Let the fake snow fly, it is Christmas in July!

Yes, I’ve done Christmas in July a couple of times before. Who doesn’t like reading a stack of holiday reads on the beach? Or squeezing it in sometime between work and bed? It is escapism at its finest.

Of course, if you are in Australia, you can actually read about picturesque snowy scenes (or dangerous snowbound murder mysteries) while it is cold outside. Pull your chair up to the fire and grab a blanket and cup of hot chocolate!

So, what’s on tap this holiday season?

Santa Shortbread

Will the Grinch steal Christmas?

Somebody is stealing Christmas gifts from the Bald Eagle Falls children. At the rate that presents are disappearing, there soon won’t be a gift left in Whoville. Err, Bald Eagle Falls.

Gluten-free baker Erin Price and her friends are on the case to try to unmask the Grinch and bring him to justice, and toys to the children. But time is not on their side. Soon it will be Christmas Eve—will the winner be the Grinch or Santa?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If a clean and intriguing mystery with well-drawn diverse characters appeals to you, this book would be a great investment of your time and money. I shall eagerly await my next visit to Bald Eagle Falls to find out what the author has in store for these delightful characters.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️If you like cozies, this is a series for you. We have a bakery, a dog, a cat and a bunny. What more do you need?

Like baking mysteries? Cats, dogs, and other pets? Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman brings readers back to small town Bald Eagle Falls for another culinary cozy mystery to be solved by gluten-free baker Erin Price and her friends.

Have your gluten-free cake and eat it too. Sink your teeth into this sweet treat now!

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Santa Shortbread is also a part of these collections:

Auntie Clem’s Bakery 10-12
Auntie Clem’s Bakery 1-12

Also in the Auntie Clem’s Bakery series, you can pick up a Christmas short (sold exclusively on my website), which falls between books 3 and 4 in the timeline. Dog-Free Dinner is also included in the collection of books 1-12 above.

Dog-Free Dinner

Or you can make grain-free gingerbread cookies from the free Auntie Clem’s Bakery cookbook:

Recipes from Auntie Clem’s Bakery

If your tastes run to paranormal mysteries, you might like to experience Yule through Reg Rawlins’s eyes:

Yule’s Sinister Spell

Season of darkness, season of light

It’s Reg’s first Yule, and she should be learning all about the festivities in Black Sands. But her interest in the holiday falls by the wayside when Starlight falls ill.

What kind of a monster poisons a psychic’s cat?

When Starlight first got sick, Reg thought that she was the cause of it. She should have been watching him more carefully. She should have found out about household plants and chemicals that could hurt her familiar. She was clearly a negligent owner.

But it soon becomes clear that there is some darker force at work, and Reg is going to need all of her resources to find the culprit before it is too late if she is to have any chance of saving her furry companion’s life.

Like paranormal mysteries? Psychics, witches, fairies, and more! Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author P.D. Workman waves her wand to transport readers to the myth- and magic-filled small town of Black Sands for another paranormal cozy mystery to be solved by Reg Rawlins and her friends.

A self-professed con artist practicing as a contact to the dead, a drop-dead gorgeous warlock, and a psychic cat—what could go wrong?

Fall under Reg’s spell today.

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Delusions of the Past is also part of these collections:

Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator 4-6
Reg Rawlins, Psychic Investigator 1-9

If your tastes run to grittier mysteries, and maybe a character who doesn’t look forward to the holidays (he’s not a Grinch, he just has… a history,) several of the Zachary Goldman Mysteries are set around Christmas:

She Wore Mourning

A dead child.
A mother deep in mourning.

Private Investigator Zachary Goldman’s life isn’t all roses, but he tries to put his own shattered life behind him to investigate the death of five-year-old Declan Bond.

Declan’s death has been ruled an accident, but his grandmother thinks there is more to it. She fears Declan’s mother will not be able to find peace until Zachary can give them an answer once and for all. But as Zachary digs into the circumstances surrounding Declan’s death, he finds that all is not as it seems, and somebody doesn’t want him to find the truth.

As Christmas Eve, the deadline for solving the case looms closer, both Isabella and Zachary fall deeper into the darkness. they’ll have to survive Christmas Eve to find it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Psychologically complex and gripping … Zachary must deal with his own psychological issues as well as those of the child’s parents along with attempts on his life. I’m binge reading this series.

Zachary Goldman, Private Investigator, is flawed with a capital F. Shattered by the tragedies of his own life, he will somehow still manage to pick himself up and dig just a little bit deeper than anyone else to find the vital clues.

Maybe being broken makes it easier for others who have faced tragedy to trust him. Walk with Zachary as he solves cases that will stretch his abilities to the limit.

Even with his own life in shambles, Zachary Goldman is still the one you want on the case.

Investigate this P.I. mystery now!

She Wore Mourning

Or make it a bundle:


She Wore Mourning is also part of these collections:

Zachary Goldman Private Investigator Cases 1-4
Zachary Goldman Private Investigator Cases 1-10

He Was Walking Alone

He met with tragedy.

Richard Harding was walking alone when he was struck by a vehicle and died.

A tragic accident that was no one’s fault.

But if that was so, then why was his girlfriend so sure that it was intentional homicide?

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The next Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers are available on preorder, and Gentle Angel takes place around Christmas (the Kenzie Kirsch books include Zachary Goldman as a character, so again — grittier and he has serious problems around the season in this book.)

Gentle Angel

And more holiday reads!

Christmas on Sheltering Island

(Clean holiday romance)

It’s nearly Christmas in 1951 and Margaret Murphy has one week to make the biggest decision of her life. An important promotion at work offers a fresh start in a different country…if she accepts it. Needing space to think, Margaret returns to Sheltering Island. Faced with a lifetime of memories, Margaret packs her family’s home, prepares it for sale, and tries to decide what to do next.

Dermot O’Neil had big plans. He was going to be an adventurer and travel the world. Instead, he never left Sheltering. He’s also never lost interest in Margaret. When they meet again, sparks fly. But Dermot has responsibilities that will keep him moored to the island for life.

When Dermot’s secret is revealed, will it cause Margaret to run? Or to find hope in the only place she’s ever really called home?

This short holiday romance story by Christine Josephs will warm the heart, renew hope, and captivate the spirit of Christmas.

Wounds and Witches

Preorder

Solving a murder was not on Grace’s “To Do” list this Christmas season.

The winter holidays are just around the corner and Grace is looking forward to a visit from her son, Oliver. She hasn’t seen him in ages! The guest bedroom is tidy, the cupboard is stocked, and Grace has even arranged to host a small party so her friends can meet Oliver.

One thing that Grace didn’t plan for was a murder. A local witch’s death is puzzling enough, but when a second witch in town disappears, Grace has her hands full. The two feet of snow from the latest blizzard isn’t helping matters! Can Grace and her pit bull Lucky catch the killer before it’s too late?

Twisted Tea Christmas

An attack on the host of a fancy tea party sends Theodosia Browning looking for answers in the latest entry in the New York Times bestselling series.

Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier, Drayton Conneley, are catering a Victorian Christmas party at a swanky mansion in downtown Charleston. Drucilla Heyward, the hostess, is one of the wealthiest women in town.

As the champagne flows and the tea steeps, Drucilla is so pleased with the reception by her partygoers that she reveals her secret plan to Theodosia. The Grande Dame has brought the cream of Charleston society together to reveal that she is planning to give her wealth away to various charitable organizations. However, before she can make the announcement, Theodosia finds her crumpled unconscious in the hallway. It looks like the excitement has gotten to the elderly woman–except that there is a syringe sticking out of her neck.

Christmas Cupcake Murder

While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas Eve. Her sister Andrea wants to stave off the blues by helping out at The Cookie Jar, Michelle’s love life is becoming complicated, Lisa needs Hannah’s advice, and Delores has a Christmas secret she’s not willing to share. But nothing dampens the holiday mood more than the chilling mystery surrounding the man found near death in an abandoned storefront two doors down from Hannah’s bakery . . .
 
The befuddled John Doe can’t recall a thing about himself—except for his unusual knowledge of restoring antique furniture. With a smattering of clues and barely enough time to frost Christmas cookies, Hannah must solve a deadly puzzle that could leave her dashing through the snow for her life!

Murder at an Irish Christmas

This December in Kilbane, if you’re planning to warm up with a cuppa tea at Naomi’s Bistro, you may have a bit of a wait—the entire O’Sullivan brood has gone off to West Cork to spend the holidays with brother James’s fiancée Elise’s family, including her grandfather, the famous orchestral conductor Enda Elliot. Siobhán is so happy for James and Elise but also quietly disappointed that she must put her own wedding to fellow garda Macdara Flannery on hold. Mac will have to join them later, so he can spend part of the holidays with his mam.
 
When the O’Sullivans learn everyone will choose a name from a hat to buy a music-related Christmas gift for someone else at the gathering, it seems like their greatest concern—until the cantankerous conductor is discovered crushed under a ninety-pound harp in a local concert hall.
 
With the extended family—including Enda’s much-younger new wife Leah, a virtuoso violinist—suspected in his murder, it’s up to Siobhán to ensure the guilty party faces the music. But as a snowstorm strands both families in a lavish farmhouse on a cliff, Siobhán had better pick up the tempo—before the killer orchestrates another untimely demise . . 

Midwinter Murder

There’s a chill in the air and the days are growing shorter . . . It’s the perfect time to curl up in front of a crackling fire with these wintry whodunits from the legendary Agatha Christie.

But beware of deadly snowdrifts and dangerous gifts, poisoned meals and mysterious guests. This chilling compendium of short stories—some featuring beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple—is an essential omnibus for Christie fans and the perfect holiday gift for mystery lovers.

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Residents of Rudolph keep the spirit of Christmas alive year-round—but their joy is threatened when a group of grinches visits the town, in the charming fourth installment of the Year-Round Christmas series.

It’s the week before Thanksgiving, and Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, is preparing for a weekend reunion of her mother’s college friends. But when the group of women comes into Merry’s shop, Merry is met with frosty attitudes and cold hearts.

The women argue amongst themselves constantly, and the bickering only intensifies after one of the friends is poisoned. With her father’s role as Santa in danger due to his proximity to the crime, Merry will need to use all of her investigative gifts to wrap this mystery up and save Santa and her favorite holiday.

The Christmas Mystery

Detective Luc Moncrief races through New York and Paris to track down a killer . . . and find out who is stealing the world’s greatest art.

In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, dashing French detective Luc Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal . . . before a cold-blooded killer paints the town red. Merry Christmas, Detective.

Owl be Home for Christmas

The 26th book and the sixth Christmas mystery in the Meg Lansglow series, Owl Be Home for Christmas is yet another wonderfully merry and funny book from New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews.

It’s a few days before Christmas, and Meg’s grandfather is hosting a scientific conference on owls at the Caerphilly Inn. Most of the family are there, helping out in one capacity or another, including Meg’s grandmother, Cordelia–invited by Grandfather in rare gesture of peace-making, to share her expertise on rehabilitating large birds, including owls. An unexpectedly severe snow storm traps the conference-goers in the hotel, and one of the visiting ornithologists is murdered. Even if Caerphilly is able to clear the roads in time, Chief Burke doesn’t want the various suspects to scatter to half a dozen continents before he identifies the killer, so there’s a very real possibility that none of them will make it home for Christmas . . . at least not unless Meg comes to the rescue.

Full of intrigue and snow, this Christmas mystery will take readers home to Caerphilly for Christmas.

The 19th Christmas

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, the Women’s Murder Club gets ready for a quiet Christmas—until a mysterious killer decides to terrorize the city. 

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women’s Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner’s office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco. 

Then a fearsome criminal known only as “Loman” seizes control of the headlines. Solving crimes never happens on schedule, but as this criminal mastermind unleashes credible threats by the hour, the month of December is upended for the Women’s Murder Club. Avoiding tragedy is the only holiday miracle they seek. 

A Cotswold Christmas Mystery

It’s Christmas, and things are looking good at the Slocombe house. Thea’s daughter Jessica has come to stay, much to her stepdaughter Stephanie’s delight. But then things take a turn for the worse. A local family, the Frowses, find themselves increasingly harassed by an aggressive landlord.

When Beverley Frowse goes missing, Thea and Stephanie both feel they should do their best to help her husband and son to solve the mystery.

Slashing Through the Snow

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: Cleo, 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 Cleo’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 Cleo 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 Cleo’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.

Scrooge and Cratchit Detectives

After spending the last two years remaking himself, Ebenezer Scrooge is once again visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley. Except this time, he is sent on a mission to save an old friend, Hezekiah Hiram Grumbles, who has recently been accused of murder.


In order to clear Mr. Grumbles’s name, Scrooge travels to Cornwall along with Bob Cratchit, his business partner; Frederick Edmund Nuckols, his nephew; and Lockie, his new office boy with sticky fingers.  


Scrooge must put himself in the line of fire in order to solve the mystery, and in doing so, he will discover that not everything is what it seems, and it takes a lot of courage to be selfless.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

In Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, the holidays are anything but merry when a family reunion is marred by murder—and the notoriously fastidious investigator is quickly on the case.

Christmas Eve, and the Lee family’s reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed.
When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man. . . .

And check out the books in this Bookfunnel promo:

Christmas in July

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