Twas the Knife Before Christmas

Twas the Knife Before Christmas
Author: Jacqueline Frost
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2018-11-13
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1683318048

A Christmas delight, ’Twas the Knife Before Christmas will charm the stockings off readers of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier. It’s out of the cupcake tin, into the fire for Holly White’s best friend, Caroline. Can Holly clear Caroline’s name in time to go caroling? When a body turns up in a larger-than-life candy bowl filled with peppermints on the town square, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend Caroline is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine’s sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, a custom kitchen knife, engraved with Caroline's initials was found with him. Now, just ten days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle―and now she has to find time to clear her best friend of murder. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff, and a personal stalker dressed as Santa Claus, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime. But her Sherpa-lined mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas...even after she gains the true killer’s attention? Find out in ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s second pine-scented Christmas Tree Farm mystery.

Twelve Slays of Christmas

Twelve Slays of Christmas
Author: Jacqueline Frost
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2017-10-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1683313186

When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime—exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm. When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn't watch out, she'll end up on Santa's naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut.

Slashing Through the Snow

Slashing Through the Snow
Author: Jacqueline Frost
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-08-22
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1639104445

Maine innkeeper Holly White returns to sleuth another seasonal slaying in the third Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost. Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm is going into the B&B business, and Holly White is looking forward to her new role as innkeeper. Even better, Mistletoe, Maine's sheriff, Evan Gray, has deputized his little sister Libby to help Holly wrap presents for Mistletoe's toy drive. But a cold wind ruffles the cheery holiday decorations when a new guest checks in: Karen, a vicious B&B critic, who could make or break the new inn. And the short December days turn even darker when Evan and Libby find Karen's dead body in the gift-wrapped toy donation box. The suspect list is longer than Santa's naughty list, and local resident Cookie is on it, since her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a metal nutcracker that she gave to Holly. So is Libby, who recently moved to town from Boston in less-than-savory circumstances. But cranky Karen was an oh-holy-nightmare to lots of the townsfolk, such as Evan's reporter friend Ray; Christopher, the inn's former contractor; and confectioner Bonnie, whose Gum Drop Shop was a direct target of Karen's scathing prose. To figure out the killer's identity and clear Cookie's name, Holly and her friends brainstorm at The Hearth, the farm's café, while her mother keeps them fueled with Christmas goodies fresh from the oven. But if they can't put the culprit on ice, Holly may never see another Christmas.

The Last Chinese Chef

The Last Chinese Chef
Author: Nicole Mones
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2008
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780547053738

This exhilarating story is the transporting tale of how the sensual, romantic elements of haute Chinese cuisine become the perfect ingredients to lift the troubled soul of a grieving American woman.

The Twelve Days of Christmas in Texas

The Twelve Days of Christmas in Texas
Author:
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2009
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 9781402763502

Welcome to the 12 days of Christmas in Texas Ready to greet you are 9 leapin' lizards, 8 grazin' longhorns, 7 bass a-swimmin', 6 flags a-flyin'... and much more from the Lone Star State.Jos is so excited about his cousin Ashley's visit with him in Texas that he gives her one of these VERY unusual gifts on each of the twelve days of Christmas, and Ashley writes lively letters home to tell her mom and dad all about her trip. Lucky readers are in for a wild Christmas countdown

Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen

Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen
Author: Vicki Delany
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2015-11-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0698192842

In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery. As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town. Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…

Vampire Claus

Vampire Claus
Author: Robert Winter
Publisher: Robert Winter Books
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2017-10-27
Genre:
ISBN: 9780692965160

'Twas the night before Christmas, but what's stirring is a little more dangerous than a mouse. Taviano is nearly two hundred years old and never wakes in the same place twice. Weary and jaded, the vampire still indulges in memories of childhood Christmases in Naples. He lingers in shadow, spying on mortals as they enjoy the holiday. When Taviano spots a handsome young man in Boston loaded down with presents and about to be mugged, he can't help but intervene. Soon he's talking to joyous, naïve, strong-willed and funny Paul, a short-order cook who raised funds to buy Christmas presents for LGBTQ children. Before he knows what's happened, Taviano is wrapped up in Paul's arms and then in his schemes to get the presents delivered by Christmas morning. A vampire turned into a Christmas elf... What could go wrong? Vampire Claus is a 30,000-word standalone gay romance about a lonely vampire and a fearless mortal with no instinct for self-preservation. A heartwarming ending, no cliffhanger, and a young man who discovers he has a thing for fangs. Isn't that what Christmas is all about?

ANGEL OF THE KNIGHT

ANGEL OF THE KNIGHT
Author: Diana Hall
Publisher: Harlequin
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1460359496

'Twas a Hellish Match What else could Falke de Chretian call it when he was unwillingly betrothed to a woman of few attractions and many secrets? But the Lady Gwendolyn hid a golden self beneath a drab exterior, and is heart was soon divided 'twixt her and a nameless night angel—a woman both mysterious…and strangely familiar! Though dismissed as the homely "Lady Wren," Gwendolyn was the true guardian spirit of her rightful lands, ministering tot he sick and helping the needy. Yet her soul slumbered in silent loneliness, until awakened by the earthly charms of devilish Falke de Chretian.

Chains

Chains
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2010-01-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1416905863

If an entire nation could seek its freedom, why not a girl? As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. From acclaimed author Laurie Halse Anderson comes this compelling, impeccably researched novel that shows the lengths we can go to cast off our chains, both physical and spiritual.