Defense lawyer Andy Carpenter usually tries to avoid taking on new cases at all costs. But this time, he's happy - eager, even - to take the case that's just come his way. Andy's long-time friend Martha "Pups" Boyer takes in stray puppies and then finds good homes for them. Not everyone admires her work. With Christmas just around the corner, one of her neighbors has just reported Pups to the city for having more than the legal number of pets in her home under the local zoning laws. Andy happily takes Pups's case. Who could punish someone for rescuing puppies, after all, especially at Christmas time? But things get a lot more complicated when Randy Hennessey, the neighbor who registered the complaint against Pups, turns up dead. All the evidence seems to point to Pups as the killer, and suddenly Andy has a murder case on his hands. As he starts digging deeper into the truth behind Hennessey's murder, Andy may find himself facing a killer more dangerous than he ever imagined.

ORDER # M918-1   $11-95   ISBN 9781250190000

On a small Greek island, a woman comes ashore with no memory of who she is, where she's from, or how she came to be shipwrecked there. Worse, she has no way of leaving. As she's nursed back to health by the island's only inhabitants, four friends on an annual retreat, she detects tensions between the group that suggest not all is quite as it seems. Her new acquaintances each appear to be hiding something - something that may relate to the mystery of her identity. Meanwhile, in a pretty suburb on the outskirts of London, Eloise, the mother of a newborn and a toddler, vanishes into thin air. Her husband, Lochlan, is desperate to find her - but as the police look into the disappearance, it becomes clear that Lochlan and Eloise's marriage was not the perfect union it appeared.

ORDER # M918-2   $11-95   ISBN 9781538747902

Erica Bloom is loving everything about autumn this year in Otter Lake, New Hampshire: changing leaves, apple cider, cozy sweaters - and the warm and fuzzy relationship that's heating up between her and Sheriff Grady Forrester. But when some local teens out to find some Halloween thrills come across a boot with a dead man's foot bones still inside it, a chilling new reality comes into play. Everyone in Otter Lake knows about the age-old witch who haunts the apple orchard bordering the White Mountains. So when the bones turn out to belong to a long-gone local with a scandalous connection to the orchard, stories of the spooky figure roaming the forests at night once again rise up from the past. Now it's up to Erica and the rest of the Otter Lake Security team to expose the identity of the killer. Will they be able to lay this ghost to rest - or will this witch hunt be their last?

ORDER # M918-3   $11-95   ISBN 9781250151490

The old Chadwick mansion on the edge of Moosetookalook, Maine, has been shrouded in mystery for generations. But when Scottish Emporium owner Liss MacCrimmon uncovers a treasure map at the mansion's estate sale, she never expected her curiosity would lead to a dead body. It's clear Liss isn't alone on this treasure hunt. With her life in real peril and the map at risk of being stolen, she launches into full-scale investigation mode. But as she deciphers clues and inches toward the dangerous culprit, Liss quickly realizes she's only a step away from ending up like the Chadwick clan - permanently wiped out.

ORDER # M918-4   $11-95   ISBN 9781496712608

As if baking holiday cookies, knitting a sweater for her husband's gift, and making her daughter's angel costume for the church pageant weren't enough things for Lucy Stone's busy Christmas schedule, she's also working nights at the famous mail-order company Country Cousins. But when she discovers Sam Miller, its very wealthy founder, dead in his car from an apparent suicide, the sleuth in her knows something just doesn't smell right. Taking time out from her hectic holiday life to find out what really happened, her investigation leads to a backlog of secrets as long as Santa's Christmas Eve route. Lucy is convinced that someone murdered Sam Miller. But who and why? With each harrowing twist she uncovers in this bizarre case, another shocking revelation is exposed. Now, as Christmas draws near and Lucy gets dangerously closer to the truth, she's about to receive a present from Santa she didn't ask for - a killer who won't be satisfied until everyone on his shopping list is dead, including Lucy herself.

ORDER # M918-5   $11-95   ISBN 9780758228895

Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis - but that wasn't always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She's worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community. When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town's most beloved college professors, they're unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they've ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she's seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she'd buried, along with her past and the girl she'd been back then.

ORDER # M918-6   $11-95   ISBN 9781250191052

A blond-haired, blue-eyed teenager from a prominent family vanishes after teaching English to a group of immigrants. Suspicion falls on the men she was tutoring, inflaming tensions in the close-knit, picturesque community of Lake Holly, NY. For Detective Jimmy Vega, more is at stake than just keeping the peace. His girlfriend, Adele, heads the community center where the girl was last seen. Now all she's worked for is at risk. After a murder suspect's surrender goes horribly wrong, Vega gets tossed into a grunt detail that quickly turns into a political minefield. A powerful, charismatic leader will stop at nothing to cleave the town in two. But Vega uncovers even darker forces at play. And no matter which way he turns, every step could cost him his job, his town, his family - even his life.

ORDER # M918-7   $11-95   ISBN 9781496705235

It's Christmas time in Caerphilly, VA, and nothing is going by the book. Meg Langslow is trying to be supportive of her husband, who's escalated his one-man show of Dickens' A Christmas Carol into a full-scale production that includes their sons as Tiny Tim and the young Scrooge. But when the real Scrooge comes to town - a famous actor who is known for his personal dramas off-stage - Meg finds that her role as stage manager is a lot more than she bargained for. When Scrooge's inner demons and actual enemies catch up with him, it's up to Meg to solve a holiday murder mystery before the curtain comes down - and the killer takes flight.

ORDER # M918-8   $11-95   ISBN 9781250190406

Semi-reformed party girl Summer Smythe is finally feeling at home at the Hibiscus Pointe retirement community. All that's left to do is replace her late grandma's massive book collection with a TV. Donating them to the community library is the perfect solution - until she finds the librarian buried in books. Literally. Summer and her sleuthing partner, longtime resident Dorothy Westin, can't imagine who would want to kill poor, dedicated Lorella. Soon they're on case - and the Hibiscus Pointe book club is the perfect cover for their investigation. A murdered librarian is headline news in south Florida, and even outsiders, including an oddball professor and a pair of dueling authors, are eager to join the once-dull group. But one menacing member has Dorothy and Summer bookmarked for the morgue. If the ladies Smythe and Westin don't nab the killer fast, the Hibiscus Pointe book club may be reading their obituaries next.

ORDER # M918-9   $11-95   ISBN 9781335506719

Erno Oliveri made sure to be on set for his daughter's cook-off appearance on Sunny Side Up with Brett and Carmell. Or as it's now known, Sunny Side Up with Carmell and Brett - since the ambitious young Carmell seems to have the producer and station owner eating out of her hand. But the important news is that Sherry has bested the competition with her Spicy Toasted Chickpea and Almond appetizer and clinched the spatula-shaped trophy. It's her shining moment - until everything goes dark. A quick-moving storm has knocked out power to the studio - and when the lights come back up, Carmell is at her desk with a sharp object lodged in her neck. The weapon is an unusual tool, used by craftsmen who make hooked rugs. Has someone taken corporate backstabbing to a new level, and framed Erno in the process? If Sherry's going to protect her dad and their family name, she has to find out where he was when the lights went out.

ORDER # M918-10   $11-95   ISBN 9781496714459

With a demanding teaching job and five poodles scampering around the house, Melanie Travis barely has energy for the upcoming Christmas rush. But she unwraps an unexpected challenge when her brother and ex-husband make a spontaneous bid on a dilapidated pine tree farm. Although the ten-acre lot had been a popular seasonal destination while the original owner was still alive, it'll take a small miracle or two before the neglected place is in shape for December. But the business venture goes cold when the group discovers a purebred Maltese whimpering in the snow-covered grove - right beside a dead body. Pete, a squatter who camped out on the land, apparently met his end after a fallen fir tree branch fell on his head. But as Melanie and Aunt Peg investigate Pete's complicated history, it's clear his death was no accident. Now, Melanie must run through a flurry of likely suspects and muzzle a dogged murderer in time - or she'll be next on someone's deadly list.

ORDER # M918-11   $11-95   ISBN 9781496712998

It's beginning to look like a merry Christmas for Hayden Mundy Moore. On vacation from providing her sought-after expertise in all things chocolate, Hayden heads to snowy New England with her friend and financial advisor, Travis, for the opening of his pal's highly-touted holiday musical. But when the show's producer is murdered, Hayden trades sampling Chocolate Santas for finding the killer - especially since this time, Travis is the one asking for her help. Soon Hayden discovers there's more to Travis's chic hometown than mulled wine and cocoa cookies. But that's just the beginning. Almost no one, including Travis, is quite what they seem. Did the show's lead have more savage motives than stardom? Could the dead producer's husband have felt a murderous envy for his successful wife?

ORDER # M918-12   $11-95   ISBN 9781496710642

All of Cora Chevalier's dreams are coming true. Since moving to Indigo Gap, North Carolina, the busy crafting maven has been blessed with a great boyfriend, a lovely home, and a booming craft retreat business. But on the eve of her first Crafty Mom's Escape Weekend, tragedy strikes again in Indigo Gap. This time, it's curtains for Stan Herald, the disagreeable director of the local theater group, who's murdered on the opening night of their new production. Worse, Cora's friend Zee is accused of the crime. Cora is determined to prove her friend's innocence, but Zee's mysterious past is making that difficult. And with a list of suspects longer than a double spool of satin cording, getting a bead on the real culprit won't be easy. With her friends Jane and Ruby at her side, Cora must string together the clues and solve Stan's murder before the killer gives an encore performance.

ORDER # M918-13   $11-95   ISBN 9781496716446

After the syndicated TV show Inquiring Minds airs footage of their resident ghost at Holly Grove, a converted antebellum plantation house, it seems as if half the state of Louisiana wants to book a room. There's only one small problem: the ghost of her not-so-dearly-departed husband Burl has - departed. For the sake of business, Holly's willing to keep up the pretense of still being haunted. But after an outspoken debunker challenges the show's credibility, the TV crew returns to Holly Grove to prove the ghost is real. Following a disastrous séance, Holly is sure she'll be exposed as a charlatan. Surprisingly, the debunker suddenly becomes a believer - after he's pushed off the widow's walk to his death and rises as a ghost.

ORDER # M918-14   $11-95   ISBN 9781496713230

Lee Barrett has landed her dream job at Salem's WICH-TV. As the new field reporter, she'll be covering events live as they're unfolding. Next on her holiday checklist is an interview with the beloved chairman of a popular walking tour through Salem's historic districts. But it may be his ghost walking this snowy Noel season after Lee finds him murdered in his stately offices, bloody Santa hat askew. With her police detective boyfriend working the case and a witch's brew of suspects - including some bell-ringing Santas - Lee chases down leads aided and abetted by her wise cat O'Ryan and some unsettling psychic visions of her own. When a revealing clue leads to another dead body, not even a monster blizzard can stop Lee from inching closer to the truth - and a scoop that could spell her own demise this killer Christmas.

ORDER # M918-15   $11-95   ISBN 9781496714589

Bookshop owner Penelope Thornton-McClure didn't believe in ghosts, until she was haunted by the hard-boiled spirit of 1940s private investigator Jack Shepard. Now Jack is back on the job, and Pen is eternally grateful. After an elegant new customer has a breakdown in her shop, Penelope suspects there is something bogus behind the biggest bestseller of the year. This popular potboiler is so hot that folks in her tiny Rhode Island town are dying to read it - literally. First one customer turns up dead, followed by another mysterious fatality connected to the book, which Pen discovers is more than just fiction. Now, with the help of her gumshoe ghost, Pen must solve the real-life cold case behind the bogus bestseller before the killer closes the book on her.

ORDER # M918-16   $11-95   ISBN 9780425237458

Apprentice baker Ivy Culpepper sees art cars everywhere she turns. Besides helping prepare the bread and pastry for Santa Sofia's annual spring event, she's the official photographer, documenting the elaborate cars, outspoken artists, and riotous celebrations. Even her family's in on the act: her brother Billy has been runner-up in the competition more times than she can count - but this is going to be the year he celebrates his win in the victory lane. But after Billy's rival, Max Litman, revs up his bombastic showmanship, Billy is once again set to cruise into second place. Until Max is found dead - positioned as a prop in his own art car. The whole town knows there's no love lost between the two men, and Billy is the prime suspect. Now Ivy will have to sift through collusion, deception, gossip, and lies to find out what really happened. But with the help of her octogenarian Watson, her restaurateur beau, and her adopted aunts at Yeast of Eden, she knows she can take the heat.

ORDER # M918-17   $11-95   ISBN 9781496707765

It's Labor Day weekend, the official end of tourist season, and the beginning of a whole batch of trouble. First, the island is invaded by a TV crew filming a murder mystery pilot, and handsome Hollywood heartthrob Dirk Benjamin needs Allie's help to prep for his role as local cop Rex Manning. Then, Allie's bichonpoo Mal sniffs out a real murder in the alley behind the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop, a man shot in the head - with a note challenging amateur sleuth Allie to catch the culprit. Like it or not, the fudge maker has to square off against a crazy killer - but this time she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

ORDER # M918-18   $11-95   ISBN 9781496716064