When tragedy brings Merrin McKenzie back to St Ives, she knows adjusting might take time, even with the charm of her childhood home at Christmas. As she settles in, Merrin steps back from her career as a solicitor and falls into cleaning holiday rentals for friends who own cottages nearby. She expects to encounter dirty laundry and the odd forgotten phone charger in the course of the changeovers, but certainly didn't bargain on finding a dead body. Everyone, including the police, are baffled as to the identity of the dead young man found neatly tucked up in bed. Coincidences begin to stack up for Merrin and she has gruff police Inspector Harris to contend with as a darker side to the festive Cornish setting begins to reveal itself.

The 9th book in the Vikki Mattsen crime series. A female detective, police procedurals, women Sleuth murder mystery. Holiday cheer meets chilling fear: Unwrapping secrets to catch a killer. 'Tis the season for murder in St. Ives. The holiday season turns deadly in the quiet town of St. Ives when two children stumble upon a frozen body at the local skating pond. As detectives Vikki Mattsen and Mike Gomez investigate the crime, they uncover a shocking truth: the victim was none other than Santa Claus himself. With only a few days left until Christmas, Vikki and Mike must race against time to catch the killer and bring justice to a town in mourning. But as they follow the clues, they discover that the jolly old man had more than just presents in his bag, and someone wanted him silenced forever.

Hijuelos' novel tells the story of Mr. Ives, who was adopted from a foundling's home as a child. When we first meet him in the 1950s, Mr. Ives is very much a product of his time. He has a successful career in advertising, a wife and two children, and believes he is on his way to pursuing the typical American dream. But the dream is shattered when his son Robert, who is studying for the priesthood, is killed violently at Christmas. Overwhelmed by grief and threatened by a loss of faith in humankind, Mr. Ives begins to question the very foundations of his life. Part love story--of a man for his wife, for his children, for God--and part meditation on how a person can find spiritual peace in the midst of crisis, Mr. Ives' Christmas is a beautifully written, tender and passionate story of a man trying to put his life in perspective. In the expert hands of Oscar Hijuelos, the novel speaks eloquently to the most basic and fulfilling aspects of life for all of us.

In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery. As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town. Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…

THE NEW SLIM HARDY MYSTERY – RELEASED JULY 5th 2022 Traumatised by a recent case, private investigator John “Slim” Hardy tries to create a new life for himself on the remote Cornish coast. However, when he is recognised by a local woman, he is unable to resist the draw of a dark mystery which has left a long shadow over the village. Fourteen years earlier, a local man, Richard Maynard, died in mysterious circumstances. The only witness was his five-year-old daughter, Ellen. Now, Richard’s sister, Wendy, wants answers. But the only person who might have them is Ellen, now a wraith haunting the dark recesses of a nearby town. Was Richard murdered? And if so, by whom? And does Ellen have the answers? Or only more questions? When the Wind Blows is a dark mystery of small town lies and deceit, and secrets that remain buried until the last page from Jack Benton, the acclaimed author of The Man By the Sea and The Clockmaker’s Secret.

Cass Peake's web design company accepts a job to bolster the local college's efforts in attracting new students. With the winter break, she and her colleagues expect a very quiet campus. What they don't anticipate is the reunion of a strange secret society called The Black Triangle Club on the grounds… and a dead body. Then corpses start piling up like gifts under a Christmas tree. Coincidence or not? With the help of her ghostly friend Doris and other allies, Cass works frantically to uncover the real killer. But it might take a real holiday miracle to solve this Yuletide mystery.