I knew shopping could be dangerous, but Santa and his elves? Zoe has so much on her mind from her soon-to-arrrive little girl to her mother-in-law injured in Paris to Zak out of the country helping said mother-in-law, and preparing for the Christmas holidays that she doesn’t see the elf…crash, boom, and bang on the head.
Kathi Daley is the best at penning entertaining books set at the holidays making Halloween, Thanksgiving, and especially Christmas very special for cozy fans. First published in January 2015 with Romeow and Juliet, her Whales and Tails Mystery series has fourteen delightful books set on Madrona Island off the coast of Washington State treating us to clever cozy mysteries with a twist.
Looking for an inexpensive, easy to wrap, home delivery gift for friends? Books are the answer. Plus, you can borrow them back later (that’s fair, right?). You’ll be surprised at your favorite authors starting a new series. Some of this month’s offerings have wonderful recipes to eat by the hearth. So, curl up with hot buttered rum, ignore the messy house, and curl up and read. Merry, merry!
The Tj Jensen series has been around since 2013 opening with a Halloween favorite Pumpkins in Paradise, and in 2016 Henrey Press jumped on board reenergizing the series with a new set of book covers. Kathi Daley has penned a delightful set of eight books following Tj Jensen and her extended family of two half-sisters, her dad, her granddad, and a plethora of animals in Serenity, Nevada, with her signature engaging mysteries, clever and sometimes quirky characters, and realism that makes her work very popular.
Another engaging story with a favorite character in Kathi Daley’s literary family! Kailani “Lani” Pope, lifeguard at the Dolphin Bay resort, has found another dead body, this one at the bottom of a cliff. However, and here is Kathi’s twist, the discovery has Lani perplexed since this body was reported to have died five years ago! Sure, no body had been found then, and Lani’s father was first on the scene, finding the murdered body of an heiress, chasing the possible killer to a cliff and witnessing that man jump. All believed no one could have survived that leap.
Zoe Donovan-Zimmerman always promised that when pregnancy came it would not effect her behavior; she could handle it. But if crazy dreams, emotional overload, frustration with her mother-in-law over ‘pink,’ and tears coming at the drop of the hat were any indication, she hasn’t been successful. BFF Ellie understands completely, wasn’t it her in tears last Halloween who Zoe helped over costume problems!
A big storm! A lightening strike! The lights go out! The book club is plunged into darkness, so they decide to wait for the worse to pass, and when it seems safe enough, the group decides to head home. Closing up the Coffee Cat Books, Caitlin and Tara notice Paula’s car is still in the parking lot. It wouldn’t have been unusual for her to decide to get a ride from one of the other bookclub members…safety in numbers and all.
Jillian Hanford manages Turtle Cove Resort, a Writer’s Retreat on Gull Island, for her half brother, Garrett, who is recovering from a recent stroke. She and seven other authors of varying ages and literary notoriety collaborate closely to explore and resolve a variety of cold case mysteries that often involve suspicious deaths. Alex Cole, a millennial who at twenty-two made his first million writing science fiction, has brought the group together; he is eager to write a book about Trey Alderman, a local baseball hero, who at the dawn of his dreams coming true dies of a heart attack.
Well…the decision to go camping with a bunch of pre-teens is questionable, not having a bathroom close by is inconvenient, and being six-weeks pregnant with nausea is crazy, but, when Zoe heads off to the kitchen to get some saltines and club soda, and finds a dead body in the pantry? That’s just insane! To make matters worse the victim had a chance to call 911, and the police find Zoe covered in blood with the knife in her hands.
Jillian Hanford manages a writer’s retreat at Turtle Cove Resort on Gull Island, where several established and budding writers live, write, and…sleuth. This eclectic group gathers at their Monday night mystery group to discuss, research, and with skill and some luck, solve murder mysteries. Jackson ‘Jack’ Jones, a nationally acclaimed author and recent owner of the Gull Island News, has approached the group with an interesting cold case that has just become relevant.
