Murder at the Arts and Crafts Festival

Murder at the Arts and Crafts Festival
Author: G.P. Gardner
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2019-12-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1516109031

It’s late March in Fairhope, Alabama, and artists from around the country are flocking to the bayside town’s Arts & Crafts Festival. The annual tradition has something for everyone, only this year, the main attraction is murder . . . Cleo Mack’s life has been a whirlwind since she inadvertely became the executive director of Harbor Village, a retirement community bustling with energetic seniors. Juggling apartment sales, quirky residents, and a fast-moving romance is tricky business. But on-the-job stress develops a new meaning when Twinkle Thaw, a portrait artist known to ruffle a few feathers, arrives unannounced for the weekend’s festival and drops dead hours later—mysteriously poisoned . . . Twinkle’s bizarre death doesn’t seem like an accident. Not with a sketchy newcomer slinking around town and a gallery of suspects who may have wanted her out of the picture for good. As Cleo brushes with the truth, she soon finds that solving the crime could mean connecting the dots between a decades-old art heist and an unpredictable killer who refuses to color inside the lines . . .

Sea Smoke and Mirrors

Sea Smoke and Mirrors
Author: Jenifer LeClair
Publisher:
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2021-07-31
Genre: Criminal investigation
ISBN: 9781733608459

Homicide detective Brie Beaumont and Captain John DuLac go undercover to solve a complex and chilling murder case in this 7th novel in the Windjammer Mystery Series. Lobstermen are dying on Starkhaven Island, well off the coast of Maine. Over a year and a half, four men have mysteriously disappeared from their boats. But when the Maine State Police try to investigate, the islanders, ruled by their fatalistic outlook, close ranks to stonewall the investigation. Brie, John, George, and retired detective Jack Le Beau are sent undercover to solve the case. With four victims, suspects and motives abound. The team must work their way into the fabric of the community and gain the trust of the islanders if they are to solve these disturbing murders. Will they succeed in their quest for the truth? Or will fate and the sea deal them the same dark hand.

Shelved Under Murder

Shelved Under Murder
Author: Victoria Gilbert
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2018-07-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1683315960

Autumn leaves aren’t the only things falling in the historic Virginia village of Taylorsford—so are some cherished memories, and a few bodies October in Taylorsford, Virginia means it’s leaf peeping season, with bright colorful foliage and a delightful fresh crew of tourists attending the annual Heritage Festival which celebrates local history and arts and crafts. Library director Amy Webber, though, is slightly dreading having to spend two days running a yard sale fundraiser for her library. But during these preparations, when she and her assistant Sunny stumble across a dead body, Amy finds a real reason to be worried. The body belonged to a renowned artist who was murdered with her own pallet knife. A search of the artist’s studio uncovers a cache of forged paintings, and when the sheriff’s chief deputy Brad Tucker realizes Amy is skilled in art history research, she’s recruited to aid the investigation. It doesn’t seem to be an easy task, but when the state’s art expert uncovers a possible connection between Amy’s deceased uncle and the murder case, Amy must champion her Aunt Lydia to clear her late husband’s name. That’s when another killing shakes the quiet town, and danger sweeps in like an autumn wind. Now, with her swoon-inducing neighbor Richard Muir, Amy must scour their resources to once again close the books on murder in Shelved Under Murder, the charming second installment in Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge Library mysteries, perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Miranda James.

Unprepared To Die

Unprepared To Die
Author: Paul Slade
Publisher: Soundcheck Books
Total Pages: 151
Release: 2015-11-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 099294807X

The Gory Stories Behind The Murder Ballads Cheerfully vulgar, revelling in gore, and always with an eye on the main chance, murder ballads are tabloid newspapers set to music, carrying word of the latest ‘orrible murders to an insatiable public. Victims are bludgeoned, stabbed or shot in every verse and killers often hanged, but the songs themselves never die. Instead, they mutate – morphing to suit local place names as they criss cross the Atlantic and continue to fascinate each generation’s biggest musical stars. Paul Slade traces this fascinating genre’s history through eight of its greatest songs. Stagger Lee’s “biographers” alone include Duke Ellington, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Dr John, The Clash and Nick Cave. No two tell his story in quite the same way. Covering eight classic murder ballads, including “Knoxville Girl”, “Tom Dooley” and “Frankie & Johnny”, Slade investigates the real-life murder which inspired each song and traces its musical development down the decades. Billy Bragg, The Bad Seeds’ Mick Harvey, Laura Cantrell, Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family and a host of other leading musicians add their own insights.

City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris

City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris
Author: Holly Tucker
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2017-03-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 0393248844

"An artful reconstruction of seventeenth-century Paris with riveting storytelling." —The New Yorker In the late 1600s, Louis XIV assigns Nicolas de la Reynie to bring order to Paris after the brutal deaths of two magistrates. Reynie, pragmatic and fearless, discovers a network of witches, poisoners, and priests whose reach extends all the way to the king’s court at Versailles. Based on court transcripts and Reynie’s compulsive note-taking, Holly Tucker’s engrossing true-crime narrative makes the characters breathe on the page as she follows the police chief into the dark labyrinths of crime-ridden Paris, the halls of royal palaces, secret courtrooms, and torture chambers.

Seams Like Murder

Seams Like Murder
Author: Dorothy Howell
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2023-08
Genre: Cozy mystery stories
ISBN: 1496740408

From USA Today bestselling author Dorothy Howell, a brand new cozy mystery series featuring twenty-something Abbey Chandler and her fellow sewing circle members in the quaint, touristy town of Hideaway Cove. Abbey Chandler needs a new start and a place to escape, so Hideaway Grove, where she spent her childhood summers, seems like a perfect choice. Once there, she takes up a rewarding new hobby--but also gets tangled up in a hit-and-run homicide . . . Abbey has barely arrived in the quaint, quiet town of Hideaway Grove before things turn from blissful to bloody--as the new librarian is mowed down by a car. The only witness on the scene isn't much help, aside from handing Abbey the bag of books dropped by the victim. Even worse, the sheriff's office seizes Abbey's car because of a suspicious dent in the right front fender. While she waits for the problem to be sorted out, Abbey is drawn into a charity sewing project--even though she can't tell a bobbin from a seam ripper. Before she knows it, she's graduating from pillowcase dresses to aprons, setting up a studio in a back room of her aunt's bakery, and making plans to participate in the upcoming craft fair. But through it all, she keeps looking for patterns and possible conflicts in the late librarian's personal, professional, and romantic life. Then a shocking discovery sends her in a new direction, and as the truth begins to unspool, she's got a notion about who's guilty . . .

Diana: Case Solved

Diana: Case Solved
Author: Dylan Howard
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2019-09-17
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1951273001

“This particular phase in my life is the most dangerous. My husband is planning ‘an accident’ in my car, brake failure and serious head injury in order to make the path clear for him to marry.” —Letter written by Princess Diana, late 1996 It is a moment that remains frozen in history. When the Mercedes carrying Diana, Princess of Wales, spun fatally out of control in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris in August 1997, the world was shocked by what appeared to be a terrible accident. But two decades later, the circumstances surrounding what really happened that night—and, crucially, why it happened—remain mired in suspicion, controversy, and misinformation. Until now. Dylan Howard has re-examined all of the evidence surrounding Diana’s death—official documents, eyewitness testimony and Diana’s own private journals—as well as amassing dozens of new interviews with investigators, witnesses, and those closest to the princess to ask one very simple question: Was the death of Princess Diana a tragedy…or treason? Diana: Case Solved has uncovered in unprecedented detail just how much of a threat Diana became to the establishment. In these pages you will learn of the covert diaries and recordings she made, logging the Windsors’ most intimate secrets and hidden scandals as a desperate kind of insurance policy. You will learn how the royals were not the only powerful enemies she made, as her ground-breaking campaigns against AIDS and landmines drew admiration from the public, but also enmity from powerful establishment figures including international arms dealers, the British and American governments, and the MI6 and the CIA. And, in a dramatic return to the Parisian streets where she met her fate, the two questions that have plagued investigators for over twenty years will finally be answered: Why was Diana being driven in a car previously written off as a death trap? And who was really behind the wheel of the mysterious white Fiat at the scene of the crash?

Death Among the Doilies

Death Among the Doilies
Author: Mollie Cox Bryan
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Total Pages: 285
Release: 2016-08-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496704657

“The perfect weekend getaway: crafting, food, and a murder or two!”—New York Times bestselling author Lynn Cahoon For thirty-something blogger Cora Chevalier, small-town Indigo Gap, North Carolina, seems like the perfect place to reinvent her life. Shedding a stressful past as a counselor for a women’s shelter, Cora is pouring all her talents—and most of her savings—into a craft retreat business, with help from close pal and resident potter Jane Starr. Between transforming her Victorian estate into a crafter’s paradise and babysitting Jane’s daughter, the new entrepreneur has no time for distractions. Especially rumors about the murder of a local school librarian . . . But when Jane’s fingerprints match those found at the grisly crime scene, Cora not only worries about her friend, but her own reputation. With angry townsfolk eager for justice and both Jane’s innocence and the retreat at risk, she must rely on her creative chops to unlace the truth behind the beloved librarian’s disturbing demise. Because if the killer’s patterns aren’t pinned, Cora’s handiwork could end up in stitches . . . Praise for Mollie Cox Bryan’s Cumberland Creek Mysteries: “Scrapbookers and hobby cozy fans will enjoy this delightful holiday escape.” —Library Journal on A Crafty Christmas “A satisfying and surprising read.”—Sheila Connolly, New York Times bestselling author on Scrapped “Though-provoking and well-paced . . . A great story, well told!”—Juliet Blackwell, New York Times bestselling author on Scrapped “A font of ingenuity . . . superb entertainment.”—Mystery Scene magazine on Scrapbook of Secrets Includes crafting tips!

Murder at Royale Court

Murder at Royale Court
Author: G.P. Gardner
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2019-06-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1516109015

This ebook includes an exclusive knitting pattern! Harbor Village is a vivacious retirement paradise known for its beachy locale and active senior scene. But ever since murder moved in, the idyllic coastal community is becoming a little less lively . . . With the first annual antique car show cruising into the tranquil bayside oasis of Fairhope, Alabama, there are bumpy roads ahead for Harbor Village director Cleo Mack. As an automobile-themed lecture series gets off to a rough start, she finds herself balancing one too many responsibilities—and dodging advances from a shady event sponsor. It’s enough to make Cleo feel twice her age. But the festivities reach a real dead end when she discovers a body at the Royale Court shopping center . . . When an innocent man lands in the hot seat for murder, Harbor Village residents look to Cleo to crack the case. Aided by an eclectic group of energetic seniors, Cleo races to identify the true culprit from a growing list of harmless Sunday drivers—before a killer revs up for another hit and run!

Murder in the Tropics

Murder in the Tropics
Author: Stuart B. McIver
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2015-10-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1561647632

Here is the first statewide collection of true Florida murders, and, as the saying goes, truth is stranger than fiction. The Sunshine State has played host to a memorable and varied array of crimes of passion, greed, and revenge. In stories spanning from the 1860s to the 1990s, you will meet such varied characters as Lena Clarke, a killer with both her feet planted in a dozen bewildering worlds; Terry Jo, the Sea Waif; Chief Tigertail; the outlaw Ed Watson; Blue, the Enforcer; President Franklin Roosevelt; the Duke of Windsor; novelist Zora Neale Hurston; Lobster Boy; the Gulf Stream Pirate; Brother Gillette, a gentle Shaker who killed out of compassion; and Pensacola's Black Widow, a Spider Woman who killed without mercy. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series