Short Cozy Mysteries

Heart-pounding Fear. Chilling Anguish. Heartbreak. Priceless Love. The Ultimate Sacrifice. All in less than a minute. Sometimes precious moments is all there is. Between one heartbeat and the next, Susa is plunged into a devastating nightmare, wounded and broken, yet desperate hope filled her heart and soul. Nothing in her life had ever prepared her for this. Adam Manning arrives at a crime scene and quickly sees that not everything is as it seems. Unknown to the town’s small police force, neither is he. If you enjoy clean mystery romance and inspirational women’s fiction filled with ...

Life is a series of choices, but for Emily Elizabeth the choice is clear. Or is it? When justice blindly desserts her family, what can she do? Can Emily Elizabeth come out of her safe, librarian shell and take justice into her hands? And how will she know when justice has been served? Once she tastes the thrill of the kill, will she be able to turn back or will her life be changed forever? Is it possible to feel empathy for a vigilantress? Is it conceivable that there is an Emily Elizabeth in all of us? As a medium, reincarnation researcher, and Past Life Regression Facilitator, I have ...

THE GUEST ROOM - COZY MYSTERY SERIES - SHORT READ Much to her disgust, everyone at the vicarage is helping the housekeeper, Mrs. Gladys David, prepare the mansion for two events tomorrow: a wedding, and an impromptu visit from the Bishop who will stay in the guest room. She hates it when people have to be called in to help her for she feels it makes her look incompetent. Regardless, she's frantic to make everything perfect, and Father Eli has offered to help. Lots to do and no time to spare with all the preparations. As Mrs. David enters the guest room after a year of having no visitors, ...

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...

Having your motion sensor alarm triggered at two in the morning is never a good thing—especially if you have a target on your back. Emily Bennett is tired of traveling around the world and chasing story after story as an investigative journalist. She is tired of living—as her parents have always said—recklessly. Now that she is a successful murder-mystery writer, she thinks it is time to try and lead a normal life. Time to settle down and live life quietly. And she is doing just that—in the picturesque beach town of Anchorville, Oregon. But two weeks after moving into her beautiful ...

Someone is trying to ruin Christmas. Two of the town’s annual traditions have gone sideways so far. Now it’s starting to get personal for Zara Riddle, a witch who’s just trying to enjoy the season with her family. In a small town full of supernaturals, it’s going to be tricky to figure out who or what has been causing such a calamity. Zara has a list of suspects in mind, and the one at the top of the list happens to live under her own roof. Can the Riddle family’s first Christmas in Wisteria be saved?

Harper Harlow has it all, including an exciting job, a best friend who serves as a constant source of amusement, and a boyfriend who makes her heart pinch...but in a good way. She may hunt ghosts for a living (and help them pass over to the other side), but she often finds it more fun than frightening. Human beings and their penchant for murder and mischief is another story, of course. That doesn’t mean Harper doesn’t find the occasional bout of trouble.

Maya Alexander is the organized-and-in-charge office manager of the Bond Agency, Los Angeles's premier PI firm, specializing in catching cheating husbands. But when Maya is thrust into the field to catch her first mark in the act, she realizes this case is personal. Her mark just happens to be her ex-fiancé... and things did not end well between them. Can Maya prove that he's repeating his past mistakes with his current wife? Or is something more sinister happening in this Beverly Hills couple's life?

On New Year's Day, Fran takes her dog Latte on a walk. Luck of all luck, she finds a dead blonde on the sidewalk—right outside Ryan's house. Sammy, Fran's best friend, has been staying with Ryan, and she becomes the police's number one suspect. Fran can't just sit back and watch her best friend—and the cafe's best latte-maker—go to jail.

Workaholic sleuth Abi Anderson is being forced to take some long overdue vacation, so she heads to the picturesque village of Milton By The Lake to visit her aunt who runs a popular café and bakery. Though the scenery is stunning and her aunt’s iced biscuits are the most delicious on the planet, Abi is soon bored, so when she uncovers incidents of trouble and sabotage at a local hotel, she’s eager to get investigating, strictly off-the-record of course! To make matters even more intriguing, the hotel is being run by Abi’s teenage sweetheart. Ed and Abi split up when university ...

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.

When Overlook helper Belinda gets a chance to go to a special conference and learn about opening her own business, Thistle volunteers to watch Belinda's daughter Annie. Thistle was the queen of rotten children so she thinks Annie will be easy. That feeling only lasts until Annie disappears into the frigid woods surrounding Hemlock Cove. Answers are never easy, and when clues start rolling in, Thistle and Aunt Tillie are left to piece together a puzzle that is years in the making and could have dire consequences.

Detective Laci Jolett and her K9 Bell have a new case with dangerous and deadly consequences. A woman from the local safehouse has been poisoned and her ex-husband is the number one suspect. Time is not on Detective Jolett’s side and Bell may pay the ultimate price when someone decides one less K9 is a good thing. With so much on their plate, the last thing Laci and Bell need is an irritating cat who puts notches on its scratching post each time it antagonizes Bell. After Laci’s puts a grumpy old man with a roving eye in his place, the forever enemies are stacking up and Bell will do ...

When it comes to planning weddings, she takes the cake. When it comes to solving murders, she always closes the case. Four audio books of wedding cozy mysteries that are dressed to kill. Annabelle Archer is D.C.’s premier wedding planner for happy couples and marital bliss...until a string of murders puts a bloody blemish on her otherwise spotless record...Armed with nothing but her impeccable taste and an eye for detail, she’s determined to take down any killer who dares to ruin her client’s big day.

This is a delightful, warm, wonderful collection of short stories to be enjoyed while snuggling up in your favorite chair with a cup of tea and cookies. There are mysteries, fantasy, heart warming tales and even a sports story.

A Scottish castle, sleuthing to do and a murderer to catch! It’s New Year’s Eve and when you work for the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency there’s no such thing as getting to take the holidays off. Which is why special agent Abi Anderson is going to a Hogmanay party in a luxurious Scottish castle as a sleuth on a mission to catch criminals - and not, sadly, as a guest out to enjoy herself. Typical. Even worse, it’s a fancy dress party and when you have to find a costume at the very last minute in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands you end up dressed as... well, why...

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...

In the charming town of Brindlewood Bay, baker Becca Lane’s world is turned upside down when a suspicious death occurs in her shop. Determined to clear her name, she teams up with her sharp-witted journalist friend, Tessa, and her ever-loyal dog, Ranger, to uncover the truth. As they follow a trail of cryptic clues, secret dealings, and unexpected betrayals, Becca realizes the mystery runs deeper than she ever imagined. With the town’s annual baking competition fast approaching, the pressure is on—not just to perfect her scones but to outsmart a dangerous opponent. With humor, heart, ...

When Ed Finnlay - computer programmer and devoted father of two - goes missing, there's not a lot the local police can do. After all, Ed himself told them he would be gone... for quite some time. As the weeks go by with no news, his wife reaches out to Jack and Sarah for help. But they soon learn that there are odd secrets about this missing husband and that he might not only be gone, but also in serious danger. Can Jack and Sarah do what seems impossible.

Last Meal includes a half dozen flash fiction stories in which things sometimes go horribly wrong and at other times go wonderfully right, or at least they seem to. These six quick reads appeared originally in Gilbert Magazine, the journal of the American Chesterton Society.