Auralee Wallace

When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt's name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery. For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There's never been a problem they couldn't handle. But then Constance Graves--a local known for being argumentative and demanding--dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident...but it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect. There's nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora's innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead--a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn't used her powers since her husband died, and isn't even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts' magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers--and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.

In the Company of Witches

When the Crow's Away

Heroes meets Bridget Jones in this brilliant, hilarious debut novel about a girl who just wants to save the world... Bremy St James, daughter of billionaire Atticus St James, has been cut off from the family fortune and is struggling to survive in a world that no longer holds its breath every time she buys a new outfit. To make matters worse, her twin sister is keeping secrets, loan sharks are circling, and the man of her dreams – a newspaper reporter – is on assignment to bring down everyone with the last name St James. Things are certainly looking bleak for the down–and–out socialite until a good deed throws her into the path of the city's top crime–fighter, Dark Ryder. Suddenly, Bremy has a new goal: apprentice to a superhero, and start her own crime–fighting career. Ryder has no need for a sidekick, but it turns out the city needs Bremy's help. Atticus St James is planning the crime of the century, and Bremy may be the only one able to get close enough to her father to stop him. Now all she needs to do is figure out this superhero thing in less than a month, keep her identity secret from the man who could very well be The One, and save the city from total annihilation. Well, no one ever said being a superhero would be easy...

Sidekick

Welcome to Otter Lake, where the relaxing, restorative atmosphere is to die for. Erica Bloom is in no rush to return to Otter Lake, the site of her mother's spiritual retreat for women. Erica met her inner goddess years ago and she's happy to have forged a new identity on her own, thank you very much. But her new-age-y, well-meaning mother is losing her grip on the business, and needs Erica's help. So she heads back to her New Hampshire hometown, where nothing much has changed-except for maybe the body in the well... SKINNY DIPPING WITH MURDER When Erica was a teenager, she fell prey to a practical joke that left her near-naked in Otter Lake's annual Raspberry Social. The incident was humiliating, but it wasn't like anyone got killed-until now. Those who were behind that long-ago prank are starting to turn up dead, and Erica's appearance in town makes her a prime suspect. To make matters worse, the town sheriff just happens to be Erica's old nemesis, Grady Forrester...who also happens to be hotter than ever. Can Erica find a way to dig up the truth-before someone digs her grave? The first book in Auralee Wallace's Otter Lake Mystery series is a killer good time!

An Otter Lake Mystery

Skinny Dipping with Murder

Cassie Beckett’s life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she’s really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet.

That is, until the vampires arrive.

As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie’s tenuous grip on normalcy, she’s forced to come face-to-face with long–disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty responsibility: rid the island of vampires, or let them win. (Both options suck, in more ways than one.)

Armed with her family, newfound friends, and a baby in a spectacularly garlicky onesie, Cassie must learn what it is to be a witch and how to fight for what she loves before time runs out. Because on Halloween night, the stakes will be higher than ever before...and it’s up to Cassie to finish what the witches that came generations before her started.

The Late-Night Witches

When murder strikes in the Tunnel of Love, Erica Bloom has to rock the boat to catch a killer... For a small town like Otter Lake, New Hampshire, the annual Fall Festival is a big deal: a Ferris wheel, corn maze, caramel apples, and pumpkin pies—even a Tunnel of Love. Back in her hometown, Erica Bloom is trying to enjoy herself, which includes getting better acquainted with Sheriff Grady Forrester. But when a swan boat sails out of the heart-shaped exit of the tunnel with a dead man slumped over a wing, her own romance will have to take a backseat. PUMPKIN PICKING WITH MURDER Speaking of love affairs, the other passenger in the boat—and only witness to the elderly Mr. Masterson’s swan song—is not his wife. It’s Erica’s beloved and feisty “aunt,” Tweety, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. Vowing to clear Tweety, Erica teams up with her sassy BFF and self-appointed security expert Freddie Ng to solve the murder—despite the objections of Grady, who’s convinced the amateurs are going overboard in their investigation. And he just may be right. But as Erica and Freddie start to dredge up long-kept small-town secrets, will they heading straight into troubled waters? Pumpkin Picking with Murder is the second book in Auralee Wallace's Otter Lake Mystery series!

Pumpkin Picking with Murder

The ghost of a recently deceased chocolatier believes he was murdered, and it's up to young witch Brynn Warren to use her magical gifts and old-fashioned sleuthing skills to find out how he really met his bitter end in this enchanting new Evenfall Witches B&B Mystery. After spending months unable to use her powers, Brynn Warren is once again using her gift and working at her family's bed-and-breakfast. Her heart is full, and although one of her aunts wonders if it might be a little more full with a bit of romance in her life, Brynn is certain that finding love again is not in her future. In fact, she can’t imagine anyone being more certain of anything…except for maybe, the recently deceased Mortimer Sweete. He’s certain he’s been murdered, and he wants Brynn’s help to bring his killer to justice. Mort is positive he knows who killed him: his business partner's wife, Cookie, who had been trying to get them to sell the candy shop for months. But Brynn doesn't share his conviction. After all, the coroner ruled his death natural causes, and Mort did have health problems in life. But with Cookie putting up a For Sale sign for the shop already, Brynn knows she can't just let it go. Trying to solve a might-be murder while attempting to stop her aunt from meddling in her personal life seems like a recipe for disaster. If Brynn wants to bring Mort's spirit peace, she'll have to rely on all her skills—both magical and mundane—to uncover the truth.

It’s been a tough year for Erica Bloom. And with hours left on the clock and a killer crashing the party, it’s not over yet... This New Year’s Eve, Erica’s resolution is to have a great night—even if it kills her. She is, after all, at the party to end all parties: a Great Gatsby--themed gala sure to be the talk of Otter Lake, New Hampshire. With her perfectly finger-waved hair, borrowed pearls, and scarlet flapper dress, Erica is determined to be unflappable, despite the presence of her ex, Sheriff Grady Forrester, and his hot date, a bubbly blonde who has a hard time holding her drink. Literally. . . In a plot twist as bizarre as a game of Clue, Grady’s girlfriend almost drops dead after her drink is poisoned. Who put the killer ingredient in her appletini? Suddenly the tables have turned and the sheriff has become the prime suspect. Now Erica has until midnight to clear the man she still loves—and in so doing just maybe win him back. That’s if the killer doesn't pop the cork again... and turn a New Year’s smooch into a kiss of death... “Wonderfully entertaining!” —RT Book Reviews “A frolicking good time...with a heroine who challenges Stephanie Plum for the title of funniest sleuth.”—New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson

Ring In the Year with Murder

Down the Aisle with Murder

First comes love. Then comes. . .murder? Some wedding stories are so bizarre that you can't even make them up. Take Erica Bloom's latest case of an Otter Lake bride whose BFF is MIA at the time she's supposed to perform her duties as maid of honor. ..only to be found DOA. Erica and her security team—minus her beloved Grady, who's on vacation, trying to stay out of town business and has a no-nonsense sheriff covering for him—have followed every possible lead to find out what really happened to the young woman. Is her death the result of a bachelorette party gone wildly wrong? Or did someone with cold feet snap—and turn into a cold-blooded killer? These are the questions that must be answered for the nuptials, which at the eleventh hour receive a dramatic makeover, to go off without a hitch...before 'til death do us part. Down the Aisle with Murder is part of the Otter Lake mystery series by Auralee Wallace.

Erica Bloom and Otter Lake Security are once again on the case in Haunted Hayride with Murder, the next installment in the hilarious Otter Lake mystery series. Trick-or-treating just got a whole lot deadlier. Erica Bloom is loving everything about autumn this year in Otter Lake, New Hampshire: changing leaves, apple cider, cozy sweaters... and the warm and fuzzy relationship that’s heating up between her and Sheriff Grady Forrester. But when some local teens out to find some Halloween thrills come across a boot with a dead man’s foot bones still inside it, a chilling new reality comes into play. Everyone in Otter Lake knows about the age-old witch who haunts the apple orchard bordering the White Mountains. So when the bones turn out to belong to a long-gone local with a scandalous connection to the orchard, stories of the spooky figure roaming the forests at night once again rise up from the past. Now it’s up to Erica and the rest of the Otter Lake Security team to expose the identity of the killer. Will they be able to lay this ghost to rest...or will this witch hunt be their last? The Otter Lake series is: “A frolicking good time...with a heroine who challenges Stephanie Plum for the title of funniest sleuth.”—New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson “Wonderfully entertaining!” —RT Book Reviews

Haunted Hayride with Murder

When murder strikes in the Tunnel of Love, Erica Bloom has to rock the boat to catch a killer... For a small town like Otter Lake, New Hampshire, the annual Fall Festival is a big deal: a Ferris wheel, corn maze, caramel apples and pumpkin pies—even a Tunnel of Love. Back in her hometown, Erica Bloom is trying to enjoy herself, which includes getting better acquainted with Sheriff Grady Forrester. But when a swan boat sails out of the heart-shaped exit of the tunnel with a dead man slumped over a wing, her own romance will have to take a backseat. PUMPKIN PICKING WITH MURDER Speaking of love affairs, the other passenger in the boat—and only witness to the elderly Mr. Masterson’s swan song—is not his wife. It’s Erica’s beloved and feisty “aunt,” Tweety, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. Vowing to clear Tweety, Erica teams up with her sassy BFF and self-appointed security expert Freddie Ng to solve the murder—despite the objections of Grady, who’s convinced the amateurs are going overboard in their investigation. And he just may be right. But as Erica and Freddie start to dredge up long-kept small-town secrets, will they heading straight into troubled waters? Pumpkin Picking with Murder is the second book in Auralee Wallace's Otter Lake Mystery series!

Snowed In with Murder

Ellie Alexander

Judith Flanders

Carola Dunn

Donna Andrews

Sheila Connolly

Carolyn Haines

Susan C. Shea

Looking for a new cozy mystery author to love? Dive in to this collection of excerpts from the Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press SPRING 2018 season (May-July). The Cozy Case Files collection includes: Dressed for Death in Burgundy by Susan Shea Down the Aisle with Murder by Auraleee Wallace A Howl of Wolves by Judith Flanders Toucan Keep a Secret by Donna Andrews Charmed Bones by Carolyn Haines Murder at the Mansion by Sheila Connolly Till Death Do Us Tart by Ellie Alexander The Corpse at the Crystal Palace by Carola Dunn

Auralee Wallace

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