Mary McGill’s Christmas turns less than jolly when she gets wrapped up in a murder mystery in this debut cozy with “a charming cast of canines” (Kirkus Reviews). A pillar of her small California town, retired schoolteacher Mary McGill has a finger in every pie and a place on every committee. Usually, everything Mary organizes runs smoothly. But this year, the town’s annual Christmas pageant hits a snag with the discovery of a blood-stained corpse lying in the manger—and a cowering black-and-white cocker spaniel puppy right beside the body. Two local children report seeing a shadowy figure fleeing the scene, but there are no clues as to the murderer’s identity. If Mary can figure out what the purebred pup was doing there, she’ll be one step closer to finding the killer. But as someone who knows nothing about puppies, purebred or otherwise, Mary needs to scratch beneath the surface before more than the Christmas pageant goes to the dogs . . . “Dog-loving cozy fans will welcome Delaney’s series launch, an extension of her Ellie McKenzie series . . . Christmas cheer, puppies, and cute, resourceful children add to the fun.” —Publishers Weekly

Pillar of the community, Mary McGill has a finger in every pie, a place on every committee. She's the one the townsfolk can count on when they need help. Everything Mary organizes runs smoothly - apart, that is, from the town's traditional Christmas pageant. For the festivities are rudely interrupted by the discovery of a blood-stained corpse lying in the manger. Cowering beside the body is a small black-and-white puppy. Two local children report seeing a shadowy figure fleeing from the scene - but there are no clues as to the murderer's identity. If Mary could only find out what the puppy was doing there, she would be one step closer to finding the killer. As someone who knows nothing about dogs, purebred or otherwise, Mary had better learn - and fast - before she and the children become the next victims.

This is a highly enjoyable book for dog-loving cozy fanciers, with charming characters, a fair play plot, and a hands-on heroine Publishers Weekly on Blood Red, White and Blue Santa Louisa’s Halloween celebrations are derailed when a masked killer dressed as a clown strikes in the entertaining new Mary McGill dog mystery. Mary McGill and her cocker spaniel Millie get the fright of their lives on Halloween when they hear gunshots coming from the bank and the robber, dressed in a clown costume, points his gun at them before fleeing the scene. Mary is horrified when she discovers Police Chief Dan Dunham has been shot in the shoulder and a woman has been killed. Why would the clown shoot an ordinary citizen? Mary soon learns that the victim is Victoria Witherspoon, a local woman who owned a sewing shop and must have recognised the clown costume – because she made it herself. With Dan in hospital and unable to investigate, can Mary and Millie unmask the savage killer clown before he strikes again?