April Claus knows being married to the real Santa makes every day feel like Christmas. But when a different holiday arrives at the North Pole, so does murder . . . For the first time ever, Christmastown is celebrating a strange new tradition—Halloween. But not everyone is willing to watch their dependable winter wonderland get overrun by carved pumpkins and costume parties. As a series of scary happenings hit Santaland, each one more intense than the last, April realizes having a role in the festivities could cost her family, friends—even her own life. April isn’t the only unlucky target. Outspoken elf Tiny Sparkletoe is found dead in the snow outside his cottage, crushed in the middle of what appears to be a monstrous footprint. With mayhem descending like reindeer on rooftops, April must stop the Halloween killer before the fate of Mrs. Claus becomes another creepy tale to tell in the dark . . . “An exceptional series launch . . . This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Exceptional…the perfect holiday entertainment.”— Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW This Christmas season, travel to the North Pole you’ve never seen before—where Santa’s new wife, April Claus, is not only set on creating the perfect holiday—she’s also set on solving the perfect crime… Love is full of surprises—though few compare to realizing that you’re marrying the real-life Santa. April Claus dearly loves her new husband, Nick, but adjusting to life in the North Pole is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous elf named Giblet Hollyberry is killed—felled by a black widow spider in his stocking—shortly after publicly arguing with Nick. Christmastown is hardly a hotbed of crime, aside from mishaps caused by too much eggnog, but April disagrees with Constable Crinkle’s verdict of accidental death. As April sets out to find the culprit, it’ll mean putting the future of Christmas on the line—and hoping her own name isn’t on a lethal naughty list . . .

April Claus, a recent arrival in Santaland (from Oregon, where she still runs an inn during the summer months), gets permission to celebrate a holiday other than Christmas in her new home--Halloween. That prompts the self-styled Pumpkin Slayer to target a greenhouse full of gourds, leaving behind "jagged chunks of pumpkin flesh and streams of seedy entrails." Later, a post evidently from the Slayer appears on the equivalent of Santaland's Facebook: "STOP HALLOWEEN IN CHRISTMASTOWN OR ELSE!!!" Though the local representative of the law, Constable Crinkles, doesn't take the threat seriously, April does, after someone attempts to kill her by sabotaging the workings of the funicular car she was riding in. That narrow escape is followed by the murder of a Santaland business owner, who was apparently squashed to death by an abominable snow monster.

Tetchy Agatha Raisn's attempt at a little R&R in the wake of her beloved husband's defection to a French monastery gets her revved up for another mystery when she hears that a fellow vactioner was murdered.

As the Pig Turns is the next irresistible adventure featuring the bossy, vain, and endearing Agatha Raisin—now the star of a hit show on Acorn TV and public television—from New York Times bestselling M.C. Beaton, "the reigning queen of the cozies"(Booklist). Winter Parva is a "picturesque" (touristy) Cotswold village with gift shops, a medieval market hall, and thatched cottages. After a disappointing Christmas season, the parish council has decided to hold a special event in January, complete with old-fashioned costumes, morris dancing, and a pig roast on the village green. Always one for a good roasting, Agatha Raisin organizes an outing to enjoy the merriment. The rotary spit turning over a bed of blazing charcoals is sure to please on this foggy and blistery evening. But as the fog lifts slightly, the sharp-eyed Agatha notices something peculiar about the pig: a tattoo of a heart with an arrow through it and the name Amy. "Stop!" she screams suddenly. "Pigs don't have tattoos." The "pig," in fact, is Gary Beech, a policeman not exactly beloved by the locals, including Agatha herself. Although Agatha has every intention of leaving matters to the police, everything changes when the Gary's ex-wife, Amy, hires Agatha's detective agency to investigate—and another murder ensues. With that provocation, how could any sleuth as vain and competitive (and secretly insecure) as Agatha do anything other than solve the case herself?

Jessica Fletcher meets Tim Burton in this creative and witty cozy mystery series from Liz Ireland, filled with unconventional characters, year-round Christmas cheer, and a unique heroine who’s married to the real-life Santa Claus! April Claus has grown to love her new North Pole home almost as much as she loves her husband, Nick—Santa himself. But even in Christmastown, the holidays can be murder… April Claus is getting an early gift for her second Christmas in Santaland. Her dear friend, Claire, is visiting from Oregon, and April hopes to show off her adoptive country at its cozy, glittering best. But when the annual ice sculpture contest is derailed by a kamikaze drone-deer, it’s just the first in a series of un-festive events… Drone-deer, created by inventor elf Blinky Brightlow, are none too popular with the genuine, flesh-and-hoof kind, who are currently on strike. With no reindeer games to keep them in shape, Nick worries they may get too chunky to pull his sleigh come Christmas. Now Blinky is missing, his girlfriend, Juniper, is under suspicion, and between rogue reindeer and conniving elves, all of Santaland seems to have gone sugarplum-crazy. Add a dash of murder to the mix, and suddenly April is battling not just to clear Juniper’s name, but to save herself from being put on ice—permanently…

In order to pay the bills, struggling actress/waitress Edie Amos takes on two roommates--a blonde Amazonian beauty and a pampered Texas princess--who drive her crazy, but when the going gets tough, Edie discovers the true meaning of friendship. Reprint.