Murder At Yuletide

Have Yourself a Merry Little Murder Clive Pippins, Lady Ginger Gold's beloved, elderly butler is apparently Christmas shopping when a body is found. To the shock of everyone in Ginger's household, the victim is the spinster cousin Pippins worked for during the years surrounding the Great War. As Ginger investigates things begin to look grim for her dear butler. What had the man been up to during the war years, and had he been complicit in a crime? What secret was Pips holding onto? And worse, would he be the next victim before he had a chance to divulge it? The only gift Ginger wants for the Christmas of 1927 is for the killer to be found before it's time to ring in the new year!

Contains twenty-six tales of seasonal malice and yuletide malfeasance ...

A Wiccan attorney’s latest case involves blackmail, murder, and Christmas in this cozy mystery by the author of Bell, Book & Candlemas. It’s Christmas in Edindale, Illinois, and family law attorney Keli Milanni is preparing to celebrate the Wiccan holiday Yuletide, a celebration of rebirth. But this Yuletide someone else is focused on dying . . . After years of practicing in secret, Keli has come out as a Wiccan to her boyfriend, and she feels like this Yuletide she’s the one who’s being reborn. But the Solstice is the longest night of the year, and Keli is about to stumble on a mystery so dangerous, she’ll be lucky to make it to morning. Paired with her unbearably stuffy colleague Crenshaw Davenport III, Keli goes undercover at a real estate company owned by mayoral candidate Edgar Harrison. An old friend of Keli’s boss, Harrison, is being blackmailed, and it’s up to her to find the culprit. But the morning after the company holiday party, Harrison is found dead underneath the hotel Christmas tree. The police rule the death an accident, but Keli knows better—and she’ll risk her own rebirth to nab a missing killer. Praise for Yuletide Homicide “Hesse incorporates Keli’s Wiccan practices into her story line, with prayers to the Goddess and incantations that assist her sleuth in gaining insights to solve the mystery. A perfect read for New Age devotees and those who prefer the pagan version of Yuletide.” —Library Journal “Hesse easily balances murder and romance in this holiday tale that's so cozy.” —Kirkus Reviews

Freelance photographer and Yeast of Eden bakery assistant Ivy Culpepper has just scored the job of a lifetime shooting the Dickensian dress-up X-mas party thrown by It Girl film actress Eliza Fox . . . until an unwanted guest appears. A holiday costume party in the sleepy coastal town of Santa Sofia could be just the boost Ivy needs for her fledgling photography business. At the party, Ivy enters a Victorian fantasy come to life, all courtesy of the fabulous Ms. Fox. Ivy gets to play shutterbug while hanging with Scrooge, Marley, the Cratchits, and more classic Dickens characters. But what begins as the best of times turns out to be the very worst for one of the party guests—a tabloid journalist with more enemies than Ebenezer himself. When the man’s body is found sprawled across the jagged rocks below the house, the fingers begin pointing at Eliza. Meanwhile, Ivy gets roped into helping prove the starlet’s innocence. Her festive photos are now official evidence—and the Ghosts of Christmas Present could mean the party for Eliza is over, once and for all.

Christmas is a season of overindulgence. For most of us, that means an extra mince pie, a second helping of turkey, or perhaps a third glass of mulled wine. But for some, the festive season is a time to settle old scores, dispatch new enemies and indulge ... in murder. Here, ten masters of the genre serve up mystery and mayhem aplenty. From a dowager's missing jewels to a festive dinner gone horribly wrong, these classic crime stories will delight, puzzle and satisfy long after the last strands of tinsel have been cleared away.

Christmas Eve. While the world sleeps, snow falls gently from the sky, presents await under the tree ... and murder is afoot. In this collection of ten classic murder mysteries from the best crime writers in history, death and mayhem take many festive forms, from the inventive to the unexpected. From a Santa Claus with a grudge to a cat who knows who killed its owner on Christmas Eve, these are stories to enjoy - and be mystified by - in front of a roaring fire, mince pie to hand.

Tucked away inside an old lighthouse in Beacon Harbor, Michigan, bakeshop café owner Lindsey Bakewellis ready to make her first Christmas in town shine bright. But her merry plans crumble fast when murder appears under the mistletoe . . . With the spirit of the holidays wafting through the Beacon Bakeshop, Lindsey thinks she has the recipe for the sweetest Christmas ever—winning the town-wide cookie bake-off. Unfortunately, striving for a picture-perfect December in Beacon Harbor is a lot like biting into stale shortbread. Low on staff and bombarded by visits from family, Lindsey can barely meet demands at work, let alone summon the confidence to face fierce competition . . . Self-appointed Christmas know-it-all Felicity Stewart is determined to take the top spot in the bake‐off, and she’s not afraid to dump a little coal in everyone’s stocking to do it. Just as the competition heats up, everything falls apart when the judge is found dead—and covered in crumbs from Lindsey’s signature cookie! Solving a murder was never on Lindsey’s wish list. But with her reputation on the line during the happiest time of the year, she’ll need to bring her best talents to the table in order to sift out the true Christmas Cookie culprit. Includes Delicious Recipes!

With her hometown awash with crime, a sleuth must solve a slaying. Can she save her family from a treacherous plot? Yorkshire, England, 1962. Miss Riddell definitely isn't having a merry Christmas. With her mother sick and brother pestering her to investigate a forged will, the worst winter in decades has her longing to return to regular life. And just as a series of ugly incidents in the village pushes the pressure to a boiling point, things take a deadly turn when her cousin is brutally murdered. Convinced there's a devious link between the fraud and the death, Miss Riddell puts her sharp mind to work uncovering clues. But with the unscrupulous culprit evading police, she'll have to put everything on the line to corner the killer. Can Miss Riddell wrap up the case without becoming the next frozen corpse? A Murder for Christmas is the electric third tale in the Miss Riddell Cozy Mysteries series. If you like crafty heroines, perplexing puzzles, and charming Yuletide settings, then you'll love P.C. James' clever story. Buy A Murder for Christmas to set a cunning trap today!