Showing results by narrator "April Doty" in All Categories

An evil genius threatens Christmas. His name is Twinkles. Furry and full of himself, Twinkles the cat takes self-interest to a new level. Star and Ben never dreamt that cat-sitting could be this difficult. But things only get worse as more (reindeer) bodies start piling up. Using his newly discovered opposable thumbs, Twinkles phones his pet-sitters. His claim? He’s innocent. He’ll do anything if Ben and Star will clear his name and save Christmas, even (shudder) cuddle. Join Star and Ben as they find the real murderer in this humorous holiday tale of magical intrigue.

Death by dragon fire. An influential vampire’s been fried. Who’s blamed when the corpse turns up crispy? Naturally, the only dragon in town. Marge is a giant puppy of a reptile and not at all the murderous type, but she's the prime suspect. When Star finds out that the vampire horde is out for Marge’s blood, she has to act fast to prove her scaly friend’s innocence. Join Star and Ben as they hunt down the true murderer in this humorous tale with a flirtatious dragon, a cranky feline, and a horde of fiendish vampires.

Dr. Ree Ryland is an engineering professor who loves her job and plays by the rules. Her life is reassuringly predictable - until an enemy hiding in plain sight decides her squeaky-clean reputation is the perfect cover to commit a crime. When Agent Parker Landon and his FBI team discover that someone at the university has been procuring military-grade hardware by disguising it as test equipment, all evidence points to Ree.

Nothing spoils a date quite like murder. Star’s past due for some fun, and a witchy Halloween bash seems just the thing. She’s even got a hot date. But things cool down fast when a body surfaces. Star’s on a mission to find the culprit...and just maybe get back to that date.

Star needs another paying gig while she finishes her witch training. Why not at a funeral home? It fits her goth image, and the funeral director is sort of hot...even if he does wear a suit and tie. Less than a day on the job as makeup artist to the dead, and Star discovers one of their accidental death clients didn’t die accidentally.

For generations the Connelly witches made a great sacrifice to protect their town. In exchange, New Mourne remained a refuge for humans and supernatural beings to live in peace. Now Brenna Connelly Burns, or another chosen female of this generation, is next in line to die unless Brenna can find a way to end the curse of the malevolent Woman in White. With coven protections breached, Sheriff Jake Tyler joins the battle. The witch and the shape-shifter search for answers to break the curse, becoming closer every day.

High-end Chef Fancy Bohannon is hightailing it home to small-town Texas to escape a professional scandal. But instead of cooking up a little R&R on her aunt’s goat farm, she finds herself head caterer in her cousin’s impending nuptials. Though her culinary plans go smooth as butter, this Hill Country wedding turns into a mountain of trouble after one of the wedding party is found dead.

Jane’s a very brave boy. And a very difficult girl. She’ll become a remarkable woman, an icon of her century, but that’s a long way off. Not my fault, she thinks, dropping a bloody crowbar in the irrigation ditch after Daddy. She steals Momma’s Ford and escapes to Depression-era San Francisco, where she fakes her way into work as a newspaper copy boy. Everything’s looking up. She’s climbing the ladder at the paper, winning validation, skill, and connections with the artists and thinkers of her day.

New chef in town Fancy Bohannon has a knack for presentation and a nose for mystery. So when her catering job at a Texas dance hall is interrupted by a cold-blooded murder, she serves her hot brisket tacos with a side of sleuthing. After the handsome sheriff enlists her talents, Fancy begins digging up gossip many in Engelheim would rather keep hidden. And when another victim turns up in the most unappetizing of places, she fears this two-step killer might be eyeing her for the last dance....

While docked at Marina de la Paz, in Mexico's hauntingly beautiful Sea of Cortez, Hetta gets a surprise visitor that sets off a chain of events like only Hetta can manage to get herself embroiled in. With her best friend, Jan, and her dog, Po Thang, they are hot on the trail of some dastardly smugglers.

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it! She’s been visiting France for a couple of months, barging on the Canal du Midi with her boyfriend Jenks Jenkins. She hit the hot spots in the south of France, eating great food, drinking fine wine, and foiling a terrorist plot: all the usual stuff. Now, she’s ready to leave for Mexico and back to her yacht in the Sea of Cortez, but not so fast! At the last minute, she’s offered a mysterious and lucrative assignment by persons unknown and jumps at it.

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it! She’s living aboard her 45-foot boat in Mexico’s spectacular Sea of Cortez, taking work where she can get it and, characteristically, she isn’t all that concerned about any pesky legalities involved. Docked at a pricey marina in La Paz, her cruising kitty is taking a hit, so when she’s offered a dream job, she jumps on it. All she has to do is act as a courier, babysitting equipment and sensitive documentation for her former employer to their new offices in France. 

A 10-year-old's new home on an exotic Caribbean island proves so fascinating she quickly forgets she didn't want to leave Texas. After all, where better than a jungle world teeming with voodoo, mystery, and a really pesky zombie, to indulge her favorite pastime: snooping. In this humorous mystery, award-winning author Jinx Schwartz transports the listener to another time and place where rivers, and little girls, ran wild and free.

Have you recently experienced a major life change? If so, this book is for you. You will hear personal stories about: the loss of a loved one; relationships; medical issues; women’s health; and much more. Each section of the book provides insight by the author and other individuals who have experienced one or more of these types of challenges.

It's 1942. Cynical young gossip columnist Jane Benjamin joins FDR’s Office of War Information propaganda unit, aiming to replace big league gossip queen Hedda Hopper and get syndicated across the country. Jane scours the shipyard for a picture perfect Wendy-the-Welder poster girl to boost ship production by coaxing women into the workforce and to get her own name on newspapers everywhere. But when two top candidates die on the job, Jane’s got to choose between personal ambition and service, before the murderer kills another woman welder and America’s best chance of winning the war.

AI is becoming ubiquitous. Whatever its arrival portends for our future, whether riches or ruin, it cannot be avoided. The Artifice of Intelligence explores two questions at the heart of a theological response to AI. Is it possible for human beings to have authentic relationships with an AI? How does the increasing presence of AI change the way humans relate to one another? In pursuing answers to these questions, Herzfeld explores what it means to be created in the image of God and to create AI in our own image.

Werewolf and private investigator Sara Flores has found nine missing people since she was turned. Her secret gives her an edge, but in this case it may not be enough. Alaska Brown hasn’t been seen since she disappeared from a casino parking lot. The cops say she left willingly. The FBI isn’t looking. The trail is cold and there are too many suspects, but Sara’s caught the scent of something very evil here. A man who thinks his wealth excuses any perversion. A man who doesn’t see the rest of us as even human. If Alaska is still alive, her terror must be unimaginable.

Earl the Squirrel and Tim the Gecko are best friends living in a tree by the bay. Tim is happy roaming the woods with his best friend, except for one thing…. When he shouts his name, he gets no reply. Find out what happens on one of their hikes into the woods and what Tim ultimately learns about communication and friendship.

Camille's been unwillingly drafted to help prevent a Christmas catastrophe in snowy Hidden Haven. Magic from the annual Spirit of Christmas Ball keeps the town hidden from humans for the rest of the year, but the magic from the ball can't be captured without the town's holiday cheer vessel: a wand that adorns the town's tree as its crowning star. Camille arrives dressed in a red ball gown, receives a pair of glass slippers that magically don't pinch, and is assigned a canine companion to assist in her mission: find Hidden Haven's pilfered holiday cheer wand.

Will her first case be her last? Lillian Knudsen, a war vet, amputee, and local shooting range owner, has someone out to kill her, but she's clueless as to who. Thankfully, she isn't clueless about where to turn for help. Werewolf Sara Flores got her P.I. license for one reason — to give cops an excuse why they might find her near dead bodies — lots of dead bodies. It turns out evildoers who attack innocents aren’t interested in giving them up. Not without a fight.