Frank Carlson Library

Haunted by the car accident that ended her career as a cookbook publicist, Val Deniston has traded in the chaos of New York City for a quieter life near the Chesapeake Bay. Living with her curmudgeonly grandfather in the tourist town of Bayport is hardly glamorous, but she enjoys working at the Cool Down Cafe at the local fitness club, and she finally has time to work on her long-planned cookbook. But when one of the club's patrons is found dead,...

Bernadette and Libby Simmons have been working twelve-hour days at their store, A Taste of Heaven. And in between whipping up sweet treats and catering high school graduation parties, the sisters have to fit one more event into their busy schedule: catering a high-society wedding that takes a very low turn. . .

Leeza Sharp is getting ready to have the wedding of her dreams. She's got a $25,000 dress (gorgeous and made to order), a rich Estonian

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A con artist meets his end on a country road—and a lot of swindled senior citizens are suspects: "Hilarious...a delightful debut."—Joan Hess

Determined to make a new start in her quaint hometown on the banks of the Mississippi, Brandy Borne never dreams she'll become the prime suspect in a murder case. . .
Moving back in with her eccentric, larger-than-life mother, Brandy Borne finds small-town Serenity, Iowa,...

The New York Times bestselling author of Buy a Whisker offers another adventure with secondhand shop owner Sarah Grayson and Elvis the rescue cat. Spring has come to charming North Harbor, Maine, and with the new season comes a new haul for Second Chance, the shop where Sarah Grayson sells lovingly refurbished and repurposed items. Sarah is turning her keen eye to the estate of collector Edison Hall, hoping for fabulous finds for Second Chance--but...

Melanie West and her grandmother Liza buy a purportedly haunted mansion with plans to turn it into a Bed and Breakfast, but they find a very real skeleton in their closet. In addition to dealing with the police, their own amateur investigation, the closed-mouthed town, their renovation, and a friendly ghost playing tricks, they find a new body that looks chillingly similar to Melanie herself. It's up to Melanie and Liza to get to the bottom of these...

"When a glass-making competition turns deadly, glass shop owner Savannah Webb must search for a window into a criminal's mind ..."--Page 4 of cover.

Small-town police chief Arly Hanks takes on the New York Police Department to save her mother from a murder rap in this madcap police procedural.
When her marriage went up in smoke, Arly Hanks left Manhattan and never looked back. As police chief of Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, Arly is a glorified traffic cop, and she couldn’t be happier. But when Arly’s mother, the indomitable Ruby Bee Hanks, is invited to a baking...

It's almost Christmas in the small English village of Finch--and everyone is sick. Though many of the villagers regretfully decline their invitations to Emma and Derek Harris's annual Christmas bash, Lori Shepherd has no intention of missing it. When the winter weather takes a turn for the worse, it's agreed that none of the guests will leave until morning. There's general merriment as the Christmas party becomes a pajama party--until a car appears...

"Mia's busy with a full schedule of events at the family business--among them an over-the-top Nativity-themed first birthday party and a Sweet Sixteen for a teen drama queen. But her personal life is even more challenging. Her estranged mother has returned--and her lifelong friend Jamie has discovered a shocking secret about his past. He's so angry that he starts hanging out with Lorenzo, who claims to be his long-lost brother--even after it becomes...

In Dorothy L. Sayer's third Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Unnatural Death, Agatha Dawson, a woman of advancing years, appears to suffer a natural demise. Amidst the façade of calm, a disquieting unease piques the curiosity of aristocratic crime fighter Lord Peter Wimsey, prompting him to send his investigator, Miss Catherine Climpson, to do some sleuthing in the quaint village of Leahampton. A mystery develops when the body of one of Dawson's maids is...