Part of Bookstore Cafe Mystery
First published 2016
Krissy Hancock runs a bookstore café in Pine Hills, but she would rather be anywhere than the Yarborough mansion's Halloween party. The wealthy family's estate feels suffocating, and the carved pumpkins grinning from every corner make her uneasy. When a guest turns up strangled in a room full of jack-o-lanterns, the party becomes a crime scene. The killer stole jewelry from the hostess, turning what looked like a heat-of-the-moment murder into something more calculated. Officer Paul Dalton seals the mansion, trapping everyone inside with the murderer. Krissy joins the investigation, questioning guests and searching rooms for evidence. Her personal life complicates everything when an old flame reappears and a marriage proposal goes sideways. She digs deeper into the mansion's secrets, knowing that the wrong move could make her the next victim. Someone among the Halloween revelers has killed once and will kill again to protect their dangerous secret.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, thriller, cozy-mystery
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, fast-paced, intriguing, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, locked-room-mystery, love-triangle, personal-complications
Setting: Pine Hills, Yarborough mansion
Period: Halloween
320 pages · ebook · Kensington
Content warnings: death, murder