by Sunny Frazier

Details at the end of this column on how to win a copy of Movie Night Murder by Leslie Langtry & Shadows on a Morning in Maine by Lea Wait from a past Coming Attractions column, and Death Takes Priority by Jean Flowers (her latest book was featured in last month’s Coming Attractions, this is the first in the series).

We start off this month with two new series!

Death of a Toy Solider is the first in the Vintage Toy Shop mysteries by Barbara Early. It was never Liz McCall’s dream to manage her father’s toy store in East Aurora, New York, after he sank his police pension into the business. When a man who had antique toys to appraise is found with a lawn dart through his chest, Liz and her dad find themselves toying with a killer who’s playing for keeps.

In Dying for Strawberries Sharon Farrow offers the first in the Berry Basket mysteries set in Oriole Point, Michigan. Marlee Jacob has her hands full getting ready for the town’s first Strawberry Moon Bash and barely has time for her fiancé. Things go sideways when a friend has an ominous dream and disappears, a man threatens to crush her business, and someone nearly kills her. Finding a dead body is ‘berry, berry’ bad. She’s got to find the killer before her future is permanently stained.

Blood Stones is the first in a trilogy by local author Krista Lynn. A century ago a woman died, but her spirit is a prisoner of Native American witchcraft. That is the legend of Sunset Canyon and ghost warriors guarding the Lost Bloodstone Mine. Fast forward to modern day where Darcy Peel comes back to Dry Creek to find her missing sister. Teamed with a deputy who has a link to the ghosts, Darcy must fight the canyon’s magic.

We stay in the Southwest with a cozy novella by Paula Paul. In the first Irene Seligman mystery, Irene has left her Manhattan DA’s job to return to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and opens an upscale consignment store. At the grand opening, Irene discovers the body of one of her mother’s friends in the storeroom. When another of mom’s social circle is murdered, Irene fears for her mother. There are more skeletons in A Killer Closet.

What would October be without some scary good reads?

Salem is the setting in the seventh Wishcraft mystery, The Witch and the Dead. Witch Darcy Merriweather runs As You Wish, a personal concierge and wish-granting service in the Enchanted Village. When she gets ready to move out of her aunt’s house, they discover a pile of bones belonging to her aunt’s second husband. Heather Blake spins a spell of skeletons in the closet.

It is Get Witch or Die Trying in Tonya Kappes’ third Spies and Spells mystery. Maggie Park can blend in when working undercover, but little does the secret U.S. Agency SKUL know that she’s a witch. When an arrest goes sideways and the perp ends up dead, special agent Mick Jasper is under investigation and stripped of his badge. Maggie’s going to have to use her special powers to right the wrong and bring the real killer to justice.

In her second Costume Shop mystery, Masking for Trouble, author Diane Vallere revisits Disguise DeLimit in Proper City, Nevada. When a chain store tycoon wants to rezone historic downtown and push out local businesses, Margo Tamblyn is intent on saving her store. After a nasty run-in with the man, his body is discovered at a spooky Halloween party, and Margo is the prime suspect. She’ll have to use every trick in the book to find the killer.

Another shop gearing up for Halloween is Chocolates and Chapters run by Michelle Serrano and Erica Russell. They have their hands full prepping for the annual Halloween Festival in West Riverdale, Maryland. A group of teens from Erica’s comic book club are helping with the booth. But when a woman’s body is found in an abandoned house and a teen’s superhero key is found on the scene, the women must discover who’s up to this trick. Behind Chocolate Bars is the third Chocolate Covered mystery series by Kathy Aarons, who also shares chocolate making recipes.

Meanwhile, in Maryville Heights, Minnesota, magical cats Owen and Hercules and their owner, librarian Kathleen Paulson, are back for their eighth adventure. Kathleen is excited to meet the pals of her boyfriend, Detective Marcus Gordon. But the reunion is cut short when one of the friends is killed and evidence points to Marcus as the murderer. It’s up to Kathleen and her cats to find the fiend. Paws and Effect is the latest from Sofie Kelly.

To enter to win a copy of Movie Night Murder by Leslie Langtry & Shadows on a Morning in Maine by Lea Wait from a past Coming Attractions column, and Death Takes Priority by Jean Flowers (her latest book was featured in last month’s Coming Attractions, this is the first in the series)-simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “goblin attractions” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen after October 1, 2016. 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!

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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.