Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie's Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.
Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can't bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt's Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie's Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago-a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case-because it looks like one of them might be next.
July 4th is a big deal in Locust Point — the parade, the fireworks, and the eagerly anticipated annual River Regatta. And this year local celebrity Holt Dupree will be in town, riding high on his recent draft pick for an NFL team.
But not everyone loves football, and not everyone is a fan of Holt Dupree.
Now the hometown hero is dead, and it seems the auto accident that killed him was no accident. Suddenly there are more suspects than anyone could imagine, and Kay Carrera is elbows-deep in the mystery.
Pleasant Creek, Indiana's first annual summer arts and crafts fair has Liz Eckardt beaming. Tourists are coming out of the woodwork to get their hands on Amish-inspired goods, and the Olde Mansion Inn, her bed-and-breakfast, is full to the rafters. But when sawbucks start disappearing from the vendors, and Mayor Jackson Cross's furniture samples are marred, it's clear someone is trying to throw a monkey wrench into the festivities.
Unfortunately, Jackson has bigger worries. His ex-employee is mad enough to spit nails, and when he is found polished off -- murdered with a distinctive table leg -- Jackson becomes the prime suspect.
Liz decides to investigate when she suspects that some of the guests under her roof are not on the level -- a mysterious Texan, two very nosy ladies, and a gentleman clearly using an assumed name. And what about the family who've arrived in Pleasant Creek ostensibly looking to dust themselves off and make a fresh start? Are they who they seem to be, or are they responsible for the sinister handiwork around town?
Liz and the rest of the Material Girls will need all the tools of the trade to hammer out a solution to the crimes in Pleasant Creek before Jackson is sent to the Big House -- permanently.
While leading a volunteer home renovation project, San Francisco contractor Mel Turner can't help but notice something unusual about the house next door . . .
San Francisco contractor Mel Turner is leading a volunteer home renovation project, and while she expects lots of questions from her inexperienced crew, she can't help asking a few of her own—especially about the haunted house next door . . . the place local kids call the Murder House.
But when volunteers discover a body while cleaning out a shed, questions pile up faster than discarded lumber. Mel notices signs of ghostly activity next door and she wonders: Are the Murder House ghosts reaching out to her for help, or has the house claimed another victim?
Now, surprised to find herself as the SFPD's unofficial "ghost consultant," Mel must investigate murders both past and present before a spooky killer finishes another job.
Things in The Sisters are heating up, and Madison Reynolds is in the hot seat.
When a local woman dies in a most unconventional way, In a Pinch takes on the quirky case and once again, Maddy finds herself in the middle of a would-be murder investigation. Even with the help of her grandmother and best friend Genny, this case may be too hot to handle.
Things really start smoking when Cutter's grandfather, rodeo legend Sticker Pierce, returns to The Sisters and tries to rekindle a romance with old flame Belle, aka Granny Bert. And Maddy's latest brush with death prompts Brash to finally make his move.
With renovations almost complete and the love of a good man behind her, Maddy is ready to tell the world: I'm home again, and starting over.
As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P.G. Wodehouse - discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin. Crime fiction at its quirkiest and best.
Holy Disorders takes Oxford don and part time detective Gervase Fen to the town of Tolnbridge, where he is happily bounding around with a butterfly net until the cathedral organist is murdered, giving Fen the chance to play sleuth. The man didn't have an enemy in the world, and even his music was inoffensive: could he have fallen foul of a nest of German spies or of the local coven of witches, ominously rumored to have been practicing since the 17th century?
Harlow Torrent, part-time journalist and full-time Slip Witch wants nothing more than to take a holiday from witchy things… but when a series of thefts around Harlot Bay turn deadly, she’s drawn into solving a murder mystery.
Between murderous teenagers, a secret buried in the past, Hattie Stern on the warpath, Christmas approaching and Aunt Cass suffering a very froggy problem, Harlow is doing everything she can to enjoy her holiday but those witchy problems just won’t let her rest…
Book #5 of the Torrent Witches Cozy Mysteries series.
Buttermilk Falls bachelor Adam Reed never expected to assume the title of Supernatural Matchmaker, yet thanks to his ghostly distant cousin, Mary Reed, he's now the recipient of one shimmering blue mixing spoon and a powerful spell that can conjure up the name of any woman's soulmate-and just in time for the holidays! The only problem is the male names that appear are totally unexpected and causing chaos. Forget about apologies or explanations, these bachelorettes want his head on a Christmas platter. Bethany Wilson has had one wish since she was fourteen: that Adam Reed would one day be her boyfriend. Always on the sidelines, she watched the budding high-school romance between her best friend and Adam bloom into something longer lasting. When the unthinkable happens and the two break up, Bethany can't help but wonder a year later if she can finally reveal to him how she feels. Unsure and still afraid to go after what she wants, Bethany attends the annual Holiday Hook Up event-the town's annual pairing of couples between Christmas and New Years-prepared to once again stand on the sidelines. But then she discovers a beautiful wedding dress in an antique hope chest, and she doesn't know that Mary was to be married in the dress before she died-nor that she now has plans for it that involve Bethany, Adam, and one toe-curling kiss.
Have yourself a very Merry Witchmas in Holiday Haven, where the magic and mystery of Christmas is snow joke!
Top toy designer Star Clearwater is convinced that Christmas is cursed. What's supposed to be her hard-earned vacation turns into chaos when her mother lures her to the North Pole only for all spell to break loose at her arrival.
A heinous hex threatens the entire toy production inside Santa's Toy Workshop, putting millions of children's wishes in jeopardy. If her mother-who reports directly to Mrs. Claus-can't get things under control, Christmas won't be the only thing getting canned.
Star has no choice but to crash at her mother's cottage in the charming magical town of Holiday Haven. The sooner she can find the Scrooge responsible for the crime, the faster she can get back to her normal life.
Armed with her witchy wits, Star accepts help from a talking husky and the cute guy running the town bookstore as she follows the trail while the countdown to Christmas Day ticks away.
Will Star find a way to catch the criminal and reverse the hex? Or will Christmas be canceled this year?
Cate knew she had seen those jewels before.
As her eyes scanned the newspaper article from 1925, she is shocked to read about the theft of two priceless necklaces from her family’s home. When Cate recognizes one of the stolen necklaces from when she traveled back in time to the year 1856 to solve a murder mystery, Cate knows there’s only one thing left for her to do. Despite the hectic holiday season approaching, complete with two grand holiday events, Cate must travel to 1925 and unravel the mystery surrounding the jewelry theft.However, things take an unexpected turn when she arrives. As Cate discovers more unanswered questions, she starts to wonder if there’s a piece to the puzzle she has yet to uncover.
While Cate and estate manager, Jack, try to unravel the puzzle in the past, another mystery brews in the present for Cate. Strange and eerie nightmares centered around a bookcase in Dunhaven Castle’s library disrupt Cate’s sleep, rattling her mind even during her waking hours. She wonders if these are connected to the jewelry theft or if something darker lurks in Dunhaven’s halls.
Can Cate solve the mysterious theft of her family’s jewelry? Will the bookcase hold the secrets to the past? If it does, will Cate be able to decipher the clues on its shelves? Or is there something more sinister at work in Dunhaven Castle?
Find out if Cate has what it takes to solve the newest mysteries at Dunhaven Castle in Holiday Heist at Dunhaven Castle, book three of the riveting cozy mystery series Cate Kensie Mysteries.
Holiday Heist at Dunhaven Castle is Book 3 in the Cate Kensie series but can be read as a stand-alone novel!
From Graham Norton, the BAFTA-award-winning Irish television host and author of the "sparkling and impish" (Daily Mail) memoirs The Life and Loves of a He Devil and So Me, comes a charming debut novel set in an idyllic Irish village where a bumbling investigator has to sort through decades of gossip and secrets to solve a mysterious crime.
The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama but when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke-a former lover of two different inhabitants-the village's dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated sergeant PJ Collins struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community's worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.
In this darkly comic, touching, and at times heartbreaking novel, perfect for fans of J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore-with searing honesty-the complexities and contradictions that make us human.
When a stack of library materials is found at the scene of a hit and run, library director Lindsey Norris finds herself dragged into the investigation as the police try to link the driver of the stolen car to the person who borrowed the books. Before Lindsey can delve into the library's records, the victim of the hit and run, Theresa Houston, suffers another accident, and the investigation shifts from driver negligence to attempted homicide. A clue surfaces in the confiscated library materials that could crack open the case, and it's up to Lindsey to piece it all together. But things are not as they seem in the sleepy town of Briar Creek. When the driver of the stolen car turns up dead, Lindsey, her staff, and her library friends have to hit the books before the murderer gets the last word...
