A young art student catches a thief—and finds her soul mate—in this charming, early YA novel from the million-selling "mistress of the 'cozy' mystery" (Los Angeles Times). Possessed of cool common sense and burning ambition, nineteen-year-old Corin Johansen leaves home to attend a prestigious art school in Boston. But Corin never met anyone back in Proctor's Crossing, Pennsylvania, like the larger-than-life landlady at her new boardinghouse. A former circus star known as Daring Dina who trained lions and leopards under the big top, Madame Despau-Davy now contents herself with teaching her four beloved pet ocelots tricks in the kitchen. Corin soon learns that the boardinghouse kitchen is supposedly haunted by the ghost of the Fat Lady from the circus, Dina's old friend Rosie Garside. Corin is skeptical, but when she cooks, she can't shake the feeling she's being watched. The tall redhead has caught the eye of...

A historical mystery set in early twentieth-century New England from the acclaimed author of the Peter Shandy series. Upon graduating from an academy for respectable young ladies, Lavinia Tabard heads to the New England countryside and her rich cousin Zilpha's summer cottage with the low expectations of a charity case. Lavinia intends to endure Zilpha's saccharine sweetness and her "companion" Tetsy's bullying ways only until she can plan an escape that doesn't involve marriage. A welcome distraction comes when, as she works on a grave rubbing at the local cemetery, Lavinia notices something strange about the dates on the stone. Her questions lead to the doorsteps of several interesting neighbors, including a self-made young architect with a temper as fiery as his red hair. Hayward Clinton and his partner have an office on Zilpha's property, an awkward situation that won't change until the mysterious disappearance of the business's original owner is...

Have yourself a mysterious little Christmas with fifteen whodunits from New York Times–bestselling authors Sharyn McCrumb, Mary Higgins Clark, and more! Peace on Earth isn't everyone's cup of tea in Charlotte MacLeod's "A Cozy for Christmas." Peter Lovesey's "The Haunted Crescent" delivers a holiday ghost story with a twist. A training session for department-store Santas turns up Saint Nicks who are anything but angels in Isaac Asimov's "Ho, Ho, Ho." Marcia Muller's "Silent Night" finds a tough private investigator searching San Francisco's Tenderloin district—and discovering something unexpected. A long-married couple's ship finally comes in—only to spring a mysterious leak—in Mary Higgins Clark's "That's the Ticket." Scottish superstition catches up with a cat burglar in Sharyn McCrumb's "A Wee Doch and Doris." These and many more stories will keep you turning pages and gathering evidence of...

Anthology of Christmas Themed Short Mysteries

Seventeen priceless stories from the author often referred to as "America's Agatha Christie"Charlotte MacLeod's heroes were men and women like Peter Shandy and Sarah Kelling—genteel sleuths who fight crime with brains, not brawn—and her settings were the drawing rooms and servants' quarters of New England and beyond. With a keen wit and a strong eye for detail, she crafted some of the most memorable victims, murderers, and innocent bystanders of twentieth-century detective novels. In this volume, she proves herself a master of the short story as well.Here is the original Peter Shandy story, featuring the school that would eventually metamorphose into Balaclava Agricultural College. Here is peculiar Cousin Claude, who strangles himself with his own necktie. And here is the tale that answers the question "What does Max Bittersohn do when his wife is not around?" Whether the characters are familiar or not, the style is irresistible, and the mysteries are as...

To prevent Lobelia Fall from being turned into a subdivision, a citizen turns to cold-blooded murderAnyone growing up in Lobelia Falls is taught to learn the elegant, ancient, and occasionally deadly art of shooting with a bow and arrow. Practicing the craft, freelance secretary Dittany Henbit is strolling through the woods with her bow at her side when she meets a surveyor making surveys where he shouldn’t. Dittany is giving him what-for when an arrow goes whizzing above her head. It is sharp enough to kill, and was not fired by accident, but Dittany wasn’t the target. She and the surveyor find Mr. Architrave, the head of the water department, not far away—lying dead beneath the trees that he loved so much.Progress is coming to Lobelia Falls, and one resident will do anything to stop it. But in a town where every child can shoot, how can Dittany discover who drew the killer bow?