From Galway, Ireland, to the North Pole, to Salem, Massachusetts, a trio of Halloween mysteries that prove the spookiest season knows no borders . . . and neither does murder! “The three cozy writers successfully exploit the deadly-cupcake theme in entertaining mysteries that will appeal to readers looking for a holiday treat.” —Library Journal on Halloween Cupcake Murder HALLOWEEN CUPCAKE MURDER by CARLENE O'CONNOR With Galway’s Halloween Mystery Tour only a few days away, Tara Meehan is scouring the town’s curiosity shops for spooky decorations. But when a stranger appears in her salvage shop bearing a cryptic cupcake and an ominous message, Tara suddenly finds herself tangled in a mystery with ancient Gaelic roots . . . MRS. CLAUS AND THE CANDY CORN CAPER by LIZ IRELAND Christmastown is pulling out all the stops for their Halloween celebration, but the sweet theme stokes the bitterest of rivalries amongst the elves, until tragedy strikes at Santaland’s newest bakery. It’s up to Mrs. Claus to to unmask a Halloween fiend . . . A TRIPLE LAYER HALLOWEEN MURDER by CAROL J. PERRY WICH-TV’s Lee Barrett can’t wait to cover Salem’s month-long Halloween festivities. But rumors swirl after a wealthy bakery owner goes missing. Now, amid Salem’s wicked revelry, Lee must conjure clues to reveal the missing millionaire . . . or the truth about his disappearance . . .

It’s almost time for the delicious warmth of Irish soda bread, but be careful where you bite–some of these recipes call for murder in this delicious collection of cozy mystery novellas featuring the popular St. Paddy’s Day treat. IRISH SODA BREAD MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR There’s very little time left before her wedding, but nonetheless Tara Meehan is helping out at her Uncle Johnny’s salvage mill for the day. Aunt Rose set up a convention for local psychics, including a bake sale to raise money for charity, but now she’s sick and available only via an iPad Johnny is carrying. The event promises to deliver a real pot of gold until Rose’s biggest rival shows up. Before Tara can utter a simple “top o’ the morning” to the man, he drops dead—with Johnny’s soda bread in his hands. It’s up to Tara to identify the deadly baker before another victim ends up chasing the rainbow straight into a grave . . . AN IRISH RECIPE FOR MURDER by PEGGY EHRHART To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, the Arborville, New Jersey, Advocate is sponsoring a soda bread–baking competition. Bettina Fraser is excited—her bake-off idea was the one to get the green light! But when a town councilman acting as a judge keels over after sampling an entry, the party atmosphere dies just as quickly. Now it’s up to Bettina and her Knit and Nibble knitting club bestie, Pamela Paterson, to find the killer responsible for the murderous morsel. MRS. CLAUS AND THE SINISTER SODA BREAD MAN by LIZ IRELAND When April Claus arrives in Cloudberry Bay, Oregon, to check on her flooded inn, her biggest worry is to keep everyone from realizing her three companions—Jingles, Juniper, and Butterbean—are elves. But soon enough she has more serious worries—it looks like her hapless caretaker Ernie has been storing stolen goods at the inn! Then one of Ernie’s shady pals is found dead, and the murder weapon turns up in a decorative loaf of soda bread at April’s craft fair booth. It’s up to April to uncover the killer before she spends St. Patrick’s Day in the county jail!

An Irish holiday anthology of cozy mysteries featuring a trio of today’s top cozy mystery authors that will make other cozy anthologies green with envy. IRISH MILKSHAKE MURDER by CARLENE O’CONNOR In advance of their St. Patrick’s Day wedding, Tara Meehan and Danny O’Donnell are off to the Aran Islands with their bridesmaids and groomsmen for a joint hen and stag party. The weekend kicks off with the ferry trip to Inis Mór, as the passengers enjoy boozy milkshakes on board and entertainment from a pair of famous Irish-dancing twin brothers. But faster than Tara can say “Oh, Danny Boy,” a murder shamrocks the boat as someone’s spiked shake turns out to be their final round. Stuck in a rural island cottage, while a storm rages outside, Tara must find the Celtic killer before her luck runs out . . . MURDER MOST IRISH by PEGGY EHRHART St. Patrick’s Day is drawing near in Arborville, New Jersey and the folks at Hyler's Luncheonette are getting into the holiday spirit with a new, limited-time, Irish-themed menu item--a festive green milkshake appropriately named, “The Leprechaun.” It’s a hit, until a patron is felled by one of the frothy concoctions during a sheep parade through the town. Now, it’s up to Pamela Paterson and her Knit & Nibble knitting club pal, Bettina Fraser, to catch a murderer and put a stop to the shear madness . . . MRS. CLAUS AND THE LUCKLESS LEPRECHAUN by LIZ IRELAND Spring in Santaland means two things: the elves have more leisure time and iceball season is in full swing! To celebrate, April Claus’s friend, Claire, whips up some minty milkshakes for her bustling ice cream shop, Santaland Scoop. But when the St. Paddy’s promotion makes one elf the target of a decidedly unlucky strike, Mrs. Claus and her friends must figure out if the attack was a failed hit job, a crime of passion, or an extremely unfortunate accident . . .

Everything’s coming up roses for garda Siobhán and the rest of O’Sullivan family in quaint Kilbane, County Cork, Ireland—until a murder investigation blooms out of a deadly gardening competition. While Siobhán studies for her Detective Sargeant exams, her brother, Eoin, prepares for the grand opening of his new restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, and concocts a plan to enter Kilbane’s Top Garden Contest to boost business. But trouble brews when Eoin hires a mercurial landscape designer known for her killer designs. His new partner’s unflattering reputation and questionable practices nearly eclipse her talents—and plunge the prestigious competition into chaos. A lush and intricate winning garden emerges from the controversy, with a spectacular golden statue in the center of the display. But in a devastating twist, the work of art leads to the shocking discovery of a bold and brutal work of murder. Everyone in town has an opinion about who committed the crime and planted the evidence, from easily bribed sponsors to green-with-envy gardeners. And with another golden statue found in Eoin’s garden display, rumors about his involvement intensify. As local gossip buzzes and a list of suspects grows, it’s up to quick-witted Siobhán and her husband, Macdara, to suss out the guilty culprit’s identity . . . before the competition buries another victim.

Fans of M.C. Beaton and Rhys Bowen, prepare for a delectable page-turner that mixes the charm of the Emerald Isle with the irresistible allure of a classic cozy whodunit. Siobhán and Macdara Flannery's plans for a romantic honeymoon by the sea crumble like battered cod when they discover a dead body in the local fish and chip shop. This charming village harbors secrets beneath its culinary delights, but even a crafty killer is no match for these cunning sleuths. Siobhán’s brother Eoin’s new family restaurant, The O’Sullivan Six, is so close to opening—but waiting on the necessary permits plus the heat of July in the village of Kilbane in County Cork is driving everyone a bit mad. Macdara Flannery comes to the rescue with a plan—take a holiday by the sea and stuff themselves with fish and chips to support the struggling business of the aptly named Mrs. Chipper. But when they arrive, a crowd is gathered in front of the closed shop: a local fisherman with a fresh cod delivery, a food critic, Mrs. Chipper’s ex-husband who’s opening a competing fish and chips shop directly across the street, and a repairman to fix the vent for the deep fryer. With Siobhán and Macdara as witnesses, a local handyman gets the locked door open, only to find the proprietor lying dead and covered in flour at the base of a ladder, its rungs coated in slippery fat. Clearly this was not an accidental tragedy . . . Even as the local garda take over the murder investigation, Siobhán and Macdara can’t help themselves from placing their long-delayed honeymoon on hold—at least until they can help apprehend an elusive killer.

Bakery owner Hannah Swensen just can’t keep her hands out of the batter when murder stirs things up in Lake Eden, Minnesota, leaving the sheriff dead, a deputy accused, and a killer on the loose . . . For Hannah, life seems to be lacking a certain flavor lately. Maybe it’s the local sheriff’s election that’s got her down. For years, Sheriff Grant’s been the iron hand in town. But now, Hannah’s brother-in-law, Bill, is giving the old blowhard the fight of his long, dubious career—and Grant’s not taking it well, especially once the polls show Bill pulling ahead. But before anyone can taste victory, Hannah makes a very unappetizing discovery: Sheriff Grant’s body in the dumpster behind the high school where she’s teaching her cooking class. Worse, the poor man still has fudge frosting on his shirt from one of her cupcakes. The number one—and only—suspect is Bill, but Hannah’s not swallowing it. Plenty of people had reason to hate Sheriff Grant. Soon, Hannah’s dishing up scandalous secrets, steaming hot betrayals, and enough intrigue to keep the gossip mill at The Cookie Jar going through several pots of decaf. And the closer Hannah gets to the truth, the closer she gets to smoking out a murderer with a very nasty recipe for silencing people . . . INCLUDES TEN ORIGINAL DESSERT RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY! “For fans of culinary mysteries.”—Library Journal “Scrumptious.”—Publishers Weekly

In late summer, the Dingle peninsula is thronged with tourists drawn to County Kerry’s dark mountains and deep, lush valleys. For Irish vet Dimpna Wilde, who has returned to run her family’s practice after years away, home is a beautiful but complicated place—especially when it becomes the setting for a brutal murder . . . In Dimpna Wilde’s veterinary practice, an imminent meteor shower and the watch parties that are planned all over Dingle have taken over the usual gossip. But there are also matters nearer at hand to discuss—including the ragtag caravan of young people selling wares by the roadside and the shocking death of Chris Henderson, an elderly local, in a hit-and-run. Just hours before his death, Henderson had stormed into the garda station, complaining loudly about the caravan’s occupants causing noise and disruption. One of their members is Brigid Sweeney, a beautiful young woman who later turns up at Dimpna’s practice, splattered in blood with an injured hare tucked into her jacket, claiming that a mysterious stranger has been trying to obtain a lucky rabbit’s foot. Matters worsen on the night of the meteor shower when Dimpna finds Brigid’s dead body tied to a tree, a rabbit’s foot tied to her severed left hand. The rabbit’s foot, the severed hand, the coinciding meteor shower—the deeper Dimpna and Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien investigate, the more ominous the signs seem to be, laced with a warning that Dimpna fears it will prove fatal to overlook.

With the haunting, moody prose of Tana French and the compulsive storytelling of Dervla McTiernan or Ann Cleeves, bestselling author Carlene O’Connor lures readers to a remote village on Ireland’s southwest coast, where winding windswept roads open to spectacular views of rugged cliffs against immense, lonely beaches . . . and some fear a mysterious cult could be connected to the disappearance of a young pregnant woman. After two pregnant women in Dingle who have never met each receive a chilling email warning them that they’re in grave danger, the two decide to meet each other to figure out what is going on. But when one of the mothers, Shauna, a deaf woman, arrives at their meeting place at the village Spring Festival, she fears a trap and hurries off to meet the couple who plan to adopt her baby. Meanwhile, Dimpna Wilde has her hands full with lambing season and keeping track of her father, so she’s grateful for the help of a well-meaning ten-year-old boy, Dylan, at the veterinary clinic. But when the lad goes missing after going into a bog on a dare with two other boys to search for a “monster,” she is desperate to help find him. After the adoptive couple are discovered tied up in their home, telling a terrifying story of a deaf pregnant woman being abducted by a man wearing a butterfly mask, Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien and Detective Sergeant Barbara Neely fear a repeat of a disturbing case from twenty years earlier, when a charismatic leader calling himself the Shepherd, lured poor pregnant girls into his enigmatic cult. Though allegations of baby smuggling were never proven, he’d been put away on other charges. But then they learn that the Shepherd has recently been released from prison. Trapped in a cold, dark room with a frightened boy, Shauna fears for their lives as well as that of her unborn baby. If she has any chance of getting out and away from the Moth Man, as she calls her abductor, she’ll have to figure out the truth behind who she really is and how that connects to the ordeal she finds herself in now. But time is running out and her baby will be born soon . . .

Hannah Swensen just can't keep her hands out of the batter when murder stirs things up... Joanne Fluke's fifth instalment of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, Fudge Cupcake Murder, sees the intrepid sleuth track down another murderer amid the excitement of the Town Sheriff elections. Packed full of delicious recipes and perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton and H. Y. Hanna. 'Scrumptious' - Publishers Weekly For bakery owner Hannah Swensen, life in Lake Eden, Minnesota has been lacking a certain flavour of late. But it's the Town Sheriff elections, and for years Sheriff Grant has laid down the law. Now, Hannah's brother-in-law, Bill, is giving the old blowhard the fight of his long, dubious career. But when Sheriff Grant's body winds up in a dumpster behind the school where Hannah had been teaching her weekly cooking class, things go very sour indeed. To make matters worse, the poor man still has fudge frosting on his shirt from one of her cupcakes. The only suspect is Bill, but Hannah's not swallowing it. Can she use a particularly nasty recipe to smoke out the murderer once and for all? What readers are saying about the Hannah Swensen mysteries: 'What more could you want from a cosy crime novel?' 'Delicious recipes, good plotlines, believable characters.A pleasurable, easy read' 'Hannah is a very likable heroine... I was hooked on the plot from the very beginning'

It’s beginning to look a lot like New Year’s in this creative and witty mystery featuring a unique heroine who’s married to the real-life Santa Claus and living in the North Pole. Santaland is scrambling to keep its secrets hidden from a trio of unexpected guests, but before the New Year’s Eve ball drops, the countdown is on for April Claus to catch a killer… April Claus is looking forward to relaxing with her hubby, Nick (aka THE Santa Claus), in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. But just after Santa departs for his deliveries, an elf pulls into Santaland with three people he found lost in the frozen wilderness. The survivors of a scientific expedition are injured, but their presence endangers the future of Santaland. So, while the strangers recuperate at the infirmary, April convinces Christmastown to pull off its grandest, most impossible, most magical feat yet . . . pretend to be normal! Posing as a touristy, albeit Christmas-centric, arctic town, the elves cover their ears, snowmen take a vow of silence, and the reindeer keep their hooves on the ground. But as New Year’s Eve draws closer, hiding their true selves becomes harder to do, especially when one of the uninvited guests dies under highly suspicious circumstances. With a murderer in their midst, April sets out to find the uncorked culprit before any auld acquaintances should be forgot . . . or worse.