Showing results by narrator "C. S. E. Cooney" in All Categories

Mattie Schrock is no stranger to uprooting her life. Even as her father relocated her family from one Amish community to the next, she always managed to find a footing in their new homes. Now as the Schrock family plans to move west from Somerset County to a fledgling Amish settlement in Indiana, she looks forward to connecting with old friends who will be joining them from another Pennsylvania community - friends like Jacob Yoder, who has always held a special place in her heart. Since Mattie last saw Jacob, they've both grown into different people with different dreams.

Cat's sweetheart, Seth, is going all out on an outing into the local mountains - for the benefit of the writing group Cat's hosting at her Colorado B&B. But when they try to identify some plant and animal life, they find death instead. The body belongs to a man with a gold claim a few miles away. Instead of striking it rich, he's been struck down. To his surprise, Seth recognizes the victim from his military days - and up to now believed he'd already died during his last tour of duty. Now, Cat has to solve this mystery before the killer takes a hike....

A highlight of Savannah's new glass bead workshop is a technique called flame-working, which requires the careful wielding of acetylene torches. Understandably, safety is a top priority. But as Savannah is ensuring her students' safety inside, a hit-and-run driver strikes down a pedestrian outside her shop.

Casa del Chocolate is one of Salem's most charming boutique candy shops, making it a perfect profile story. Although preoccupied with her own personal sweet news—Lee and her detective husband Pete Mondello are expecting a bundle of joy—she cheerfully agrees to interview the chocolatier. Since becoming pregnant, the radiant and exhilarated mother-to-be has discovered that she is finally free of the unwanted haunting "visions" she has endured since childhood.

Just married, Lee and her husband, Detective Sergeant Pete Mondello, are settling into their new home when Lee is dubbed WICH-TV's new "Historical Documentary Chief Executive." Her first subject is the brand-new Salem International Museum, slated to be a location for traveling blockbuster exhibits, starting with "Seafaring New England." From research to collecting artifacts of Salem's long-ago days as a shipping capital, the project is a challenge—but when the driver of a truckload of antiquities turns up dead under a pile of fall leaves, it's not quite the kind of challenge Lee expected.

With the grand re-opening of her Urban Tails Pet Shop just days away, Shell McMillan has her hands full planning entertainment for the festive event, including a fortune-telling parrot. But her jubilant mood is soon threatened by ominous rumors of the return of Johnny Draco, a former investment guru who swindled money from most of the residents of Fox Hollow and then vanished without a trace. And when the parrot predicts a dire future for Draco and his dead body is found just hours later, no one can say they're surprised—but no one will say who did it.

Desperate to find a director for their annual production, the Fox Hollow Players have a stroke of luck when Shell McMillan's actress mother lands a prominent theater director for the job. He's more gruff and demanding than the small-town cast and crew are used to, but his soft side for animals quickly endears him to pet shop owner Shell. Persuading her to let him use a shed on her property where he can work in peace, Shell is horrified when she finds his dead body there. And with obvious signs of foul play, she can't help but investigate the murder.

Pet shop owner Shell McMillan is thrilled to see everyone in Fox Hollow flocking to the local animal shelter's fundraiser, where they can get their old keepsakes and collectibles appraised and maybe even sell them for a tidy sum. But the event has drawn some shady characters as well, including Pete Martin, who seems determined to get his hands on a beat-up old jewelry box at any cost. Then Martin is found murdered, and Shell has to go from fundraising to finding a killer.

Rarity is grateful for many things and people in her new life, including her friend Shirley, who is helping to provide backpacks and supplies for kids going back to school. But Shirley needs a big favor. With her husband in a memory-care home, she wants to attend an art opening with a male friend but fears local gossip. She asks Rarity, her friend Sam, and their boyfriends to come along as cover. It would be fun if not for the fact that the two couples are barely speaking . . .

When the lead actress is found dead on a set staged to replicate the room where suspected witches were tried in 1692—and her on-screen lover, in full costume, is discovered sound asleep in her trailer—the hunt is on for a killer on the loose. Now, even with help from River's entire coven, Lee's Aunt Ibby, and O'Ryan, a clairvoyant gentleman cat, sorting out a witch's brew of secrets, sorcery, and special effects might turn Lee's documentary into her own final act . . .

Cassandra Khaw's dynamic and vibrant debut collection, Breakable Things, explores the fragile and nebulous bonds that weave love and grief into our existence. This exquisite and cutting collection of stories showcases a bloody fusion of horrors from cosmic to psychological to body traumas.

Ever since her business partner, Shauna, fell for a wealthy landowner in town, Cat has been working double time to keep her writers' retreat running. And with the January session almost underway, that spells trouble. But best-laid plans really go awry when Shauna discovers her beau missing from their bed. When his body later turns up in the horse barn, they quickly find out the victim's scandalous lifestyle left many dying for revenge.

To kick off a winter writing retreat, Cat and her handyman boyfriend, Seth, escort the aspiring authors to a nearby ski resort, hoping that some fresh cold air will wake up their creative muses. But instead of hitting the slopes, they hit the bar - and before long, a tipsy romance novelist named Christina is keeping herself warm with a local ski bum who might have neglected to tell her about his upcoming wedding. Next thing Cat knows, her uncle, the town sheriff, informs her that the young man's been found dead.