by Sunny Frazier

For the Fourth, I give you FIVE fresh new series to take on vacation plus three to celebrate Independence Day. Enjoy!

Social worker Clothilde Schneider, better known as Hildy, is committed to supporting her clients through grief and addiction in Sorenson, Wisconsin. When a woman reveals details about her son’s potential murder, Hildy goes into sleuth mode. Along with her therapy Golden Retriever, she forms a partnership with a head-strong detective. Who is getting Needled to Death in this first Helping Hands mystery by Annelise Ryan?

When her life turns upside down, housewife Patricia Fisher empties her bank accounts and grabs the first cruise available. At 52, she’s ready for adventure. But is she ready to be accused of being a killer? With the help of her butler and gym instructor, she’s off to find The Missing Sapphire of Zangraba, in the first Patricia Fisher Mystery Cruise by Steve Higgs.

Was her husband’s death an accident or murder? Local chef Tessa Esposito is struggling to get back on her feet when the police bring her the news. Who would want her husband dead–and why? She decides to infiltrate his favorite pizza place and the last place seen before he died. The anchovies aren’t the only thing that stink at the family owned business. Penne Dreadful is the intro to the Italian Chef mysteries by Catherine Bruns.

And Then There Were Crumbs. Welcome to the first Cookie House mystery by Eve Calder. Kate McGuire lost her restaurant job and fiancé in Manhattan, so she headed to Coral Cay, Florida. She finds a job in the bakery with a crusty boss. A real estate developer wants to buy the place but turns up dead after eating a batch of cinnamon rolls. With her boss under arrest, Kate rounds up the locals to help prove his innocence.

Hana Keller and her family run Maggie’s Tea House, which specializes in European traditional tea service from their Hungarian roots. But the draw is grandma, who reads the future from tea leaves. When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, the butterfly teacup becomes evidence. Hana and family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the Budapest Butterfly back home. Julia Buckley brings us Death in a Budapest Butterfly, her first in the Hungarian Tea House mysteries.

It’s Sweet Tea and Secrets in Heart’s Harbor, Maine. Callie Aspen helps out in her great aunt’s tearoom where each treat has a bookish clue. She’s putting together a 4th of July tea recreating moments from the town’s history. In the 80s a famous TV star was last seen in the town before she vanished. The locals have contradictory stories about that day. When one talkative townie turns up dead, nobody wants Callie to investigate. This is the second in Joy Avon’s Tea and Read Mysteries.

Cops and donuts go together, hence the Deputy Donut Café in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. It’s owned by Emily Westhill, a detective’s widow, and her father-in-law, a retired police chief. The name comes from Emily’s cat, Deputy Donut, and is a favorite in the of cops and firemen in the town. When the town needs donuts for their 4th of July picnic, they know where to go. However, someone slips a firecracker into raspberry-filled donuts and the queen of the festival is killed. This puts Emily in a sticky situation, especially since a shady photographer tries to frame her with incriminating photos. Jealousy Filled Donuts is Ginger Bolton’s third in her Deputy Donut series. (This one has a July theme, but comes out the end of August)

In Connecticut, Sherry Oliveri is a celebrity after winning a national cooking contest with her crab cake sliders. Sherry and her friend Poppy were involved in a community garden, but now her friend is found dead by a shovel to the back of her head. The land’s owner was already threatening to take the land back and now the situation is worse. All this while Sherry is organizing a Fourth of July cook-off. Guilty as Charred is the third in Devon Delaney’s Cook-Off Mysteries. Recipes included.

BEST OF THE REST

Daryl Wood Gerber A Soufflé of Suspicion French Bistro #2-paperback release

Dianne Harmon Murdered in Hollywood A Midwest Cozy Mystery #8

Mary Marks Knot in Her Life A Quilting Mystery #7

Sherry Harris Let’s Fake a Deal Sarah Winston Garage Sale #7

Mary Lee Ashford Risky Biscuits Sugar & Spice Mystery #2

Laurie Cass Booking the Crook Bookmobile Cat #7

Sally Goldenbaum A Thread of Darkness Queen Bees Quilt Mystery #2

Leighann Dobbs A Whisker in the Dark Oyster Cover Guesthouse #2

Sheila Connelly Killer at the Carriage House Victorian Village Mystery #2

David Rosenfelt Bark of Night Andy Carpenter Mystery Series #19

Spencer Quinn Heart of Barkness A Chet & Bernie Mystery #9

Lindsey Davis A Capitol Death Flavia Albia Mystery Series #7

Iris Johansen Smokescreen Non-Cozy thriller Eve Duncan Series #22

S.J. Rozan Paper Son Lydia Chinn/Bill Smith Mystery Series #12

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on iTunes and Google Play. A new episode went up this week.

Or click on this link to take you to Mysterious Galaxy’s website where you can purchase any of these books & a portion will go to help support KRL:

Sunny Frazier worked with an undercover narcotics team in Fresno County for 17 years before turning her energies to writing the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries. Based in the San Joaquin Valley of California, the novels are inspired by real cases and 35 years of casting horoscopes.

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