Grounds For Murder

Barista Lana Lewis's sleuthing may land her in a latte trouble as Tara Lush launches her new Coffee Shop mysteries. When Lana Lewis' best -- and most difficult -- employee abruptly quits and goes to work for the competition just days before the Sunshine State Barista Championship, her café's chances of winning the contest are creamed. In front of a gossipy crowd in the small Florida town of Devil's Beach, Lana's normally calm demeanor heats to a boil when she runs into the arrogant java slinger. Of course, Fabrizio "Fab" Bellucci has a slick explanation for jumping ship. But when he's found dead the next morning under a palm tree in the alley behind Lana's café, she becomes the prime suspect. Even the island's handsome police chief isn't quite certain of her innocence. But Lana isn't the only one in town who was angry with Fabrizio. Jilted lovers, a shrimp boat captain, and a surfer with ties to the mob are all suspects as trouble brews on the beach. With her stoned, hippie dad, a Shih Tzu named Stanley, and a new, curious barista sporting a punk rock aesthetic at her side, Lana's prepared to turn up the heat to catch the real killer. After all, she is a former award-winning reporter. As scandal hangs over her beachside café, can Lana clear her name and win the championship -- or will she come to a bitter end?

From author Lena Gregory comes a tasty new mystery with a killer twist... Danika Delaney is thrilled to have taken over her uncle Jimmie's old fashioned malt shop on eastern Long Island and is working hard to make it her own. In an effort to increase business, Danika invites a mystery writer to the Cookies & Cream Café for a discussion and book signing. Things seem to be going well, until a guest shows up and confronts the author, accusing him of plagiarizing his work. Embarrassed by the incident, Danika goes to the inn where the writer is staying the following morning, hoping to apologize and offer him another chance to return. What she finds instead is his dead body—beside a cup of poisoned coffee! Now it's up to Danika to find out who wanted to silence the author... before the killer decides to write Danika a not-so-happy ending! What critics are saying about Lena Gregory: "Ms. Gregory does an amazing job...her writing style makes every mystery enjoyable." ~Moonlight Rendezvous "This cozy was fast-paced and I didn’t want to put it down once I started." ~Brooke Blogs "Author Lena Gregory sure didn’t disappoint. She cooked up tale so tasty I devoured it!" ~Lisa Ks Book Reviews

Exactly how hot is the competition at the annual coffee trade industry conference in Milwaukee? Scaldingly hot.What's not hot? Finding Marvin LaRoche, owner of the HotWired coffeehouse chain store stone-cold dead under a banquet table in the middle of the convention.And everybody knows that Maggy was no great fan of Mr. LaRoche, nor of his overly competitive business practices - so it's up to Maggy's own amateur sleuthing skills to get herself out of the hotseat!Mrs. LaRoche, newly widowed, certainly seems a bit too cheery. But then there's the angry activist who denounced LaRoche's practice of exploiting Third World coffee growers.As the conference coordinator and the number one suspect, Maggy is on a countdown to find the murderer, save her coffeehouse and maybe, just maybe heat up her love life...Thank goodness for caffeine!!

Espresso bar owner Lana Lewis returns in Tara Lush's second Coffee Lover's mystery, a stimulating read that fans of Cleo Coyle and Laura Childs will savor to the last drop. It's a steamy September, and business is brisk at Perkatory, the hottest coffee shop in Devil's Beach, FL. Much of the clientele pours in from Dante's Inferno, the hot yoga studio next door. But the bright, sunny Gulf Coast days turn decidedly dark-roast when the body of the studio's owner turns up in a nearby swamp. Between running Perkatory and training Stanley, her golden Shih Tzu puppy, reporter-turned-barista Lana Lewis is too busy to go sleuthing. But when the editor of the local paper asks her to write about the murder, Lana's dreams of getting back into journalism start to percolate. Lana discovers that the yogi has a nefarious past and her share of mug shots, so grinding her way through the suspect list is a large task. She learns that the victim was fatally beaned by an SUV before she was dumped in the swamp. But was the killer one of her students? An envious yoga teacher? Or a local photographer who seems to know too much? But no one tells Lana Lewis what to do. Hunting the caf-fiend who killed the yogi puts Lana and Chief Noah's relationship--and Lana's life--in very hot coffee.

A young gypsy girl is found murdered with an axe and Cecily Sinclair is disturbed by the way her staff and guests incessantly recount the gruesome details of the crime. She is even more disturbed to find that the axe from the hotel woodshed is missing. Now, Cecily must leave her guests to their gossip, as she scours the Pennyfoot in search of a killer.

Murder Most Puzzling is a gorgeous and witty book that invites readers to play detective and solve a series of absorbing, murder-mystery-themed puzzles. Readers are cast as the faithful sidekick to amateur sleuth Medea Thorne in order to solve 20 puzzling cases. Meet a cast of colorful characters—from ghost hunter extraordinaire Augustin Artaud, to Leonard Fanshawe, a competitor in the Annual Perfect Pickled Foods Festival. • A witty riff on the classic whodunit that brings out everyone's inner detective • Each mystery is sumptuously illustrated. • The mysteries require different deductive tactics, making them a good brain exercise A body in the topiary garden, a death at a clairvoyants' convention, and the mysterious accident of the boating lake—prepare for a whirlwind adventure, laced with humor and a dash of the macabre. This book will delight fans of Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edward Gorey. • This is a collection of darkly humorous puzzles. • Features illustrations in a gorgeous gothic style by Stephanie von Reiswitz • Perfect for Edward Gorey fans, mystery buffs, puzzle addicts, and fans of true crime podcasts and TV shows • You'll love this book if you love books like The Gashlycrumb by Edward Gorey, File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket, and The Composer Is Dead by Lemony Snicket.

The Edgar Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling series by Dana Stabenow set in Alaska. In Killing Grounds, the death of one local man is no great surprise... but private investigator Kate Shugak's case soon takes an unexpected turn... Stabbed, beaten, strangled, drowned. Sometimes people get exactly what they deserve... Cal Meany is a cheat, a poacher, an abusive father and an adulterous husband. So nobody is that surprised when Kate Shugak finds his body floating in the bay. What is surprising is that the corpse has been beaten, stabbed, strangled and drowned. Meany's happily bereaved wife and children are prime suspects. Then again, so are most of his neighbours. But when Meany's daughter is murdered, and her lover disappears, Kate begins to think that this unusual crime may not be so readily solved... Reviewers on Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series: 'An antidote to sugary female sleuths: Kate Shugak, the Aleut private investigator.' New York Times 'Crime fiction doesn't get much better than this.' Booklist 'If you are looking for something unique in the field of crime fiction, Kate Shugak is the answer.' Michael Connelly 'An outstanding series.' Washington Post 'One of the strongest voices in crime fiction.' Seattle Times