Crafty Murder: A Cozy Mystery Short Story


Book Description

Enjoy this fun amateur sleuth short story by best-selling cozy murder mystery blind author S.Y. Robins. After her parents died in her teens, Emmeline was adrift, but determined to make something of herself. That was what her parents would have wanted, right? She aced college and went to business school, then moved to her brother’s new town, hoping to settle down. But plans have a way of not working out, and after a few years, Emmeline quit her stable, sensible job to open a tea shop. Successful and happy for the first time in years, Emmeline thought she had just about everything a girl could want. Who cared if she was pining after her downstairs neighbor, Nick? Who cared if the shop was just barely turning a profit? She got to do a job she loved all day every day. And with the town craft fair coming up, she set her sights on winning the big craft competition. Only… Emmeline’s life is about to turn upside down. Because a murderer is lurking in her tiny town, and when they strike at the craft competition, they make sure that the blame falls squarely on Emmeline. If you enjoy a light-hearted, easy, and relaxing murder mystery book, then this is the book for you. Suitable for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Deany Ray.




Murder Most Crafty


Book Description

15 all new stories of criminal handiwork and the art of deduction.




Theory of Prose


Book Description

"Viktor Shklovsky's 1925 book Theory of Prose might have become the most important work of literary criticism in the twentieth century had not two obstacles barred its way: the crackdown by the Soviet dictatorship on Shklovsky and other Russian Formalists in the 1930s, and the unavailability of an English translation. Now translated in its entirety for the first time, Theory of Prose not only anticipates structuralism and post-structuralism, but poses questions about the nature of fiction that are as provocative today as they were in the 1920s. Arguing that writers structure their material according to artistic principles rather than from attempts to imitate "reality," Shklovsky uses Cervantes, Tolstoi, Sterne, Dickens, Bely, and Rozanov to give us a new way of thinking about fiction and, in his most impassioned moments, about the world. Benjamin Sher's lucid translation will allow Shklovsky's Theory of Prose to fulfill its destiny as a major theoretical work of the twentieth century." from back cover.




Some Like It Hawk


Book Description

Meg Langslow helps run her town's fair while trying to solve a murder in the next installment in the award-winning avian-themed "New York Times"-bestselling series.




Heaven Preserve Us


Book Description

Wine jelly. Watermelon pickles. And a suicidal stalker? Great. Thirty-something crafter extraordinaire Sophie Mae Reynolds makes preserves by day and answers a crisis center help referral line by night. What better way to help people while still keeping a low profile? But on her very first night, she gets a call from a man who is threatening suicide...and her. Angrily deeming the caller a crank, her boss, Philip Heaven, disconnects the line. Days later, Philip dies from a nasty case of botulism. Now, as a stalker singles out Sophie Mae, Philip's eerie last words keep coming back to haunt her: Threat. Meant it. Stirring up the town with talk of murder by preserves, can Sophie Mae and her handsome boyfriend Detective Barr Ambrose spoil a mad murderer's poisonous plans? This dangerously delicious second book in the Home Crafting Mystery series also includes recipes for preserves and beauty products! Praise: "McRae writes about characters that we really care about, and her plot is thoroughly credible. Sophie Mae and her friends deserve many more adventures."—Booklist "There's something special about Ms. McRae as her strong characters and unique plot are definitely spellbinding."—Sydney Star Observer "Murder by preserves promises your enjoyment of McRae's humor."—The Coloradoan "Sophie Mae is a confident woman with an appetite for mystery and Heaven Preserve Us is a good one. The characters are engaging, the story intriguing, and the book a pleasure to read."—Mysterious Reviews "McRae delivers another satisfying and clever novel with an intriguing plot—murder by botulism."—Fresh Fiction "Nicely paced without any time wasted, Heaven Preserve Us does a fine job of leading the readers through the investigation with no false starts or cheap side trips...solid and entertaining."—Reviewing the Evidence "McRae ably navigates the waters of small-town crime, establishing believable characters and capturing the charm and camaraderie of the denizens of Cadyville. This town might well be worth visiting frequently."—Gumshoe Review "Sophie Mae is a top-notch cozy heroine."—Cozy Library




A Wicked Yarn


Book Description

A killer may craft the perfect crime, but as every knitter worth her yarn knows--murder wool out. Mother's Day should be a cinch for the good folks of the Crandalsburg Craft Fair, and knitting enthusiast Lia Geiger has a good feeling about this year's yield. But things quickly get knotty when Lia's daughter announces she's quit her job and Lia finds herself tangled up in the murder of her best friend's ex-husband. While Belinda's alibi quickly gets her off the hook, nasty rumors spread throughout Crandalsburg that shroud the entire fair in suspicion. Could the vendors be responsible for the murder of a man hell-bent on unraveling the fair just days before his death? Lia and her crafty group of Ninth Street Knitters must put down their needles to gather clues and save the crafting community they've grown to love.




Toucan Keep a Secret


Book Description

Toucan keep a secret, if one of them is dead. Meg Langslow is at Trinity Episcopal Church locking up after an event and checking on the toucan her friend Rev. Robyn Smith is fostering in her office. When she investigates the sound of hammering in the columbarium (the underground crypt where cremated remains are buried), Meg finds the murdered body of an elderly parishioner. Several niches have been chiseled open; several urns knocked out; and amid the spilled ashes is a gold ring with a huge red stone. The curmudgeonly victim had become disgruntled with the church and ranted all over town about taking back his wife's ashes. Did someone who had it in for him follow him to the columbarium? Or was the motive grave robbery? Or did he see someone breaking in and investigate? Why was the ruby left behind? While Chief Burke investigates the murder, Robyn recruits Meg to contact the families of the people whose ashes were disturbed. While doing so, Meg learns many secrets about Caerphilly's history—and finds that the toucan may play a role in unmasking the killer. Clues and events indicate that a thief broke into the church to steal the toucan the night of the murder, so Meg decides to set a trap for the would-be toucan thief—who might also be the killer. Toucan Keep a Secret is the twenty-third book in New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews' hilarious Mag Langslow mystery series.




Stuck on Murder


Book Description

The picturesque town of Morse Point may be a small dot on the New England landscape, but the decoupage class at Vintage Papers is larger than life. With cutouts, glue, and varnish, members create eye-catching projects—and uncover clues to a killing. For Brenna Miller, teaching the popular decoupage class is the only way to gloss over her painful past. But it hasn’t been easy making friends in a town that doesn’t warm up to outsiders. And it doesn’t help when the pushy mayor asks her to convince her enigmatic landlord, Nate Williams, to sell his lakefront property to land developers. But just when Brenna thinks the mayor’s given up, his body is found stuffed in a trunk at Morse Point Lake. And a witness claims that Nate’s truck was at the docks on the night of the murder. Now Brenna needs to help prove Nate’s innocence before his fate is signed, sealed, and delivered.




Bark Once For Murder


Book Description

Handsome and kind-hearted Will Sullivan owns a pet shop in an idyllic seaside town. Business is good, and he's dating again for the first time since his divorce, but in the course of a single day, Will's whole life turns upside-down. A corporate giant threatens to destroy his business, his ex-wife decides to move back to town, and worst of all, he discovers a dead body. When Will's girlfriend is arrested as a suspect, it's up to Will, with the help of an adorably enthusiastic shelter dog, to uncover the identity of the killer, in a town where just about anyone could be a suspect.




Paper, Scissors, Death


Book Description

Mousy housewife Kiki Lowenstein has two great loves - scrapbooking and her young daughter, Anya. But the pages of her family album are stained when her husband, George, is found naked and dead with a silk scarf stuffed in his mouth. And his partner claims that George had embezzled company money. Vowing to put the pieces together - with the dashing Detective Detweiler's help - Kiki is soon the prime suspect in the murder of George's former flame.