Much Ado in Maggody

Much Ado in Maggody
Author: Joan Hess
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2016-06-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504037197

A hilarious police procedural set in the strangest town in the Ozarks, where whip-smart sheriff Arly Hanks does everything she can to keep the peace. Nothing ever happens in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755. Aside from handling the occasional barroom brawl or exploding still, Chief of Police Arly Hanks spends her days sipping coffee and squashing flies. She returned to Maggody two years ago, licking her wounds after a bad Manhattan divorce, and she fell backward into the role of sheriff. From Hizzoner the Moron—also know as Jim Bob Buchanon, the pettily corrupt mayor—to Ruby Bee Hanks—Arly’s mother and the town’s foremost gossip—the people of Maggody are all crazy in their own ways, and that craziness is about to turn deadly. When Joanna Mae Nookim returns to work after giving birth, the bank manager bumps her down to minimum wage as punishment for taking time off. It’s outrageous, but there’s nothing Arly can do. But when the bank burns to the ground and the head teller is found dead, Maggody threatens to burst into an all-out revolution for the sake of women’s rights. Fans of comic mysteries have known for years that no small town is quite like Maggody. With its wild cast of characters and its no-nonsense female detective, Much Ado in Maggody is evidence of master of cozy mysteries Joan Hess at her best. Much Ado in Maggody is the 3rd book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Malice in Maggody

Malice in Maggody
Author: Joan Hess
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2017-02-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504043464

After a crossbow killing at a cheap roadside motel, Ozarks police chief Arly Hanks finds herself investigating her first murder case. Her marriage over and career gone bust, Arly Hanks flees Manhattan for her hometown: Maggody, Arkansas. In a town this size, nothing much ever happens, so Arly figures she’s safe as the town’s first female chief of police—until the husband of one of the local barmaids escapes from state prison and heads for town. And that’s not all. An EPA official with ties to polluting the local fishing hole has suddenly vanished off the face of the earth. As if two manhunts aren’t enough to contend with, a body has been discovered at the pay-by-the-hour Flamingo Motel, shot clean through the neck with an arrow. For some reason, Maggody’s residents—all 755 of them—have gone tight-lipped, stonewalling Arly’s investigations, and Arly hasn’t a soul to trust but her half-wit deputy. Now, as Maggody’s finest, she’ll have to show a little muscle and a lot of cunning to curtail the inhospitable mountain malice that’s overtaken her town. And she’ll have to watch her own back every step of the way. From Agatha Award–winning author Joan Hess, Malice in Maggody is the novel that introduced police chief Arly Hanks—the indomitable sleuth of the popular and long-running Maggody series. Malice in Maggody is the 1st book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Maggody and the Moonbeams

Maggody and the Moonbeams
Author: Joan Hess
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2016-06-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504037294

A youth trip turns deadly, and Chief of Police Arly Hanks must catch the killer while serving as chaperone, in this hilarious small-town mystery. Arly Hanks has caught all sorts of killers since she returned home to Maggody, Arkansas, population 759, but she’s never tangled with anyone as devious as the local youth group. While chaperoning a trip to Camp Pearly Gates, Arly watches the kids as closely as she would any hardened criminal, but when teenagers have a mind to get into trouble, there’s nothing a police chief can do but limit the damage. She’s just about got the situation under control when one of the kids finds a body, and all hell breaks loose in classic Maggody manner. The murdered woman sports a shaved head and a white robe, marking her as a Moonbeam, a member of a particularly kooky local cult. And caught between the sect and the law, Arly may be forced to sacrifice what little sanity she has left. Nobody pokes fun at religion quite as effectively as Joan Hess. This is another laugh-out-loud entry in one of the funniest mystery series of all time. Maggody and the Moonbeams is the 13th book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Death of a Trophy Wife

Death of a Trophy Wife
Author: Laura Levine
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2011-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758272227

Without a job or a date in sight, freelance writer Jaine Austen is equally out of luck in finance and romance. So when her friend Lance offers to treat her to brunch at the Four Seasons, Jaine leaps at the invite. They've barely made it through the menu when Lance spots his friend Bunny, who is the new trophy wife of mattress maven Marvin Cooper. When Bunny generously offers Jaine a gig writing Marv's new advertising campaign, Jaine accepts the job, and an invitation to her upcoming soirée. But at the party Bunny cruelly rules the Cooper mansion and before the evening is over, someone poisons Bunny. The police arrest Lance, but Jaine knows his murderous urges end at her closet door. Setting out to clear his name, she soon discovers a list of suspects longer than Bunny's credit card bill. . . "Zany. . .series fans will find Jaine as funny as ever." --Publishers Weekly "If you love a good mystery, this book is for you." --New York Journal of Books

Death of a Neighborhood Witch

Death of a Neighborhood Witch
Author: Laura Levine
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2013-09-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758238509

Reprinted Edition "I'm crazy about Laura Levine's mystery series. Her books are so outrageously funny." --Joanne Fluke When Jaine Austen's beloved cat Prozac unwittingly scares to death a parakeet belonging to the neighborhood's resident curmudgeon, Jaine finds herself knee-deep in toil and trouble. The cantankerous Hollywood has-been once played Cryptessa Muldoon, television's fourth most famous monster mom. Now she spends her days making enemies with everyone on the block. So when the ornery D-lister is murdered with her own Do Not Trespass sign on Halloween night, the neighborhood fills with relief--and possible culprits. With a killer on the loose, Jaine hardly has time to fall under the spell of her yummy new neighbor, Peter. As the prime suspect, she summons her sleuthing skills to clear her name and soon discovers that everyone has a few skeletons in their closets. . . "Levine's latest finds her at her witty and wacky best." --Kirkus Reviews "Cozy fans will enjoy seeing how Jaine wiggles out of this one." --Publishers Weekly

The Legend of Holly Claus

The Legend of Holly Claus
Author: Brittney Ryan
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 427
Release: 2012-10-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1453288732

Santa Claus’s daughter sets out to break a curse and free a magical kingdom—in this beloved New York Times bestseller. Though few mortals know his secret, Nicholas is more than a jolly red-suited man who visits children all over the world on Christmas Eve—he is also the king of Forever, Land of the Immortals. Each year he gets letters from millions of boys and girls, and helps make their Christmas wishes come true. But one year, a special little boy from New York City asks something Nicholas has never been asked before: “What do you wish for Christmas, Santa?” With that simple question, a magical story unfolds. Nicholas answers that his only wish is for a child. And soon the immortal people of the kingdom celebrate the arrival of Holly Claus, the princess of Forever and the first child to grace its ground. But their happiness is dashed when an evil sorcerer places a spell on the infant, turning her heart to ice and freezing her kingdom in time. Many years later, just in time for Christmas Eve, Holly travels to New York, intent upon saving Christmas and freeing the land of Forever. Holly will make this the most magical—and memorable—Christmas the world has ever seen. This ebook features a note from Brittney Ryan including rare images and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Wait for What Will Come

Wait for What Will Come
Author: Barbara Michaels
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2009-10-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0061861804

An American woman inherits a Cornish coastal mansion shrouded in mystery in this suspenseful gothic romance classic by a New York Times bestseller. The last of an ancient Cornish clan, Carla Tregellas has inherited her historic ancestral home: a massive mansion looming high up on the jagged cliffs of Cornwall. From the moment Carla takes possession of the grand manor she feels right at home, warmly welcomed by everyone—except the strange and secretive housekeeper, Mrs. Pendennis, who warns the new owner of the tragic, inevitable fate that will surely befall her if she does not depart at once. But Carla cannot leave, for the unseen bonds of a dark family curse are beginning to tighten . . . and a demon lover waits. Praise for Wait for What Will Come “This enjoyable story is an interesting commingling of modern romance and Gothic mystery. . . . The surprise ending is satisfying and intelligent. Recommended for all fiction collections.” —Library Journal

Ten Thousand I Love Yous

Ten Thousand I Love Yous
Author: Lisa Slabach
Publisher: Olivarez Media, Incorporated
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2022-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781667811185

At sixteen, Kimberly Kirby thought the only thing she needed to be perfectly happy was to spend the rest of her life with Jay Braxton. Twenty years later, newly divorced from Jay, and on the hunt for love, she moves to San Francisco and starts writing a dating blog for divorced women. Just as she falls hard for a talented young chef, Jay fights to win her back. Torn between her bold new life and the comfort of Jay's strong arms, the ten thousand I love yous that have passed Jay's lips can't be dismissed. But is there is too much to forgive?

The Arly Hanks Mysteries Volume One

The Arly Hanks Mysteries Volume One
Author: Joan Hess
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 719
Release: 2017-10-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504048326

Police chief Arly Hanks investigates murder in her Ozark hometown in three books of a beloved series by an Agatha Award–winning author. Her marriage and career over, Arly Hanks heads home to Maggody, Arkansas, for a fresh start. Not much ever happens in a village this size, so Arly figures her new job as chief of police will be pretty quiet. But the seemingly peaceful Maggody residents have a few secrets of their own . . . Malice in Maggody: Something stinks, and it’s not the polluted fishing hole. An escaped convict is coming home to roost, an infamous EPA agent has disappeared, and there’s a corpse with an arrow in its neck at a nearby seedy motel. Now it’s up to Arly and her half-witted deputy, Paulie, to discover the source of the rot. Mischief in Maggody: Maggody’s population is suddenly booming, and among its new residents are a doom-obsessed psychic and a handsome high school guidance counselor. But after a local moonshiner and prostitute are found dead in a booby-trapped field of cannabis, Arly must root out the killer before they make another deadly deduction. Much Ado in Maggody: The bank president’s playboy son, Brandon Bernswallow, is now the head teller, and his sexist behavior has women ready to tell him off. When the bank burns down with Bernswallow inside, Arly must quickly uncover what really happened if she hopes to cool the town’s tensions.