Cozy Crime Fiction

When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery - rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer - he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.

It's early October - time for the Fall Folk Art Festival and Bake Sale in Lilyvale, Arkansas. Every business along the town square will benefit from the event, including the craft store run by Leslee Stanton Nix - a.k.a. Nixy - and the Silver Six, a group of retirees. In charge of making the festival go smoothly, Nixy is confident that it will be a success.

Kitty Underhay is looking forward to a week of long lunches and wedding planning with her husband-to-be, Captain Matthew Bryant. But the plan is derailed when he is called on to collect a former comrade-in-arms, arriving on the 15:50 from Paddington. As the train bearing Simon Travers pulls up to the platform, a piercing scream rises over the screech of its brakes. Travers is dead in his seat, a dagger in his heart. Only a few individuals had access to Travers’s compartment, and Kitty must find out which of these seemingly benign passengers is, in fact, a cross-country killer.

Last year at Cherringham High, and for three girls that means facing the School Summer Challenge, a grueling fifty-mile hike across the Cotswolds, through thick woods, over steep hills, camping each night under the stars. But when one of them disappears in the middle of the night and is found dead in the morning, most believe a terrible accident has taken place. Was it really an accident? Jack and Sarah aren't convinced - and soon discover that secrets and lies can have terrible consequences... and always leave a trail.

Steeped in a history of award-winning Yorkshire ale, the town of Markham boasts not one but two breweries. Richard Foster runs one; his sister, Emily, along with her partner, Janice, runs the other. And not without some resentment. The unwelcome return of the town’s former bad boy, Brendan Scholes, threatens to ignite the sibling rivalry further. Scholes claims to have found the long-lost secret recipe to the beer that made Richard and Emily’s father famous, and he wants money.

Best friends Tom Kennedy and Jim Corbett are wealthy retired lawyers who bicker like teenage brothers. When their apartments are robbed, the crusty old pals are disgusted that the cops seem more interested in eating donuts than solving the crime. Tom and Jim decide to catch the thief themselves. After all, who could possibly outwit two brilliant old lawyers? This is a sequel to THE WRONG LAWYER although both are stand-alone stories. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Donald W. Desaulniers is a retired Canadian lawyer who lives in the beautiful small city of Belleville, Ontario with his lovely British wife, ...

When Tilly Edgely lands a position working at Ashton’s bookshop in Cambridge, she thinks she’s found her perfect job. But one winter’s morning, when she arrives to open up, she discovers the body of her boss suspended from the ceiling, hanging by a rope around his neck. DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called to the scene and quickly find themselves searching for a twisted killer whose identity and motive are nearly impossible to trace. But just when they think they have the murderer in their sights, another body shows up throwing the case wide open....

Ever since meeting the wary owners of an antique shop opening across the street, Robbie has been scrambling to manage weird incidences plaguing her cafe and country store. Pricey items vanish from shelves without explanation, a fully equipped breakfast food truck starts lingering around the area each morning, and loyal diners mysteriously fall ill. When an elderly man dies after devouring an omelet packed with poisonous mushrooms, Robbie must temporarily close down Pans 'N Pancakes and search for the killer with a real zest for running her out of business - or else.

A Cupcakes-and-Crime CaperWhen Tiffany and Rosie are asked to investigate an “accidental” death at a chocolate factory, they stumble into a complex web of secrets. Who could have wanted the chocolate factory owner’s death? Potential heirs, suspicious suppliers, and even a greedy member of the local Lindsey Syndicate might have been involved… can Tiffany and Rosie uncover the truth before the killer strikes again? Meanwhile, Elle Lindsey finds some documents that are potentially incriminating for the Lindsey Corporation. Could these documents help Tiffany and Rosie take down the ...

When a big movie production comes to Cherringham, complete with lords, ladies, and flashing swords, the whole village is abuzz with excitement. But when a series of dangerous accidents threatens the life of the young lead, Zoe Harding, Sarah and Jack get involved. Are these really accidents? Or could they be something more sinister - even deadly? Who is trying to destroy the career of the beautiful young star - and why?

Bellissimo Resort and Casino Super Spy Davis Way knows three things: Cooking isn’t a prerequisite for a happy marriage, don’t trust men who look like David Hasselhoff, and money doesn’t grow on Christmas trees. None of which help when a storm hits the Gulf a week before the most anticipated event in Bellissimo history: the Strike It Rich Sweepstakes. Securing the guests, staff, and property might take a stray bullet. Or two.

When Tiffany, Nanna, Rosie and Stone head to Memphis to investigate the world of Barbeques and Blues, they don’t expect to stumble on a double-homicide. But when two judges drop dead at a Barbeque and Blues Festival, the gang must work quickly to uncover the truth… before the killer strikes again. Who could’ve hated both judges so much – or did the judges poison each other? Was one an accident and the other a murder? Or was the real target someone else all along...? Praise for A.R. Winters: "The perfect balance of being lighthearted, but still a serious page-turning mystery." - ...

An anonymous skull, an unsolved murder, sinister rumors from the Cold War era of espionage - Bruno's investigation into a long-standing cold case finds him caught between an enigmatic winegrower and a menacing communist organization from the past.

Sir John Phillips, the Harley Street surgeon, and his beautiful nurse, Jane Harden, are almost too nervous to operate. The emergency case on the table before them is the Home Secretary - and they both have very good, personal reasons to wish him dead. Within hours he does die, although the operation itself was a complete success, and Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn must find out why....

As the sun rises, a wealthy young woman, Samantha Seabrook, is found drowned in the ornamental fountain of a deserted Cambridge courtyard, the only clue: an antique silver chain wound tightly around her throat. It’s Tara Thorpe’s job to discover what happened to Miss Seabrook. But the case becomes personal when she learns that Samantha had been receiving death threats, rather like the one that landed on Tara’s doorstep the night the woman died. Together with Detective Inspector Garstin Blake, Tara tracks the killer to the dank and dangerous fens on the outskirts of the city.

Hoteliers Maxime and Catherine Le Bon have spent their life savings restoring the hotel, which lies in an archipelago of sun-soaked islands off the coast of Marseille. To celebrate the grand opening, a group of privileged guests joins Verlaque and Bonnet: Marine's free-spirited best friend; an aging film star, his much-younger wife, and her son; a pair of affable American tourists; and a querelous Parisian couple. But the murder of one of the guests casts a shadow over everyone's vacation, and things go from bad to worse when a violent storm cuts off all communication with the mainland.

Laurie Moran's professional life is a success - her television show, Under Suspicion, is a hit in both the ratings and its record of solving cold cases. But her romantic break from former host Alex Buckley has left her with on-air talent she can't stand - Ryan Nichols - and a sense of loneliness, despite her loving family. Now Ryan has suggested a new case. Three years ago Virginia Wakeling was found in the snow after being thrown from the museum's roof on the night of its most celebrated fund-raiser, the Met Gala.

Addrienne is surprised to learn that a Bed and Breakfast association from England is holding their annual conference on board the ship. She's excited to meet some of the vendors, especially those who supply desserts and other snacks to the B&Bs, and are offering some of their samples to cruise participants... Unfortunately, it's not all fun and games when the former head of the association is found murdered - and Addi and her friends must uncover the killer before the cruise ends!

The poison was cyanide, slipped into the sacred wine of ecstasy just before it was presented to Miss Cara Quayne at the House of the Sacred Flame. The victim was a deeply religious initiate who had trained for a month for her last ceremony. She was also a very beautiful woman.... The suspects were the other initiates and the high priest. All claimed they were above earthly passions. But Cara Quayne had provoked lust, jealousy - and murder.

Family is everything to Siobhán: her five siblings; her dear departed mother for whom the family business, Naomi’s Bistro, is named; and now her fiancé, Macdara Flannery. So precious is her engagement that Siobhán wants to keep it just between the two of them for a little longer. But Macdara is her family, which is why when his cousin Jane frantically calls for his help, Siobhán rushes with him from Kilbane to the rural village where Jane and her mother have recently moved. In a cottage, Ellen Delaney lies on her bed in a fancy red dress, no longer breathing.