Welcome aboard, train wreck.
There are so many new books. New series. Continuing series. I’m so excited to see all these new books coming out. My bank account isn’t so happy. My bookshelf may need a companion to help bear the weight of a book haul. I fail to see the issue with getting another bookshelf, but oh well.
If you like what I write, I would appreciate it if you would like, comment, share, and/or subscribe. As always, I will link the books and where you can buy them. When you use my links to buy, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps me buy more books to read and review so thank you.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery Book 3) by Maria DiRico
Book release date – October 26, 2021
From the Amazon description – Astoria, Queens, is decorated within an inch of its life for the Christmas season, and Mia Carina is juggling her job at the Belle View catering hall with a case of murder . . .
Mia’s busy with a full schedule of events at the family business—among them an over-the-top Nativity-themed first birthday party and a Sweet Sixteen for a teen drama queen. But her personal life is even more challenging. Her estranged mother has returned—and her lifelong friend Jamie has discovered a shocking secret about his past. He’s so angry that he starts hanging out with Lorenzo, who claims to be his long-lost brother—even after it becomes clear that Lorenzo’s story is as fake as a plastic Christmas tree.
Then a body turns up among the elves in a Santa’s-workshop lawn display, and amateur sleuth Mia has a buffet of suspects to choose from. Amid the holiday celebrations, she intends to find out who’s the guilty party . . .
Italian recipes included!
About Maria DiRico
Maria DiRico (the pen name of award-winning author Ellen Byron) was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Queens and Westchester County. She is first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side. On her father’s side, her grandfather was a low-level Jewish mobster who disappeared in 1933 under mysterious circumstances.
While growing up in Queens, Maria/Ellen’s cousins uncles ran the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls. MARDI GRAS MURDER, the fourth book in Ellen Byron’s bestselling Cajun Country Mystery series, won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. The series has also won multiple Best Humorous Mystery Lefty awards from Left Coast Crime. Fun fact: she worked as cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. Maria/Ellen loves to translate what she learned from Martha into recipes for her books.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3o1PYBc
To buy the series for Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/2WfTvQW
Murder in an English Glade (A Beryl and Edwina Mystery Book 5) by Jessica Ellicott
Book release date – October 26, 2021
From the Amazon description – American adventuress Beryl Helliwell and reserved Brit Edwina Davenport may seem an unlikely pair, but they have reinvented themselves in the lean years following World War I as private enquiry agents. Now they’ve been engaged to stage a faux investigation—until murder makes it all too real . . .
When a member of the Walmsley Parva upper crust, Constance Maitland, seeks to hire Beryl and Edwina for a sham investigation into an alleged dalliance by her sister-in-law Ursula to quell potentially scandalous accusations by an unstable cousin, it is with mixed feelings that they agree to pose as guests at her home, Maitland Park. Edwina is uncomfortable with the ruse, but Beryl is eager to escape tension with their feisty housekeeper and hobnob with bohemians as the Maitland family hosts an artists colony.
But when the painter suspected of having an affair with Ursula is found strangled beside his easel in a glade, the pretense turns into a genuine murder enquiry. With Maitland Park overrun by artists, every guest—not to mention family member—is now a suspect.
Beryl and Edwina must determine if they are dealing with a crime of passion or if there are more complex motives in play, which may include the family cigarette business, cutthroat artistic competition, or secrets from the war years. In any case, the intrepid sleuths will not leave until they have smoked out the real killer. . . .
About Jessica Ellicott
Jessica Ellicott loves fountain pens, Mini Coopers and throwing parties. She lives in northern New England where she obsessively knits wool socks and enthusiastically speaks Portuguese with a shocking disregard for the rules of grammar.
As Jessie Crockett she’s the author of the nationally bestselling Sugar Grove Mysteries, and the Daphne du Maurier Award winner, Live Free or Die. She also is the author of the books in the Change of Fortune mysteries as Jessica Estevao. She loves to keep in touch with readers through her newsletter and hopes you will sign up at https://www.jessicaellicott.com/newsletteri-wanted-to-check/.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3EPTpkq
To buy the series for Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/3i2L5ny
Christmas Dessert Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) by Joanne Fluke
Book release date – October 26, 2021
From the Amazon description –
It’s Christmas in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and there’s no better way to enjoy the holidays than by cozying up to two Hannah Swensen yuletide mysteries with a plateful of goodies from The Cookie Jar bakery . . .
CHRISTMAS CARAMEL MURDER
Hannah and her good pal Lisa have agreed to provide all the goodies for the town’s annual production of A Christmas Carol. But before anyone can say “Bah, humbug!” the actress playing Mrs. Claus exits stage left for good. As murder suspects pile up faster than snowdrifts in a blizzard, it might take a visit from ghosts of Christmas past to wrap up this mystery in time for the holidays . . .
CHRISTMAS CAKE MURDER
Hannah’s life matches the hectic December hustle and bustle of Lake Eden when she agrees to help recreate a spectacular Christmas Ball in honor of Essie Granger, an elderly local in hospice care. But instead of poring over decadent dessert recipes, Hannah’s surprised by Essie’s secret talent for penning crime fiction. She’s even more surprised when the story turns real. It’ll be a true miracle if she can prevent another Yuletide disaster by solving a mystery as dense as a Christmas fruitcake . . .
Features Over a Dozen Cookie and Dessert Recipes from The Cookie Jar!
About Joanne Fluke
Joanne Fluke is the multi-book New York Times bestselling Cozy Mystery author of over 20 novels in the Hannah Swensen Mysteries series. Like Hannah Swensen, she was born and raised in a small town in rural Minnesota, but now lives in sunny Southern California. She is currently working on her next Hannah Swensen mystery, “Coconut Layer Cake Murder” ( available on Amazon.com for pre-order NOW!) Readers are welcome to contact her at the following e-mail address; Gr8Clues@joannefluke.com, or by visiting her website at http://www.JoanneFluke.com.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3EUPiDQ
Slashing Through the Snow: A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery by Jacqueline Frost
Book release date – October 12, 2021
From the Amazon description –
Maine innkeeper Holly White returns to sleuth another seasonal slaying in the third Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.
Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm is going into the B&B business, and Holly White is looking forward to her new role as innkeeper. Even better, Mistletoe, Maine’s sheriff, Evan Gray, has deputized his little sister Libby to help Holly wrap presents for Mistletoe’s toy drive. But a cold wind ruffles the cheery holiday decorations when a new guest checks in: Cleo, a vicious B&B critic, who could make or break the new inn. And the short December days turn even darker when Evan and Libby find Cleo’s dead body in the gift-wrapped toy donation box.
The suspect list is longer than Santa’s naughty list, and local resident Cookie is on it, since her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a metal nutcracker that she gave to Holly. So is Libby, who recently moved to town from Boston in less-than-savory circumstances. But cranky Cleo was an oh-holy-nightmare to lots of the townsfolk, such as Evan’s reporter friend Ray; Christopher, the inn’s former contractor; and confectioner Bonnie, whose Gum Drop Shop was a direct target of Cleo’s scathing prose.
To figure out the killer’s identity and clear Cookie’s name, Holly and her friends brainstorm at The Hearth, the farm’s café, while her mother keeps them fueled with Christmas goodies fresh from the oven. But if they can’t put the culprit on ice, Holly may never see another Christmas.
To buy the series for Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/3ATsUba
Mistletoe Cake Murder (All-Day Breakfast Cafe Mystery Book 6) by Lena Gregory
Book release date – October 12, 2021
From the Amazon description – ’Tis the season for celebrating when Gia Morelli’s holidays include both a wedding and yuletide festivities. Until someone naughty delivers a most unwanted Christmas gift—murder. . .
For a native New Yorker, palm trees and warm temperatures don’t equal winter, much less Christmastime. Nevertheless, Gia Morelli’s friends have decked the halls and trimmed the trees to truly welcome her into their “family” with an old-fashioned Boggy Creek, Florida holiday season. Even more joyous, Savannah Mills is getting married on Christmas Eve—the greatest gift Gia could ever wish for her best friend.
But when Gia and Savannah stop by the caterer for a final tasting a week before the wedding, they overhear another bride arguing with her son about her husband-to-be. Moments later, the woman is sampling a piece of wedding cake—gorgeously decorated with mistletoe frosting—then suddenly dies.
Now Gia’s caterer friends are the prime suspects in what appears to be murder by poisoning. To clear their names and ensure Savannah has a merry matrimony will require Gia to conjure up a Christmas miracle . . .
Includes recipes from the All-Day Breakfast Café!
Praise for Lena Gregory
“As breezy and salty as a gust of wind off the chilly bay waters.”
—Juliet Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchcraft Mysteries on Death at First Sight
“An intriguing opening to a fun new series.”
—E. J. Copperman, national bestselling author of the Haunted Guesthouse Mysteries on Death at First Sight
“Hold on to your plates for this fast-paced mystery that will leave you hungering for more!”
—J.C. Eaton, author of the Sophie Kimball Mysteries, on Scone Cold Killer
“It’s fast paced, [Gregory] never misses a beat. There’s mystery mixed with just a small hint of romance and paranormal activity. It’s the perfect blend for cozy mystery fans. I’m hoping to read more in this captivating series.”
—Socrates Book Review on Occult and Battery
About Lena Gregory
Lena Gregory is the author of the Bay Island Psychic Mysteries, which take place on a small island between the north and south forks of Long Island, New York, and the All-Day Breakfast Café Mysteries, which are set on the outskirts of Florida’s Ocala National Forest.
Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island. She recently relocated to Florida with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, jigsaw puzzles, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.
To learn more about Lena and her latest writing endeavors, visit her website at http://www.lenagregory.com/ and be sure to sign up for her newsletter http://lenagregory.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9765d0711ed4fab4fa31b16ac&id=49d42335d1.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3o8057m
To buy the series on Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/2WaDoE3
Getaway With Murder: The Mountain Lodge Mysteries by Diane Kelly
Book release date – October 26, 2021
Getaway With Murder is the first in a cozy series from Diane Kelly set in a lodge in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where secrets hide behind every hill.
As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind.
Luckily, handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime, and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namastay for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen—at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.
With a killer on the loose and the lodge’s reputation hanging in the balance, Misty must put her detective-skills to the test. Only one thing is as clear as a sunny mountain morning—she must solve the crime before the lodge ends up, once again, on the brink.
About Diane Kelly
A former tax advisor, Diane Kelly inadvertently worked with white-collar criminals more than once. Not surprisingly, Diane decided self-employment would be a good idea. Her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her Death and Taxes romantic mystery series. A graduate of her hometown’s Citizen Police Academy, Diane Kelly also writes the hilarious K-9 cop Paw Enforcement series and the House Flipper cozy mystery series. Look for her Southern Homebrew moonshine series debut on July 6th (The Moonshine Shack Murder) and her Mountain Lodge Mysteries debut (Getaway with Murder) on October 26th!
Be the first to receive book news and access exclusive content and contests by signing up for Diane’s newsletter at DianeKelly.com. Follow the Author Diane Kelly page on Facebook @dianekellybooks for fun, prizes, and more! Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @dianekellybooks.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3ETbiyE
In Hot Water: A Misty Bay Tea Room Mystery by Kate Kingsbury
Book release date – October 12, 2021
From the Amazon description –
In bestselling author Kate Kingsbury’s Misty Bay Tea Room series debut, the proprietress of a British-style tea shop must draw on her love for mystery novels to sleuth a murder.
Vivian Wainwright is living her dream. The middle-aged widow owns the Misty Bay Tearoom, a quaint, English-accented shop on the Oregon coast. But on the eve of the tearoom’s second anniversary, the dream turns nightmarish when a man falls to his death from a hotel balcony.
The body belongs to Dean Ramsey, ex-husband of Vivian’s assistant, Jenna. Detective Tony Messina quickly zeroes in on Jenna as prime suspect, since she was seen leaving the hotel shortly before the body was found.
Vivian and her other assistant, Gracie, set out to help clear Jenna’s name, using their wit and a bit of criminology know-how Vivian picked up from her late attorney husband. Detective Messina is on board, but he’s starting to develop feelings for his number one suspect. Puzzling questions persist–chief among them, whose clothes was Dean wearing when he landed on the rocky shore?
To complicate matters, Vivian’s friend, pet shop owner Hal Douglass, seems to know some secrets about the hotel that could add a long list of names to the suspect list…including Hal’s own. Vivian must work quickly because if she can’t, Jenna faces a murder rap…or worse.
About Kate Kingsbury
Kate grew up in London, England, and at a very early age began telling stories to her school friends while huddling in bomb shelters during the Blitz of WW II. She moved to the U.S. in 1963 and published her first book in 1987. Since then she’s written over sixty romance and mystery novels. She now lives in Oregon with her husband, Bill and Bella, a feisty chihuahua mix. Her “upstairs/downstairs” mysteries appeal to fans of Downton Abbey. The Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries are set in Edwardian England, while the Manor House series takes place in an English village during WW II. Her new contemporary series, The Misty Bay Mysteries, features an English tearoom on the Oregon coast. The first book in the series, In Hot Water, will debut on October 12th, 2021. You can find Kate’s website at http://www.katekingsbury.net
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3ETiKtR
Litani by Jess Lourey
Book release date – October 19, 2021
The Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline explores the darkness at the heart of the rural Midwest in a novel inspired by a chilling true crime.
In the summer of ’84, fourteen-year-old Frankie Jubilee is shuttled off to Litani, Minnesota, to live with her estranged mother, a county prosecutor she barely knows. From the start, Frankie senses something uneasy going on in the small town. The locals whisper about The Game, and her mother warns her to stay out of the woods and away from adults.
When a bullying gang of girls invites Frankie to The Game, she accepts, determined to find out what’s really going on in Litani. She’s not the only one becoming paranoid. Hysteria burns through the community. Dark secrets emerge. And Frankie fears that, even in the bright light of day, she might be living among monsters.
About Jess Lourey
Jessica (Jess) Lourey teaches, travels, and writes about secrets.
Jess is the Amazon Charts bestselling Edgar, Agatha, Lefty, and Anthony-nominated author of nonfiction, YA adventure, magical realism, and crime fiction. She’s a tenured professor of writing and sociology, a recipient of The Loft’s Excellence in Teaching fellowship, a Psychology Today blogger, a TEDx presenter (check out her TEDx Talk to discover the surprising inspiration behind MAY DAY, her first published novel), and a leader of writing retreats for women and online creative writing classes for all.
She lives in Minneapolis with her foster cats (and occasional foster puppies, but man are those goobers a lot of work). You can find out more at jessicalourey.com.
(The UNSPEAKABLE THINGS epilogue lives here: http://jessicalourey.com/survey-two.)
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3AJngs7
The Alchemist of Fire and Fortune: An Accidental Alchemist Mysteryby GiGi Pandian
Book release date – October 5, 2021
From the Amazon description –
The Goonies meets Charade in the latest Accidental Alchemist Mystery
A blackmailer obsessed with gold. A boyfriend who’s more than he seems. And a treasure hidden on the Oregon coast.
Alchemist Zoe Faust’s mentor Nicolas Flamel is back in her life, but catching up with him will have to wait. An elusive blackmailer has threatened to expose a dangerous alchemical secret. Zoe’s boyfriend is out of town protecting secrets of his own. So when rumors of a treasure map reach Zoe, she turns her back on what sounds like no more than a game.
Zoe’s mischievous living gargoyle best friend Dorian, who thinks of himself as a modern-day Poirot, is convinced the map is real—and that it’s the key to proving himself as valuable to Zoe as her human family. With the help of the neighborhood teenagers, Dorian sets out to find the treasure, risking more than he planned in the process. Rumors, treasures, and secrets intersect to unearth more than Zoe could have dreamed—and could leave her family changed forever.
Can Zoe stop the threat to the family unit she’s created?
About Gigi Pandian
Sign up for Gigi’s email newsletter for a free novella, recipes, and monthly fun: http://www.gigipandian.com
GIGI PANDIAN is a USA Today bestselling and multi award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. She’s the child of cultural anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, and spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the backyard garden.
Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and the forthcoming Secret Staircase mysteries, starting with Under Lock & Skeleton Key. Her debut novel was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a Best of 2012 Debut by Suspense Magazine, and her mysteries have been awarded the Anthony, Agatha, Rose, Lefty, and Derringer awards.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3zEO6QX
To buy the series on Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/3zLmRUJ
It’s a Wonderful Woof (A Chet & Bernie Mystery Book 12) by Spencer Quinn
Book release date – October 19, 2021
From the Amazon description –
pencer Quinn’s It’s a Wonderful Woof presents a holiday adventure for Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little.
Holiday time in the Valley, and in the holiday spirit—despite the dismal shape of the finances at the Little Detective Agency—Bernie refers a potential client to Victor Klovsky, a fellow private eye. It’s also true that the case—promising lots of online research but little action—doesn’t appeal to Bernie, while it seems perfect for Victor, who is not cut out for rough stuff. But Victor disappears in a rough-stuff way, and when he doesn’t show up at his mom’s to light the Hanukkah candles, she hires Chet and Bernie to find him.
They soon discover that Victor’s client has also vanished. The trail leads to the ruins of a mission called Nuestra Señora de los Saguaros, dating back to the earliest Spanish explorers. Some very dangerous people are interested in the old mission. Does some dusty archive hold the secret of a previously unknown art treasure, possibly buried for centuries? What does the Flight into Egypt—when Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled Herod—have to do with saguaros, the Sonoran desert cactus?
No one is better than Chet at nosing out buried secrets, but before he can, he and Bernie are forced to take flight themselves, chased through a Christmas Eve blizzard by a murderous foe who loves art all too much.
At the Publisher’s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
About Spencer Quinn
Spencer Quinn lives on Cape Cod with his dog, Audrey. He is currently working on the next Chet and Bernie novel.
To learn more about the author and their other works, click here. https://amzn.to/3CJGDSD
To buy the series on Kindle e-book, click here. https://amzn.to/39BIkF5
There’s still more to come. I will post the next batch soon. Again, if you like what I write, please like, comment, share, and/or subscribe. If you read any of these books, please let me know what you think about them. That’s all I have for today, train wreck. All aboard.
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