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Monday, December 14, 2020

"Cozy" Christmas





"Do You Hear What I Hear"? What's the "Underneath the Tree"? Better watch out for "The Man With the Bag"!
Have yourself a cozy little Christmas and may the body count be light. That's right, Tis' the Season for murder and mayhem, (fictional of course). After all, what's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" without a little mystery. 



"Spunky southern private investigator Sarah Booth Delaney tackles a string of strange accidents while celebrating the holiday season in Carolyn Haines's cozy A Garland of Bones Sarah Booth has traded in hosting this Christmas season for a road trip with her besties. Each little Delta town has a special Christmas activity, and Sarah Booth's BFF and detective partner, Tinkie, has arranged to rent a limo for the gang and drive to Columbus, MS, to stay in a B&B. Visions of Christmas shopping, parade floats, and romantic rendezvous are already dancing in their heads. But Christmas cheer soon turns to Christmas fear when, at one event after another, people keep getting hurt. Christmas karaoke gets ugly when one singer's microphone gives her an electric shock. A party during a historic home tour ends with a fall down the stairs for one of Columbus's most disreputable "players." And when the woman who hires Sarah Booth to find the villain behind the so-called accidents is nearly killed with an arrow during a holiday mumming, Sarah Booth knows something more sinister is at work. The Christmas bells are ringing hauntingly in Columbus this year, and Sarah Booth and Tinkie-with a little help from hunky Sheriff Coleman Peters, of course-are determined to catch the wrong-doers and ensure they receive nothing but coal in their stockings"-- Publisher's description.



"As the holidays draw near in Caerphilly, Mother volunteers to take part in a big Christmas-themed decorator show house--each room of a temporarily untenanted house is decorated to the hilt by a different decorator for the public to tour. Of course, Mother insists that Meg pitch in with the organization, and she finds herself surrounded by flamboyant personalities with massive egos clashing and feeling their professional reputations are at stake. Then the rooms start to be sabotaged, and an unfortunate designer turns up dead--making Mother a prime suspect. Can Meg catch the real killer in time to save Mother the indignity of being arrested? The brilliantly funny and talented Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the acclaimed avian-themed series that mystery readers have come to love. Cozies make excellent stocking-stuffers, and Nightingale Before Christmas is guaranteed to put the "ho ho ho's" into the holidays for the legions of fans hungry for another Christmas book featuring Meg Langslow. Donna has won many awards for this very popular series and continues to come up with new hilarious adventures for her endearing heroine. The novel is full of superb screwball comedy as well as Donna's trademark crisp plotting, not to mention bushels of holiday cheer--it wouldn't be the most wonderful time of the year without it."-- Provided by publisher.



December twenty-fifth is right around the corner, and Charlie is making his list and checking it twice. He is doing his best to show some peace and goodwill toward his nosy neighbor Gerry Arbitron, a real estate agent who seems to have designs on his house (and maybe on him, as well), while preparing for a very important role, indeed--his first Christmas as a grandfather. The last thing Charlie expects is to gain several new additions to his family. Charlie finds a box on his doorstep with five kittens inside and a note begging him to keep them safe. With Diesel's help, Charlie welcomes the tiny felines into the Harris household just as Gerry decides it is time to throw a lavish holiday party. Determined to make her mark on Athena, Gerry instead winds up dead at her very own party. Though attempts to dig into her past come up empty, Charlie and his girlfriend, Helen Louise, witness two heated exchanges involving Gerry before her death: one with a leading citizen and another with the wife of a good friend. Will one of these ladies wind up on the sheriff's naughty list? Charlie and Diesel have to wrap up the case before the special season is ruined by a sinister scrooge



It's Christmastime, and farmer Lucy Resnick is living the life she's always dreamed of. When she's not selling her jams, soaps, and mistletoe bundles at the Buttercup Christmas Market, she's enjoying cozy evenings by the fire with her knitting group--or her handsome veterinarian boyfriend Tobias Brandt. But less than a week before Christmas, a pall falls over the festive atmosphere when local man Randy Stone turns up with a knife in his back ... and a sprig of mistletoe in his hair. Local sheriff Rooster Kocurek, never the brightest bulb on the string, is convinced it's an open-and-shut case--murder by a jealous wife--but Lucy suspects otherwise. She soon discovers that Randy's life was more tangled than last year's Christmas lights ... and that unless she wraps up the case fast, there might be more than one funeral this holiday season.



While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa's waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michele's love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah's advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she's not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah's bakery.



A collection of three holiday-themed novellas includes Leslie Meier's "Christmas Card Murder," in which the discovery of an old Christmas card with a nasty message finds Lucy Stone investigating a decades-old murder



Tish Tarragon has themed her appetizing offerings for the Hobson Glen Holiday Fair around the festive performances by a local theatre group. In the Christmas spirit, she volunteers to deliver breakfast to the cast but is horrified to discover the star actress dead in her trailer. Can Tish expose a cold-blooded killer before the fair is over?



When she stumbles upon the dead body of a hard-working baker's assistant during the Great New York Cookie Swap, coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi and her boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, spend their holiday poring over the clues to catch a killer.



"Ashland, Oregon, looks as pretty as a postcard this holiday season. The halls are decked, stockings hung, and eyes are all aglow - mostly thanks to the buttered rum. Jules Capshaw and her staff at Torte are busier than ever...still, even the town's most in-demand bakers need to take a break. So Jules invites everyone to celebrate at the local Winchester Inn's Dickens Feast, a six-course extravaganza with Yorkshire Pudding, Christmas goose, and all the trimmings. But as the weather outside becomes frightful, things inside turn less delightful when one of the guests ends up as dead as Scrooge's doornail. Now it's up to Jules and her helpers to make a list of suspects - and check it twice - to try to find out who's naughty, who's nice, and who's guilty of murder..."--Publisher.



It's Christmas in Sinful, Louisiana, and a Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. When someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer. But with no client and no reason to interfere with a police investigation, it looks as if Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie will have to sit this one out. Big and Little Hebert might be criminals, but they prefer no competition in their territory, especially someone brazen enough to kill a man at the Christmas gala. When they hire Fortune to investigate the man's death, she gets her Christmas wish-- and Swamp Team 3 sets out to solve their final case of the year. -- adapted from the back cover



"New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews returns with another Meg Langslow mystery written, "firmly in the grand tradition of Agatha Christie's Christmas books" (Toronto Globe and Mail). The 28th book and the seventh Christmas mystery in the Meg Langslow series, The Gift of the Magpie is yet another wonderfully merry and funny book from New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews. Meg's running Caerphilly's Helping Hands for the Holidays project, in which neighbors help each other with things they can't do and can't afford to have done. Her hopes for a relatively peaceful (if busy) Christmas vanish when someone murders Harvey the Hoarder, whose house the Helping Hands were decluttering. Was there any truth to the rumor that he had something valuable hidden beneath all his junk? Was one of his friends, neighbors, or relatives greedy enough to murder him for the rumored treasure? And what about the magpie that has been bringing her family bits of tinsel and costume jewelry-does the bird's latest gift hold a clue to solving the crime? Full of intrigue, this Christmas mystery will take readers home to Caerphilly, where the suspense falls as thick as the snow"-- Provided by publisher.



"Andy Carpenter and his golden retriever, Tara, are finding that all is not calm or bright in Silent Bite, the latest Christmas mystery in this heartwarming series from bestselling author David Rosenfelt. Lawyer Andy Carpenter can finally take a breath; he's back on dry land after a family Caribbean cruise forced on him by his wife, Laurie, to get into the Christmas spirit. Of course, the family's first stop is to the Tara Foundation, the dog rescue organization that has always been Andy's true passion. But when Andy arrives, his partner, Willie Miller, needs his help. Willie's old cellmate, Glenn Anson, has been arrested for murder. Andy doesn't necessarily believe in Glenn, but Willie does. And Andy believes in Willie, which is why Andy decides to take the case. Once again David Rosenfelt puts readers in the Christmas spirit in a tale that is equal parts mystery and holiday cheer"-- Provided by publisher.















































































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