Large Type Mysteries: Halloween Edition

Laurien Berenson's 26th Melanie Travis Mystery is titled Howloween Murder.  "As the town of Greenwich, Connecticut, counts down to a spooky celebration on October 31st, a horrifying murder leaves Melanie Travis pawing for clues in a hair-raising game of trick-or-treat . . .With just a few days left before Halloween, everyone at Howard Academy is anticipating the guaranteed sugar high they’ll experience from gorging on Harriet Bloom’s famous marshmallow puffs. The school’s annual costume party revolves around the headmaster’s assistant and her seemingly supernatural batches of gooey goodies. So, it's a shock when Harriet’s elderly neighbor is suddenly found dead with the beloved dessert in his hand. Melanie knows her tenured colleague would never intentionally serve cyanide-laced puffs to a defenseless old man. But as explosive neighborhood gossip reveals a potential culprit, it also brings her closer to sealing her own doom. Because on an evening ruled by masked revelers, Halloween might just be the perfect opportunity for a cold-hearted killer to get away with murder once again—this time sending a nosy, unsuspecting sleuth to an early grave!" (from Amazon.com)

Crypt Suzette is a Five-Ingredient Mystery by Maya Corrigan. "Val Deniston is catering the debut of Bayport’s newest bookstore—but the death of a customer is about to draw her into a real-life murder mystery …Suzette Cripps has been occupying a spare bedroom at Val’s granddad’s house while she takes classes in this Maryland Eastern Shore town—but she’s always seemed a little secretive and fearful, and any talk about her past is a closed book. After winning the costume contest at the Halloween-themed bookstore party, Suzette is mowed down by a hit-and-run driver—and Val and her grandfather start to wonder whether it was really an accident or if someone was after Suzette. Granddad is a little distracted by his new enterprise as a ghost-buster, but as Val talks to Suzette’s coworkers and fellow creative writing students, she grows more convinced that the dead woman’s demons weren’t imaginary—and that she needs to rip the mask off a killer …" (from Amazon.com)

The Ghost and Mrs. Mewer is a Paws & Claws Mystery by Krista Davis. "Wagtail, Virginia, the top pet-friendly getaway in the United States, is gearing up for a howling good Halloween—until a spooky murder shakes the town to its core.. Holly Miller doesn’t believe in spirits, but the Sugar Maple Inn is filled with guests who do. The TV series in development, Apparition Apprehenders, has descended on Wagtail’s annual Halloween festivities to investigate supernatural local legends, and Holly has her hands full showing the ghost hunters a scary-fun time. But the frights turn real when Holly’s Jack Russell, Trixie, and kitten, Twinkletoes, find a young woman drowned in the Wagtail Springs Hotel’s bathhouse—the spot of the town’s most infamous haunting. The crime scene is eerily similar to the creepy legend, convincing Holly that the death wasn’t just accidental. Now she’ll have to race to catch a flesh-and-blood killer—before someone else in town gives up the ghost..." (from Amazon.com)

Peggy Ehrhart's sixth entry in her Knit & Nibble series is called Knit of the Living Dead. "When a spooky celebration in Arborville, New Jersey conjures real scares, can Pamela and the Knit and Nibble Club sink their teeth into a bone-chilling mystery that just won’t rest in peace? Among the countless revelers at the town’s much-anticipated Halloween parade, a woman dressed as Little Bo Peep is the only one making people scream bloody murder. In a scene straight out of a horror movie, the Knit and Nibblers find the nursery rhyme character dead with thick strands of yarn looped around her neck. Pamela and her best friend, Bettina, are set on pinning down who wanted the woman gone forever, but it’ll take every trick they can muster to catch the culprit without becoming the next poor souls to join Little Bo Peep’s dark, endless sleep . . ." (from Amazon.com)

The Spook in the Stacks is a Lighthouse Library mystery by Eva Gates. "Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body. Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide. Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library—haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?" (from Amazon.com)

Spotlight: Large Print Cozies

     This week, I decided to shed a spotlight on one of my favorite genres: Cozy mysteries, or "cozies". According to Wikipedia:* "Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a sub-genre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community." We have a huge selection in fiction, audio, mp3, and large print. Today, the focus will be on some of our newer large print cozies.
     (*I know, I know; I am loathe to use this as a reference, but it's an easy and simple definition.)

   The Diva Serves High Tea: a Domestic Diva Mystery is written by Krista Davis. The Parlour opens up in town and domestic diva Sophie Winston is ecstatic that she now has somewhere to satisfy her cravings for all things tea and crumpet. This quaint little shop also serves as a place for the women of town to gather, gossip, and check out the affable and dapper Robert Johnson who runs the new antique store across the street. All the gossip about Robert seems innocent enough until he is found dead--an apparent poisoning--after attending a fundraiser at The Parlour the previous evening. Will Sophie be able to put the clues together to save her new favorite watering hole?

     Egg Drop Dead is a Cackleberry Club Mystery by Laura Childs. The big secret to the Cackleberry Club cafe's success is maintaining a good personal relationship with each of their suppliers. Naturally, when Suzanne has to go to Mike Mullen's dairy to pick up some wheels of cheese, she is more than happy to do so. When she arrives, however, Mike is nowhere to be seen, so she decides to check the barn where she finds the poor man's body. Suzanne, Petra, and Toni are outraged that one of their favorite suppliers has been disposed of like the muck in the stalls and they vow to find out who has committed this horrible crime. But as they get closer to the truth, the killer becomes desperate and decides that the ladies of the Cackleberry Club must be put out to pasture, permanently!

     Cat With A Clue is a Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass. Minnie is shelving books in the library early one morning when she stumbles upon something unusual and very disturbing--a dead body. The authorities identify the woman as a visitor who came to Chilson, Michigan to attend her great-aunt's funeral. What no one can figure out, however, is why the woman was in the library after hours. The police also seem to be preoccupied with a string of strange break-ins as well. As wild rumors about the woman begin to circulate, Minnie and her black-and-white tabby, Eddie, have decided they are going to preserve the library's reputation by finding the killer. They track down clues as they drive the bookmobile around the county and Minnie will leave no page unturned in their quest!