Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. Jayne Frost is a lot of things. Winter elf, Jack Frost's daughter, Santa Claus's niece, heir to the Winter Throne and now...private investigator. Sort of. Needing someone he can trust, her father sends her undercover to Nocturne Falls to find out why employees at the Santa's Workshop toy store are going missing. Doing that requires getting to know the town, which leads to interesting encounters with a sexy vampire, an old flame, and an elevator that's strictly off-limits. The more Jayne finds out, the more questions she has, but the answers lead her deeper into danger. Will her magic save her? Or will she come up cold?
The discovery of the body of Beth Barnard in her Phillip Island farmhouse in 1986, began a homicide investigation that rocked a peaceful community.It also created an enduring mystery, for no one was ever brought to trial for her brutal death, and the main suspect disappeared - never to be seen again.Beth Barnard, a popular and attractive 23-year-old, had been having an affair with a local married man.On the night of her brutal murder, a car belonging to Vivienne Cameron - wife of Beth's lover - was found abandoned near the bridge that connects the famous tourist island to the mainland.No trace of Vivienne was ever found, and her disappearance has never been adequately explained.Nevertheless, a Coroner's Court found that Vivienne had killed her rival then jumped to her death into the waters of Westernport Bay. The case was closed but not forgotten.Ever since their first edition of The Phillip Island Murder, in 1993, Vikki Petraitis and Paul Daley have been regularly contacted by people wanting to know more; people who, like the authors, let the case get under their skin.More than three decades later the mystery, rumours and arm-chair solutions continue.
It's springtime on Cranberry Island—and love is in the air. It seems like every woman has the hots for buff trainer Dirk De Leon. He and his equally-gorgeous business partner, Vanessa Black, are leading a weight-loss retreat at the Gray Whale Inn—forcing innkeeper Natalie Barnes to lighten up her butter-laden breakfast menu. The mood on the island darkens when two grisly discoveries are made. The first is a skeleton walled up at the island's lighthouse. The second is a corpse of the fresh variety—the handsome Dirk! Could the spirit that once embodied the skeletal remains—perhaps the lighthouse keeper who disappeared a century ago—be responsible for Dirk's death? The police pin the blame on Natalie's boyfriend who—to her dismay—had a long-ago fling with Vanessa. To find the true killer and ease her own aching heart, Natalie must untangle the knot of jealous girlfriends and spurned admirers that once surrounded the hunky trainer. Praise: "MacInerney adds a dash of the supernatural, throws in some touristy tidbits and finishes with some tasty diet-right recipes."—Publishers Weekly "All thumbs up for Murder Most Maine, another in the engaging series of Cranberry Island mysteries. Karen MacInerney writes with verve and vitality, and her Natalie Barnes is a Maine original. I'm ready to book a room at the Gray Whale Inn!"—Susan Wittig Albert, bestselling author of Nightshade and other China Bayles Herbal Mysteries
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Agatha Raisin television series, travel to the Scotland Highlands with this classic Hamish Macbeth cozy mystery. Returning from a vacation, Constable Hamish Macbeth senses a dark cloud of evil hanging over his Scottish village of Lochdubh. Newcomer Catriona Beldame has cast a bewitching spell over the town, causing the local men to visit her cottage at all hours of the night and infuriating the women. Hamish suspects that she is a great danger to the town. Before he can prove that Catriona is truly wicked, she is brutally murdered-and Hamish becomes the prime suspect in the case. The constable will call upon the assistance of a pretty female forensic expert as he attempts to clear his name . . . and perhaps even find some romance. But when more violence breaks out, loyal Hamish must use all his detective skills to restore peace to his beloved village.
"With Phryne Fisher, the indefatigable Greenwood has invented the character-you-fall-in-love-with genre." —The Australian "The 15 1920s-era stories in this welcome collection from Australian author Greenwood will delight fans of Miss Phryne Fisher, who indulges in 'Sherlockery' for Melbourne's citizenry when she's not indulging her passion for 'food, sleep, intellectual puzzles, clothes and beautiful young men'...This volume is a fine companion to the 21 novels featuring this dashing protagonist." —Publishers Weekly In The Lady with Gun Asks the Questions, Kerry Greenwood distills the Phryne of her books and imagination. For those fans looking for greater character depth, a richer historical context of the twenties, and Phryne as her truest, freest self, Greenwood has curated just the right stories from her 21 novels and added four brand-new ones so we may meet the real fabulous Miss Fisher. This Ultimate Miss Fisher Story Collection features four previously unpublished stories: The Boxer A Matter of Style The Chocolate Factory The Bells of St. Paul's
In this clever reimagining of Charles Dickens’s life, he and fiancée Kate Hogarth must solve the murder of an old miser, just before Christmas . . . London, December 1835: Charles and Kate are out with friends and family for a chilly night of caroling and good cheer. But their blood truly runs cold when their singing is interrupted by a body plummeting from an upper window of a house. They soon learn the dead man, his neck strangely wrapped in chains, is Jacob Harley, the business partner of the resident of the house, an unpleasant codger who owns a counting house, one Emmanuel Screws. Ever the journalist, Charles dedicates himself to discovering who's behind the diabolical defenestration. But before he can investigate further, Harley's corpse is stolen. Following that, Charles is visited in his quarters by what appears to be Harley's ghost—or is it merely Charles’s overwrought imagination? He continues to suspect Emmanuel, the same penurious penny pincher who denied his father a loan years ago, but Kate insists the old man is too weak to heave a body out a window. Their mutual affection and admiration can accommodate a difference of opinion, but matters are complicated by the unexpected arrival of an infant orphan. Charles must find the child a home while solving a murder, to ensure that the next one in chains is the guilty party . . . Praise for the Dickens of a Crime Mysteries! “Mystery fans and history buffs alike should cheer.” —KirkusSTARRED Review “Sharp, incisive, and delightfully twisty. I’m sure I won't be the only reader exclaiming, ‘What the Dickens?!’” —Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author. “As easy to read as one of Mr. Dickens’ actual novels and as entertaining.” —New York Journal of Books “Fans of Anne Perry will love this one.” —Dianne Freeman, award–winning author
