Southern Cozy

A woman was abducted in her place. Now, time is running out for Julia Jackson to save herself from the same fate. A woman is taken at gunpoint from a downtown office building, and the police believe the victim is Special Agent Julia Jackson. Only it isn't true. Now, with the help of her new partner Mark Vincent, state fraud investigator Julia Jackson must find justice for the woman who was taken in her place.

Welcome to "Innvitation to Murder," a captivating cozy mystery set at the picturesque Magnolia Blossom Inn, nestled in the charming town of Clarkstown at the gateway to the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains just outside Charlottesville, VA. Meet Maddie Brooke, recent graduate of UVA Charlottesville, and a young woman who unexpectedly inherits the inn from her late grandmother, Polly Brooke. With the support of her best friends: computer wizard Lionel Hogan and intern physician Lily Chung, Maddie sets out to breathe new life into the inn and honor her grandmother's legacy while ...

After Windsor Ebonwood’s love life and successful career as a book conservator vanish in one fell swoop, she’s determined to begin anew. Win moves to Darkly Island off the coast of Louisiana, where she’s been bequeathed an unusual bookshop and a charming home on the edge of a dark swamp. Win gets to work settling into her new life in the sleepy Southern town but discovering Darkly’s heartless town alderman impaled on a gravestone wasn’t on the books. Nor was finding out about her family’s legacy as powerful witches responsible for protecting the bookshop at all costs.

The gang from the Gull Island Writers Retreat take on the case of a man who is currently doing time for the murder of a woman he swears he did not kill. After speaking to the man, Alex determines that he is most likely telling the truth, so he enlists the help of the gang to prove it. As they work together to sort fact from fiction, they realize there may be a lot more going on than they originally thought.

When 16-year-old Emily Halliwell ran away from home, she agreed to send her half sister a photo every week to prove she was okay. And she did. For a while. But then the photos stopped coming. Nicole Carrington, Emily's half sister and the newest permanent resident of the Gull Island Writer's Retreat, decides to ask the Mystery Mastermind Group for help. The trail has gone cold, but Nicole is desperate, so the group decides to accept the challenge in spite of the staggering odds of finding Emily alive after all of this time.

Beside dealing with extortion and murder, Gracie has to cope with a hurricane in her latest adventure. This situation is particularly challenging, because it hits a little too close to home. This story combines mystery and intrigue with a taste of the south.

Annie Jordan’s newly opened can of worms sends her and Tyler on a trip. Two trips, as a matter of fact. They need to sort out the family matter. Whose father is who? Does what was in the past stay in the past or can Annie and Tyler unearth the mystery of their parentage? What about the mysterious woman who’s left her a message. Who is she? How does she fit in with Sam? Does she? Annie’s trying not to be overtly curious, but can you blame a girl—ahem, woman!—for wondering about this newly arrived stranger? Then there’s the matter of all the bad luck she’s been having. And the ...

Annie Jordan’s new lease on life has taken a turn. With a new brother on the scene—one that everyone she knows is practically accusing of being a criminal element—she’s also found herself with a new roommate. It goes without saying that Bogart’s not happy about the roommate sitch. Of course, neither is Sam, and especially not Melanie. But hey, she’s got Mildred, and it seems she’s the only one who doesn’t hate Annie’s newly found brother. Prompted by curiosity—it killed the cat, right? Not humans?—Annie and Tyler submit their saliva for some DNA testing. They have ...

When Jack receives a disturbing email from a man claiming to have killed eight people, he sets off on a road trip with Jill and Kizzy in search of the answers he will need to stop this madman before he is able to kill victim number nine.

Some say it was the spirt of one of the pirates that haunt the island that killed him. Others say the death was the result of greed and revenge. All that was known for certain, was that death did not come peacefully for the last inhabitant of a now deserted island.

“Dispute in progress, lethal weapons involved.” Deputy Pegasus Quincy takes the call to resolve violence on a Friesian horse ranch in Arizona. Intent on his own personal vendetta, partner Shepherd Malone refuses to declare a murder in a fatal fire at the ranch. Peg unwisely circumvents the law to investigate anyway. Two families feuding over water rights, a Gypsy clan suspected of drug dealing, and a blackmailer on the loose, all lead Pegasus astray on her quest to find the killer in a desert mountain town beset by flash floods and arsenic-laced creeks.

A faraway land. A valuable amethyst. And the auction of a lifetime. Amateur gemstone detective Ainsley Walker accepts an offer from an elderly art dealer to travel to the country of Uruguay—the forgotten jewel of South America—to buy a priceless treasure. But it’s not that easy. It’s never that easy. Things go wrong, and Ainsley’s plans are flipped upside down. Soon she’s carried on a fast-paced runaway adventure— —from the historic streets of Montevideo to the muddy roads of remote villages— —from rural beef ranches to elite beach resorts— Along the way, Ainsley finds...

A southern-fried comedy with a touch of romance, a side of mystery, a smattering of paranormal, and three crazy sisters…. All Mitzi Winston wants is enough money to pay this month’s mortgage payment. That is the only reason she even considers the phone sex job. Ever since her husband’s disappearance, she has held things together nicely—until recently. And now, well, she just needs the money. Biting the bullet, she goes for the interview, only to find that the phone sex job isn’t real and she’s too late—not for the interview, but to save her husband. For there he is, dead on ...

Marci thinks mouthwatering pastries are just what her small Southern hometown needs. Most residents agree, saying that her baked goods are magical, creating love and good fortune all over town. When Kelly Lowry is shot in front of the shop, it gives the pastries a new meaning behind “to die for.” Who killed her, and why was her murder followed by a strange Frenchman’s appearance? When Antoine Dubois wanders into her quaint shop, Marci is smitten immediately. But soon, more questions arise than answers: How did Antoine end up in Kentucky? And what was his connection to the dead woman?

Welcome to the Magnolia Blossom Inn, where sweet tea, southern charm, and deep-rooted secrets collide. Maddie Brooke thought inheriting her grandmother's historic southern bed and breakfast inn would be a peaceful endeavor. But when a 75 year old skeleton is uncovered under a cherry tree, old family secrets are dug up too. Could the skeleton’s identity be her grandmother's former beau? The shocking culprits will lead to an upheaval within the town of Clarkstown. As if a skeleton isn't enough to disrupt the gay Easter egg hunt, a man is found stabbed in the cherry orchard at the conclusion...

How does a systems analyst become more than a computer consultant for the police department? A nighttime robbery of the family restaurant is just the first of a series of unpleasant incidents that drag Gracie into a police investigation and leads her to a surprising discovery about her family history.

Claire dozes in the hammock on the front porch of her family home in Queens, baking in the early morning heat, and hardly glances up when a car drives by. Ten years ago, she lost her brother, a rookie cop who made the mistake of trying to reason with a mugger, and she left home to travel the world. Now she is back, camera in hand. The children of the Breslinsky household - a cop, a photographer, a journalist, and a strange little boy - live in a state of carefully controlled chaos.

Haley Landry, Questgiver, has been enjoying the system Armageddon: she's become an enchantress, helped her friends and neighbors, even set up a cool haunted house. But when her grandmother's class evolution requires her to turn their home into an inn, she balks. She's been visiting Nana at this house every summer for years... it's a point of comfort and stability that she's reluctant to surrender. She's always risen to the challenges imposed by the Trials before, but this one's going to be hard.... Join Haley, Nana, and the people of Refuge for another quick, cozy read, just right for the ...

One more deadly romantic comedy. Meet Mitzi, Molly, and Marla—three sisters, southern-fried born-and-bred, and the ghosts who love them. Marla Newberry has no interest in dating someone local. She much prefers midnight runs to a biker bar in Shreveport. Cooter Haines, drummer for a Grateful Dead tribute band called Skull Bone, owns the biker bar called The Deadhead. He also happens to be the only guy who can curl her toes like a sprung guitar string. And while she enjoys surrendering to his toe-curling on occasion, she’s not interested in bringing the long-haired drummer home to daddy--...

Lucy is terrified and puzzled by this latest murder in her small town. It seems a dark cloud has settled over her town as rumors abound about why the killer did it and when they did it. Eventually, the prime suspect is identified as the former classmate Lucy hired at her bakery. Many people witnessed an altercation this person had with the deceased and they’ve been judged guilty in the court of public opinion. But Lucy knows there’s more to this murder mystery than meets the eye.