Holiday Mystery Thriller

Stephen Fox may be a moron, but he may also be America's next president. The dimwitted legislator is just smart enough to know when to smile for the camera. But two women stand in the way of his campaign: his mistress and his wife, who has never recovered from the death of their daughter, a pain she manages by devoting herself to fundraising for children with Down syndrome.

I have a perfect life. I recently rented the most adorable little apartment on top of my favorite bookstore coffee shop on Main Street in Holiday Hills, the charmingest of charming small southern towns. I spend my days ghostwriting a cozy mystery series for a well-known author, and maybe just a minute or two crushing on the town’s police chief. But of course, I’d never let that cat out of the bag.

No place is more perfect for the winter holidays than the charming mountain town of Estes Park. As the Cozy Corgi Bookshop and Bakery glistens with lights and garlands, Winifred Page allows the seasonal merriment to brush away all worry and fear. Watson, her grumpy corgi, is about as far from stressed as possible-after all, with the holiday baking, delectable crumbs are everywhere.

Kiki is eight months pregnant and trying to cram as much ho-ho-ho into the holidays as possible. When a customer drops dead during an offsite event, this intrepid scrapbooking sleuth is left holding the bag. After her name is cleared, Kiki isn't one to sit around while her friends are threatened with false imprisonment. Instead, she vows to wrap up this case and tie it with a bow. Leave it to Kiki to determine who was nice, and who was very, very naughty, indeed. A nasty Christmas Grinch is targeting one of Kiki's friends—and that's just not kosher.

In the festive heart of Holiday Junction, where the turkeys are stuffed and the traditions are age-old, shadows dance with the autumn wind. The Hardens, the town's glitz and glamour, face a pie-slice of tragedy, and suddenly everyone's holding the knife! With a dash of sass and a sprinkle of wit, it's up to our gal Violet of the "Junction Journal" to sift through the tales and tattles, from glittering pageants to art district whispers.

This Christmas season, genealogist Ellie McLellan is put in charge of organizing the Percyville holiday festivities. Together with her dwindling senior genealogist group, she endeavors to plan an exceptional event for the town. But when a family feud is unexpectedly thrust upon her, she must find a Percyville treasure before the last generation renews the feud or destroys the the town's Christmas tradition. Will the elders of the community have the clues Ellie needs to solve this mystery?

After the annual parade of Christmas presents in Tinker's Cove, Maine, has ended, Lucy Stone and her daughter Elizabeth are ready to ring in the new year in style. Elizabeth has won mother/daughter winter makeovers in Manhattan from Jolie magazine! But the all-expenses-paid trip is bound to have some hidden costs - and one of them is murder.

I'm Halliday Valentine, a psychic witch who's recently moved from New York City back to my very human hometown of Marshmallow Hollow, where I run the family factory that caters to all things Christmas. Digby Dainty (known as Hobbs), the tall drink of water who rents my guest cottage, and I have a lot in common, including a love of true crime. So as macabre as it sounds, when a shady real estate tycoon shows up dead in the middle of the annual ice festival, I'm thrilled to spend time with Hobbs, flexing our amateur sleuthing skills.

The shroud is lifted and truths too disturbing to believe are unveiled when an explosion at the town hall traps TJ under a pile of rubble as the walls of the building rain down around her. When the dust settles, TJ is left wondering if you can ever really know another person or if the armor you see is simply an illusion created to conceal the lies that are buried beneath. While TJ struggles with the duplicity of someone she'd previously held dear, she is also forced to deal with the fact that two popular residents are dead with four others in the hospital clinging to life.

Christmas has come to Chicago and Vivian Witchell is looking forward to nothing more than spending the holidays with family and friends - and maybe spotting her picture in a few radio magazines. But the discovery of a mysterious envelope stuffed with cash in her late father's study sets Vivian into a tailspin, as she discovers that her beloved father may not have been exactly who she thought he was, and who may in fact have been working with the most notorious mob boss of the time.

For Lucy Stone, the best thing about Christmas in Tinker’s Cove, Maine, has always been the annual Cookie Exchange. But the usual generosity and goodwill are missing from this year’s event, which turns out to be a complete disaster. Petty rivalries and feuds that have long been simmering finally come to a boil, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many guests, including Lee Cummings - who accuses Tucker Whitney of stealing her recipe for low-fat, sugar-free cookies. But the icing on the cake is when Tucker is found strangled in her apartment the following morning.

Tinker’s Cove, Maine, has a long history of Thanksgiving festivities, from visits with TomTom Turkey to the annual Warriors high school football game and Lucy Stone’s impressive pumpkin pie. But this year, someone has added murder to the menu, and Lucy intends to discover who left Metinnicut Indian activist Curt Nolan dead - with an ancient war club next to his head. The list of suspects isn’t exactly brief. Nolan had a habit of disagreeing with just about everybody he met.

Romee's winter break was planned out months ahead. A week at a cabin in the woods sounded romantic, and maybe it was just what her boyfriend of two years needed to pop the question. Instead, he proposed they break up, a week before they were destined to wake up Christmas morning, happier than ever. Heartbroken but undaunted, Romee embarks on a solitary journey to the remote cabin, yearning for peace and closure in the tranquil snowscape. Six nights of isolation, wine, and TV shows seemed like the perfect remedy for a breakup.

When Bessie Cubbon’s best friend, Doona Moore, wins a week’s stay at an English holiday park, she’s quick to invite Bessie to join her. Bessie isn’t sure the destination, hugely popular with families with small children, is one she would have chosen herself, but with all their expenses paid, she’s determined to make the best of it. They’ve only just unpacked when Doona gets an unexpected and unwelcome surprise. The next morning, the pair find a dead body and Doona’s the prime suspect in a murder investigation far from home.

Cara's life is spinning out of control. A double-wedding is canceled at the last minute. A baby comes early. Her son decides he hates college. But none of that is as upsetting as the death of a young acquaintance, a food service professional with her whole life ahead of her. The drive-by shooting has left the cops without a suspect. Maybe it was simply a random act of violence. But Cara's curiosity, and her innate sense of humanity, drive her to keep asking questions. Who killed the girl with the purple hair? And why?

December, 1323 AD - Holly and ivy decorate the houses while voices are raised in song, but the Christmas cheer is tempered by terror this festive season, as demons haunt a small English village. Strange thefts; cloven hoof-prints in the snow; a house burned to the ground. Something evil stalks the icy streets of Brandesburton and former mercenary Tuck must find out what, before it's too late. As he sets out to solve the mystery the friar prays his faith will protect him.

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

It's Lex's first day back at work after maternity leave. She worries about the separation from her daughter as she leaves her with the nanny - but it's normal to worry, right? But Lex isn't a 'normal' mother. She's an elite-trained killer who works for a covert department within Her Majesty's Secret Service. She's just been given the assignment of her life, but can she juggle motherhood with the life of an assassin?

The Christmas season has arrived in Lower Lockwood, and the Fairway Players are busy rehearsing their festive holiday production of Jack and the Beanstalk to raise money for a new church roof. But despite the season, goodwill is distinctly lacking among the amateur theater enthusiasts with petty rivalries, a possibly asbestos-filled beanstalk, and some perennially absent players behind the scenes. Of course, there’s also the matter of the dead body onstage. Who could possibly have had the victim on their naughty list?

Just before Christmas, Nikki Thomas lost her childhood friend, Katherine, when they were 10 years old. The case rocked the neighborhood of Willow Creek in 1988. Kat's mother was convicted of her murder, but no body was ever found. Now, 12 years later, Nikki's memory goes back to her childhood when her mother gives her some old Christmas ornaments. Her mind starts racing, wondering if Kat's mother really murdered her.