Sharon's Cozy Reads for December

The Holiday season is here and there is a wonderful selection of great new cozy mysteries that are just perfect for cuddling up with a nice cup of tea or cocoa and a great read! They would also make great gifts for the readers in your family (or a nice treat for yourself!)

Here are a few that I think you will find worthy of note!

There are some wonderful holiday–themed cozies this year – These will really kick–off the Christmas spirit in even the Scroogiest folks!

HOLIDAY BUZZ: A Coffee House Mystery #12
By Cleo Coyle
Berkley Prime Crime

Holiday time is party time in New York City, but after a sparkling winter bash ends with a murder, Village Blend coffeehouse manager Clare Cosi vows to put the killer on ice.

At the Great New York Cookie Swap, pastry chefs bake up their very best for charity. Clare is in charge of the beverage service, and her famous Fa–la–la–la Lattes make the gathering even merrier. But her high spirits come crashing down to earth when she discovers the battered body of a hard–working baker's assistant. Police suspect a serial attacker whose escalating crimes have become known as "The Christmas Stalkings."

Clare's boyfriend, NYPD detective Mike Quinn, finds reason to believe even more sinister forces are involved. Clare isn't so sure, until she finds a second bludgeoned baker and becomes a target herself. Now Clare must investigate "Saint Nick," crash a pro–hockey party, and dodge a pair of reality TV divas—because she's not going to rest until justice is served.

Includes holiday and cookie recipes!

THE CLUE IS IN THE PUDDING: A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery #20
By Kate Kingbury
Berkley Prime Crime

The kitchen staff of the Pennyfoot Hotel is toiling away to prepare the finest meal for the guests on Christmas. And the plum pudding may very well be to die for.

Cecily Sinclair Baxter could use a Christmas miracle. Mrs. Chubb, the Pennyfoot's housekeeper, must travel up north for a family emergency, and Cecily needs a temporary replacement. The agency doesn't have much to offer on short notice during this busy time of year. But they have someone—Beatrice Tucker—who turns out to be more of a curse.

She fights with just about everyone, including Archibald Armitage.

Star of the London stage, Armitage is staying at the Pennyfoot this holiday season. His presence turns out to be a blessing after he rescues the stable manager's dog from drowning in the icy duck pond. But not everyone in Badgers End is a fan of the actor...

When Armitage drops dead after Beatrice serves him some plum pudding, everyone assumes the huffy housekeeper is the culprit. But as Cecily begins to investigate, the list of suspects grows, and solving this case may not be as easy as pie...or pudding.

LET IT SEW: A Southern Sewing Circle Mystery #7
By Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Berkley Prime Crime

Down south, the holidays mean family—and for Yankee librarian Tori Sinclair, family means the Sweet Briar Ladies Society sewing circle. It may not be a white Christmas, but it's one she'll never forget—no matter how hard she tries.

Instead of spending a nice, relaxing Christmas with her fiancé, Tori Sinclair has been drafted into Sweet Briar's holiday Decorating Committee. And the season has brought sad tidings as well: Charlotte Devereaux, a sewing circle founding member who unraveled after her storybook marriage fell apart, has passed away.

Charlotte's last days were foggy, distressed, and feverish... except for the sketches she produced. One detail in particular jumps out at Tori and leads to a shocking revelation: Charlotte's husband didn't leave her—he was murdered! And as she gets closer to the truth, Tori will discover that just about everyone in town has got notches on the naughty list this year.

More new releases include:

STAKE AND EGGS: A Cackleberry Club Mystery #4
By Laura Childs
Berkley Prime Crime

New York Times bestselling author Laura Childs presents the best way to start your day—with a hearty breakfast and a side of hard–boiled murder.

Suzanne, Toni, and Petra found a second life after losing their husbands—opening their own successful business, the Cackleberry Club café. But the three women never expected sleuthing to be the special of the day.

When a snowmobile crashes into the woods behind the Cackleberry Club café, Suzanne finds her town's most–hated banker beheaded by a wire staked in the snow. Now some of her best customers are prime suspects with a bushel of motives, and the murder investigation is snowballing. An elusive young runaway may be the Cackleberry Club's only way to crack the case...provided Suzanne can keep her head long enough to track down the cold–blooded killer.

BOOK, LINE AND SINKER: A Library Lover's Mystery #3
By Jenn McKinlay
Berkley Prime Crime

"Avast" in pirate speak means what?"

Answering tricky reference questions like this one provides plenty of excitement for library director Lindsey Norris. But when a shocking murder is committed in her cozy coastal town of Briar Creek, Connecticut, the question of who did it must be answered before an innocent man gets the book thrown at him.

Lindsey is enjoying her second year in Briar Creek as the library director, meeting with the crafternoon club, and happily dating tour boat captain Mike Sullivan. But when a salvage company arrives in town to dig up treasure buried on Pirate Island over three hundred years ago, the locals are torn between protecting the island and welcoming the publicity.

In spite of the squabbling, Charlie Peyton, Lindsey's downstairs neighbor, takes a job with the salvage company. But when Trudi Hargrave, the local tourism director who hired the company, is found murdered at the excavation site, Charlie becomes the chief suspect. To help him, Lindsey must do some digging of her own before the real killer buries the truth for good.

THREAD ON ARRIVAL: A Embroidery Mystery #5
By Amanda Lee
Obsidian Books

Embroidery shop owner Marcy Singer gets hung up on a tapestry that may lead to sunken treasure and be the motive for murder.When Marcy's friend Reggie, Tallulah Falls' local librarian, asks her to teach an embroidery class as therapy for domestic abuse victims, she gladly agrees. One of the women wants to flee from her abusive husband but is afraid to leave her elderly father–in–law behind. And she thinks Marcy can help.

The elderly gentleman shows Marcy a tapestry his grandmother made, which he believes reveals the location of pirate treasure off the Oregon coast. He'll move to a shelter—provided Marcy takes the tapestry to keep it safe. But when the police arrive the next day to escort him out, they find the old man murdered and the house ransacked. Does someone want that treasured tapestry desperately enough to kill for it?

A HAUNTING DREAM: A Missing Pieces Mystery #4
By Joyce and Jim Lavene
Berkley Prime Crime

The mayor of Duck, North Carolina, Dae O'Donnell, is a woman with a gift for finding lost things. Sometimes it leads her to lost keys or earrings—and sometimes it leads her to murder.

When her boyfriend Kevin's ex–fiancée Ann arrives in Duck looking for a second chance, Dae suddenly finds herself facing certain heartache. And while her romantic life is in shambles, she's even more concerned by the sudden change in her gift. After touching a medallion owned by a local named Chuck Sparks, Dae is shocked when her vision reveals his murder—and a cry for help.

Dae doesn't know what to make of the dead man's plea to "Help her," until she has another vision about a kidnapped girl—Chuck's daughter, Betsy. With a child missing, the FBI steps in to take over the case. But Dae can't ignore her visions of Betsy, or the fact that Kevin's psychic ex–fiancée might be the only person who can help find her.

MURDER ON THE HOUSE: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery #3
By Juliet Blackwell
Obsidian Books

Bed–and–breakfast—with a side of ghosts.

Word has spread that contractor Mel Turner can communicate with the spirits of the dead, and she's having a hard time maintaining a low profile. She decides to embrace her reputation for the chance to restore a historic house that calls to her. The new owners, who hope to run a haunted bed–and–breakfast, want Mel to encourage the ghosts that supposedly roam the halls to enhance the house's paranormal charm.

The catch: Mel has to spend one night in the house to win the project. During the spine–chilling sleepover, the estate gains another supernatural occupant when someone doesn't survive the night. As Mel tries to coax the resident spirits into revealing the identity of the killer, she risks becoming the next casualty of this dangerous renovation.

A KILLER MAIZE: A Farmer's Market Mystery #4
By Paige Shelton
Berkley Prime Crime

Becca Robbins is selling her farm–made jams and preserves at a county fair where business is not the only thing that's dead.

The last person Becca expects to run into at the Swayton County Fall Festival is her ex–husband, Scott Triplett, who's operating a shooting gallery. Honesty was not always Scott's policy, and their unexpected reunion is further complicated when the festival becomes a crime scene. On Becca's second day there, Ferris wheel operator Virgil Morrison is found hanging from his rickety ride, dead from a gunshot.

As Becca starts to notice Scott suspiciously sneaking around the fairgrounds, she begins to worry her ex may be involved in the murder. Then there's the shadow she sees in the creepy corn maze and rumors of a gypsy curse—not to mention Virgil's mysterious spider tattoo. Now Becca must search through a labyrinth of lies, secrets, and superstition to find a kernel of truth...before the killer starts stalking her.

BEELINE TO TROUBLE: A Queen Bee Mystery #4
By Hannah Reed
Berkley Prime Crime

Folks in Moraine, Wisconsin, are buzzing about the latest swarm of trouble humming around Story Fischer.

It's a real buzz–kill when beekeeper Story Fischer gets a visit from her frantic sister. Now she has to help host a combative trio of professional food flavorists. Good thing the well–stocked shelves of Story's grocery store, the Wild Clover, can provide the morning meal.

During a pre–lunch tour of Story's hives, however, one of the guests is found dead. Just what Story needs only days after hunky boyfriend, Hunter Wallace, finally decided to move in. As if a dead body isn't enough to put a damper on romance, Story becomes a prime suspect when the carrot juice she brought with the breakfast fixings is found to contain poison. Now it's up to Story to comb through the evidence and find the real perpetrator before she ends up getting stung herself.

AND THEN YOU DYE: A Needlecraft Mystery #16
By Monica Ferris
Berkley Prime Crime

Betsy Devonshire, full–time owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part–time sleuth, has hooked more than a few crooks in the USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries. Now Betsy learns the hard way that a murder is still murder, any way you color it.

Betsy is a natural–born yarnsmith—so it's only fitting that some of her favorite items to stock come from the dye–works of Hailey Brent. Hailey makes hand–dyed knitting wool, silk, soy, and corn yarns. She uses only natural vegetable dyes, creating soft and beautiful colors. Which means her yarns are expensive, but well worth it.

Unfortunately, someone thinks they're worth killing for.

When Hailey's body is discovered shot dead in her workshop, Betsy discovers that there was a lot about Hailey she would have never guessed. Like her penchant for stealing other's property for her own use. Her use of dangerous additives to create her so–called all–natural fibers. And a scheming mind that had made her more than one enemy. Now, Betsy must wring the truth from a bevy of colorful suspects. Because the truth just might mean the difference between living—and dyeing.

READ AND BURIED: A Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery #2
By Erika Chase
Berkley Prime Crime

Hosting an award–winning novelist is quite a Christmas coup for the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straw Society. But when he's murdered in Lizzie Turner's house, she's got a holiday homicide on her hands.

For their very first guest author event, most of the book club members can't wait to pull out all the stops in Southern hospitality. But for Lizzie, Derek Alton is nothing but trouble—from his massive ego to his smarmy moves. When he's found murdered in her living room, it seems someone decided that this womanizing writer would be better off dead than read. After suspicion falls on Lizzie's friend, she and her fellow book club members discover that Derek wasn't who he pretended to be. Cracking this case means going up against Lizzie's boyfriend, police chief Mark Dreyfus, and unearthing a novel's worth of nasty secrets. And as they get closer to uncovering Derek's scandalous final manuscript, someone hiding in plain sight is out to write finis to Lizzie's sleuthing for good.

RECIPE FOR TREASON: A Lady Arianna Regency Mystery #3
By Andrea Penrose
Obsidian Books

England, 1814. Lady Arianna Hadley and her husband, the Earl of Saybrook, want nothing more than to savor a quiet life embellished by the occasional cup of the finest chocolate. However, when they receive orders to travel to Scotland and capture an elusive traitor, they feel their duty to the Crown must come first.

In a laboratory in Scotland, they discover the coprse of a chemistry professor—and cryptic papers hinting at a dangerous new discovery now in enemy hands. Racing against time, Arianna and Saybrook pursue their most cunning and dangerous adversary yet through a complex network of intrigue involving exotic chocolates, daredevil aviators, a missing inventor, and a secret recipe that must be recovered at any cost... INCLUDES CHOCOLATE RECIPES AND TRIVIA!

I hope that you find something interesting among this list that will make it's way to your To–Be–Read pile this holiday season.

I wish all readers a very happy, happy holiday season and I look forward to sharing more great books in the upcoming New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy Cozy Reading, ya'll!