Leslie Meier

In this merry collection of holiday mysteries, murder is making its own special delivery . . . "GINGERBREAD COOKIE MURDER" by JOANNE FLUKE When Hannah Swensen finds her neighbor Ernie Kusak with his head bashed in and sprawled on the floor of his condo next to an upended box of Hannah's Gingerbread Cookies, she discovers a flurry of murder suspects that's as long as her holiday shopping list. "THE DANGERS OF GINGERBREAD COOKIES" by LAURA LEVINE Jaine Austen has been enlisted to help with her parents' retirement community's play The Gingerbread Cookie That Saved Christmas. Playboy Dr. Preston McCay is playing the role of the gingerbread cookie when he "accidentally" falls to his death during the final act. Now Jaine must figure out if one of the doctor's jealous lovers was capable of murder. "GINGERBREAD COOKIES AND GUNSHOTS" by LESLIE MEIER When Lucy Stone discovers the body of Rick Juergens, whose five-year-old son Nemo disappeared, she senses foul play. Crumbs from a gingerbread cookie Lucy gave to Nemo are found in the back seat of Rick's car. With the hours quickly ticking till Christmas, Lucy races against the clock to find a killer before he strikes again. Includes Over 10 Luscious Holiday Recipes

In Joanne Fluke's "Gingerbread Cookie Murder," Hannah Swensen finds her neighbour Ernie Kusak with his head bashed in and sprawled on the floor of his condo next to an upended box of Hannah's Gingerbread Cookies - and discovers a flurry of murder suspects that is as long as her holiday shopping list. Jaine Austen, the heroine of Laura Levine's "The Dangers of Gingerbread Cookies," finds herself enlisted to help with her parents' retirement community's play "The Gingerbread Cookie That Saved Christmas". Playboy Dr. Preston McCay is playing the role of the gingerbread cookie when he "accidentally" falls to his death during the final act. Now Jaine must figure out if one of the doctor's jealous lovers was capable of murder. In "Gingerbread Cookies and Gunshots" by Leslie Meier, when Lucy Stone discovers the body of Rick Juergens, whose five-year-old son Nemo disappeared, she senses foul play. Crumbs from a gingerbread cookie Lucy gave to Nemo are found in the back seat of Rick's car. With the hours quickly ticking till Christmas, Lucy races against the clock to find a killer before he strikes again.

'Tis the season for trimming the tree, caroling, baking cookies, and curling up by the Yuletide waiting for Santa to drop down the chimney. But in this festive collection of holiday whodunits, murder is also paying a visit... The classic, New York Times bestselling cozy mystery collection is now back in print with a fun new cover just in time for candy cane season "CANDY CANE MURDER" by JOANNE FLUKE When a trail of candy canes leads to a corpse outfitted in a Santa suit on a snowy bank, Hannah Swensen sets out to discover who killed Kris Kringle... "THE DANGERS OF CANDY CANES" by LAURA LEVINE A wealthy suburbanite takes a lethal tumble off his roof while installing a giant candy cane. Now it's up to Jaine Austen to sift through a long list of scheming neighbors with dirty secrets in their stockings to expose a murderer... "CANDY CANES OF CHRISTMAS PAST" by LESLIE MEIER Lucy Stone must learn the mystery of a glass candy cane that was found smashed to bits by a corpse's body to unlock the doors of Christmas past--and find a killer who got away with murder. Whether a gift for yourself or that special someone on your list, there's no better way to spend the holidays than with these tantalizing mysteries of murder...

In an upscale Rhode Island enclave, a newly wealthy empty-nester-turned-sleuth and her nosy dog, Poopsie, solve a baffling murder in this brand-new series from the author of the New York Times bestselling Lucy Stone Mysteries. Perfect for fans of Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age, JM Hall's Liz, Pat and Thelma Mysteries, and The Marlow Murder Club series by Robert Thorogood. Carole Capobianco has always counted her blessings, but it's even more fun now that she and her husband Frank are finally making serious money, thanks to Frank's newly patented Bye-Bye Toilet. With the kids finally on their own, Carole and Frank are empty-nesters, which will give her uninterrupted time to add to her impressive shoe collection--and lavish care on Poopsie, her beloved, very spoiled Brittany spaniel. The cherry on top is a hefty bid on a luxury co-op in a prestige building . . . But that dream is quickly flushed when the offer is refused by venture capitalist Hosea Brown. Hearing the claim that the Capobiancos won't fit into their wealthy, snooty community, Frank is outraged enough to roar something about killing that "old Yankee" on his way out the door. Three months later, Carole is shocked by the news that Hosea has been bludgeoned to death. When Carole learns Hosea was one of the backers of a big new construction project for which Frank's company has also been contracted, she's worried. And that worry grows with every new twist in the case that's discovered. Armed with her favorite Jimmy Choos and her beloved, if quirky, Poopsie, Carole sets out to clear Frank's name--and just maybe save their lives . . .

Christmas has come to Tinker's Cove, Maine, and sleuthing skills are at the top of Lucy's Stone's wish list in these two beloved mysteries--now collected in one festive volume NEW YEAR'S EVE MURDER After the annual parade of Christmas presents in Tinker's Cove has ended, Lucy Stone and her daughter are ready to ring in the new year in style. Elizabeth has won mother/daughter winter makeovers in Manhattan from Jolie magazine But the all-expenses-paid trip is bound to have some hidden costs--and one of them is murder . . . CHRISTMAS CAROL MURDER Lucy Stone is excited about acting in the town's production of A Christmas Carol. But a real-life Scrooge has everyone feeling frosty. While Tinker's Cove has fallen on hard times, Downeast Mortgage owners Jake Marlowe and Ben Scribner are raking in profits. So when Marlowe is murdered, the suspects are many. But Scribner claims Marlowe's ghost has come to warn him of his own impending demise--and he's soon receiving death threats . . .

There's usually a chill in the air when Halloween arrives--but in these three novellas by beloved cozy mystery authors Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Liz Ireland, the crimes are even colder than the haunted climate . . . HALLOWEEN NIGHT MURDER by LESLIE MEIERAfter a tiring but satisfying day of organizing Halloween festivities, Lucy Stone is surprised by a lone late-night trick-or-treater at her home in Tinker's Cove, Maine. The next morning, she's heartbroken to learn that the teenager died in a hit-and-run just minutes after she gave him the last of her candy supply. Haunted, she starts digging into his story--and discovers some dark secrets . . . DEATH OF A HALLOWEEN NIGHT STALKER by LEE HOLLISBad weather has stranded restaurateur Hayley Powell and her friends in rural Maine--and the only shelter available is a spooky spot where they're welcomed warmly by the lady of the house--but coldly by her suspicious, gun-toting son. They're even more nervous after he scares them with his Halloween zombie costume--but the real fright is yet to come . . . MRS. CLAUS AND THE WILY WITCH by LIZ IRELANDDisgraced elf Flake has returned from exile just in time for Halloween, but not everyone in Christmastown thinks he's truly reformed. When Pumblechook the snowman suffers a mysterious fate, and a fellow elf is felled by Flake's caramels, Mrs. Claus must determine whether the sticky-fingered Flake has become a hardened criminal--or if sorcery has invaded Santaland . . .

Haunted-house parties and ghostly galas . . . grinning pumpkins, mayhem and murder. It's going to be one heck of a Halloween for Lucy Stone and Tinker's Cove . . . It's October in Maine, and everyone in Tinker's Cove is preparing for the annual Halloween festival. While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes, recycling tutus for her daughters' Halloween costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breastfeeding her brand-new baby, an arsonist is loose in Tinker's Cove. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town's oldest house, arson turns into murder . . . While the townsfolk work to transform a dilapidated mansion into a haunted house for the All-Ghouls festival, the hunt for the culprit heats up. Trick-or-treat turns deadly as a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke . . .

When her daughter gets engaged in Tinker's Cove, Maine, reporter Lucy Stone finds herself feeling like a steamed lobster while dealing with her future son-in-law's family--and a summer bridal shower that leads to murder . . Lucy Stone is thrilled about her youngest daughter Zoe's engagement to Chad, a rising minor league baseball player with dreamy eyes and plenty of Southern charm. Yet there's no denying the whirlwind romance has turned Lucy's life upside down in more ways than one--especially when she learns about Chad's complicated background and close ties to Tinker's Cove. The secrets and rumors are enough to send her investigative reporting instincts into overdrive . . . Trouble really crashes in the moment Lucy meets her in-laws-to-be, Penny and Nate Nettleton. Persuasive Penny proves to be intent on taking over wedding preparations, even arranging a Tuscan-themed bridal shower before Zoe publicly announces her engagement. It's a shock when the event goes off without a hitch. But the real shock comes when prominent guest Hetty Furness, the head of the Tinker's Cove Historical Society, goes missing--only to be found dead, the victim of a brutal murder . . . Lucy is determined to reveal who committed the vicious crime as she navigates her new reality with the Nettletons. Racing to determine if Hetty's extensive knowledge of local history--and hidden scandals--led to her demise, Lucy soon realizes she'll need to put her sleuthing talents to work like never before to guarantee wedding bells to ring for Zoe and Chad . . . and that she survives to see her daughter walk down the aisle

For the first time, the second Lucy Stone Mystery by New York Times bestselling author Leslie Meier is available in a beautiful, repackaged trade paperback reissue With summer temperatures soaring to new heights in Tinker's Cove, Maine, the last thing a fully pregnant Lucy Stone wants to do is solve the mystery of a local murder . . . With three kids underfoot, a fourth on the way, and an oppressive heat wave bearing down, homemaker Lucy Stone is hardly enjoying an idyllic summer. But her preoccupation with swelling ankles, Bavarian creme doughnut cravings, and sewing sequins on ballet-recital tutus gives way to dread when she learns her waistline isn't the only thing that's recently vanished. The strange disappearance of a retired dance instructor has the tiny coastal town of Tinker's Cove, Maine, in a tizzy--that turns to terror when a notoriously cantankerous shopkeeper is slain right on Main Street. Now Lucy's up to her bulging belly in suspects and red herrings. Eluded by a cold-blooded killer, with her due date looming and the temperature soaring, she figures something has to break soon. With any luck, it won't be her water . . .

Just in time for the holiday season, the very first in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series, which has sold over one million copies, is now repackaged and reissued in trade paperback for the first time "Meier continues to exploit the charm factor in her small-town setting, while keeping the murder plots as realistic as possible in such a cozy world." --Booklist 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 . . .