Short Cozy Mysteries

After several years in the military, Kirby Jackson just moved back to his coastal hometown to open up his dream coffee shop. But his best friend and co-owner, Ryan, just had to add his own flair: Comic books. And the business isn't off to a good start. On the cusp of telling Ryan the grim news, he finds his friend with a knife in his back. The shop’s mascot, a stubborn dachshund named Gambit, might hold the keys to solving the case. But he ain't talking. His woofs are only for treats...Or are they?

Question: What does a dead Kornville councilman, a nationally televised baking competition, and thousands of missing dollars have in common? Answer: Tabitha Clive! Amateur sleuth and baker extraordinaire Tabitha Clive must save Kornville’s new Mayor’s reputation before it is too late. The year is 1966 and Abigail Clive is doing an excellent job as the newly appointed mayor of Kornville, Nebraska. Well, it was going well until her harshest critic turns up dead. To make matters worse, money is missing from the town’s road improvement account, and no one knows where it has gone. Among ...

This Halloween is more trick than treat for Clarissa at the Cat Café. Could the rumors about Jinx the cat be true? Or are they simply cases of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Everyone is abuzz this Halloween season, but no one is more excited than Clarissa about her new job as manager at the Cat Café, especially just in time for the Halloween fundraiser, The Black Cat Ball. Customers are already lining up at the door to get a glimpse of Jinx, their newest foster cat who is reputed to be cursed. Clarissa isn’t convinced there is such a thing as a cursed cat, but bad luck ...

A dead body. A small town of secrets. One librarian who never signed up for murder. Gabby Keats is no stranger to mystery—on the page, that is. She’s content reading about fictional crimes while managing the quiet Maplewood Library. But her cozy life takes a dark turn when she stumbles upon the body of Councilman Bernard Cass right outside her library. With her golden doodle, Agatha, sniffing out clues by her side, Gabby must put her mystery knowledge to the test when her best friend Brittany is arrested as the main suspect.New-to-town Detective Brandon has his suspicions and a knack ...

National Organization of Magic Detective Tom Owenton has come back into Elly's life to ask for her help with a spell. It just happens to be Valentine's Day though. Does that mean love is in the air?

This is a collection of Merryville Mystery Books 1-3 and includes Brownies & Betrayal, Cupcakes & Contempt and Daiquiris & Death. Book 1: Meredith is a divorced empty-nester who bakes brownies for cash. In her tiny rural town of Merryville, the last thing she expects is to stumble upon a dead body. But that’s what happens. And what’s worse is she dreamt about it the night before it happened. To avoid being a suspect, she must figure out who wanted the town’s general contractor dead. And it would be great if she could wrap things up before Christmas! Luckily she’s not alone. She’s ...

Nora Newberry has been working to make her dreams come true and finally, after 10 years, it's time! She's moved back to her hometown of Milburn, Wyoming, and, together with her lifelong best friend, Raquel Madden, is opening the diner they've been planning since high school. Life couldn't be better...and it's time to celebrate!

Passing Out—a compelling addition to the Cecil Whitford series—takes readers back to the formative days of the compassionate funeral director, and to his training at HMS Raleigh. As Cecil faces the challenging selection process, the atmosphere turns tense as recruits begin to mysteriously disappear. Determined to unravel the truth, Cecil finds himself entangled in events that will shape the man we later meet in Suicide in Suffolk. The suspense heightens as the disappearances cast long shadows over the training grounds. Cecil's relentless pursuit of the facts propels him into a web of ...

Bad reviews can kill a business. This one killed the critic. When popular TV show "Taste of the Grove" chooses Sweet Springs Bakery for a special feature, cousins Savannah and Holly Stanton are thrilled for the exposure. But their excitement turns bitter when host Blake Harrison's charming on-camera personality proves to be a carefully crafted facade. After he publicly humiliates Holly and threatens to destroy the bakery's reputation, tensions rise faster than perfectly proofed dough. When Blake is found face-down in Holly's award-winning tiramisu, the bakery becomes the center of a murder ...

A wedding is due to take place but the freshly decorated venue has been sabotaged. Leger sets out to catch the vandal and reconnect with the sisters he hasn't seen since kittenhood. But they have a secret and despite Amber's attempts to protect him from the truth, it seems he is going to find out that family is about more than blood.

In the midst of the crush of a lifetime, Milly Dupont finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Quiet little Milly who runs the quiet little tea shop across from the corner shop discovers that the shop owner has been possibly kidnapped, maybe even murdered. But where's Davina's body?

Kellyn had always loved Elias Stratton with all her heart and probably always would. She'd trusted him...but never again. Elizabeth had always believed there was nothing more magical than the precious gift of love...even now in the heart of danger, she still believed it...she always would. After telling the story of Simon's magical cowboy ranch for more years than she cared to count, Elizabeth Fountaine wondered if there might be more to the fanciful fairy-tale than being an elaborate bedtime story to tell children. More than ever before, she very much needed for even just a small piece of ...

Harry wanders into Gretchen's Kitchen for lunch and ends up taking custody of Mulligan, a nine-year-old with adult sized problems. He soon finds out that Mulligan may be only nine, but she has a mind of her own, doesn't hesitate to express herself, often times offering her take on "You seriously old people." To solve Mulligan's problems, Harry searches for a missing cousin and his denim collection, has a deadly encounter with bad guys, and robs the town office building. Cat does battle with bad guys to protect her new buddy, despite her irritating habits, and like Mulligan, doesn't hesitate...

Leger witnesses the kidnapping of a small child and pursues the victim and the perpetrator onto a long-distance train. Unknown to Leger, he is followed by Annabella and Nicole who are determined to get him off the train. Leger must uncover the truth about this kidnapping and put right the wrongs, with a little help from another non-human passenger. What Leger doesn't realise is, he isn't the only one watching this situation closely...

Dark and hazy nights were both their sword and shield... Liz Danger surrounded her. Escape seemed impossible. Hope came from the last place she expected. She knew his name...everyone did. But she knew nothing about the man he really was. Or if he had any chance at saving her. Sam The plan was a good one. If it worked. He had the perfect cover story. He’d be the one asking all the questions. Looking for answers was the story of his life and everyone knew it...expected it. This time though...the stories could turn out differently than expected. Sam and Liz knew the trip wouldn’t be easy ...

It’s just one thing after another for magician Eli Marks: The bizarre death of a barista. Performing close-up magic at a funeral. A homicidal husband looking for ideas. An unexpected customer encounter. An impossible stabbing during a show. A Halloween murder. A life-changing magic lesson. A mystifying murder/suicide. A puzzling jewel heist and an even odder painting theft. And more! A dozen new Eli Marks short stories (10 never-before published), which means you now have a dozen more reasons to spend some quality time with Eli Marks.

Do pandas dream? And if so, what do they dream of? That question is asked in this anthology of stories by the award-winning author of Daemonic Mechanical Artifacts and Deep School Tuition. Enter the weird and wonderful worlds of Denton Salle, where a Slavic myth asks for help, an Austin PI is asked to recover a demon-possessed blade, and a Countess recruits help in a Steampunk French Empire. Ranging from sweet romance to steampunk adventures to urban fantasy, with characters running from heroes to whores to ghouls, Salle's stories range across genre and from North Texas to South France. ...

Dark and hazy nights were both their sword and shield... Liz Danger surrounded her. Escape seemed impossible. Hope came from the last place she expected. She knew his name...everyone did. But she knew nothing about the man he really was. Or if he had any chance at saving her. Sam The plan was a good one. If it worked. He had the perfect cover story. He’d be the one asking all the questions. Looking for answers was the story of his life and everyone knew it...expected it. This time though...the stories could turn out differently than expected. Sam and Liz knew the trip wouldn’t be easy ...

Katie has only one dream to be the best wilderness scout ever. And to win all ten badges available during their five-day camping trip to Kangaroo Island, and most important to beat all the other girls to the Camp Cup, the once-a-year prize for the best wilderness troop. With her four troop members in tow, she sets up camp in a remote location where a strange giant rock dominates the beach … Was that rock there last year? In the night, something is slaughtering the roos in the night… If the adults find out Katie and her troop will be sent home. The competition for the Camp Cup is heating...

Halloween means parties and the local residents association are planning a get-together at the Queen Languoreth to celebrate Halloween. However, with everyone out in the street at the same time, this opens the window for a gang of cat-phobic robbers to come in and take advantage. Leger and Ginger have overheard the men planning the robbery in an alleyway but can they uncover the identity of Gus and Andy in time? Meanwhile, a local man has discovered the body of a cat who looks just like Leger and taken the body to Annabella for burial. Annabella isn't sure it's really Leger who has died but...