Cozy mysteries to kick off the holiday season – The Vicksburg Post

This week’s column features Cozy Mysteries in our New Large Print collection.

We start with the second book of Bailee Abbott’s Paint by Murder series: Kill Them With Canvas. Chloe Abbington and her sister Izzie enjoy running their paint party business, Paint with a View. Their aunt Constance, president of a local women’s fraternity, arranged for them to attend a Halloween painting party in their sleepy New York town of Whisper Cove. The subject of the painting party will be a local ghostly legend: the Lady of Chautauqua Lake. Although his subjects died a hundred years ago, he is said to emerge from the lake every October to haunt everyone on Halloween Eve. Chloe witnesses her aunt arguing with the Sisterhood’s director, Viola, about the fate of the local chapter. Unfortunately, Viola is found floating face down in the lake the next morning, in a position eerily reminiscent of one of the previous night’s paintings. The police find Aunt Constance’s purple hat near the crime scene and she quickly becomes the prime suspect. Chloe and Izzie step in to help their aunt. Can they find the killer before another body falls?

A Cup of Flour, A Pinch of Death Culinary comfort prepared by award-nominated author Valerie Burns. Maddie Montgomery is a social media influencer who has just moved to small town Michigan to run a bakery and care for her giant English mastiff. Maddy’s social media savvy has also made Baby Cakes Bakery a huge success. This success caught the attention of Maddy’s burglary nemesis, Brandy Denton, who was once her fiancée. Their argument goes viral when Brandy storms into town and disturbs the blog Maddy is currently filming. When Brandy’s body is found at Baby Cakes, Maddy goes from viral star to murder suspect. Maddy is still dealing with the murder when a stranger comes and tells her that she is a friend of her great-aunt Octavia and that Maddy may be in danger. A second body washes up on the shore of the lake and it becomes clear that someone killed him to keep a secret. This might have something to do with his great aunt. Maddy gathers her aunt’s friends to do some research and get to the bottom of these murders.

The title of Jessica Ellicott’s latest movie Murder in the English Session. Spirituality is all the rage in post-World War I Britain, and this is also true of Walmsley Parva. A suspicious séance that ends in murder brings together American adventurer Beryl Helliwell and prim and proper Englishwoman Edwina Davenport to dig up some dirt on all parties involved. Edwina secretly finished her novel and sent it to publishers, while Beryl was given a plane as a gift to solve a case. Miss Dinsdale, a medium, begins holding séances at Walmsley Parva and the vicar’s wife hires Beryl and Edwina to expose her as a fraud. Miss Dinsdale claims that her spirit guide is an Egyptian princess whose mummy is found in a sarcophagus in the room. Unfortunately, the only body found inside was a villager who had been stabbed with a dagger. When they begin investigating, Beryl learns that her plane has been sabotaged and wonders if there is a connection. These two detectives will keep going back and forth until they uncover the culprit.

Here’s Lauren Elliott’s latest mystery involving bookstore owner Addie Greyborne: Limited Edition Murder. Addie is a bit melancholy as she remains in West Yorkshire, England. He is far from his home, his friends, and his beloved bookstores, Beyond the Page Books and Curios. But her dear friend Tony’s engagement party at Milton Manor promises to be a joyous affair. But the atmosphere darkens when Tony presents his fiancée with a special copy of the book. Wuthering Heights as an engagement gift. The lord of the manor insists that the book be stolen from his library. While walking her dog on the prairie, Addie almost trips over the corpse of a young woman. The police quickly zero in on Tony as the prime suspect, and naturally Addie is determined to get to the bottom of what’s going on. While walking on this dark and treacherous path, he will definitely have to watch his back.

The name of the eleventh Lighthouse Library mystery by Eva Gates Stranger in the Library. A traveling impressionist art show is coming to Nags Head, North Carolina, and Lucy and her staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are creating an inspiring, educational exhibit about art history. The morning after the exhibition’s successful opening, the team discovers that a reproduction of a famous painting has gone missing. The picture has no real value, so why would he steal it? The real, priceless painting is locked away in the art exhibition. When Lucy attends the opening night, she notices unusual tension between the art exhibition’s organizers. Then, the man scheduled to give the opening speech does not show up and the body of a partygoer is found floating in the fish pond. Lucy’s friend is in love with a handsome, charming art dealer named Tom Reilly, who managed to escape from the party early and cannot be located by the police. Who is this dark figure who is preparing to break his friend’s heart? So, are the theft of the painting, the missing speaker, and the body connected?

This column is submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library.