Christmas Thriller

"The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens" is a precious collection of Christmas tales. Christmas spirit, joy, excitement, cheer and Christmas trees against low classes living in despair and poverty. There are two sides to the story but the holiday and its meaning come from the heart no matter what the social status is. "The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens" is a collection which makes the reader immerse in a parallel universe, so complex in its nature that it almost seems unreal.

Cringe with embarrassment, as Lady Amanda Golightly acts like a bad-tempered five-year-old in the face of a family crisis. Cheer her on, as she and her live-in friend at Belchester Towers, Hugo Cholmondley-Crichton Crump, plan a new business venture for the old place. Join them for Christmas, then wish them luck as they embark on a trial run of their new enterprise. Then gasp at Lady Amanda's reaction (delight!) at the discovery of the body of a dead guest, found slumped on the library table, murdered FIVE TIMES!

A caroling donkey arrives in Clover Grove before Christmas with tidings of a new murder. Stray rescue animals are business as usual for hobby farmer Ivy and her sheepdog Keats. Misfits blend seamlessly into the menagerie, and the more the merrier. When a mouthy, grieving donkey demands room at the inn right before Christmas, however, Ivy bites off more than she can chew. He’s got a message that’s far from festive, and he won’t stop singing the blues till she figures out his secret.

Private investigator Shawn West is stunned when the attack victim he rescues is Addy Williams—the one woman he never forgot. She’s turning a quiet upstate New York town inside out to bring her missing sister home by Christmas. Shawn offers to help if she'll provide a cover for his own investigation into a suspicious company in town, but can they work together to find Addy's sister…or are they already too late?

This anthology contains Angels in the Snow, The Good Shepherd, and Welcome to Bethlehem.

It’s Christmas in Coopers Crossing! What could be more wonderful than a thick blanket of snow covering the roofs and trees of a quaint small town in upstate New York? Except it’s been raining for weeks, and Libby Cord’s been roped into organizing a Christmas market at the newly opened Arts Center, and the decorations in front of it would make Las Vegas blush for shame. How could things get any worse? A murder, of course...but, considering how unloved the victim was, maybe this was somebody’s idea of a Christmas gift?

As the car pulls up to my husband Dominic’s family home the night before Christmas, I suppress a shudder. I’ve never felt welcome here. His parents make it clear I’m a poor comparison to his perfect first wife, Carla. But I’m determined to lean into the festive cheer. Until Dominic’s mother bustles into our bedroom and blindsides me: ‘You won’t mind, will you. Carla is coming for the holidays. She’s still one of the family, and she can’t get home because of the storm.’ My eyes widen–did she and Carla plan this on purpose?

Cendrine West is looking forward to a cozy Christmas Eve dinner when a blizzard blows in, bringing with it a flurry of unexpected guests. But tipsy witches and mischievous magic spell a recipe for disaster, especially when a guest turns up dead. Cen’s sleuthing exposes a Santa-size sack of trouble, and everyone’s a suspect, even her hunky sheriff boyfriend. Is it a deadly accident by a drunken witch...or something more sinister? Murder is on the menu, and only magic can uncover the truth in this witchy, wacky Yuletide thrill ride!

Detective Everleigh Beckett and P.I. Isaac Stern have partnered to solve two missing persons cases in time for the Christmas holidays, but when a man shows up in a hospital, claiming to be Adam O’Sullivan, Everleigh has to decide if he’s delusional or telling the truth.

Dr. Georgia Thackery is back at home with her parents after finding a new adjunct position at Bostock College. Everyone is excited for their first family Christmas with nothing to hide. Why? Because Georgia’s daughter, Madison, is now in the know about Sid, their walking, talking family skeleton. But their Christmas cheer is interrupted when the Thackerys' dog, Byron, goes missing on a cold December night. When he’s finally found, he has a femur clutched between his jaws, and Georgia and Madison race to apologize to Sid for letting the dog gnaw on him yet again

Missing Persons Detective Everleigh Becket and her P.I. partner Isaac Stern have built a reputation as an elite team, able to solve the coldest cases. However, when A.D.A. Marie Schurr asks for their help in tracking down a missing witness, Everleigh isn’t sure she wants to get into the business of forcing a terrified woman to testify against a known killer. Madison Wheeler thought she’d met the man of her dreams, but when a business deal ends in murder, Madison is the only one left who can get justice for the dead man. That is if Everleigh and Isaac can find her.

Stephen Pengelly, owner of Barton Manor, is detested by the local community. When he is found murdered, there are few tears - but many suspects. Soon, the police have their work cut out identifying a murder weapon like no other, capable of inflicting terrible injuries. When Adam Bailey is asked to help, he and Eve must discover who has most to gain - and who is prepared to kill, and kill again, to achieve their objective.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," the old song tells us. But that doesn't mean the people celebrating it are always so nice. Criminals get the Christmas spirit, too! In this collection of hilarious short stories, you'll see what the thieves, killers, psychos and scumbags are up to come the holidays...and it's not caroling door to door. Well, not unless they're casing the neighborhood for a break-in, as a rag-tag gang does in the title story.

Kyle Colbert just wants to go home for Christmas. So, why does everyone suddenly want to kill him? Kyle savors his train commute from a hectic Manhattan job to his idyllic, small town. But as he arrives on Christmas Eve, his family tries to kill him. His neighbors and the entire community suddenly want him dead. He can’t flee to the authorities because even the FBI is in a deadly pursuit.

Chris Landrum and his friend Barbara Deanelli’s search for shark teeth abruptly changes directions when they discover a woman at water’s edge clinging to a surfboard. How she got there was a mystery - a mystery compounded when she doesn’t remember her name, her past, or who abducted her, and nearly sent her to her death in the mid-December waters off the coast of Folly Beach, South Carolina. Chris and a cadre of his quirky pals are determined to learn the woman’s identity and what happened.

"Murder at the Mill by M. B. Shaw is a great sweeping adventure. Ideal for holiday reading." —M. C. Beaton, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author A picture hides a thousand lies... And only Iris Grey can uncover the truth. Iris Grey rents a quaint cottage in a picture-perfect...

It's Christmastime, but not everyone is jolly - especially not Vonne Barnett. Her dead body has been found in Victoria Square. Katie Bonner, the manager of Artisan's Alley, happens to be at the tea shop Vonne's mother, Francine, owns when the news is delivered. Vonne left a trail of men behind her so the suspects are many - but the clues are few. A broken teacup leads Katie to one of the suspects, but before she can investigate, she's attacked. Katie may be closing in on a murderer, but time is ticking because the murderer is definitely closing in on her.

Edna Davies is frantic. Concern for an invalid husband has put her behind and now, with less than a week before Christmas and with family gathering for the first time in years, she hasn't even put up a tree. As a winter storm descends on the town, the owner of a local cat shelter is found dead and Mary Osbourne disappears. Trying to juggle holiday plans with the search for her neighbor, Edna meets a killer and may miss Christmas.

Charlene's parents are in town for Christmas, and her mother is driving her up a tree. Her bed-and-breakfast's resident ghost, Jack, isn't fond of her either - and he's showing it with some haunting high jinks. But when Charlene takes her mom and dad out for dinner, the less-than-seasonal spirits take a deadly turn.

In 1968, a couple of KGB agents in Germany wanted to defect. Too bad for them that the CIA and the US Army wanted no part of this action. A group of US soldiers decided to facilitate these defections without any official coordination. What could possibly go wrong? More things than you can probably imagine.