At a swanky rooftop restaurant, a young woman takes her final sip There's a stunning view from the top of the Ritz-Plaza Hotel, but it pales in comparison to Lois Winston's beauty. She arrives on the arm of David McIntosh—an agreeable young man who would marry her if she gave him the chance—to take in the scenery, eat a light supper, and forget the busy world below. Lois's first cocktail lifts her spirits, helping her dispel the strange sadness that tugs at her soul, but her second drink isn't so kind. Lois isn't halfway done with her Cuba libre when her cheeks grow hot, her breath becomes short, and she falls dead to the floor. Solving the case of this terribly fashionable murder falls to New York Police Department's Lt. William Weigand, who tackles the investigation with the help of his friends, Jerry and Pamela North. The effervescent couple will catch the killer between cocktails—unless the poisoner targets their glasses next.A... Views: 5
"Brooklyn is my kind of detective! She loves books, wine, chocolate – and solving mysteries!" – Maureen Child When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates both recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But then Robin's apartment is ransacked, and the great guy she recently met is murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the #1 suspect. Obviously, exploring the Kama Sutra's bliss will have to wait until after Brooklyn finds the killer… Views: 5
Cadence Greer's plans for a happy-ever-after are quickly derailed when her fiancé runs off with his secretary a week before their wedding. Homeless, jobless, and jilted, she escapes to Grass Valley, Oregon, where she takes a job as a housekeeper and cook to seven cowboys on a sprawling ranch. Trey Thompson is a well-respected pillar of the community, running a successful ranch with his brother. All he wanted was someone to cook his meals and keep the house clean. When he hires Cadence Greer for the job, he gets more than he ever planned on, including a sassy little red-headed orphan. Come spend Christmas in Grass Valley at the Triple T Ranch, where mistletoe hangs abundantly and holiday magic is in the air.From the AuthorGrass Valley Cowboys Series It was a hot August day when I drove through Grass Valley, Oregon, and the idea for a book set in the small town popped into my head. One of my friends grew up not far down the road and shared wonderful stories about her experiences living in the close-knit community. Writing The Cowboy's Christmas Plan, I didn't plan on that story becoming the first book in a series, but the characters - those handsome Thompson brothers - talked me into telling each of their stories. I'm glad they did. Set on the fictional Triple T Ranch, the series highlights the three hard-working Thompson brothers (Trey, Trent, and Travis), and their mother, Denni, as well as their friends. The Grass Valley Cowboys Series, in order: The Cowboy's Christmas Plan - Trey Thompson just wanted a housekeeper and cook. He never planned on falling in love with Cadence Greer. She takes the job, right along with his heart.The Cowboy's Spring Romance - Trent Thompson is confident, laid-back, and easy going except when he's around Lindsay Pierce. He's definitely met his match in the lovely school teacher.The Cowboy's Summer Love - Travis Thompson has loved Tess Morgan as long as he can remember. When they both return home to Grass Valley, the pull of attraction to one another is so strong it's about to throw them off kilter.The Cowboy's Autumn Fall - Brice Morgan thinks love at first sight is for idiots, at least until he meets Bailey Bishop and falls head over heels for the serious, career-minded girl.The Cowboy's New Heart - Denni Thompson emphatically declares herself too old to love again. Then she meets hunky Hart Hammond and decides to give love a second chance.About the AuthorShanna Hatfield is a hopeless romantic with a bit of sarcasm thrown in for good measure. In addition to blogging, eating too much chocolate and being smitten with her husband (Captain Cavedweller), she writes clean romantic fiction with a healthy dose of humor. She also dabbles in cooking, baking, and home entertaining. Follow her Savvy Entertaining blog or Savvy Entertaining books for the latest in making entertaining at home simple and fun! To learn more about Shanna or the books she writes, visit her blog shannahatfield.com or find out news at her facebook page facebook.com/shannahatfield. Views: 5
With Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team spread
thin on assignment everywhere, from the remote dairy county of Northwest
Vermont to the slums of Newark, NJ, they're pushed to their absolute
limit when a string of serial arsons across the Green Mountain State
evolve into the most shocking series of murders the bucolic region has
ever known. Views: 5
The village of Pine Summit is so quiet it seems that nothing exciting could ever happen there. Yet when Andrea Flynn and her sister Kathleen are around, murder and mayhem are the order of the day. It's lucky for the locals that the sisters enjoy investigating, because Andrea has a logical mind that's perfect for solving mysteries. Kathleen is there to encourage her and to tell their stories.In the first of these three short mysteries, the sisters solve the murder of Pine Summit's philandering mayor—while putting their own lives in danger. In another story, Andrea rents her garage apartment to a strange couple and ends up saving a life and losing her rental income. Then there's Aunt Libby, who dies after drinking a margarita. Was it a stroke, or did someone do her in, someone who's interested in her will and the valuable timber on her property? Leave it to the sisters to find out what really happened to their cranky old aunt and to discover who did it. Views: 5
National bestselling author Amanda Flower returns with her second floral Magic Garden mystery, perfect for readers of Paige Shelton and Sheila Connolly. Florist Fiona Knox left behind her gloomy life for a magical garden in Scotland, but a murder on her shop's opening day brings threatening storm clouds.Fiona Knox thought she was pulling her life back together when she inherited her godfather's cottage in Duncreigan, Scotland—complete with a magical walled garden. But the erstwhile Tennessee flower shop owner promptly found herself puddle boot-deep in danger when she found a dead body among the blossoms. One police investigation later (made a trifle less unpleasant by the presence of handsome Chief Inspector Neil Craig), and Fiona's life is getting back on track. Her sister Isla has just moved in with her, and the grand opening of her new venture, the Climbing Rose Flower Shop in Aberdeenshire, is imminent. But dark clouds are gathering to douse... Views: 5
When Fran Varady is approached by Private Investigator Clarence Duke, she mistrusts him on instinct. But she can't ignore what he has to tell her. Her mother, Eva, who walked out on Fran when she was only seven years old, has hired Clarence to find her daughter. And for good reason. Eva is dying. So Fran is reunited with the mother she hasn't seen for fifteen years, and is soon to lose again. But the biggest bombshell of all is still to come... Views: 5
In mid-seventh-century Ireland, Sister Fidelma of Cashel-sister to the King of Muman, an advocate of Brehon Courts, and religieuse of the Celtic Church-returns hastily from a pilgrimage to the Shrine of St. James. The news that brings her back is that her companion and friend, the Saxon monk Brother Eadulf, is under arrest for a serious crime in the neighboring kingdom of Laigin. Riding furiously through hostile territory, she arrives only to find out she is too late. Eadulf has already been tried and found guilty of the murder of a young girl. Even worse, Laigin's king has abandoned the traditional judicial code of Ireland in favor of the ecclesiastical Penitential from Rome-and under this code he is to be executed the following morning.Convinced that her friend is innocent, Fidelma has only twenty-four hours before his execution to come up with evidence persuasive enough to sway the king into allowing an appeal of Eadulf's conviction. Facing a king determined to make an example of Eadulf and an old adversary of her own, Fidelma soon realizes that nothing is as it was portrayed, and behind the heinous crime is an even more shocking conspiracy. Now, Fidelma must unravel her most perplexing puzzle before time runs out for her closest companion.From Publishers WeeklyIn Our Lady of Darkness: A Celtic Mystery, by British author Peter Tremayne (the pseudonym of Celtic historian Peter Berresford Ellis), Roman Penitential law and traditional Irish law come into conflict as Sister Fidelma finds herself defending her good friend, Saxon monk Brother Eadulf, from a rape and murder charge. This is another solid installment in this well-established medieval series.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalSeries protagonist Sister Fidelma of Cashel (Act of Mercy) attempts to save her Saxon monk friend, Brother Eadulf, from wrongful execution. A faithful rendering of life and justice in seventh-century Ireland. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 5
Venice, 1745—an age of reckless pleasures, playful artifice, and baroque excess. An accident has reduced Tito Amato’s glorious singing voice to a husky croak. A tragedy— but also an opportunity. The once celebrated male soprano is now determined to prove himself as a director. With the theater losing subscribers to a rival company headed by an unscrupulous impresario, San Marco’s Maestro Torani charges Tito with locating the perfect opera to fill the seats in time for the opening of Carnival.Surprisingly, a second-rate composer provides the very thing—an opera so replete with gorgeous melodies the public speculates it was written by the late Antonio Vivaldi. Even more disconcerting are the rumors swirling around Angeletto, a male soprano imported from Naples to sing the lead. Is the singer truly a castrato or a female soprano engaging in a daring but lucrative masquerade?Both matters lead the perplexed Tito into dangerous waters that turn murderous when Maestro Torani undergoes a series of increasingly vicious attacks ending in his death. And Tito is the prime suspect. His own life as well as the future of Teatro San Marco now depend on his skills as a sleuth…. ** Views: 5
