It’s Back! The Year Round Christmas Series Returns

After a three year break, Merry and the gang are back, celebrating Christmas and solving mysteries all year long. Coming from Crooked Lane Books on September 19.

“Cozy queen Vicki Delany decks the halls with a witty and irresistible holiday mystery that offers amusing amateur theatrical antics and more twists than a candy cane. A hot cocoa toast to the return of the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series!”
—Ellen Byron, USA Today bestselling author of the Cajun Country Mysteries

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, the latest in Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas series, is sure to bring good cheer to even the Scroogiest of readers. You’ll be humming holiday tunes and watching for the ghosts of Christmases past and future as you turn the pages, reaching for hot chocolate or a gingerbread cookie no matter what the weather, as Merry and her friends save the holiday.”
—Leslie Budewitz, three-time Agatha Award-winning author of the Spice Shop Mysteries

“Vicki Delany’s bulging Christmas stocking of a mystery is bursting with small-town charm, a cast of quirky characters, a heroic dog and a surprise treat of an ending tucked in the toe!”
—Leslie Meier, author of the Lucy Stone Mystery Series

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America’s Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production.

Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus’s Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry’s shop assistant Jackie O’Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role.

It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.

 

STEEPED IN MALICE: The Fourth Tea by the Sea Mystery

Now available for pre-order. Coming July 25, 2023 from Kensington Books

“Beautifully described setting and a cast of charming, small-town characters” – Booklist

“Find a comfy chair, raise a cup of fragrant, freshly brewed tea to your lips, and settle down for murder and mayhem in a mystery novel set in a tearoom for a delightful form of armchair travel.” —TeaTime Magazine on The Tea by the Sea Mysteries

Afternoon tea isn’t just about flavorful brews and delicious treats. It’s also about presentation—fine china teacups (never mugs!), with carefully coordinated saucers and plates. With her fragile stock running low, Lily has an excuse to indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: visiting an antiques fair for replacements.
 
Among other finds, Lily snaps up a charming Peter Rabbit-themed tea set in a wicker basket, perfect for children’s events. But a few days later, a woman named Kimberly marches into the tearoom, rudely demanding to buy it back—then later returns and removes an envelope hidden in the basket’s lining.
 
An acquaintance of Lily’s named Rachel is on the trail of the tea set too. Apparently, she and Kimberly are half-sisters, searching for their mother’s final will. To her annoyance, Lily is dunked into the middle of this mess—especially when her ex-boyfriend turns out to be involved. But it’s more than a storm in a teacup when one of the sisters is found dead on the grounds of the B&B owned by Lily’s grandmother, Rose.
 
Is this a simple case of greed boiling over, or are there other suspects in the blend? It’ll take some savvy sleuthing from Lily, Rose, and their allies to find the answers before a killer shatters more lives . . .

Click here for all buy links: Steeped in Malice (kensingtonbooks.com)