Holidays

Halloween Mystery List – 2024

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 »

Irish Fiction and Mysteries – 2024 List

Bunratty Castle Farmhouse, Ireland

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

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!

 

Jennifer S. Alderson  Death by Baguette
Carolyn Arnold  Valentine’s Day is Murder

Belle Bailey  A Sugar Maple Valentine
Patti Benning  Tall, Dark, and Deadly
Bellamy Bloom & Addison Moore  Murder Bites
Franky A. Brown  What Happened to Romance?

Thea Cambert A Fine Point of Murder
Susan Carroll The Valentine’s Day Ball
Cherry Christensen  Secret Valentine
Colleen Cross  Witching for Love on Valentine’s Day

Kathi Daley The Valentine Mystery
Sylvia Damsell  A Valentine Wish
Steve Demaree A Valentine Murder
Leighann Dobbs My Fatal Valentine
Liz Dodwell Valentine’s Day: a Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy

Jessica L. Elliott Operation: Romance

Tammy Falkner A Valentine’s Day Miracle
Amanda Flower Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous

Deborah Garner  A Flair for Truffles
Patricia Gligor Marnie Malone
Donna Grant  My Fiery Valentine

Holly Hepburn Valentine’s Day at the Star and Sixpence
Liwen Y. Ho Romantically Ever After

June McCrary Jacobs Handmade Hearts

Libby Klein  Theater Nights Are Murder

Jackie Lau  A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day
Lia London Love from A to Z

Ava Mallory & nine more authors Stirring Up Love & Mystery
Jenn McKinlay  Royal Valentine
Leslie Meier  Valentine Candy Murder
Mobile Writers Guild Valentine’s Day Pieces (Anthology)
Addison Moore & Bellamy Bloom  Sealed with a Hiss

Summer Prescott A Blossom of Murder

Amy M. Reade  Be My Valencrime

Jessica Thompson A Caterer’s Guide to Valentines and Violence

 

Happy Reading!

 

 

2024 Valentine’s Day Mysteries Read More »

2023 – Christmas Themed Mysteries and Romance

Christmas is the most popular holiday theme for mysteries and fiction of all varieties. There are hundreds from which to choose, with some writers focusing entirely on Christmas in every book they publish.

If you are a fan of Christmas themed fiction, then this updated 2023 list of sixty-seven novels, novellas, and short stories is for you. The books were recommended by avid cozy booksellers and reviewers, as well as NBR and Kerrian’s Notebook subscribers. Click on the titles to find out more about the books, then snuggle up with a great Christmas read.

 

Susan Wittig Albert “The Darling Dahlias & the Poinsettia Puzzle

Gretchen Archer  “Double Deck the Halls

Donna Andrews “Dashing Through the Snowbirds

Mary Angela “Very Merry Murder”

Joy Avon “In Peppermint Peril”

 

Laurien Berenson “Here Comes Santa Paws

Susan Bernhardt “Murder Under the Tree

Brittany E. Brinegar “Holly Jolly Murder

Leslie Budewitz “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles”

Anna Celeste Burke “Cowabunga Christmas

Ellen Byron “A Cajun Christmas Killing”

 

Lynn Cahoon “Have a Holly Haunted Christmas

Robyn Carr “A Virgin River Christmas

Nancy Coco “Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas

Cate Conte “A Whisker of a Doubt

Maya Corrigan “Gingerdead Man

 

Kim Davis “Frosted Yuletide Murder

Maddie Day “Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse”

Sharon Daynard  “Murder Points North

Vicki Delany “Dying in a Winter Wonderland

Hannah Dennison “A Killer Christmas at Honeychurch Hall

Maria DiRico “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder

Leighann Dobbs “Grievance in Gingerbread Alley

 

Barbara Early “Murder on the Toy Town Express”

Peggy Ehrhart “Silent Knit, Deadly Knit

Morris Fenris “Christmas Angel Charity

Beatrice Fishback “Winter Writerland

Amanda Flower “Candy Cane Crime

Joanne Fluke “Christmas Cupcake Murder

Jacqueline Frost “Slashing Through the Snow

 

Daryl Wood Gerber “Wreath between the Lines

John Gray “Manchester Christmas

Patrice Greenwood “As Red as Any Blood

 

Carolyn Haines “A Garland of Bones

Victoria Hamilton “Breaking the Mould”

Jo A Heistand “A Recipe for Murder

Julie Hennrikus “A Christmas Peril”

 

Liz Ireland “Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings

CeeCee James “The Frosty Taste of Scandal

Miranda James “Six Cats a Slayin”

 

Tina Kashian “Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder

Laura Levine “Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge”

Sherry Lynn “Murder Under the Mistletoe

 

Debbie Macomber “Dear Santa

VL McBeath “A Christmas Murder

Clara McKenna “Murder on Mistletoe Lane

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Peggy Ehrhart  “Christmas Card Murder

Ada Moncrieff “Murder Most Festive

 

Nancy Naigle “Hope at Christmas

Carlene O’Connor “Murder at an Irish Christmas

Gail Oust: “The Twelve Dice of Christmas”

 

James Patterson, Maxine Paetro: “The 19th Christmas

Kathy Manos Penn “Candy Canes, Canines & Crime

Anne Perry “A Christmas Legacy

 

Amy M. Reade “The Worst Noel

Heather Redmond “A Christmas Carol Murder

Barbara Ross “Nogged Off

Rosemarie Ross “Christmas Candy Corpse

 

Karen Schaler “A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale

Julie Seedorf  “The Discombobulated Decipherers”

Ann Simas “Merry Witchy Christmas

Jennifer Snow “A Lot Like Christmas

 

Michele Pariza Wacek “Three French Hens and a Murder

Heather Weidner “Christmas Lights and Cat Fights

Jane Willan  “Abide with Me

Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Ghost of Christmas Past

Sherryl Woods: “Christmas at White Pines

 

 

2023 – Christmas Themed Mysteries and Romance Read More »

Book List: Author Ellen Byron

Ellen Byron’s writing is like her: clever, funny, deeply sincere, and thoughtful. Her books are full of diverse, quirky characters – just like the people you know in your own neighborhood or at work. When I read the dialogue, I feel as if I’m joining a real conversation. When her characters are cooking, I’m there in the kitchen as well and the aromas waft right off the pages. It’s no wonder that her work has won so many awards.

Take a look at her current book list and click on the titles to learn more about the books. Click on the ‘review here’ links to read what I thought about specific titles.

 

Cajun Country Mystery Series – Agatha and Lefty Award winning series, set primarily in New Orleans

Plantation Shudders

Body on the Bayou

A Cajun Christmas Killing

 “Mardi Gras Murder” – review here

“Fatal Cajun Festival”

Murder in the Bayou Boneyard

Cajun Kiss of Death

Series review here

 

 

 

Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico) Set in Queens, a borough of NYC, with all the food and Long Island feel that a Queens cozy should have!

Here Comes the Body

Long Island Iced Tina

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder”

Four Parties and a Funeral”

The Witless Protection Program” (coming in March, 2024)

 

Vintage Cookbook Mystery Series   A new amateur sleuth is in town (New Orleans)

Bayou Book Thief

Wined and Died in New Orleans

 

Enjoy each of the series from this engaging, talented author, found at https://www.ellenbyron.com/   and on Facebook as well as other social media.

You’re welcome!   🙂

(Photo and art work courtesy of Ellen Byron)

 

Book List: Author Ellen Byron Read More »

Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2023 List

View from Blarney Castle

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 47 Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2023  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

Nelson Demille: “Cathedral

Peggy Ehrhart: “Irish Knit Murder

Patricia Falvey: “The Yellow House
Mike Faricy: “Jewels to Kill For
Tana French: “The Searcher

Alexia Gordon: “Murder in G Major
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 Bakery
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 Family
Charles Todd: “An Irish Hostage
Peter Tremayne: “Blood in Eden

Kathy Hogan Trochek: “Irish Eyes
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 & Mysteries – 2023 List Read More »

2023 Valentine’s Day Mysteries and Fiction

Are you a fan of holiday themed reading? Published between 2016 and 2023, here is an updated  list of thirty-one 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!

 

Jennifer S. Alderson  Death by Baguette

Carolyn Arnold  Valentine’s Day is Murder

 

Belle Bailey  A Sugar Maple Valentine

Patti Benning  Tall, Dark, and Deadly

Bellamy Bloom & Addison Moore  Murder Bites

Franky A. Brown  What Happened to Romance?

 

Susan Carroll The Valentine’s Day Ball

Cherry Christensen  Secret Valentine

Colleen Cross  Witching for Love on Valentine’s Day

 

Sylvia Damsell  A Valentine Wish

Steve Demaree A Valentine Murder

Liz Dodwell Valentine’s Day: a Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy

Jessica L. Elliott Operation: Romance

 

Tammy Falkner A Valentine’s Day Miracle

Amanda Flower Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous

Deborah Garner  A Flair for Truffles

Patricia Gligor Marnie Malone

Donna Grant  My Fiery Valentine

 

Holly Hepburn Valentine’s Day at the Star and Sixpence

Liwen Y. Ho Romantically Ever After

June McCrary Jacobs Handmade Hearts

 

Libby Klein  Theater Nights Are Murder

Jackie Lau  A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day

Lia London Love from A to Z

 

Ava Mallory & nine more authors Stirring Up Love & Mystery

Jenn McKinlay  Royal Valentine

Leslie Meier  Valentine Candy Murder

Mobile Writers Guild Valentine’s Day Pieces (Anthology)

Addison Moore & Bellamy Bloom  Sealed with a Hiss

 

Summer Prescott A Blossom of Murder

Amy M. Reade  Be My Valencrime

 

Happy Reading!

 

2023 Valentine’s Day Mysteries and Fiction Read More »

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