Much Ado About Murder

Blake and Shelby Gunner’s plans to renovate the old boathouse go awry when murder comes calling... Autumn in Port Scuttlebutt usually means a stormy Lake Superior, crisp temperatures, vibrant fall colors, and an invasion of deer hunters. This year, there’s also a shallow grave. Someone killed Pete Dugan’s ex-wife and planted her under his woodpile. The police consider him the obvious suspect, but the Gunner’s have other ideas. What does the death of a pet squirrel, the sighting of a mysterious car, a break-in at the bed & breakfast, and the reappearance of three ex-cons into the community have to do with the murder of a middle-aged legal assistant? No detective worth a grain of salt believes in coincidence. So when things start piling up that seem too quirky to be happenstance, Blake and Shelby have to decipher the clues and come up with the truth before a killer gets away with murder.

In this cozy mystery, a Massachusetts organic farmer must pick a peck of suspects when her own mother is accused of murder. May has been anything but merry for Cam so far. Her parents have arrived unexpectedly, and her crops are in danger. But all of that’s nothing compared to the grim murder of her neighbor, Nicole Kingsbury, the once proud owner of the town’s new hydroponic greenhouse—just after Cam’s mother publicly protested Nicole’s use of chemicals to feed her crops. Showers may be scarce this spring, but suspects keep sprouting up. Lucky for Cam, her father turns out to have a knack for sleuthing—not to mention dealing with chickens. He and Cam will have to clear Mrs. Flaherty’s name quick before the killer strikes again… Praise for the Local Foods Mysteries “Maxwell’s feisty heroine and the interesting background detail on the realities of organic farming blend to deliver a clever, twisting mystery.”—Booklist “A most enjoyable look at organic farming.”—Kirkus Reviews

Fledgling playwright Will Shakespeare and Symington Smythe, ostler and would-be thespian, and are now firmly ensconced in their theater company . . . But due to the plague, all of London's theaters have been closed, its players now broke, forcing our intrepid duo to seek employment in other lines of work--Smythe smithing and Will poeting. Then a murder rocks all of London. Shakespeare and Smythe decide to solve the crime, but they must rely on their wits to survive both the conspiriacies and the cutthroat business of Elizabethan theater

When a directorial debut turns deadly, it falls to costume designer Charlotte Fairfax to unmask the culprit in award-winning author Elizabeth J. Duncan’s third Shakespeare in the Catskills mystery Charlotte Fairfax has another murder on her hands as she prepares for the latest performance of the Catskills Shakespeare Theater Company, Much Ado About Nothing. The company’s steady growth enables them to cast star British actress Audrey Ashley, who arrives on scene to play the lead role of Beatrice. But things immediately get more complicated when Audrey insists the company replace the current director with new, up and coming British director Edmund Albright. Edmund plans to change the popular romantic comedy, which alienates several people associated with the production. And the list of people he upsets only grows: the laid off former director, the hotel owner’s secretary, and even Audrey herself. Just as Edmund’s plans are about to come to fruition, his body is discovered on his sofa, holding a gun in his hand. His death is quickly ruled a suicide but Charlotte thinks otherwise. Why would Edmund, on the brink of greatness, kill himself? With a whole cast of characters to investigate, Charlotte is determined to unmask each one before it’s final curtain call on the whole production.

Modern editions of a popular and trusted series.