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Halloween Mystery List – 2024

Leave a Comment / Bestselling Author, Book List, Cozy, Crime, Debut Author, Fantasy, Featured, Fiction, Holidays, Mystery, Paranormal, Short Stories/Collection

Halloween will be here before you know it and if you’d like to pick up a fun read with a seasonal theme, here are ninety-four titles in our updated 2024 Halloween Mystery List. Some have been around for ages, but others have recently been published or re-published. There are dozens more books with a Halloween theme, so if your favorite is not on the list, please let us know the title and author in the comments.

Click on the bold titles to read more about the individual books.

Stacey Alabaster – The Pumpkin Killer
Susan Wittig Albert – Witches’ Bane
Meri Allen – Fatal Fudge Swirl
Ritter Ames and 8 others – Midnight Mysteries: Nine Cozy Tales
Donna Andrews – Lord of the Wings
Gretchen Archer – Double Jinx

Laurien Berenson – Howloween Murder
Susan Bernhardt – The Ginseng Conspiracy
Morgana Best – The Halloween Time Spell
Bethany Blake – Dial Meow for Murder
Susan Boles – Death of a Wolfman
Ginger Bolton –Boston Scream Murder
Lilian Jackson Braun – Cat Who Talked to Ghosts
Christin Brecher – 15 Minutes of Flame
Allison Brook – Death Overdue
Rita Mae Brown – The Litter of the Law
Catherine Bruns – Dessert Is the Bomb
Mollie Cox Bryan – Scrapbook of the Dead
Anna Celeste Burke – All Hallows’ Eve Heist
Jessica Burton – Death Goes Shopping
Ellen Byron – French Quarter Fright Night

Thea Cambert – Halloween at Pumpkin Hill
Nora Charles – Death with an Ocean View
Laura Childs – Frill Kill
Agatha Christie – The Hallowe’en Party
Cate Conte – Nine Lives and Alibis
Susan Rogers Cooper – Not in My Backyard
E.J. Copperman – Night of the Living Deed
Maya Corrigan – Crypt Suzette
Kathy Cranston – Pumpkins are Murder
Isis Crawford – A Catered Costume Party
James J. Cudney – Haunted House Ghost

Kathi Daley – The Inn at Holiday Bay
Kim Davis – Cake Popped Off
Krista Davis – Murder Outside the Lines
Jana Deleon – Swamp Spook
Steve Demaree – Murder on Halloween
Leighann Dobbs – Halloween Party Murder
Carole Nelson Douglas – Cat with an Emerald Eye
Kaitlyn Dunnett – Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

J.C. Eaton – Mischief, Murder and Merlot
Janet Evanovich – Plum Spooky
Sharon Farrow – Mulberry Mischief
Connie Feddersen – Dead in the Pumpkin Patch
Vickie Fee – It’s Your Party, Die If You Want To
Honora Finkelstein – The Lawyer Who Died Trying
‘Jessica Fletcher’ & Donald Bain – Trick or Treachery

Eva Gates – The Spook in the Stacks
Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames) – Stirring the Plot
Sarah Graves – Nail Biter

Carolyn Haines – Hallowed Bones
Ellen Hart – Sweet Poison
Kelly Hashway – Halloween Homicide
Julia Henry – Digging Up the Remains
Lee Hollis – Death of a Wicked Witch
Carolyn Q. Hunter – Pumpkin Pie Waffle
Ellen Elizabeth Hunter – Murder on the Ghost Walk

Sybil Johnson – Designed for Haunting
Daniel Judson – The Violet Hour
Heather Justesen – Muffins & Murder

Jenny Kales – A Stew to A Kill
Tonya Kappes – A Halloween Homicide
Andrew Klavan – The Animal Hour
Libby Klein – Mischief Nights are Murder
Cynthia Kuhn – The Spirit in Question

Joyce & Jim Lavene – Ghastly Glass
James Lilley – Death Knocks Twice
Linda Lovely – Picked Off
Alice Loweecey – The Clock Strikes Nun
Karen MacInerney – Deadly Brew
Ed McBain – Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery
Jenn McKinlay – Dark Chocolate Demise
G.A. McKevett – Poisoned Tarts
Leslie Meier – Wicked Witch Murder
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross – Halloween Party Murder
Alexis Morgan – Death by Jack-O-Lantern
Lynn Morrison – Stakes and Spells
Mandy Morton – Cat Among the Pumpkins
Liz Mugavero – A Biscuit, a Casket
Julie Mulhern – Send in the Clowns

Elizabeth Penney – The Fatal Folio
Katie Penryn – The Witch Who Hated Halloween
Leigh Perry – The Skeleton Haunts a House
Summer Prescott & 7 others – A Very Cozy Halloween
Raquel V. Reyes – Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
Barbara Ross – Scared Off

Mary Seifert – Halloween, Hound, & Housesitting
Debra Sennefelder A Corpse at the Witching Hour
Rachael Stapleton – Black Cats, Corpses and the Pumpkin Pantry
Kathleen Suzette – Gnome for Halloween

Rebecca Tope – Death in the Cotswolds
Diane Vallere – Masking for Trouble
Kirsten Weiss – Gourd to Death
Linnea West – Halloween Hayride Murder

If you’ve read any books in the Halloween Mystery List for 2024, please let us know what you thought.

Halloween Mystery List – 2024 Read More »

2024 Killer Nashville – Silver Falchion Awards

1 Comment / Bestselling Author, Book List, Cozy, Crime, Featured, Historical, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Paranormal, Suspense, Thriller, Western, Young Adult/Teen

The 2024 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award Finalists represent the best books published in 2023, as determined by the judges. Full disclosure, I was a judge this year and one of my choices won! The winners in each category (indicated in red) were announced on August 24, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee, at Killer Nashville.

BEST ACTION ADVENTURE
A New Game / A.M. Adair
Siphon / Ley Esses
A Blanket of Steel / Timothy S. Johnston
Hanging the Devil / Tim Maleeny
Splinter / Paul McHugh
The Warmaker: A Black Spear Novel / Benjamin Spada

BEST COMEDY
Downsized or Dead / S.E. Greco
Shocked by Champagne / Lucy Lakestone
Cultured / DP Lyle
Citizen Orlov / Jonathan Payne
Model Suspect / TK Sheffield
A Crafty Collage of Crime / Lois Winston

BEST COZY
Under the Cocoon Moon / Kathleen Bailey
Dumpster Dying / Michelle Bennington
Puppy Love / Mike Faricy
Naked Came the Detective / Glendall Jackson
Karma Comes in Red, A Beyond Mystery / Morgan James
Trust the Terrier: A Coral Shores Veterinary Mystery / DL Mitchell

BEST HISTORICAL
Revenge at the Galliano Club / Carmen Amato
Red Flags: A Novel / Rebecca McQueen
Arsenic at Ascot, A Fiona Figg & Kitty Lane Mystery / Kelly Oliver
The Sorrowful Girl / Keenan Powell
The Last Drop of Hemlock / Katharine Schellman
A Courtesan’s Secret / Nina Wachsman

BEST INVESTIGATOR
When Things Fall Apart / Alan Brenham
Reflections in a Dragon’s Eye / Bradley Harper MD
Vessels of Wrath / Thomas Holland
These Still Black Waters / Christina McDonald
Standing Dead: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery / Margaret Mizushima
Splintered Loyalty / Mark Troy

BEST JUVENILE / Y.A.
Where Echoes Die / Courtney Gould
The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary / K.B. Jackson
A Place of Vengeance / David Lafferty
A Tall Dark Trouble / Vanessa Montalban
Immortality: A Love Story / Dana Schwartz
Stateless / Elizabeth Wein

BEST MYSTERY
Mouse in the Box / Lewis Allan
Indigo Road / Reed Bunzel
Beautiful Death / John Deal
Secrets Don’t Sink / Kate B. Jackson
BeatNikki’s Café / Renee James
The Empty Kayak / Jode Millman

BEST SUPERNATURAL
Monstera / EL Block
Personal Demons / L.R. Braden
The Paleontologist / Luke Dumas
Downpour / Christopher Hawkins
A Mother’s Torment / Xavier Poe Kane
Ghost Tamer / Meredith R. Lyons

BEST SUSPENSE
Don’t Close Your Eyes / Mary Alford
Deep Fake Double Down / Debbie Burke
Deadly Tides / Mary Keliikoa
Perspectives / Matthew Minson
Dead West / Linda L. Richards
The Rule of Thirds / Jeannee Sacken

BEST THRILLER
Checkout Time / John Bukowski
The Followers / Bradeigh Godfrey
The Trap / Catherine Ryan Howard
Implied Consent / Keenan Powell
Breaking Apart / Wanda Venters, MD and Mary Rae, MD
Kyd’s Game / Marc Rosenberg

BEST WESTERN
Reckoning / Baron Birtcher
Bladestay / Jackie Johnson
Sting of Lies / Carol Potenza

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!

2024 Killer Nashville – Silver Falchion Awards Read More »

2024 Edgar Awards

Leave a Comment / Amish, Bestselling Author, Cozy, Crime, Debut Author, Featured, Mystery, Nominated for Award, Non-fiction, Suspense, Thriller, True Crime, Young Adult/Teen

The MWA (Mystery Writers of America) nominees for the 2024 Edgar Allan Poe Awards honor the best in mystery fiction, nonfiction, and television published or produced in 2023. The 78^th Annual Edgar® Awards were bestowed on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York City. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red).

BEST NOVEL
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
The Madwomen of Paris by Jennifer Cody Epstein
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

BEST FIRST NOVEL
The Peacock and the Sparrow by I.S. Berry
The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
Small Town Sins by Ken Jaworowski
The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch
Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
Boomtown by A.F. Carter
Hide by Tracy Clark
The Taken Ones by Jess Lourey
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Lowdown Road by Scott Von Doviak

BEST FACT CRIME
In Light of All Darkness: Inside the Polly Klaas Kidnapping and the Search for America’s Child by Kim Cross
Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall by Zeke Faux
Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt
Crooked: The Roaring ’20s Tale of a Corrupt Attorney General, a Crusading Senator, and the Birth of the American Political Scandal by Nathan Masters
I Know Who You Are: How an Amateur DNA Sleuth Unmasked the Golden State Killer and Changed Crime Fighting Forever by Barbara Rae-Venter
The Lost Sons of Omaha: Two Young Men in an American Tragedy by Joe Sexton

BEST YOUNG ADULT
Girl Forgotten by April Henry
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby
The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum
My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon
Just Do This One Thing for Me by Laura Zimmerman

BEST TELEVISION EPISODE SCREENPLAY
“Time of the Monkey” – Poker Face, Written by Wyatt Cain & Charlie Peppers (Peacock)

“I’m a Pretty Observant Guy” – Will Trent, Written by Liz Heldens (ABC)

“Dead Man’s Hand” – Poker Face, Written by Rian Johnson (Peacock)

“Hózhó Náhásdlii (Beauty is Restore)” – Dark Winds, Written by Graham Roland & John Wirth (AMC)

“Escape from Shit Mountain” – Poker Face, Written by Nora Zuckerman & Lilla Zuckerman

The Lilian Jackon Braun Memorial Award
Glory Be by Danielle Arceneaux
Misfortune Cookie by Vivien Chien
Hot Pot Murder by Jennifer J. Chow
Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns
The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell

Additional Award Nominees (Best Juvenile, Best Critical/Biographical, Best Short Story, Mary Higgins Clark Award, Sue Grafton Memorial Award) can be found at EdgarAwards.com

2024 Edgar Awards Read More »

2024 Lefty Awards

1 Comment / Bestselling Author, Cozy, Crime, Featured, Historical, Mystery, Nominated for Award

Left Coast Crime 2024 presented four Lefty Awards at the convention in Bellevue, Washington on April 13, 2024. The mystery/crime/thriller novels must have been published for the first time in the United States or Canada during 2023, in book or ebook format. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Humorous Mystery Novel
°	Jennifer J. Chow, Hot Pot Murder
°	Lee Matthew Goldberg, The Great Gimmelmans
°	Leslie Karst, A Sense for Murder
°	Catriona McPherson, Hop Scot
°	Cindy Sample, Dying for a Decoration
°	Wendall Thomas, Cheap Trills

Best Historical Mystery Novel (Bill Gotttfried Memorial) for books covering events before 1970
°	Cara Black, Night Flight to Paris
°	Bruce Borgos, The Bitter Past
°	Susanna Calkins, Death Among the Ruins
°	Dianne Freeman, A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder
°	Cheryl A. Head, Time’s Undoing
°	Naomi Hirahara, Evergreen

Best Debut Mystery Novel
°	Lina Chern, Play the Fool
°	Margot Douaihy, Scorched Grace
°	Josh Pachter, Dutch Threat
°	Ana Reyes, The House in the Pines
°	Nina Simon, Mother-Daughter Murder Night

Best Mystery Novel
°	Tracy Clark, Hide
°	S.A. Cosby, All the Sinners Bleed
°	Matt Coyle, Odyssey’s End
°	Jordan Harper, Everybody Knows
°	James L’Etoile, Face of Greed
°	Gigi Pandian, The Raven Thief

2024 Lefty Awards Read More »

Agatha Awards for 2023 Titles

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The Agatha Awards are bestowed upon crime fiction and nonfiction works centered on the mystery to be solved, rather than the violence that surrounds the deeds. This year’s awards were handed out in person in late April, 2024. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in red)!

Best Contemporary Mystery
“Wined And Dined in New Orleans” – Ellen Byron
“Helpless” – Annette Dashofy
“The Weekend Retreat” – Tara Laskowski
“A Case of the Bleus” – Korina Moss
“The Raven Thief” – Gigi Pandian

Best Historical Mystery
“Death Among the Ruins” – Susanna Caulkins
“Act Like A Lady, Think Like a Lord” – Celeste Connally
“I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died” – Amanda Flower
“Times Undoing” – Cheryl Head
“The Mistress of Bhatia House” – Sujata Massey

Best First Mystery Novel
“Glory Be” – Danielle Arceneaux
“The Hint of Light” – Kristin Kisska
“Dutch Threat” – Josh Pachter
“Crime and Parchment” – Daphne Silver
“Mother and Daughter Murder Night” – Nina Simon

Best Mystery Short Story
“The Knife Sharpener” – Shelley Costa in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, July/Aug 2023
“A Good Judge of Character” – Tina De Bellegarde in Malice Domestic Murder Most Traditional
“Real Courage” – Barb Goffman in Black Cat Mystery Magazine #14
“Ticket to Ride” – DruAnn Love/Kristopher Zgorski in Happiness is a Warm Gun
“Shamu, World’s Greatest Detective” – Richie Narvaez in Time in San Diego BoucherCon 2023

Agatha Awards for 2023 Titles Read More »

Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List

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St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon! For those of you that focus your reading on holiday/cultural themed books, the list below features Irish writers, mysteries/suspense set in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day murders, or titles with Irish characters central to the plot. Some are modern classics, some are newbies, but all are entertaining reads. You’re sure to find a story in the updated list of 50 Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2024 that you will want to read again and again. (Links included for bold titles)

Lisa Alber: “Path into Darkness”

Maeve Binchy: “Chestnut Street”
Furlong-Bollinger: “Paddy Whacked”
Ellie Brannigan “Murder at an Irish Castle”
Verity Bright “Murder in an Irish Castle”
Declan Burke: “The Lost and the Blind”

Steve Cavanagh: “Th1rt3en”
Sheila Connolly: “Fatal Roots”
Kathy Cranston: “Apple Seeds and Murderous Deeds”
Sinead Crowley: “One Bad Turn”

Kathi Daley: “Shamrock Shenanigans”
Maddie Day: “Four Leaf Cleaver”
Frank Delaney: “The Last Storyteller”
Dicey Deere: “The Irish Village Murder”
Nelson Demille: “Cathedral”

Peggy Ehrhart: “Irish Knit Murder”
Patricia Falvey: “The Yellow House”
Tana French: “The Searcher”
Alexia Gordon: “Murder in G Major”
Jean Grainger: “For All the World”
Andrew Greeley: “The Bishop at the Lake”

Jane Haddam: “A Great Day for the Deadly”
Lyn Hamilton: “The Celtic Riddle”
Lee Harris: “The St. Patrick’s Day Murder”
Erin Hart: “The Book of Killowen”
Jonathan Harrington: “A Great Day for Dying”

Mary Anne Kelly: “Twillyweed”
Amanda Lee: “The Long Stitch Good Night”

Dan Mahoney: “Once in, Never Out”
Caimh McDonnell: “A Man with One of Those Faces”
Brian McGilloway: “The Last Crossing”
Adrian McKinty: “The Chain”
Ralph M. McInerny: “The Green Revolution”
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross: “Irish Coffee Murder”
Catie Murphy “Dead in Dublin”

Stuart Neville: “So Say the Fallen”
Carlene O’Connor: “Murder at an Irish Chipper”
Susanne O’Leary: “The Lost Girls of Ireland”
Sister Carol Anne O’Marie: “Death Takes Up a Collection”

Helen Page: “Equal of God”
Louise Phillips: “The Doll’s House”
J.M. Poole “Case of the Shady Shamrock”

Janet Elaine Smith: “In St. Patrick’s Custody”
Jo Spain: “Beneath the Surface”

Patrick Taylor: “An Irish Country Welcome”
Charles Todd: “An Irish Hostage”
Peter Tremayne: “Blood in Eden”
Kathy Hogan Trochek: “Irish Eyes”

Eliza Watson “How to Handle an Ancestry Scandal”
Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold”

If your favorite Irish Fiction & Mysteries titles are not on the list, let me know and I’ll add them! Happy choosing and reading!

Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List Read More »

2024 Valentine’s Day Mysteries

Leave a Comment / Book List, Cozy, Crime, Featured, Holidays, Mystery, Romance

Are you a fan of holiday themed reading? Published between 2016 and 2024, here is an updated list of thirty-five novels, novellas, and short stories centered around Valentine’s Day. Be prepared to sigh, or giggle, or be entranced by the selection. Click on the titles to discover more about the books and enjoy!