. Tabitha’s case proves more complicated than she anticipated. She must deal with a strange cast of characters, from a suspicious new farmhand to a rude baker with a shady past. With each new twist and turn, the mystery deepens, and the...

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

Leader of the Underworld Halloween LaVeau is attending an award ceremony. Brothers Liam and Nicolas have been nominated for Coven Leader of the Year. Things take a strange turn when ghosts and magic collide during the ceremony. There will be no awards given out if Halloween doesn’t gain control of the event.Previously published in the Spell of the Ball anthology.

Hawaiian holiday turns mysterious when long-time friend leads narrator on a downhill slide into Rainbow Valley. The secret hidden there is revealed in this mini twisty-turner set in modern day Hawaii on the sleepy isle of Kauai. With a derelict parrot named Barfly on his shoulder, Sky says it’s never too late to fly. Note: In response to reader comments that the timeline was confusing, I re-wrote and re-published the story in April of 2017. I hope I have corrected that problem for my readers.

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.

In the charming town of Pinewood Hollow, the stakes are high as two rival bakers, Francine Hayes and Olivia Barlow, face off in a dessert duel. But when Olivia collapses in the middle of the competition and dies under suspicious circumstances, all eyes turn to Francine. Did bitter rivalry push Francine to murder? Or is there something even more sinister at play? Violet “Vi” Dumont, bakery and craft shop owner, and her clever cat Muffin are on the case. As Vi and Detective Marcus Reed dig into the history of the bakers’ feud, they uncover a tangled web of secrets, betrayals, and old ...

A short read paranormal cozy mystery with a touch of later in life romance. Take a… Newly married couple looking to peacefully begin their happily ever after. Quaint small town where shovels glow in the dark and angry witch’s like to dig up trouble. Mix in… A whinny witch who wants what she wants and doesn’t care who gets hurt. A race to find a secret journal filled with dangerous curses and spells. Unfinished business between two quarreling strong-willed sisters. And You’ve Got… Alice and Preston caught in the middle of Glenda and Polly’s bitter battle as magical spells and ...

Marjorie Hardaway runs a cafe in the small New Zealand town of Hanmer Springs, overflowing with kittens looking for new "forever" homes. A busy job made more troublesome when life throws her into the path of unsolved crimes! With her own quirky style and with the help of friends from the tight-knit community, Marjorie sets to work to solve the puzzles.

Zoe Donovan is a cozy mystery series with enduring friendships, memorable characters, an enchanting setting, and a generous dollop of romance. When a ghost hunter is found dead in a haunted house just days before Halloween, it looks like the killer may be living-impaired. When the cat lady of Ashton Falls is found dead in her home days before Thanksgiving, Zoe must track down a killer while dealing with a house full of socialites. Zak and Zoe fly to Alaska after Zoe is asked by her dog trainer to fly to Moosehead to deliver a search-and-rescue dog to a team desperate for canine help.

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 ...

I’m Nora Nash, a.k.a “The Ghost Girl” to everyone in my hometown. For as long as I can remember, seeing ghosts was a part of my life. But now I’ve decided it’s time for a fresh start. My dad packed the family up and moved us to the mountain resort town of Lakeside. We’re the proud new owners of the old Lakeside Bed and Breakfast. We’re working hard to get the place up and running and establishing our new normal. Nobody here knows a thing about the Nash family or my “spiritual gifts”. Until I ran into…OK, I ran through Lucille Evanston while I was out helping my father in...

It's Halloween 1989. Suzy is barely out of her teens, pregnant, and on the run with a bag of money that belongs to some very bad men. Back in Camelot, West Virginia, Arvin Lee Orkney doesn't know he's about to become a daddy. But he sure knows he's in big trouble. An old enemy has vanished. Now, both the cops and the crooks call him the prime suspect. The star-crossed lovers have broken lives, fractured hearts, and no clue death is stalking them. But someone, or something, is watching from the shadows. And messing with Orkneys, dead or alive, is never a good idea. This spookily seasonal ...

Billy Hill grew up in the north woods of Vermont where he resided with and was home-schooled by his reclusive bachelor uncle. Billy then found a job as a glorified book-keeper in the tiny village of Vergennes, Vermont but also earned pretty good money participating in illegal cage fights. When his boss retired, Billy was offered a temporary job to go undercover in a Tallahassee, Florida landscaping business in order to ascertain why the company was losing so much money. Billy will soon learn that he'll require both his flair for numbers and his top fighting skills to carry out his mission ...

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, ...