In this intoxicating mystery by USA Today bestselling author Sarah Fox, a winter carnival becomes a recipe for disaster when a Shady Creek celebrity gets iced. The Winter Carnival always brings holiday cheer, Christmas joy-and tourists with cash-to picturesque Shady Creek, Vermont. At the center of the glittering decorations and twinkling lights is booklover and pub owner Sadie Coleman, creating original cocktails, hosting a literary trivia evening, and cheering on her loyal employee Melanie 'Mel' Costas as she competes in the ice carving competition. But holiday cheer can't compete with former resident and renowned chef Freddy Mancini, who arrives with his nose in the air, showing off his ice-sculpting skills like a modern-day Michelangelo. During the artists' break in the night-long contest, Mel's tools disappear . . . and Freddy is found dead with her missing pick in his chest. Although the police turn their attention to Mel, it seems everyone in town had a grudge against Freddy, including his assistant, his mentor, his former flame, and even his half-brother. Faster than she can fling a Huckleberry Gin, Sadie finds herself racing to make sure the police don't arrest the wrong suspect-all while sharing a flirtation with local brewery owner Grayson Blake. Their chemistry leads to a heated rivalry at the hockey rink-and to the hot pursuit of a killer.
In the first in an engaging new mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Sarah Fox, the owner of a charming literary pub finds her fresh start on the rocks thanks to a case of murder. Booklover Sadie Coleman knows that in life, as in fiction, the right setting can make a world of difference. The small town of Shady Creek, Vermont, seems like the perfect place to start over after losing her Boston job to a merger and her relationship to her ex's gambling addiction. She's bought and redecorated the old grist mill pub, transforming the Inkwell into a cozy spot where tourists and regulars alike can enjoy a pint or a literary-themed cocktail, or join one of several book clubs. Little by little, Sadie is adjusting to the rhythms of her new home. Fall in Shady Creek is bookmarked by the much-anticipated Autumn Festival, complete with a pumpkin catapult competition and pie bake-off. Unfortunately, the season also brings an unwelcome visitor-Sadie's ex, Eric, who's angling for a second chance . . . Before Sadie can tell Eric to leave, he's found dead near the Inkwell. When the local antique shop catches fire on the same night, it's clear the town is harboring at least one unsavory character. Now, with her Aunt Gilda, her friend Shontelle, and the pub's patrons all in the mix, Sadie must uncover the truth . . . before a killer declares last call.
With a Hollywood film crew in town to shoot a remake of the horror classic The Perishing, the residents of Wildwood Cove are all abuzz. Even Marley McKinney, owner of The Flip Side Pancake House, can overlook the fact that the lead actress, Alyssa Jayde, happens to be an old flame of her boyfriend. After all, the crew loves Marley's crêpes-so much so that Christine, the head makeup artist, invites her onset for a behind-the-scenes tour. But when Marley arrives, the special-effects trailer is on fire . . . with Christine inside. The cops quickly rule Christine's death a murder, and Alyssa a suspect. Marley's boyfriend insists that the actress is innocent, but when Marley sticks her nose into the complicated lives of The Perishing's cast and crew, she discovers more questions than answers. It seems that everyone has a hidden agenda-and a plausible motive. And as the horror spills over from the silver screen, Marley gets a funny feeling that she may be the killer's next victim.
Tourist season's in full swing in the small seaside town of Wildwood Cove, and Marley McKinney couldn't be happier. Since taking over the Flip Side restaurant, she's made a few close friends, adopted a cat named Flapjack, and started dating her childhood crush. The only cloud on the horizon is local nuisance Ida Winkler, who blames Marley for landing her nephew in prison. Trying to get a rise out of Marley, Ida's been making crank calls and even vandalizing the pancake house. The police can't do much about the pranks, so Marley sets out to bury the hatchet once and for all. But someone's beat her to it-in the most shocking way possible. After stumbling across Ida's dead body, Marley's suddenly the number-one suspect in her murder. Clearing her good name is going to be a tall order, but Marley's not about to let Ida keep ruining her life-especially from beyond the grave.
When Marley McKinney's aging cousin, Jimmy, is hospitalized with pneumonia, she agrees to help run his pancake house while he recovers. With its rustic interior and syrupy scent, the Flip Side Pancake House is just as she pictured it-and the surly chef is a wizard with crêpes. Marley expects to spend a leisurely week or two in Wildwood Cove, the quaint, coastal community where she used to spend her summers, but then Cousin Jimmy is found murdered, sprawled on the rocks beneath a nearby cliff. After she stumbles across evidence of stolen goods in Jimmy's workshop, Marley is determined to find out what's really going on in the not-so-quiet town of Wildwood Cove. With help from her childhood crush and her adopted cat, Flapjack, Marley sinks her teeth into the investigation. But if she's not careful, she's going to get burned by a killer who's only interested in serving up trouble.
There's some shady business in Shady Creek, Vermont, this spring-in the third mystery by USA Today bestselling author Sarah Fox featuring pub owner and amateur sleuth Sadie Coleman... Sadie is delighted to have booked famous romantic suspense novelist Linnea Bliss for an event at The Inkwell, her literary-themed pub, housed in a renovated grist mill. The author and her personal assistant Marcie are staying at Shady Creek Manor, a grand historical hotel that was once a private mansion and is rumored to still hold hidden treasure somewhere within its walls. But the hotel's storied past is nothing compared to its tragic present when Marcie plummets to her death from an open window on the third floor. After Sadie discovers signs of a struggle in the room, it's clear that someone assisted the assistant out the window. But Marcie is new in town-who would have a motive to kill her? In between pulling pints and naming literary-themed cocktails, Sadie takes it on herself to solve the case, wondering if the crime is connected to the vandalized vehicles of a film crew in town to do a feature on local brewer Grayson Blake, with whom Sadie shares a strong flirtation. Or could the poor woman's defenestration have anything to do with the legendary treasure? As Shady Creek Manor prepares for a May Day masquerade ball, Sadie is determined to unmask the killer-but when she uncorks a whole lot of trouble, will she meet a bitter end?
Pancake house owner Marley McKinney takes a break from the Flip Side for a romantic getaway. But soon, instead of mixing batter, she's mixed up with murder . . .
Marley and her new husband Brett need some quality couple time before the holiday madness, so they drive up into the mountains of the Olympic Peninsula to charming Holly Lodge. Before long they're enjoying snowshoe excursions, hot chocolates, and cuddling in front of a roaring fire. Despite some barely concealed marital tension between the owners of the lodge, they're finally able to unwind . . .
Until one morning when they notice a glove sticking out of a snowbank outside of the lodge. Inside the glove is a hand connected to a frozen corpse buried beneath the snow-lodge owner Kevin Manning has been murdered. Presented with a stack of suspects and eventually stranded at the lodge by a blizzard, Marley has to catch the cold-hearted killer before someone else gets iced . . .
Murder is on the menu in the latest Pancake House Mystery, as a treasure trove of old letters spurs a killer to take some unsavory action . . .
This summer, Wildwood Cove is hosting a special event, Wild West Days, to celebrate the town's storied past. Wildwood Cove's museum is also getting a new lease on life thanks to a longtime resident's generous bequest. Several locals, including Marley McKinney-Collins, owner of the Flip Side pancake house, offer to transfer artifacts to the beautiful restored Victorian that will become the museum's home. But there's an unappetizing development when a volunteer, Jane Fassbinder, is found dead-bludgeoned with an antique clothes iron.
Marley can never resist a piping hot mystery, and this one seems especially intriguing. Jane had recently unearthed some love letters from the Jack of Diamonds, a notorious thief who plagued Wildwood Cove over a century ago. As more locals meet with dangerous 'accidents,' it seems that someone is determined to keep that correspondence buried deep in the past. And unless Marley can sift through the likely suspects, she too could end up being nothing but history . . .
When a Renaissance Faire visits the small town of Shady Creek, Vermont, amateur sleuth and proprietor of bookish theme pub The Inkwell Sadie Coleman finds deadly happenings stick around like red wine stains on white tunics in the fourth Literary Pub Mystery by USA Today bestselling author Sarah Fox. The Trueheart Renaissance Faire and Circus has rolled into town, attracting locals who can't wait to spend a few summer days lost in a whimsical world of allknowing fortune tellers and daring acrobats. Well-read pub owner Sadie Coleman is swept up in the magic herself when she serves drinks to the faire's resident wizard, the shamelessly brazen illusionist Ozzie Stone, and scores two tickets to his opening performance. Sadie has no complaints about indulging in a free show with her new beau, craft brewery owner Grayson Blake. But while Ozzie is an instant crowd pleaser, the real surprise comes when he collapses in the middle of his set. It's not part of the act-Ozzie is dead, seemingly poisoned by someone who wasn't clowning around about writing the roguish showman's final chapter. The terrifying situation intensifies when the police eye one of Sadie's employees, last seen caught in a suspicious fist fight at the fairground. With so much at stake, Sadie must strain through a suspect list longer than her cocktail menu to find the real knave of a killer. But when another performer is murdered, it becomes clear that bringing the mixed-up murderer to justice will be about as dangerous as walking the high wire after happy hour ...
