The Icing On The Corpse

In the second Camilla MacPhee mystery, it’s now forty below in Canada’s capital, but victims’ advocate Camilla is feeling the heat. When a savage serial batterer goes on the rampage looking for revenge against his former girlfriend, the terrified woman turns to Camilla and Justice for Victims for help. But a sudden change of fortune causes her client to really feel the chill. Camilla wades into the investigation, now one of murder, and gets a frosty reception from the police. Soon everyone connected with the case is either cooling their heels behind bars or trying to avoid cold storage in the morgue. Camilla’s really skating on thin ice looking for this killer - literally.

A town historian is dead—and there may be ties to an old cold case—in this clever mystery starring a professional pet-treat baker. Kristan “Stan” Connor is thrilled to be invited to the Groundhog Day festivities in quirky Frog Ledge, Connecticut. Her organic, home-baked pet treats are a big hit at the annual celebration, though an important guest is curiously absent . . . When Helga Oliver, the town’s elderly historian, is found crumpled in the basement of the Historical Museum, the close-knit town is devastated. But after some tenacious digging, Stan discovers Helga was pushed down the stairs—and that this picture-perfect New England town may hide some dark secrets. Stan’s dogged determination reveals Helga’s ties to an unsolved death in 1948 . . . but how does that connect to Adrian Fox, who’s just arrived in town to shoot an episode of Celebrity Ghost Hunters? Stan is going to have to be very careful in chasing down the killer—if she wants to live to see another winter . . . Includes Gourmet Pet Food Recipes!

Fans of Marie Kondo and mysteries will love this series! Professional organizer Charlotte Adams is reminded that appearances can be deceiving, and disorder can be deadly . . . On her first visit to her new client’s immaculate home, professional organizer Charlotte Adams can’t imagine why she’s been called in to help—until the woman reveals her outrageously large collection of stuffed animals. But before Charlotte can even begin to tame the plush menagerie, a nasty neighbor who’s been making her client a nervous wreck is found murdered, and her client has confessed to the crime! Certain that the frazzled woman couldn’t have committed the deed, Charlotte can’t help snooping to learn why she confessed and who the real culprit might be. No sooner does she begin investigating, though, than her car tires are slashed, her home is broken into, and a close friend is nearly run over. Charlotte knows she’s on the right track, but she’ll have to act fast before the killer decides to straighten her out for good . . . Organizing Tips Included! Praise for the Books of Mary Jane Maffini: “A comedic, murderous romp . . . Maffini is a relaxed, accomplished, and wickedly funny writer.” —The Montreal Gazette “Mary Jane Maffini provides a first-rate, well-organized whodunit . . . A new series that is fun to read.” —Midwest Book Review “Maffini’s new series . . . is off to a brilliant start with this fast-paced mystery!” —Romantic Times “Deserves top marks for creating an entertaining, fast-paced thriller filled with witty one-liners, snappy dialogue and crackling suspense.” —The Strand Magazine “I’ll look forward to a long life for this series.” —Deadly Pleasures “Plenty of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages until the last sentence.” —Dru’s Book Musings “Maffini is a relaxed, accomplished and wickedly funny writer . . .” —The Times Colonist

Sport, fitness, games and murder are the main themes of this collection of wicked and witty crime fiction and poetry by the Ladies' Killing Circle. You'll watch your back in the hot tub after reading this book...

Finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Whodunnit Award for Best Traditional Mystery! When her mother disappears, professional organizer Charlotte Adams will have to take off on a very disorganized trip across Europe to save her life . . . It’s not unusual for Esme Adams to dash off overseas with no warning, but when weeks pass and Charlotte still hasn’t heard from her, she begins to worry that her mother’s in danger and has gone into hiding. Before she can even begin to guess where to start looking, though, Charlotte finds her own home ransacked and then set ablaze. Determined to escape a more serious attack while the police investigate, she sets off for Europe, hoping to track down her mother at one of her secluded getaway spots. As Charlotte follows a winding trail of clues through Paris, Lisbon, Milan and beyond—narrowly missing her mother in each city, and just as narrowly eluding her pursuers—secrets begin to emerge about her mother’s shadowy past. A history of ties to criminal organizations, an infamous bank heist, and a gentleman thief who may have been her one true love all raise questions about her mother’s true identity and the peril she faces. As Charlotte processes the dizzying implications about her mother, her own childhood memories, and the father she never knew, she’ll have to work fast to catch up with her mother, before her mother’s past catches up with them all . . . Travel Organizing Tips Included! Praise for the Books of Mary Jane Maffini: “Deserves top marks for creating an entertaining, fast-paced thriller filled with witty one-liners, snappy dialogue and crackling suspense.” —The Strand Magazine “A comedic, murderous romp . . . Maffini is a relaxed, accomplished, and wickedly funny writer.” —The Montreal Gazette “Mary Jane Maffini provides a first-rate, well-organized whodunit . . . A new series that is fun to read.” —Midwest Book Review “Maffini’s new series . . . is off to a brilliant start with this fast-paced mystery!” —Romantic Times “I’ll look forward to a long life for this series.” —Deadly Pleasures “Plenty of twists and turns that kept me turning the pages until the last sentence.” —Dru’s Book Musings

In the third Camilla MacPhee Mystery, Camilla’s looking forward to cutting loose at Ottawa’s Bluesfest, the huge open-air extravaganza, and to seeing the tail end of her annoying office assistant, Alvin, who is finally quitting. Then the news comes from the East Coast. Alvin’s younger brother Jimmy has vanished from the midst of a Canada Day crowd in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Is he dead? Has he been abducted? Sleuthing irritably about Sydney on Alvin’s behalf, Camilla manages to make the usual quota of people froth at the mouth, including Jimmy’s frantic family, forlorn friends and puzzled teachers. She doesn’t spare the parish priest or even the guy at the chip stand. Before Camilla knows it, all roads lead back to Ottawa, where a killer with everything to lose waits to create havoc among the tents, guitar-pickers and happy, swaying crowds. If Camilla doesn’t sort out this whole mess, how many other people are going to die?

Remembrance Day is a proud day for Camilla MacPhee’s good friend, Mrs. Violet Parnell, one of five thousand Canadian women to go overseas during World War II. But the next day she has vanished. Camilla, with only a few letters and documents to guide her, follows her friend to Tuscany, chasing though historic towns, across high promontories and along steep mountain roads. Vanishing old partisans and Allied aircraft crash sites keep Camilla hopping as she tries to find Mrs. P. before someone with a deadly serious reason to keep the past hidden finds her first. The fifth Camilla MacPhee takes the irascible Ottawa lawyer’s adventures to an exotic new locale, with the usual murderous results.

Music may soothe the savage breast, but in this fifth collection of witty and wicked crime fiction from the Ladies' Killing Circle, music provides the background for tales of murder and mayhem. Eighteen stories by Canadian women crime writers along with poems from Joy Hewitt Mann take their inspiration from titles as varied as the upbeat "Wake Up Little Suzie" through the romantic "Summertime" and musicals such as "There's No Business Like Show Business". It's a collection you won't want to put down until you've read every one and hummed all the tunes. You'll never listen to your favourite songs again without wondering what nefarious deeds they may have inspired.