Cozy Monday

Releasing Tuesday, November 5 from the Penguin Group.

For Better or Worsted (Crochet Mystery #8) by Betty Hechtman (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover).

When Molly is invited to a major society wedding, she expects some wedding drama. Though she never anticipated this much trouble. The bride is the daughter of Molly's close friend Mason - who has been planning this wedding for a long time. But at the reception, things go amiss when the wealthy groom ends up dancing with the grim reaper.

 ***

Mulled Murder (Pennyfoot Hotel #21) by Kate Kingsbury (Berkley Prime Crime trade paperback).

As Cecily Sinclair Baxter scrambles to hire and train new staff in time for the holidays, one of her guests is beyond help. Gerald Evans is found stabbed to death on the beach, and Cecily soon discovers he was a private investigator from London looking into dark doings involving the Pennyfoot. Who among the staff or guests was being pursued, and what secret drove that person to cold-blooded murder?

 *** 

The Whispering of Bones (Charles du Luc #4) by Judith Rock (Berkley trade paperback).  

The last thing Jesuit Charles du Luc and his elderly confessor expect to find in an ancient crypt is a newly murdered body. Even more troubling, the shock of discovering the victim—a young man about to enter their order—proves too much for Charles’s companion. Vowing justice, Charles wants nothing more than to discover the killer.  All signs point to someone targeting Jesuits—and not even an ex-soldier like Charles may be able to escape...

 *** 

The Fatal Funnel Cake (Fresh-Baked Mystery #8) by Livia J. Washburn (Obsidian trade paperback).

Phyllis and her friends Carolyn and Sam are ready to whip up their best dishes and win some ribbons in Dallas.  When Phyllis’s funnel cake is picked as one of the best of that category, and she and the other finalists are invited to prepare their delicious recipes live on the air.
But Phyllis’s moment in the spotlight is spoiled after the host suffers a deadly allergic reaction from one bite of her funnel cake. Now she’s gone from top entry to top suspect. In order to clear her name, Phyllis will have to turn up the heat on this investigation before the real killer slips through her fingers.... 

 *** 

Freezer I'll Shoot (Vintage Kitchen #3) by Victoria Hamilton (Berkley Prime Crime mass market).

Trying to escape her overbearing mother, vintage kitchenware enthusiast and soon-to-be columnist Jaymie Leighton retreats to her family’s cottage on Heartbreak Island. While there she hopes to write an article about the Ice House restaurant, owned by good friends and neighbors, siblings Ruby and Garnet Redmond.
One night, while working on her article, Jaymie overhears an argument and, ever the sleuth, sets out to explore. But when she stumbles upon a dead body her blood runs cold. It’s Urban Dobrinskie, whose feud with the Redmonds is no secret, and he’s got an ice pick through his heart. Now Jaymie’s got to sharpen her sleuthing skills to chip away at the mystery and prove her neighbors’ innocence.

 *** 

The Thrill of the Haunt (Haunted Guesthouse #5) by E.J. Copperman (Berkley Prime Crime mass market).

As Alison’s reputation as “the ghost lady” grows, so does her business—and not always in a way she’d like. Tourists may be flocking to her guesthouse for a chance to glimpse her resident spirits, but her special abilities are also bringing unwanted private investigation cases to her door. And she has no choice but to take a case when the local homeless man is found murdered under mysterious circumstances, just hours after asking for help in exorcising a specter.
If that weren’t enough to deal with, Alison’s other PI case soon turns fatal, as the mistress she was spying on for a jealous wife turns up dead as well. The cases seem like they couldn’t possibly be linked, but with a mountain of clues, motives and suspects, Alison will have to think fast before someone else checks out for good…

 *** 

 
Charms and Chocolate Chips (Magical Bakery #3) by Bailey Cates (Obsidian mass market).

Between brewing magically spiced treats at Honeybee Bakery and volunteering with a local conservation group, Katie Lightfoot barely has time to see her firefighter boyfriend, Declan McCarthy, much less delve further into her destiny as a witch.
When a fellow volunteer for the conservation group is found dead, Katie’s mystical senses tell her that there’s more to the death than meets the eye. Her suspicions are confirmed when members of her coven are targeted next. Katie will have to embrace her powers quickly...or she may find herself chewed up and spit out by some serious black magic.

***

Words With Fiends (Black Cat Bookshop #3) by Ali Brandon (Berkley Prime Crime mass market).

Lately, Hamlet hasn’t been chasing customers or being his obnoxious self—something Darla surprisingly misses. Concerned, she hires a cat whisperer to probe Hamlet’s feline psyche and then decides to get out of her own funk by taking up karate to learn how to defend herself in case the need arises again.

But when Darla finds her sensei dead at the dojo, she decides to investigate the matter herself, and the promise of a mystery snaps Hamlet out of his bad mood. After all, Darla may be the sleuth, but Hamlet’s got a black belt in detection…

***

Fixing to Die (Josie Marcus #9) by Elaine Viets (Obsidian mass market).

Josie and Ted have finally tied the knot, and they’re ready for the next step: buying a house. Ted’s business partner, Christine, has one she’s willing to sell, but it needs a lot of love. Luckily, the newlyweds are up for the challenge.

But when they tear down a rickety gazebo in the backyard, they find the body of Christine’s sister, a free spirit who supposedly took off six months before. The police arrest Christine for murder, leaving Ted to work overtime at the office to cover for his partner. With no time to work on the house or be with her husband, Josie will have to find the real killer quickly, before both her house and marriage are beyond repair....

***

The Quotient of Murder (Professor Sophie Knowles #4) by Ada Madison (Berkely Prime Crime mass market).

Winter Intersession is in full swing, and campus is buzzing over the concert celebrating the bell tower’s reopening. The building has been shuttered for twenty-five years, since a student leapt from it to her death. But Sophie’s even more troubled by the secrecy surrounding the case. After Sophie performs some quick calculations, she’s left with a nagging question: Was it really suicide?

When one of Sophie’s favorite students, is brutally beaten and left in a coma, Sophie’s mind kicks into overdrive. The horrific incidents seem too coincidental to be unrelated, but can Sophie put together the pieces from a twenty-five-year-old murder before any other students get hurt?

***

Read it and Weep (Library Lovers' #4) by Jenn McKinlay (Berkley Prime Crime mass market).

Former Broadway actress Violet La Rue is holding auditions for A Midsummer Night’s Dream—and everyone from the sour spinster librarian Ms. Cole to Lindsey’s youthful library pages are trying out for parts. 

Brought in to play the mischievous Puck is the flirtatious professional actor Robbie Vine, who seems to have eyes for Lindsey. Before her blush has faded, the Bard’s dream turns into a nightmare—when one of the cast is poisoned. Now Lindsey and her crafternooners must take center stage to unmask the culprit before the final curtain call…

Cozy Monday

Poisoned Prose (Books by the Bay #5) by Ellery Adams (Berkley Prime Crime mass market,           1 October 2013).

Olivia and her fellow Bayside Book Writers are excited about a storytelling festival, featuring nationally renowned storytellers, taking place in Oyster Bay.  The headliner is Violetta Devereaux, a compelling but mysterious teller from Appalachia.

During her performance, she not-so-subtly implies that her life is about to end.  Sure enough, her body is found in her dressing room after the performance, apparently asphyxiated in a plastic bag. When it is determined that she didn't do it herself, Chief Sawyer Rawlings asks the Bayside Book Writers to help him figure out who did.

This series is so much fun to read, partly because excerpts from the Writers' books are often included, some of which are very good, which means that Ms. Adams is writing several books (or at least parts of them) in one.  Though Olivia is definitely the protagonist, the group's members, each of whom has their own interesting background, are also major characters


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Recently received

Tarnished and Torn (Witchcraft Mystery #5) by Juliet Blackwell (Obsidian mass market, 2 July 2013).

When Lily arrives at an antique jewelry fair, her bargain sensors go off left and right—but she also picks up a faint vibration of magic. Could the hard-bargaining merchant Griselda be a fellow practitioner? It certainly seems that way when a sudden fire sends panic through the crowd, and Lily discovers Griselda murdered in a way that nods to an old-fashioned witch hunt…   
A crime that hits close to home turns into an unwelcome flash from the past when the police bring in their lead suspect—Lily’s estranged father. Though he may not deserve her help, Lily is determined to clear her father’s name and solve a murder that’s anything but crystal clear.


A Custom-Fit Crime (Magical Dressmaking Mystery #4) by Melissa Bourbon (Obsidian mass market, 2 July 2013).

Harlow’s designs will be featured in a big magazine spread, but she only has a few days to finalize her collection. Plus she’s busy helping to plan her mother’s upcoming wedding, playing host to her old friend Orphie, and avoiding a competitive Dallas designer set on stealing Harlow’s ideas. Harlow’s making it all work—until someone breaks into Buttons & Bows and the rival designer is found dead.
But when a near miss makes it clear that Orphie could be the next victim, Harlow will have to untangle the threads of evidence if she wants to save her friend, her mother’s wedding, and her business from becoming fashion road kill…


Final Sentence (Cookbook Nook Mystery #1) by Daryl Wood Gerber (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 2 July 2013).

In need of a change, Jenna Hart leaves the high-pressure world of advertising to help her aunt, Vera, open a culinary bookshop and café. Back with her family in Crystal Cove, California, Jenna seems to have all the right ingredients for a fresh start—until someone adds a dash of murder.
 As a marketing expert, Jenna wants to make sure the grand opening of the Cookbook Nook draws a crowd, and no one is better at getting attention than her old college roommate, celebrity chef Desiree Divine. But when Desiree arrives in quiet Crystal Cove to do a cookbook signing, the diva stirs up more trouble than business…especially when she turns up dead.
Known for stealing husbands and burning bridges, Desiree left behind plenty of suspects—including Jenna. Though the celebrity’s life always appeared to be an open book, Jenna will have to read between the lines in order to clear her name, and catch a killer before another body is served cold.


 Yarn to Go (Yarn Retreat Mystery #1) by Betty Hechtman (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 2 July 2013).

Dessert chef Casey Feldstein doesn’t know a knitting needle from a crochet hook. But after her aunt dies unexpectedly, leaving Casey to run her yarn retreat business, the sweets baker finds herself rising to the occasion—and trying to unravel a murder mystery…
 When Casey finds out that her late aunt’s business, Yarn2Go, has one more yarn retreat scheduled, she decides to go ahead and host the event, despite her complete lack of experience as a knitter. At least the retreat is on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula.
 But the idyllic setting is soured when a retreat regular is found murdered in her hotel room. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Casey begins to weave the clues together and detects a pattern which may shed light on her aunt’s suspicious death. Despite the danger, the last thing Casey plans to do is retreat. She’ll catch this killer…or dye trying.


Laced With Poison (Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mystery #2) by Meg London (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 2 July 2013).

Emma Taylor is happy to be drawing in customers at her aunt Arabella’s lingerie shop, Sweet Nothings, but replacing the store’s broken window is going to cost a small fortune. Hoping to hoist up their sagging profits, Arabella arranges to have a trunk show at the home of a local socialite who will invite all of her friends and take care of the catering. All Emma and Arabella have to do is show up and show off their wares. Seems simple enough…
 A gorgeous spread is prepared for the event, including delicious cupcakes topped with edible flowers. But after one of the partygoers takes a bite and winds up dead, the guest list becomes a suspect list. Now Emma must separate facts from idle gossip before the killer gives the cops the slip…


Dyeing Wishes (Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery #2) by Molly MacRae (Obsidian mass market, 2 July 2013).

Always up for trying something new, Kath and her friends from the fiber and needlework group TGIF—Thank Goodness it’s Fiber—are visiting Cloud Hollow Farm for the day to learn the fine art of dyeing.  With spring in the air, the friends head out to greet the sheep.  But the sheep are more interested in something else—two bodies spread under a tall tree.  And one of those bodies is someone they know.
 Kath’s friends nudge her to investigate, and no one is more adamant than Geneva, the ghost who loves to play assistant sleuth. But when Kath discovers another murder cut from the same cloth, she’s more determined than ever to hang a roving killer out to dry…


Amy Falls Down by Jincy Willett (Thomas Dunne hardcover, 9 July 2013).

The endearingly bitter writer, Amy Gallup has happily isolated herself from the world spending the last two decades teaching and reviewing—she’s done a lot of thinking . . . but very little writing. On an unassuming morning, in her slippers, Amy trips in her backyard, goes head-over-heels, and into the side of a birdbath. The hospital clears her of head injury—so Amy returns home. When a local reporter shows up for a scheduled interview—Amy is not quite herself.
The article paints Amy as a the zen-goddess of writing, publishing . . . and life. Her bizarre interview was interpreted as the rambling of a true genius. But all that really happened was: Amy fell down!
The next thing she knows, friends and fans are coming out of the woodwork. Suddenly Amy is on radio shows, keynoting a major publishing event, and guiding a local writers’ retreat.  But the strangest thing of all:  Amy starts to write.

Cozy Monday

Cat Nap (Sunny & Shadow Mystery #2) by Claire Donally (Berkley Prime Crime mass market,
7 May 2013).

When Sunny Coolidge moves back to her hometown in Maine to take care of her father after his heart attack, she's adopted by a  stray tabby cat she calls Shadow.  When Shadow injures his paw after running in the snow, she takes him to her local veterinarian, who just happens to be her old high school rival Jane Rigsdale.  Trying to let bygones be gone, Sunny agrees to provide moral support when Jane goes to explain to her ex-husband, also a vet, why she can't lend him money.

Unfortunately, when they walk into his office, they find his corpse stretched out on his examining table.  Of course, Jane is the prime suspect, but Sunny is determined to prove that her friend is innocent.

One of the cool things about this series is that some passages are written from Shadow's point of view (though not in the first-personcat).  We come to understand why he's torn between the freedom of being a cat-about-town and the comfort of being a pet.  And he's a big help in determining the identity of the killer.


Gluten for Punishment (Baker's Treat Mystery #1) by Nancy J. Parra (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013).

When she inherits her family home after her mother's death, Toni Ryder moves her online gluten-free bakery to a small store-front on the Main Street of Oiltop, Kansas.  Unfortunately, Oiltop happens to be right in the middle of wheat-country, and her grand-opening celebration is marred by a protester who throws a bag of flour at her.

She convinces herself not to take the hostility too seriously, but the next morning when she calls the cops about the drunk outside Baker's Treat and he turns out to be dead, she gets nervous.  He had been spray-painting a nasty message on the outside wall of the bakery, and since Toni was the only person around at that hour (preparing baked goods for her breakfast customers), she's the chief suspect.  Really worried about the future of her bakery, she decides to figure out who the killer is on her own.

This is a fun-to-read humorous mystery with a well-constructed plot.  The characters are believable and the premise is inventive.  I look forward to further installments in this series!


FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for sending me review copies of these books.

On my porch

I found these books on my porch last night, thanks to the UPS guy.

Mrs. Jeffries Turns the Tide (Victorian Mystery #31) by Emily Brightwell (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013).

Beautiful and new in town, Ellen Langston-Jones doesn’t have any enemies. So, when she’s found dead in the communal gardens, Inspector Witherspoon quickly narrows the field of suspects down to one: Lucius Montague, who was seen threatening Mrs. Langston-Jones shortly before her death.

The Inspector and all of London are positive that he’s the killer, but Mrs. Jeffries has doubts. Her biggest problem is that Lucius Montague is a very disagreeable character and no one—including Inspector Witherspoon’s staff—is inclined to save his skin. Now, she must turn the tide of the investigation...or watch an innocent man take the fall for the real killer.

 

***

 

Killer in Crinolines (Consignment Shop Mystery #2) by Duffy Brown (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013). 

Reagan Summerside should be devoting all her energy to her consignment shop the Prissy Fox. But when her dear friend Chantilly Parker is arrested for murder, Reagan vows to clear her name. The victim is Simon Ambrose, who’s found lying in his own wedding cake with a knife in his back.

Chantilly has motive (Simon broke her heart to marry wealthy Waynetta Waverly) and opportunity (crashing the wedding in her UPS delivery truck). And she has cake on her face, and the stolen bridesmaid dress the killer wore is in her truck. But Chantilly would never wear crinoline to kill a man!

With the help of her flamboyant auntie, KiKi, and vexing but attractive attorney Walker Boone, Reagan is determined to save her friend—before she’s forced to turn in her brown uniform for an orange jumpsuit…

***

The Begonia Bribe (Garden Society Mystery #2) by Alyse Carlson (Berkley Prime Crime mass market,  7 May 2013).

A beauty pageant for little girls—the Little Miss Begonia Pageant—has decided to hold their event in a Roanoke park. Camellia is called in to help deal with the botanical details, the cute contestants, and their catty mothers. She soon realizes that the drama onstage is nothing compared to the judges row. There’s jealousy, betrayal, and a love triangle involving local newsman—and known lothario—Telly Stevens. And a mysterious saboteur is trying to stop the pageant from happening at all.

But the drama turns deadly when Stevens is found dead, poisoned by some sort of plant. With a full flowerbed of potential suspects, Cam needs to dig through the evidence to uproot a killer with a deadly green thumb.

***

Cat Nap (Sunny & Shadow Mystery #2) by Claire Donally (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013).

Kittery Harbor, Maine, may not be a hotbed of criminal activity, but Sunny Coolidge and her feline companion, Shadow, have a knack for nosing out trouble. While Shadow copes with a sore paw and an irritating puppy invading his turf, Sunny gets mixed up in a financial dispute between rival vets and ex-spouses Jane and Martin Rigsdale. Sunny agrees to help Jane confront Martin about his moneygrubbing ways, only to find herself caught at the scene of a crime: Martin has been murdered.

 

Though Jane is pegged as the lead suspect in the investigation, Martin, with his greedy ways and his catting around, did not have a shortage of enemies. Did a scorned lover or cheated creditor put Martin down for good? It’s time for Sunny and Shadow to team up again, sniff out a killer, and clear Jane’s name before someone decides to put them to sleep, too.

 

 ***

 

Gluten for Punishment (Baker's Treat Mystery #1) by Nancy J. Parra (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013).  

Even though Toni is used to going against the grain by preparing allergy-safe, gluten-free products for her online bakery, Baker’s Treat, opening a storefront in the middle of wheat country Kansas might be biting off more than she can chew. The town is already skeptical of her flour-free ways, but when a local wheat farmer is murdered outside her patisserie, skepticism turns into outright suspicion.

 

With the help of her eccentric grandmother, her handsome lawyer, and the sexy new widower in town, Toni is determined to find the real criminal before bad publicity and increasingly personal acts of vandalism shut her down. But when another suspect winds up dead, Toni realizes that this half-baked killer isn’t just trying to get her to close shop—he’s trying to make sure that she’s made her last gluten-free cookie…forever.

***

Hex on the Ex (Mind for Murder Mystery #3) by Rochelle Staab (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 7 May 2013).

At a Dodgers game to celebrate her father’s birthday, Liz is forced to watch her ex—star player, Jarret—on the pitcher’s mound. To make matters worse, her former best friend, Laycee, is in the stands as well. Having betrayed her trust by having an affair with Jarret, Laycee is the last person Liz wants to see.

 

But when the appearance of a white pigeon—an omen of death—sets the superstitious Jarret off balance, it’s a game changer both on and off the field. Because the next morning, Laycee is found dead in Jarret’s home—and Liz is on deck as the prime suspect…

 

 

Recently received

The Christie Curse (A Book Collector Mystery) by Victoria Abbott (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 5 March 2013).

Jordan Kelly needs a new job and a new place to live. She’s back in Harrison Falls, New York, living with her not so law-abiding uncles, in debt thanks to a credit card–stealing ex and pending grad school loans.
Enter the perfect job, a research position that includes room and board, which will allow her to spend her days hunting down rare mysteries for an avid book collector. There’s just one problem: her employer, Vera Van Alst—the most hated citizen of Harrison Falls.
Jordan’s first assignment is to track down a rumored Agatha Christie play. It seems easy enough, but Jordan soon finds out that her predecessor was killed while looking for it, and there is still someone out there willing to murder to keep the play out of Vera’s hands. Jordan’s new job is good…but is it worth her life? 

A Fete Worse Than Death (A Hemlock Falls Mystery) by Claudia Bishop (Berkely Prime Crime mass market, 5 March 2013).

Disaster strikes a mere week before the Hemlock Falls Ladies’ Auxiliary hosts the annual Spring Fete when the festival’s chairwoman—the redoubtable Adela Henry—gives up her job in a huff. Who’s going to judge the justly renowned Jell-O architecture contest? Or stop the members of the Craft Guild from sabotaging their rivals, the Crafty Ladies? More to the point, who’s got the tact, diplomacy, and iron will necessary to organize the booths and settle quarrels over the programming?

 Hemlock’s mayor hopes to assure the fete’s success when he recruits professional organizer Linda Connally and her staff to take over Adela’s duties. But when Connally’s body turns up in the trunk of a used car at Peterson’s Automotive, Meg and Sarah are back in the detecting business . . .

 

 

Assaulted Pretzel (An Amish Mystery) by Laura  Bradford (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 5 March 2013). 

The quiet town of Heavenly is buzzing with excitement over the latest guests at the local inn, Sleep Heavenly. Toy manufacturer Rob Karble is in town to meet the members of the Amish community who will soon be crafting a new toy line for his company. But when word gets out that Karble intends to use the Amish designs without employing the Amish to make them, someone sends the interloper to his final reward.

 

 No one wants to believe anyone from the Amish community could commit such an act, but as Claire and Detective Fisher have learned, no one is above sin—or suspicion.

 

 

Wave Good-Bye (A Southern Beauty Shop Mystery) by Lila Dare (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 5 March 2013).

Violetta’s salon is up in arms. Business is dead. Snippets, a big box haircutting chain, has opened in St. Elizabeth, undercutting prices and luring away loyal customers. Violetta’s daughter, hairdresser Grace Terhune, is shocked to discover that it’s her old high school rival Lisa Butterworth who’s behind the big sweep—and Grace isn’t going to take this sitting down. 

 

Snippets’ cold-blooded prized employee is doing wonders with Violetta’s client list. According to Lisa, it’s just business—until a bitter confrontation leaves Grace more than frustrated, and Lisa less than alive. Now Grace is the prime suspect in her rival’s murder. And only her friends at Violetta’s can save her—before the charge proves permanent.

 

 

Bowled Over (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery) by Victoria Hamilton (Berkley Prime Crime mass market, 5 March 2013).

Vintage kitchenware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton has been estranged from her high school best friend Kathy Cooper since they were teenagers, but she never knew what turned Kathy against her. After fireworks at a Fourth of July picnic, Jaymie discovers the body of her former friend in the park. On the ground nearby is Jaymie’s own Depression-era glass bowl, broken in two.

With her fingerprints all over the bowl and a troubled history with the victim, Jaymie suddenly finds herself at the top of the list of suspects. Did the killer intend to frame her for the murder? If so, she is ready to mix it up, because solving crimes is vintage Jaymie Leighton…

 

 

February releases

The mass market paperbacks below will be released on Tuesday, February 5.

Every Trick in the Book (Novel Idea #2) by Lucy Arlington (Berkley Prime Crime).

Lila Wilkins has it all: the home of her dreams in the charming town of Inspiration Valley, North Carolina; a perfect police officer boyfriend; and a new job she absolutely loves. At the Book and Author Festival, which is sponsored by the Novel Idea Literary Agency, Lila expects to discover some talented new authors, but what she finds instead is the body of an editor to whom she bears an eerie resemblance.

Trouble is, the editor’s death isn’t the only literary murder taking place. Soon a blossoming author is also killed, and Lila has a gut feeling that the two murders are linked. Now she must hunt down the dark figure who killed these women—and to her surprise, she just might find the clues hidden in a manuscript…


One Hot Murder (Victoria Square #3) by Lorraine Bartlett (Berkley Prime Crime). 

Katie Bonner, the reluctant manager of Artisans Alley in the quaint shopping district of Victoria Square, is no stranger to ambivalence. Things have been going hot and heavy with pizza maker Andy Rust—so much so that Katie has moved in over his pizza parlor. But now that summer’s ushered in a heat wave, an apartment above pizza ovens without an air conditioner is making Katie hot and bothered.

At the height of the heat wave, a tragic fire strikes Victoria Square. Wood U, a small store selling wooden gifts and small furniture, is destroyed. But the fire may just be a smoke screen—for murder. A body is found among the charred wreckage, and the victim didn’t die from smoke inhalation. He was shot. Now—despite making Detective Ray Davenport hot under the collar—Katie is determined to smoke out a coldhearted killer…


Buried in a Bog (County Cork #1) by Sheila Connolly (Berkley Prime Crime).

Honoring the wish of her late grandmother, Maura Donovan visits the small Irish village where her Gran was born—though she never expected to get bogged down in a murder mystery. Nor had she planned to take a job in one of the local pubs, but she finds herself excited to get to know the people who knew her Gran.

In the pub, she’s swamped with drink orders as everyone in town gathers to talk about the recent discovery of a nearly one-hundred-year-old body in a nearby bog. When Maura realizes she may know something about the dead man—and that the body’s connected to another, more recent, death—she fears she’s about to become mired in a homicide investigation. After she discovers the death is connected to another from almost a century earlier, Maura has a sinking feeling she may really be getting in over her head...


Chance of a Ghost (Haunted Guesthouse #4) by E.J. Copperman (Berkley Prime Crime).

Even with a blizzard bearing down on New Jersey, Alison can count on at least two guests—Paul and Maxie, the stubborn ghosts who share her shore town inn. Then there’s her widowed mother, who hasn’t just been seeing ghosts, she’s been secretly dating one: Alison’s father. But when he stands her up three times in a row, something’s wrong. Is he a lost soul…or a missing apparition?

Their only lead is an overdramatic spirit—stage name Lawrence Laurentz—who doesn’t take direction well and won’t talk until they find his killer. Alison will reluctantly play the part of PI, but when the clues take a sinister turn, the writing is on the wall: If Alison can’t keep a level head, this will be her father’s final act—and maybe her own.


Out of Circulation (Cat in the Stacks #4) by Miranda James (Berkley Prime Crime).

The Ducote sisters are in a tiff with Vera Cassity over the location of this year's library fundraising gala, and Charlie would rather curl up in a corner than get into the fray. It seems everyone--even his housekeeper Azalea--has it in for Vera. And at the gala, she gives them good reason, with a public display of rancor aimed at anyone who gets in her way.

But those bitter words wind up being her last. When Charlie discovers Azalea standing over Vera's dead body, it's up to him--with a little help from Diesel--to clear Azalea's name, and catch a killer before his last chapter is finished.


Oodles of Poodles (Pet Rescue #4) by Linda O. Johnston (Berkley Prime Crime). 

Pet rescuer Lauren Vancouver is observing production on a new movie called Sheba’s Story. The title character—a white Miniature poodle—is played by many similar-looking poodles, and to make sure no animals are harmed, Lauren’s friend, veterinarian Carlie Stellan, and Grant, a handsome representative from the American Humane Association, are on location. But when the film’s director is killed in a suspicious hit-and-run after arguing with Carlie about animal safety, it’s up to Lauren to clear her friend’s name and catch a killer before someone else ends up in oodles of deadly trouble.


Cat Trick (Magical Cats #4) by Sofie Kelly (Obsidian).

The local businesses of Mayville Heights hope to convince Chicago-based company Legacy Tours to sell a vacation package for their town. Legacy Tours partner Mike Glazer grew up in Mayville Heights, but he’s no longer the small-town boy people once knew. Even the local bootlegger has an issue with the bossy loudmouth Mike has become—until someone shuts him up for good.

When Kathleen discovers Mike’s body on the boardwalk, she can’t help but get involved in the investigation—even if her beau, Detective Marcus Gordon, would rather she didn’t. Now, with a little help from Owen and Hercules, it’s up to Kathleen to make sure the killer is booked for an extended stay in prison before someone else takes a permanent vacation. 

Knot What it Seams (Southern Quilting #2) by Elizabeth Craig (Obsidian).

Dwindling membership has the Village Quilters hanging by a thread, and group leader Meadow Downey is desperate to recruit some new folks. With Beatrice’s blessing, she attempts to weave frequent quilt show judge Jo Paxton into their fold. As the town’s irascible mail carrier, Jo delivers trouble wherever she goes. And with all that mail at her fingertips, she knows everyone’s business. Soon Beatrice wonders if they’ve made the right choice.

After a car accident sends Jo to meet her Maker, it’s discovered someone tampered with her brakes. Meadow believes someone’s out to eradicate the Village Quilters, but Beatrice isn’t so sure. Now she and her fellow quilters will have to piece together the clues, or a deadly killer might strike again.…