by Sunny Frazier
Details on how to win a Kindle copy of Over My Dead Body by James Callahan, a copy of Death Row Complex by Kristen Elise, and a signed copy of Fat Cat Spreads Out by Janet Cantrell, all featured in past editions of Coming Attractions. There’s also a link at the end of this post where you can purchase any of these books.
“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” We have lots of entrepreneurs in this month’s mysteries to help keep your hands and mind busy with fun reads!
Jane Steward is organizing a Valentine’s week of activities at her book-themed resort, Storyton Hall. It all goes to hell when Rosamund York, one of the most celebrated authors in attendance, is killed. Rosamund had plenty of enemies: fellow novelists, a former lover, and dozens of angry fans. It’s up to Jane, with the help of her book club, the Cover Girls, to find the killer quickly before the murderer writes someone else off. Murder in the Paperback Parlor is number two in the Book Retreat Mystery series by Ellery Adams.
With opening day of her Material Girl shop approaching, Polyester Monroe is stocking up on fabrics, especially velvet. But it’s not quite the blend she expected, being 90% silk and 10% corpse. Crushed under bolts of fabric is the husband of the local teashop owner and close friend of Poly’s. With their friendship tearing at the seams, Poly must find the killer with a velvet touch. A craft project is included in Diane Vallere’s second Material Witness mystery, Crushed Velvet.
Angie Curtis and the Mainely Needlepointers know that nothing bad ever happens in picturesque Haven Harbor, Maine. The town is abuzz with excitement when a Hollywood actress decides to buy Aurora, the Victorian mansion (possibly haunted) that has been vacant for 25 years. Angie is asked to appraise the estate’s collection of needlepoint pictures. They seem to point toward the murder of the teenage girl who died there and the murderer. Threads of Evidence, second in the series by Lea Wait, will leave you in stitches.
Another interesting domicile crops up in a new series by Kathleen Bridge. Meg Barrett has opened an interior design business called Cottages by the Sea. She visits the swanky East Hampton home of her old college roommate, Jillian Spenser. But Jillian’s mother, a/k/a the Queen Mother of the Hamptons, has been murdered. Inventorying the estate for the insurance company, Meg discovers that the Spenser family has been hiding dangerous secrets. As she gets closer to the truth, the killer will do anything to paint her out of the picture. Better Homes and Corpses makes a great read on the patio!
Maggie Crozat returns to her family’s plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana in time for the local food festival. When elderly honeymooners keel over, Maggie and her family suddenly become suspects in their murder. With the help of the town’s detective, Maggie investigates to clear her name while holding the family business together. The deeper she digs, decades-old secrets and stunning revelations surface. Plantation Shudders is Ellen Byron’s debut.
In Number Four of Karen Rose Smith’s Home Staging Mysteries, an ‘80s rock star asks Caprice DeLuca to stage his girlfriend’s antebellum-styled mansion to sell. But she soon learns the girlfriend is planning to sabotage the rock star’s comeback. Before Caprice can warn him, the girlfriend is murdered. With her Cocker Spaniel Lady by her side, she tracks down clues as danger stalks them both in Drape Expectations.
A pillar of the community in a small California town, Mary McGill has a place on every committee. But this year the Christmas pageant goes awry when a bloodstained corpse is found in the manger. Beside the body is a puppy. Two children reported a figure fleeing the scene. Mary thinks if she can find out what the puppy was doing there, maybe she can find the killer. She nothing about canines but she’d better learn—and fast—before she and the children become the next victims. Purebred Dead is the first in the Mary McGill Canine Mysteries by Kathleen Delaney.
We go from dogs to cats. When Tom Hart’s stepson falls for a tortoiseshell cat from the animal sanctuary, he and Jillian decide—what’s one more? But this kitty is a notorious kleptomaniac. The feline has nicked trinkets, shoelaces, and socks. But when she brings back an antique locket, Tom and Jillian’s sleuthing skills are needed to find the owner. Their search is sidetracked when a body is discovered. Can the sneaky kitty’s find lead to a killer? The Cat, the Sneak and the Secret is Number Seven in Leann Sweeney’s Cats in Trouble Mysteries.
Professor Molly Barda longs for working air conditioning and sits on a yoga ball because there is no budget for office furniture. She just wants to keep her head down and stay out of trouble until she gets tenure at Mahina State University. Then a prank at a donor breakfast pulls her into a stew of corruption, revenge, and murder. Higher education stoops low in Frankie Bow’s The Musubi Murder.
A young artist awakens in an empty house on the San Diego coast, her memory gone. She finds Dr. Cory Cohen’s business card in a purse. While the psychologist/sleuth tries to help the artist revive her memory, Cory’s neighbor goes missing. Uncovering the neighbor’s real identity, Cory springs into action to confront a menace that haunts their neighborhood. Vanished is from the pen of real-life psychologist Sandra Ceren.
When a serial killer calling himself The Gaf starts an interstate killing spree, he jumps to the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Special Agent David Drake forms a taskforce to track down the psychopath. The killer is no novice: his father is a serial killer known as The Zodiac. The rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in The Gaf Killer: Son of Zodiac by Jerry Otis.
Worse than a serial killer are rumors of marauding gangs of flesh-shredding giant Humboldt squid on a rampage in the Sea of Cortez. But nothing keeps sassy Texan Hetta Coffey and her snazzy yacht docked for long. When the opportunity for an intriguing and highly lucrative charter arises it’s “Damn the calamari! Full bank account ahead!” Just Different Devils is lucky Number Seven in Jinx Schwartz’s series.
To enter to win a Kindle copy of Over My Dead Body by James Callahan, a copy of Death Row Complex by Kristen Elise, and signed copy of Fat Cat Spreads Out by Janet Cantrell, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “August” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen after August 1, 2015. U.S. residents only.
Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section. Check back every month for Coming Attractions!
Click on this link to purchase any of these books:
They all sound like really good reads — not sure which one I start first, if I won – probably the dog one because I’m an animal lover! Thanks for a wonderful opportunity!
I will keep that in mind when we have a dog mystery coming up for grabs!
All these books sound wonderful! I can’t wait to read Murder in the Paperback Parlor! Thank you for sharing!
That one appeals to me as well. We all have lots of paperbacks in our parlors!
I have recently discovered Cozy Mysteries and I’m hooked! Thank you so much for featuring them on Kings River Life and thank you so much for the great giveaway!
Diane, we will keep them coming!
i love a fantastic cozy read these all sound so good.
The authors love hearing that!
I love to read
And we authors love that you love to read!
Would love to win this have not read any of these books
Fingers crossed! It’s exciting to find new authors!
All of these sound good. Going to have to add them to my definitely to read list
You make me proud of my selections!
These all sound like great books. Thank you.for the chance
You’re welcome! Hope you come back for more!
These all look wonderful! I need some new cozys!!!
Yes. Yes you do!
All the books sound great, I agree with another comment that I wouldn’t know which one to start with.
Eeney, meny, miny, moe. . . .
I love all the cozy mysteries coming out , they all sound fantastic ! Loved your article too ! kathambre@yahoo.com
Thank you, Kathy! That means a lot!
You got me at the covers!
Reel you in!
All of these books sound wonderful, thank you so much for the chance to win! Cozies are my favourite genre of books! I can’t wait to read Murder In The Paperback Parlour, I really enjoyed the last Ellery Adams book I read! Always looking for more cozy authors 🙂 Thanks again!
Katie,
I hope I can introduce you to many new cozy authors in the future. Keep reading! And, feel free to Face Book Friend me if you like.
Thank you for all of the reviews of the new books coming out! So many books, so little time 🙂 Fingers crossed for the win!
Hang in there, Debbie! There’s contests every week!
These books all sound interesting. Will check.them out thanks.for.chance.
I’ll keep a lookout for good reads for you.
What fun! Love me some mysteries <3
Can’t get enough of them (especially if they’re free!).
All of these books sound great. So many good books out there… thank you authors for doing what you do!!
No, Judy, we thank YOU! For some time we worried if people were still going to read. It makes us so happy to find that reading is stronger than ever!
I discovered Cozy Mysteries about a year ago and am hooked. These books sound wonderful. Thank you featuring them and for this wonderful giveaway!
They’re a fun genre–and so many varieties!
SO many great books.
xzjh04@ Gmail.com
Tempting, isn’t it!
Al of these sound like great reads. Thanks for the giveaway.
We hope to see you back!
Ohhh i want to read these
(I knew you would. . . .)
What a fabulous list! I wish all the authors the best of luck. Thanks, Sunny, for enlightening me.
That’s what I’m here for!
These books sound wonderful (and are all in my preferred genre). I’m especially fond of mysteries with animals. servedogmom@yahoo.com
I’m on the look-out for dog mysteries for you!
Looks like a lot of good reading coming this month! Thanks for the opportunity to win. stclairck(at)yahoo(dot)com
There are many opportunities each week. Keep trying!
I haven’t read any of the listed books but I would love to. They all look so interesting. Great giveaway!
scarletbegonia5858@gmail.com
I’m glad I’ve captured your imagination!
Add me to the list of reader who would enjoy winning this package! karen 94066 at aol dot com
Karen, I will notify you when my column runs.
Thanks for this awesome list. Some returning favorites and quite a few new to me authors. Tbr list is getting longer. Looks like a great month for cozies!
Scouts579 (at) aol (dot) com
My TBR list is downright scary!
What a nice give-a-way Sunny! Thank you for the intro to these reads.
By the way Sunny, I must have been living in a box because I did not know that you are a cozy mystery author! I need to play catch up and read your debut of the Christy Bristol Astrology mystery series.
Sandy in So. Cali
sxygrndma48@yahoo.com
Unfortunately, Sandy, the first two are out of print. Not to fear, my new publisher grabbed the rights and is excited to re-publish them again! “A Snitch In Time” came out in Feb. and is getting terrific reviews. I only write about the San Joaquin Valley and much of what I write comes from the 11 years I worked with the Fresno Co. Sheriff’s Dept. undercover narcotics team.
Thank you so much for the shout out, Sunny. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all that you and your colleagues at King’s River Life do to support cozy mysteries. I love our genre and think we have the best and most loyal readers in the world, and it’s wonderful to have the help of writers such as yourself in spreading the word about our new releases. Happy reading, everyone!
We have a winner
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher
So many great books! This would be some fun Fall/Winter reading for sure!!
Great looking books. I can see why you have 61 comments already. I hate to say I’m not in it to win a book. I’m guilt ridden already with so many I can’t get to. Beautiful covers.
There are so many good books here. Always are. They all look good, but at some point I’ve got to take the time to read some of the books from Delaney’s Mary McGill Canine Mysteries. Purebred Dead I see all over the place. I’ve read the author’s bio and I’m so fascinated. She manages to have blog posts all over regularly. Don’t know how she pulls it off.