Women Sleuths Christmas

After her kids announce they won’t be home for Christmas, Sally is ready to drown her sorrows in a bottle of Cabernet. Then, she receives an unexpected phone call, and soon she and her spunky best friend Pearl are off to the idyllic mountain village of McKenzie Bridge.

All Holly wants for Christmas is to prove to her parents that her pricey college education was worth it. When she lands a reporting job in tiny Blue Lake, where the chill winds blow off Lake Huron all winter long, and a guest dies at a dinner party, she isn't sure she can meet that goal. Holly has a second writing gig as a true crime reporter in mind, but there's only one problem: The new love interest keeping her warm is determined she should not write about the one thing her heart desires.

Slàinte! A Christmas Eve party at snow-covered Vik castle, where the Christmas Star diamond is on display. Good food, dancing and a visit from Santa. What could possibly go wrong? When Santa appears down the chimney, looking far more crispy than expected, it is clear that something has gone very wrong. With the castle cut off from help, a murderer in their midst and the Christmas Star stolen, it's up to Losers Club to investigate. As they follow the network of secret passages to learn more about their fellow guests, they realize that everyone has a motive. Including one of their own.

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?

In the New England town of Frog's Ledge, the Holiday Light Festival is a Christmas tradition. Killing Santa is not. To bring joy back to the season, organic pet patisserie owner Kristan "Stan" Connor will have to find another Santa before it's too late . . . To the townspeople's delight, the annual lighting of the tree is a spectacular success. Unfortunately, Santa pulled up in his sleigh, DOA. At first Stan is sure it's Seamus, her boyfriend's uncle, inside the red suit. But the victim turns out to be an employee from the town's Christmas tree farm.

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.

In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy's Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily's turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin. When Merrily goes missing, and her boss discovers he's been robbed, fingers point to Merrily - until she's found dead.

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.

Everybody's looking forward to Christmas, but not Celia.Why? Because she's been making promises all year that she can't seem to keep. Promises to take her young children on a luxurious holiday. Promises to her clients to make them look like a million bucks over the holiday season. She's in for a shock when a client dies at one of the corporate functions she's a part of. The incident seems coincidental, until someone else dies. It seems Celia is the common denominator at both scenes. Celia's blood pressure goes through the roof when she's identified as a person of interest.

Amateur sleuth Maddy Madison and her Quilters Club cronies return with another cozy mystery set in Caruthers Corners, Indiana - this time the murder of a Straw Hatter in the middle of the town's annual Christmas Parade. Maybe "return" is not the right word, in that this book is a prequel, taking place before the others in this best-selling series.

Right before Christmas, Fair Haven is celebrating its annual Ice Fishing Jubilee. When a bad-mannered lawyer is found frozen to death inside his fishing shack, the police soon discover he was really shot. The prime suspect is local ice-fishing legend Jim Campbell, but Maggie thinks he is innocent. The culprit could be the long-suffering wife or the mistress, and soon, Maggie is off doing her own investigating, dragging Joshua along for the ride. As her boss, Joshua couldn’t possibly be romantically interested in her. So why did he hold her so close at the town dance?

When the curtains open on the Fenleys department store Christmas window display, there’s a shock in store. When a friend becomes the police’s prime suspect, crime reporter Emma Fletcher has to decide who has been naughty or nice before someone else gets hurt.

Book four in the Kate Lawrence Mystery series: Christmas has never been Kate Lawrence's favorite time of year, but when a body turns up at Hartford's venerable Wadsworth Atheneum, she knows the holidays are really going to be murder this year. In the long-awaited fourth installment of this popular mystery series, Kate's realty business is on hiatus due to the down economy, friends and family are falling victim to the flu, and daughter Emma has a loathsome new beau. To top off the merriment, Kate's ex-husband has persuaded her to host an at-home wedding for their nephew. And then a murderer strikes....

Jill is deep into preparations for Christmas parties at the Boathouse Event Center, when a trip to the local retirement home with her son's preschool class turns up a deadly surprise. For once, Jill has no tie to the murder victim, until a surprise connection to a family member is revealed.

Attempts to get Stacie in the holiday spirit fall flat when Santa’s elf finds herself in a shooter’s crosshairs. With another shooting, initial theories go up in smoke and the search is on for the true motive. Stacie avoids her own stressors following up on the shooting and murder. Faced with relationship turmoil and a killer on the loose, Stacie embraces her "bah humbug" perspective as she seeks to identify the culprit.

Jill Gardner has volunteered her Coffee, Books, and More to host a Christmas adopt-a-pet party. Among the potential forever friends is a male terrier named Baby, whose owner died of a heart attack. With few clues to go on, even finding the name of Baby's human is a daunting task. But there's no challenge too big for Jill this holiday season. Playing Santa's Little Helper, Jill is determined to find out what happened - and to fulfill a long-time coming Christmas wish.

It’s time to deck the halls! The holidays have arrived in Friendship Harbor, Maine, and pub owner Sophie LaFleur is eager for the extra tourism money to save her struggling business. With her pet llama the star of the school Christmas pageant, Fleece Navidad, and a pub holiday party in the works, it’s going to be a holiday to remember. Especially when the out-of-town choral vocalist staying in Sophie’s guesthouse is found dead. She’s hit her last high note, and now it's up to Sophie to solve her murder while ensuring everyone in town is having a holly jolly good time.

Fun-filled parties. Beautiful decorations. Delicious food. Fantastic presents. Joyous family celebration. And murder. This is shaping up to be a holiday season that Sabrina Daley will never forget. But if she doesn't act fast, it will be for all the wrong reasons. Can Sabrina bring a killer to justice before her Christmas is ruined?

Molly Delray’s father is the groundskeeper of Smith and Stone Cemetery. When she returns home for Christmas after being away for over a decade, she forgets the rules and disturbs the ghost of Old James.

If you love small towns, endearing relationships, food, animals, and a touch of murder, you will love this new mystery series by Kathi Daley, author of the popular Zoe Donovan Cozy Mystery Series. Set in the small town of White Eagle, Montana, the series features Tess and her dog Tilly, who spend their days delivering the latest gossip along with the daily mail. When a close friend is murdered, Tess and Tilly join forces with the reclusive genius in town to sleuth out the truth behind the shocking murder that is rocking the community as it prepares for the annual Christmas Festival.