Short Cozy Mysteries

Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".

Harper, a bookshop owner with a sharp mind and her loyal cat, Merlin, never expected to be dragged into a murder mystery. When Sage, her best friend and talented potion maker, is suddenly presumed to be the killer of her rival, Rowena, at the Mystic Market, Harper knows she can’t sit back and let her friend take the fall. As Sage’s life hangs in the balance, Harper races against time to uncover the truth behind Rowena’s death. With the clues pointing in unexpected directions, Harper must navigate a tangled web of magic, betrayal, and dark secrets before her best friend's fate is ...

Katherine Sutton might have walked away from a successful career without any clear plan about what to do next in her life, but in the weeks since, all that has changed.The old house on Sourwood Street is finally hers and she now has a friend and partner in the adventure. Cory is almost as excited about the speed and success of the ongoing renovations as she is. And they are taking full advantage of the hidden secrets they've discovered in the old house. But the old house isn't the only thing that’s on Cory’s mind these days. She’s been spending more and more time with Jed Morgan. ...

Homicide detective Tyler Odom and Daphne Janet team up once again - this time to search for a baby no one is quite sure actually exists. Tensions arise when their approaches to the case (and their apparent sympathies) diverge. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This 8500-word short story was originally published on the Kindle Vella platform.

For decades, Marge has been spying on her neighbors Doris and Bob, reporting every sordid thing she sees to her husband, Harold. Flamboyant Doris and boring Bob are an odd couple, but as Marge watches their comings and goings, she starts to wonder if there’s more than meets the eye. Is Doris’s latest hobby—flamenco dancing, of all things—an attempt to spice things up, or is there something more sinister going on in the house across the street? Soon enough, Marge learns that digging into her suspicions means digging herself into a very deep hole.

Successful attorney Larry Scott checks his watch and realizes that he is still working in his law office at four minutes past midnight which means that Larry has just turned sixty years of age while chained to his desk. He is disgusted with his workaholic ways and decides right then and there to retire from the Indianapolis law firm where he has toiled for his entire thirty-five year legal career. Larry has no idea that a bizarre set of circumstances will soon have him sorting through cryptic clues to solve three very old murders back in his home town of Vevay, Indiana. Can Larry make the ...

Murder, Mystery, and a Hint of Romance Faye Lantern wanted to settle into Petworth Village and celebrate the grand reopening of her teashop. But events take an unexpected turn as a body is discovered hidden within the tearoom walls. As past secrets resurface, Faye receives a letter from someone who knows the killer is still lurking in the village. Can Faye, who is struggling with her own past as she becomes increasingly close to Inspector Rawlings, put her feelings aside, even if it means risking her own life to catch the killer - who will do anything to keep the past buried?

A Romantic Tourist Town, Cafés…and Dead People? Discover Miranda Rose Barker’s The Fatal Family Reunion Cozy Mystery When Conley George, a widely-disliked man in the small town of Sycamore Grove appears to be murdered during a family reunion, his errant soul comes to the only ghost whisperer in town, Eden Kyle. But the last thing she wants is to help this guy, dead or not. “Do you plan on staying in the kitchen the whole time?” I ask, putting the bat down and walking about the corner. “Ahh! What the -?” “He’s dead, Eden. Just like us.” “I know that. But why is he with ...

This bundle includes books 4-6 in the Hex Files series, a fast-paced paranormal mystery series with a kickass heroine, hilarious sidekicks, and an immersive world that will pull you in faster than you can say pizza: Wicked Moon Rising, Wicked All The Way, and Wicked Twist of Fate.

Question: What does a weathered old, buried chest, five scrapbooks, and a strange strawberry shortcake recipe have in common? Answer: Tabitha Clive! A weathered chest buried under a grove of oak trees on the Clive family farm holds the power to unravel the tightly woven fabric of Tabitha’s family’s past. The year is 2010 and Tabitha Clive, now in her eighties, begins to question everything she knew about her family. Was her family’s history a lie? As Tabitha begins to sort through the items concealed in the long-buried chest, she uncovers a tangled web of heartache that stretches ...

Under the Great British Baking Contest tent, the competition's heating up to be crowned best baker in all of Britain. For amateur baker Poppy Wilkinson, there are mysteries, secrets, and lies, even murders to solve. As a fledgling witch, Poppy's having enough trouble controlling her sponge cake, never mind trying to control her powers. Besides solving crime, Poppy's also trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her own background. Will she discover who she really is before she gets sent home? Or worse?

Bernard Mandeville loves trains. Every Sunday, the elderly and frail Bernard, in perfect attire, purchases a ticket on the Great Cotswold's Steam Railway, takes a seat in First-Class and revels in a journey from the past. But on one particular Sunday, in the midst of that short trip, the impossible happens. Bernard vanishes without a trace... The family reaches out to Sarah and Jack who must make their own remarkable journey on the rails...to track down the vanished gentleman!

She bought the cabin on a whim. But will it transform into her perfect getaway? Burnt out from her high-flying author career and dreaming of escaping her busy Manhattan life, when Laura discovers her husband cheating on her with another writer, she knows it’s time for a change. After her brother calls her about a country Bed and Breakfast for sale, Laura ditches New York and buys it on the spot… only to realize that the run-down cabin will need more than a little elbow grease to restore it to working condition. As she’s swept up in the quiet joys of small-town life, an ad in the local...

Every nosy neighbor, gossipy friend, and meddling relative is just one good mystery away from becoming a detective. From behind locked doors or out in broad daylight, driven by chance or curiosity, amateur sleuths get in over their heads in these six hair-raising, hilarious stories.

All Mel and Dana wanted was a weekend break... Mel and Dana take a long weekend break with the family on a Lake Erie island, or so they planned. Things just never seem to work out as they plan because crime follows them everywhere. Will they ever get a break? Probably not, but maybe Mel will find the career spark that's been missing for a while. This is a short story featuring Mel and Dana that takes place sometime after Book 12 of the Morelville Mysteries series. You don't need to have read the series to enjoy this story, but it will certainly help you understand Mel and her motivations. ...

Lieutenant Ethan Hendricks’ greatest nightmare just also happens to be his grandfather’s newest business venture. Logan Hendricks is thrilled about his brand new detective agency’s first case, but things weren’t turning out the way they were supposed to, including the attempted murder of one of his brand new employees. But he figures their next case, which involves finding a missing sister, should go a lot smoother. How dangerous could it be? Ethan Hendricks wasn’t quite as confident about his grandfather’s new hobby, or that the supposedly straight-forward case of a missing ...

A mysterious nun. A missing jewel. Maybe tax returns weren’t so bad after all… Mary Catherine Mahoney, MC for short, never saw the nuns coming. When Sister Hildegard rolls into MC’s tax office, the former covert IRS agent never expected to hear about a secret society and a long-lost jewel with special powers. It’s too bad the nuns aren’t the only ones after the treasure… The hunt is on, and it makes MC occasionally yearn for her days filled with IRS paperwork. When a pair of jewel-hungry brothers looking to claim both the US Presidency and the Papacy clash with MC, she enlists ...

Marcus Richmond might be the quiet one in the Winchester witches' world, but that doesn't mean he has nothing to say. Between renovations at his stable - and plans for a bright future with a certain feisty witch - Marcus has his hands full. Things get even more hectic when local FBI Agent Landon Michaels discovers blood in Marcus' loft and a series of strange occurrences and thefts plague Hemlock Cove.

Marnie is planning the Winchester family's annual solstice celebration - and it's a lot of work - but the real work comes when niece Bay sees a ghost and Aunt Tillie declares war on her meddlesome great-nieces. Marnie has to find a way to keep the solstice celebration on track - and no one is up to the task of helping. The curses are flying fast and furious, and Marnie is running out of time to help a forgetful ghost move on, find her missing magic supplies and prove she should've been the boss all along.

"In Dogwood Valley, even the quietest walks can lead to the darkest secrets..." Six months after solving the town's most notorious murder, Liv Barker is content with walking dogs and baking pet treats in the idyllic Dogwood Valley. Her budding romance with Dr. Colin Matthews adds a sweet note to her tranquil life. But when she stumbles upon a dog collar while walking a client's corgi, Liv is unwittingly pulled back into the world of mystery and intrigue. The collar belongs to Shimmer, a prize-winning Afghan Hound who has vanished without a trace, jeopardizing the upcoming Dogwood Valley Dog...