Town Mystery

Popular author Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles Herbal Mysteries have been hailed for their intelligent plots and quirky characters. China is a member of the Pecan Springs, Texas Picklefest planning committee. When the Pickle Queen disappears just days before the festival, China and her husband P.I. Mike McQuaid relish searching for the clues in this dilly of a case. This exciting whodunit is packed with plenty of pickle jokes, folklore, and homespun recipes.

A much needed vacation. An unexpected romance between two strangers. A small town filled with whispering secrets. Inspired by old childhood memories and searching for a new direction in life, Yvonne embarks on a long-awaited vacation to the breathtaking town of Diamond Cove. The local murder mystery theatre was the life of the town—but she soon arrives to discover it in disarray and the whole cove swamped in rumors. As she falls in love with the cozy atmosphere, Yvonne decides to reunite an old passion by opening a jewelry shop next door to the theater. Lance, the owner of the theater, is...

Weddings, wine, and one guest who won’t be checking out. The inn is buzzing with excitement as Avery Parker hosts the wedding of the year in the heart of Los Robles. With string lights overhead, glasses of vintage red flowing, and her golden retriever Sprinkles in a bowtie, everything seems ready for a weekend of celebration and romance. But when an unexpected guest disrupts the festivities, what should have been a joyful occasion quickly descends into chaos. A cryptic message, a suspicious backstory, and a scene that turns the inn upside down leave Avery with more questions than cake. As...

What happens when you open the door to the past? In book six of the McKenna Mystery series, Grace locks eyes with Toby Melville, Bridgeton business owner and handyman. It only takes a second to set Grace on the path to justice once again, when visions spin from Toby’s eyes. A stream of blood cascading down a bronzed man’s chin, creating a river that descends his neck and chest, before his body slips beneath a crush of white, foamy water. And then, a horizon of emerald green trees on a blue sky backdrop so beautiful it looks like a painting. With baby Ellie now in the picture, the stakes...

Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she’s pleased to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells—and he’s eager to introduce her to his easygoing way of life. But there are things Grace discovers that she’s not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn’t right with the ranch.

When a big New York theater production comes to Zinnia, Mississippi, murder takes center stage - and Sarah, it turns out, is the star suspect.

A body in the waves. A town full of secrets. A detective duo like no other. What should have been a routine lifeguard exercise turns deadly when Inspector Enna Koopmann stumbles upon a chilling discovery—a man floating in the North Sea, the victim of a suspicious drowning. With no obvious motive and a million euros mysteriously wiped from his debts before his death, Enna and her meticulous new partner, Detective Chief Inspector Pavel Neuhof, have their work cut out for them. As they dig deeper into the case, they uncover a web of secrets lurking beneath this quiet coastal town. But every ...

TJ Jensen and her family head to Turtle Cove Resort for summer vacation, but their plans for rest and relaxation are thwarted when they find a dead treasure hunter in the attic of the resort's main house. Initially vowing not to get involved, TJ quickly changes her tune when the Gull Island deputy on the case closes it after a bare bones investigation. All evidence points to foul play, and TJ's determined to uncover what the deputy wants to keep hidden.

Retirement is bliss—or is it? Newly retired music teacher, Susan Wiles, puts her natural nosiness to work and discovers a talent for solving murders. In Murder is Elementary, Susan finds her former principal dead on the office floor, a half-eaten funfetti cupcake on the desk, and a list of suspects rivaling pre-pandemic lines at Disney! In book two, a dead body is discovered in a construction site behind a school. Susan puts her sleuthing skills into action to save her husband’s best friend, Tank, who is accused of the crime. While Susan works to solve this mystery and exonerate Tank, ...

📚World-famous author Cressida Vance is rich, rude, and really bad at finishing her series. When she crashes into the cozy town of Mariposas to open a Very Serious Bookstore™, tensions rise quickly. But when she bails on a local book club Q&A and turns up dead, the real mystery begins... featuring: 💸 An old-money inheritance 🖋️a scandalous lie 🔍and a whole town full of suspects Murder’s on the menu—and everyone’s reading between the lines. 🍰🔍 Perfect for fans of mysteries with bite, bookish chaos, and small-town snark. Praise for A.R. Winters: "The perfect balance...

When a brutal murder brings a century-old rumor of buried treasure to light on the quiet Southern plantation of Carrington Farms, Claire Carrington and Sheriff Beau Henderson must team up to piece together the clues and solve the murder. But as they dig deeper, they uncover secrets that could put their own lives in danger. Beau Henderson has never forgotten the one kiss he and Claire Carrington shared in high school. Now fifty years later, Claire has inherited the family farm and has come back home. As they share time together investigating the murder, he realizes his feelings for Claire ...

A housewarming party to die for... Lena's fresh start in her grandmother's old Victorian house takes a sinister turn when her housewarming celebration becomes a crime scene. As guests fall ill and accusations fly, Lena finds herself at the center of a poisonous plot. With the help of her grandmother's ghost, she must unravel a web of secrets, rivalries, and hidden agendas before the killer strikes again. In the quaint town of New Oslo, where everyone has a stake in Lena's inherited property, friend and foe blur into one. As she digs deeper, Lena uncovers long-buried tensions and realizes ...

Pie Contest Turns Deadly Fall is in the air and the Eastern Shore Pie Contest has come to Pelican Cove. So has a woman who became a pariah when she was banished from town forty years ago. Now she is back with a vengeance amidst loud protests. The town is split over whether a decades old edict is still valid, especially since the woman holds a lot of power as a judge of the contest. The competition heats up as local women break their backs trying out different recipes, determined to win. Then an unexpected murder shocks the town. Roped into investigating the crime, café owner and amateur ...

Chiara has presided over the espresso machine at Bar Birbo for as long as anyone can remember. In Santa Lucia, this is the only place to go for a cappuccino served with a side of gossip. The town's residents rely on each other and feel almost like a family, but their secrets are kept well hidden. While romance is in the air for some, the truth behind the love affairs is far more complicated than anyone can imagine. When everyone has ulterior motives and unspoken desires, it's only a matter of time before things finally come to a head.

Twelve-year-old Epic McDade isn't ready for middle school. He'd rather help out at his family's dog-friendly bed-and-breakfast all summer or return to his alternative elementary school in the fall, where learning feels safe. But change comes in all shapes and fur colors. When Carmelito, California, is named America's number one dog-friendly town, all the top dogs and their owners pour into Epic's sleepy seaside neighborhood for a week of celebration.

"You have until Monday to find what's been taken. That's only seven days, so don't be mistaken."When Tori Barlow is suddenly kidnapped, the police are only given seven days to find her. Misty joins in on the frantic search for her best friend, therefore endangering her life in the process. When more women start to disappear and strange things begin to happen, the quiet town of Shady Pines becomes a place filled with suspicion and fear. As moments tick by and Misty draws closer to the truth, danger lurks around every corner. When her father suddenly shows up on her doorstep, she is faced ...

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney.

Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter for the Associated Press in Minneapolis, he stumbles across a story describing the murder of a man named Joseph Talbert in a small town in southern Minnesota. Full of curiosity about whether this man might be his father, Joe is shocked to find that none of the town's residents have much to say about the dead man - other than that his death was long overdue....

A successful fitness retreat owner. An energetic businesswoman frightened for her life. Can Vance keep Daphne safe or will her stalker find her in her new sanctuary? Daphne Belle has worked hard to open her own gym and use her corny jokes to build a following online. When a former boyfriend pursues her relentlessly, she escapes to Jade Valley and the protective sanctuary of Vance Gem’s exclusive fitness retreat. She had no idea that Vance’s strong arms would be a sanctuary all their own or that her high school hero might become the man she can trust to protect and love her. Vance Gem ...

Cassie McDowell’s life in 1980s Minnesota seems perfectly wholesome. She lives on a farm, loves school, and has a crush on the nicest boy in class. Yes, there are her parents’ strange parties and their parade of deviant guests, but she’s grown accustomed to them. All that changes when someone comes hunting in Lilydale. One by one, local boys go missing. One by one, they return changed - violent, moody, and withdrawn. What happened to them becomes the stuff of shocking rumors. The accusations of who’s responsible grow just as wild, and dangerous town secrets start to surface.