Releases September 2020

On the first day of Christmas, Molly Ferris’s true love gave to her . . . one of many anonymous pranks leading up to Loch Mallaig’s upcoming Yule Festival, an annual tradition celebrating the Michigan town’s Scottish heritage. Initially, Molly and her best friends, Laura Donovan and Carol MacCallan, are charmed by the silly “Twelve Days of Christmas” gifts showing up at their Scottish bakehouse, Bread on Arrival. However, the fifth day presents ghastly tidings—the murder of local real estate agent Eric Wright, who’s found dead with five golden rings on his fingers.

Discovered by the bakehouse’s new delivery boy, whose girlfriend’s family was facing the loss of their home for the holidays, Wright’s homicide soon engulfs the entire village in suspicion and conjecture. With a history of shady deals, the murdered Scrooge had a seemingly endless naughty list of people who could have killed him—and perhaps it was someone Molly and her friends know and trust.

With their business’s wellbeing threatened by their ties to the murder, the Bakehouse Three resolve to solve the mystery of who silenced Wright’s night. Soon, the three Scottish hens realize that not only is their livelihood at stake but their lives as well. They must uncover the murderer before the killer gets to them—otherwise, they might be three bakers-a-dying.

About The Scottish Bakehouse Mysteries:

Join former college roommates Molly Ferris, Laura Donovan, and Carol MacCallan as they reunite to open a bakery in bonny Loch Mallaig, Michigan, a place where the iconic sounds of Great Highland bagpipes fill the air, kilts never go out of fashion, and mysteries surface with curious regularity. Undaunted when they discover that the only retail space available in the charming Gaelic town is a former funeral parlor, party planner Molly, NYC chef Laura, and retired math teacher Carol bravely fire up the Scottish bakehouse of their dreams, Bread on Arrival, in the old Victorian mansion.

Powered by friendship, moxie, and plenty of tasty Scottish treats, the Bakehouse Three tackle every challenge that arises—including unsolved murder. From rekindling auld alliances and sparking new ones to chasing cryptic clues wherever they lead, the fiftysomething women prove that it’s never too late to embark on a fresh adventure. Pour a cup of tea, nibble on some shortbread, and get caught up in the mysteries of Loch Mallaig!

Click to learn more about the Scottish Bakehouse Mysteries Bookclub from Annie’s Fiction. 

Releases April 2020

Tourists from near and far are exploring every corner of Loch Mallaig, Michigan, much to the delight of the Scottish-themed town’s many merchants—including bakehouse owners Carol MacCallan, Laura Donovan, and Molly Ferris, who no longer feel like babes in the woods now that Bread on Arrival is a community staple. In addition to out-of-towners, The Bakehouse Three also welcome plenty of regular local customers, such as outdoors enthusiast Jeanette Franklin, who loves taking their fresh baked oatcakes on her long hikes through the bonny Michigan wilderness.

Unfortunately, tourist season veers into unnerving territory when Jeanette’s daughter, Annemarie, discovers that she and her adorable springer spaniel, Scout, are missing. Nearly frantic with worry, Annemarie engages Carol, Laura, and Molly’s help in locating her mother. At first, the women encourage Annemarie not to panic—Jeanette probably just went farther afield than usual on her latest hiking expedition. However, they all quickly realize that the longer Jeanette is gone, the more likely it is that disaster has struck. 

Although it would be bad enough for Jeanette to have injured herself, evidence arises that her ties to a major business deal being brokered by her estranged husband could have made her a target for violence. Sensing the situation’s dire urgency, The Bakehouse Three map out a course of action that will hopefully bring Jeanette home safe. 

Navigating tricky social terrain, the women organize a search party to comb nearby hiking trails, conservation areas, and other remote locations. But if they don’t find Jeanette off the beaten path, can they unearth clues to her true whereabouts before time runs out? Or is tracking down Jeanette Franklin simply a lost cause?

About The Scottish Bakehouse Mysteries:

Join former college roommates Molly Ferris, Laura Donovan, and Carol MacCallan as they reunite to open a bakery in bonny Loch Mallaig, Michigan, a place where the iconic sounds of Great Highland bagpipes fill the air, kilts never go out of fashion, and mysteries surface with curious regularity. Undaunted when they discover that the only retail space available in the charming Gaelic town is a former funeral parlor, party planner Molly, NYC chef Laura, and retired math teacher Carol bravely fire up the Scottish bakehouse of their dreams, Bread on Arrival, in the old Victorian mansion.

Powered by friendship, moxie, and plenty of tasty Scottish treats, the Bakehouse Three tackle every challenge that arises—including unsolved murder. From rekindling auld alliances and sparking new ones to chasing cryptic clues wherever they lead, the fiftysomething women prove that it’s never too late to embark on a fresh adventure. Pour a cup of tea, nibble on some shortbread, and get caught up in the mysteries of Loch Mallaig!

Click to learn more about the Scottish Bakehouse Mysteries Bookclub from Annie’s Fiction. 

Florist Kaylee Bleu and her friends in the Petal Pushers garden club are branching out from their usual activities to host a spring break camp for schoolchildren on Washington’s Orcas Island. They’ve got an entire week of fun events planned—but the camp won’t get off the ground if they can’t get permission for their first field trip, a visit to the oldest tree on the island.

Kaylee eventually tracks down the estate’s new owner, U.S. Navy Admiral Robert Newton, but the admiral isn’t all she finds in that neck of the woods—an old friend of hers, NSA agent Phil Haynes, has been called in to handle the fallout from a prowler at the Newtons’ mansion the previous evening. Although the trespasser’s identity is at the root of Phil’s concerns, Kaylee is more worried about why the Newtons’ neighbor, Tabitha, has vanished without a trace.

Despite warnings from Phil to bow out of the investigation, Kaylee won’t rest until she determines what happened to Tabitha. Did the woman leave town of her own accord, or was she forced? And was her departure innocent, or was it connected to rotting limbs in her family tree?

As if the situation wasn’t already confusing enough, Kaylee also finds herself entwined by matters of the heart. She admits that she had a crush on Phil twenty years ago . . . but will his reappearance in her life reignite those feelings or prompt her to go out on a more uncertain limb with handsome handyman Reese Holt?

Without clear answers to any of her questions, Kaylee gets the sense that she’s barking up the wrong tree. She’s intent on finding Tabitha once and for all, but if she sticks to her pursuit of the truth, a villain hidden in plain sight might just chop her down to size—permanently.

The Victorian Mansion Flower Shop series is about mysteries encountered by a former forensics botanist professor who takes over her grandmother’s flower shop on Orcas Island in Washington State. 

In Weeds of Doubt, Summer is winding down and florist Kaylee Blue and the other residents of Orcas Island are planting fall flowers and preparing for another bustling autumn tourist season. But Kaylee has a full course load. Turtle Cove High School’s most beloved teacher has retired and is about to move off island, and mild-mannered school librarian Wilma has begged Kaylee and the other members of the Petal Pushers garden club to help her assemble a last-minute class reunion so that everyone can say goodbye before he leaves town.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing gym-dandy about the social when someone is killed on the beach. It’s not a former-student body that Kaylee nearly stumbles over while walking Bear. It’s the photography buff brought along as a date by one of the alumni, and other than Arnold, the poor sap, no one knows her. So who else would have a motive to kill her? Unless Wilma, who’s harboured a secret crush on the dentist for more than a decade, got jealous enough to pick a peck of poison and ring the final bell on her rival . . . 

Kaylee will have to do some old-school detective work if she’s to mow down a murderer–before someone else becomes dead of the class. 

One Pens and Needles is now available in

audio, as well as, hardcover and Ebook.

I had so much fun writing On Pens and Needles set in a luxurious mansion (think Biltmore and the Breakers estates) on Cape Cod that hosts retreats for writers and book lovers. If you enjoy cozy mystery series, I highly recommend you subscribe to this intriguing multi-author series at AnniesFiction.com

About On Pens and Needles: 

The spine-tingling scene is set at Castleton Manor in Lighthouse Bay, Massachusetts, when the grand mansion plays host to a retreat for horror writers and fans. Librarian Faith Newberry feels unusually ill at ease about the event celebrating frightening stories, and all the talk of superstitions and bad omens makes her apprehensive. Her sense of foreboding only grows when the retreat organizer devises a series of hair-raising stunts to keep the guests constantly on edge.

But then something happens that no one could have predicted. One of the stunts turns deadly.

As Faith and her friends in the Candle House Book Club investigate the suspicious death, another mystery develops. Horror novelist Pierce Baltimore becomes the victim of pranks inspired by his latest book. The writer made many enemies during his climb to the top of the best-seller list, so is someone seeking revenge? Or are the pranks just part of the retreat’s entertainment?

Join Faith and her friends—including her dedicated cat, Watson—as they roll the dice on these two mysteries. Will they be able to solve them both before Pierce’s luck runs out?

Nothing is coming up roses for Kaylee Bleu. Not only are all of the plants in her flower shop going thirsty because of a busted well pump, but a competing florist of Orcas Island is stealing customers from The Flower Patch. As if that wasn’t enough to turn her into Florist Grump, a new client who could be Kaylee’s golden ticket to the lucrative country club set is also her most persnickety yet–and continuously threatens to take her business elsewhere. 

But all of that seems like no big deal when Kaylee’s plumber discovers a fractured skull in her shop’s yard. The remains belong to Danny Lane, a troubled teenager accused of killing a high school girl in a boating accident thirty-five years ago. The consensus around Turtle Cove was that the boy fled town shortly after the accident, but Kaylee thinks the holes in that story are as big as the grave-size pit dug up around her well pump. 

Unfortunately, somebody on Orcas Island wants Kaylee to leave the past buried. At first, she refuses to be intimidated by menacing messages and frightful pranks. But when suspicious accidents begin to befall witnesses close to the cold case, Kaylee’s seeds of doubt blossom into dread. She must decide how deep she’s willing to dig to determine if Danny’s death was an accident . . . or murder. 

This book is part of the multi-author Victorian Mansion Flower Shop Mysteries series from Annie’s Fiction, available in hard cover and Ebook. Learn more about the series at: Annie’s Fiction

This is book #17 in the multi-author Amish Inn Mysteries series from Annie’s Attic, about a lawyer turned inn keeper and sleuth. 

Now available in audio!

The books in this series are available in hardcover through mail subscription, as Ebooks through subscription, or as audio books through subscription at AnniesFiction.com. You can choose to receive 1 or 2 books/month or a book every two weeks. Or you might find them used. 

About The Hound and The Fury: 

A dog show has come to Pleasant Creek, and Liz Eckardt is hosting both two- and four-footed guests at the Olde Mansion Inn. Lucky for her; Liz’s old friend Amy is there to help handle the details. They’re decorating for Christmas, scenting the air with delicious treats and catching up on old times. A visit to the dog show seems like the perfect way to unwind after a busy day. 

But fur is flying at the venue where the competition is being held. More than a few people are barking mad at one of the judges. It seems he has a predilection for pets of the toy variety, and the owners of the big dogs may not be getting a fair shake. When the judge goes belly-up, stabbed with Liz’s knife, Liz knows she must jump into action. Someone’s committed murder in the first pedigree, but who? 

Meanwhile, one of Liz’s guests has hightailed it out of town and the Pleasant Creek Police are on his trail. Chief Houghton has commanded Liz to stay away from the investigation, but she can’t seem to obey. Convinced her guest’s disappearance is not just a clever trick, she can’t help but nose around. Turns out the murdered man had more than one enemy willing to fight tooth and nail to see him dead–and some of them lie sleeping under Liz’s own roof. 

Can Liz and her pack of pals, Amy, Beans, and the Material Girls, collar a criminal before more trouble is unleashed?