Amateur Sleuth Cozy

In the winter of 1835, young Charles Dickens is a journalist on the rise at the Evening Chronicle. Invited to dinner at the estate of the newspaper's co-editor, Charles is smitten with his boss' daughter, vivacious 19-year-old Kate Hogarth. They are having the best of times when a scream shatters the pleasant evening. Charles, Kate, and her father rush to the neighbors' home, where Miss Christiana Lugoson lies unconscious on the floor. By morning, the poor young woman will be dead.

Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead...and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery.

When Krissy Hancock and her best friend Vicki decide to open a bookstore cafe in their new town of Pine Hills, they decide to call it "Death by Coffee", after Krissy's father's most famous mystery novel. Little do they know how well the name fits.... On their very first day of business, Brendon Lawyer huffily takes his coffee...to the grave. It seems he had a severe allergy to peanuts...but how could there have been nuts in his coffee? And who stole his emergency allergy medication?

Cape Cod tearoom proprietress and part-time sleuth Lily Roberts stirs up trouble when she unwittingly serves one of her grandmother's B&B guests a deadly cup of tea....

As the food and cocktails columnist for the Island Times, it's Hayley Powell's job to stay on top of the latest eateries in town. Just in time for the summer tourist season, Chef Romeo, a successful restaurateur from New York City, has opened an establishment called - naturally - Romeo's. But between his over-the-top temperament and his no-holds-barred diet, Chef Romeo may not live through the grand opening.

Bar Harbor, Maine, is quieter in the off-season, but the population has just increased a bit with the arrival of Tim and Trudy Lancaster. Tim's taking over for a retiring minister, and Trudy runs a food truck called Wicked 'Wiches. When she stops in at the Island Times office to place an ad, Hayley happily devours the sample sub Trudy offers - and the two become fast friends. But when Trudy tragically dies in her truck while catering a Halloween party, suspicion falls on a cranky, competitive caterer who'd made veiled threats to Trudy.

Domestic diva Sophie Winston can whip up an elaborate event in her sleep, but as the hippest hostess, she rarely gets to enjoy the full guest treatment. Which is why her best friend Nina Reid Norwood loops her in to the latest culinary craze: a pop-up gourmet dinner party. The celebrity chef, the epicurean menu, and the high-profile attendees are all a surprise, turning the decadent dining experience into the hottest ticket in Old Town.

Emma Reed and her beloved Corgi move from London to Cornwall with the dream of opening a tea shop - but first, they'll have to collar a criminal in the first book in a charming new series.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it's up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at Caerphilly Days, a festival inspired by the town's sudden notoriety as "The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail". The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and all employees have evacuated - except one. Phineas Throckmorton, town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year. But the lender seems increasingly determined to evict him, and may succeed after one of its executives is found shot, apparently from inside the basement.

Nursing a broken heart, Robbie Jordan is trading in her life on the West Coast for the rolling hills of Southern Indiana. After paying a visit to her Aunt Adele, she fell in love with the tiny town of South Lick. And when she spots a "for sale" sign on a rundown country store, she decides to snap it up and put her skills as a cook and a carpenter to use. Everyone in town shows up for the grand reopening of Pans 'n Pancakes, but when the mayor's disagreeable assistant is found dead, Robbie realizes that not all press is good press.

Fresh off solving a murder that hit too close to home, Mack's trust is shattered. But when Milwaukee Police Detective Duncan Albright asks for her help with a shooting, she can't resist using her extra-perceptive senses to benefit others. It turns out the victim was the ruthless businessman their friend Mal was investigating undercover. And now Mal is missing - and his fingerprints are on the gun. Was his cover blown, forcing him into hiding? Or could he be a straight-up killer on the run?

In a symbolic journey of reconciliation, the Monsoon Express is travelling between hostile neighbours India and Pakistan. The passenger list includes politicians, celebrities, former Mumbai policeman Inspector Chopra and his baby elephant ward, Ganesha. Then a senior diplomat is found murdered in his cabin. Accusations fly, tensions rise and an international incident seems certain. But is the murder political - or personal?

Kate Hamilton is feeling good about her plans to recreate Asheboro, Maryland, as the Victorian town it once was. Even two recent murders aren't enough to discourage her: After she helped to solve them, she put them behind her. Now comes the time to make real plans, and her first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion on the outskirts of town. But when the contractor gets started, he discovers a staircase that had been walled in years earlier. And of course, given the way Kate's luck has been going, there's a body on the stairs.

Though a small town at heart, Lawrenceton, Georgia, has its dark side - and its crime buffs. One of them is librarian Aurora "Roe" Teagarden, a member of the Real Murders Club, which meets once a month to analyze famous cases. It's a harmless pastime - until the night she finds a member killed in a manner that eerily resembles the crime the club was about to discuss.

Annie's got bad news for her ex-boyfriend, curator Ernst Pettigrew: the snooty Brock Museum's new 15-million-dollar Caravaggio painting is as fake as a three-dollar bill. And the same night Annie makes her shattering appraisal, the janitor on duty is killed - and Ernst disappears. To top it all off, a well-known art dealer has absconded with multiple Old Master drawings, leaving yet more forgeries in their places. Finding the originals - and pocketing the reward money - will get Annie's new landlord off her back.

Lily Ivory and her friends are planning a 1950s-themed brunch to benefit the local women's shelter. When a figure from her past shows up unannounced, threatening her unless she returns something that belonged to him, Lily's fiance, Sailor, steps in to defend her. After the same man is found dead later that day, Sailor is the primary suspect. He swears he's innocent, but multiple witnesses ID him as the perpetrator of the assault. Lily vows to clear his name...only she's not sure where to start with the mounting evidence against him.

The locals in Tinker’s Cove are busy planning haunted-house parties and ghostly galas, and Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes, recycling tutus for her daughters’ costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breast-feeding her brand-new baby. But amid the fun, something really scary is going on: An arsonist is loose, and when the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town’s oldest house, arson turns into murder.

When dessert chef Casey Feldstein finds out that her late aunt's business, Yarn2Go, has one more yarn retreat scheduled, she decides to go ahead and host the event, despite her complete lack of experience as a knitter. At least the retreat is on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula. But the idyllic setting is soured when a retreat regular is found murdered in her hotel room. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Casey begins to weave the clues together and detects a pattern which may shed light on her aunt's suspicious death.

Castillac appears calm, even serene. But a dark corruption is spreading underneath the surface. Unbeknownst to anyone but those involved, the village has been infiltrated. And Molly Sutton, the best detective in town, has her eye off the ball as she juggles her gîte business along with planning her best friend’s wedding. A shocking murder shatters the illusion of peace, and Molly and Ben jump into action. This time around, the more they investigate, the longer the list of suspects grows. Will Sutton/Dufort Investigations find the killer before he or she finds them?