Books with author Wendy Mead

A new small town. A new cozy life. And a new beginning.Sarah Garland, a retired homicide detective who’s gone through a painful divorce, seems to have found her peace at last, as a coffeeshop owner, in the sleepy (and freezing) small town of Snow Falls, Alaska. What she didn’t expect, was for her past life to catch up with her. Or, for her new life as a mystery writer to inspire a deadly killer to target her.Yet, when the killer leaves a frightening clue-a creepy snowman, donning a leather jacket and eating a peppermint candy cane, left in front of her cabin-Sarah begins to suspect Conrad Spencer, the new detective in town, who is pursuing a murderer of his own. Soon, it becomes obvious that the sleuths would have to join forces, in order to catch the killer.Sarah and Conrad must put their tragic pasts behind them and find out who’s after her…before the trail becomes frozen.This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language.Read all the Alaska cozy mysteries:1. The Snowman Killer2. Deep in the Snow3. Snow Happens4. Snow is Not the Time5. Spring into Murder6. Chasing Shadows7. Snowy Misery8. Hot Springs Murder9. Danger in the Snow10. Snow Ordinary Family11. Snow Mercy

This winter cozy mystery series can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Out of the ice, and into the fire.A park ranger is found dead near Diamond Lake, and buried with him in the snow, are the secrets to biological warfare, with the world as its target.This time, Sarah Garland, Detective Conrad Spencer and her best friend Amanda are all up to their necks in clues, conspiracy, suspects…and danger. Top it off with a mysterious stranger, who blows into town along with the next debilitating snow storm, and soon things begin to heat up in the small town of Snowy Falls.As this case gets deeper, time becomes more precious as cloaked killers and determined sleuths race against the clock, all to respectively unleash and prevent a deadly virus that could end all of humanity, while suspects and innocent victims are caught up in the crossfires.

An amateur sleuth with a bed and breakfast, an unfriendly resident found dead, and a handsome detective who helps unravel the mystery in the cozy beach town of Sweetfern Harbor.Brenda Sheffield can’t believe her luck when she finds out that the family business, The Sheffield Bed and Breakfast, has been handed down to her upon the death of a relative. For too long, she’s been idle as an assistant to a PI – a new challenge is precisely what she needs.Uprooting to the idyllic village of Sweetfern Harbor was tough, but it doesn’t take long for Brenda to fall for the brightly painted shopfronts and the friendly residents. However, there’s always one who spoils the bouquet. Lady Pendleton owns half of the buildings in Sweetfern Harbor, and she rules with a green-fingered fist. With a personal vendetta against everyone, she ruthlessly raises rent and rates – resulting in turning many people out of house, home, and business.One day, her flashy car pulls up outside The Sheffield Bed and Breakfast, but Brenda is shocked to find her slumped over the wheel and failing to respond. The coroner pronounces her dead at the scene, ruling it as a homicide.With the entire town a suspect, Brenda isn’t sure whom to turn to since crime isn’t usually a factor in this New England town. Enter the handsome Detective Mac Rivers, who must unravel the twists and turns of this murder – but can an outsider’s sleuthing experience help bring the perpetrator to justice? Or will they slip out of sight unnoticed – or strike down another victim?This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language. It can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Read all the Sweetfern Harbor cozy mysteries:1. Posies and Poison2. Dead in Bed3. Captain Dead Man4. Ghostly Tours5. Turkey, Pies, and Alibis6. Mystery, Snow, and Mistletoe7. Festival Turmoil8. Scandal at the Gala9. The Elusive Wampum10. Chest of Secrets11. The Bead Seller12. Fe Fi Fiddle Die13. Is This Suitcase Taken?14. Hidden Entity15. Finishing the Game

Sheffield Bed and Breakfast is buzzing with anticipation. This Halloween promises to be their best bash ever, until someone is found murdered.Brenda Sheffield Rivers and her staff transform the entire Queen Anne structure into enough spooky figures and decorations to put everyone in tune with Fright Night. Every guest has arrived specifically to take advantage of the night.Brenda, Phyllis and Allie prepare their tours. Their tall tales have been embellished until they almost believe them themselves. Brenda and her Detective husband are interrupted when Ryan Meyers alerts them that their room has been ransacked. Detective Rivers calls in assistance and combs the room for evidence of an intruder. None is found which causes Mac to believe the guests left their room unlocked by mistake. He assures Brenda he believes someone has pranked them as a Halloween act. Brenda leaves Mac to begin her first tour. She weaves frightening stories as she swings her lantern to cast shadows on her face and those following her.By the time she gives her fourth tour, she hears rustling behind the hallway wall. She tells her tourists it could possibly be an entity hiding in the walls. She suspects a small animal has gotten inside somehow. When she takes her next tour group up, she and a couple of the followers hear a soft distinct cough. Brenda becomes distracted and then turns her astonishment into part of the scene she is playing out. Brenda knows there are no entrances that would allow anyone to squeeze behind the walls. Mac doubts her. He tells her she heard sounds from the raging storm going on outside. The party goes along well and when the last outside guest leaves, everyone else turns in for what is left of the night. Brenda and Mac opt to stay in Brenda’s former apartment on second floor. They are awakened by a blood-curling scream. Lauren Meyers races from the room she shares with her husband. Blood stains her nightclothes. When Mac enters the room, the body of Ryan Meyers is dead on the bed. Lauren swears she knows who the murderer is. She is adamant that her estranged father has escaped from the mental hospital and meant to kill her and not her husband.As evidence is being collected, Brenda tells Mac she is going to search for whoever is hiding out behind the hallway wall. He tells her to go ahead but not to expect any great discovery. When she finds the secret panel that opens, she starts down the narrow passageway. The panel slips closed behind her and she finds herself face to face with a wild-looking man. She has no idea how he got into the unknown hallway nor his identity. She fears never being found since no one can tell that the panel is a door. Will the madman with the dangling knife from his pocket allow her to return to the lighted hallway? The one sure fact is she is face to face with Ryan Meyers’ killer.This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language. It can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Read all the Sweetfern Harbor cozy mysteries:1. Posies and Poison2. Dead in Bed3. Captain Dead Man4. Ghostly Tours5. Turkey, Pies, and Alibis6. Mystery, Snow, and Mistletoe7. Festival Turmoil8. Scandal at the Gala9. The Elusive Wampum10. Chest of Secrets11. The Bead Seller12. Fe Fi Fiddle Die13. Is This Suitcase Taken?14. Hidden Entity

Sweetfern Harbor Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mysteries can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.The day finally arrives when the Owners of Sheffield Bed and Breakfast watch the beginnings of their new cottage on the grounds. Brenda and Mac Rivers can’t wait until it is finished and they will move from the apartment in the historic Inn to their own home. Rich Turner, Contractor, unwittingly turns their lives around when he tells them of hitting metal beneath the ground. That evening Brenda and Mac don’t wish to wait to find out what it is. They work long and hard with shovels to dig up a worn metal chest. To open the container, they must try to do so without further damage. Brenda recalls a skeleton key she found in her uncle’s possessions when she became heir to the 1890’s Queen Anne structure and grounds. They manage to open the chest and find various items that spreads from the late 1800’s through 1970’s. The Detective is aware of a cold case that is dormant in the store room at his Precinct. The 1982 case of the robbery and murders of Bridgett and Thomas Mackey is reopened. Detective Mac Rivers and Brenda don’t have to look farther than guests in their own establishment. The connections between Annette Pickard, Author, and Logan Clark, Textile Broker, are suspicious. To add to it, Annette is very possessive of the novel she is writing. She avoids Logan at all costs and doesn’t bend to subtle hints of curiosity about the book that come from Brenda Rivers and Allie Williams, the young Reservationist.Annette shuns all questions when asked if she is related to a notorious thief now serving time in prison. She distances herself from Hal Pickard until forced to admit she knows him but vows she has no idea of the life he has led over the years. Logan Clark is married to Jane who comes from a wealthy family in New York and until the day he disappears from the bed and breakfast, everything points to a happy union between them. Brenda and Mac now focus on missing Logan Clark and the book Annette is shielding as if gold. Brenda insists the book holds answers to questions that caused the case to go cold. The question becomes whether or not the novel is fiction or non-fiction. If Logan Clark can be found, will they discover he is the upright man he appears to be or is there something sinister about his disappearance unknown even to his wife?

Momma Peach is at it again. When she decides to travel west with Michelle to look into a case involving a missing friend, the last thing Momma Peach expected was to be trapped in a small, dusty town in the middle of the desert with a deranged killer and...oh, give her strength...a tarantula spider named 'Old Mac'. At first, the town seems nice enough and things appear normal. But then a dead body turns up and a dark storm arrives, trapping everyone in town with the killer. But Momma Peach ain't afraid of no killer, baby. No way. And she doesn't like to be threatened either. So Momma Peach decides to tackle the case head on.But when the storm begins to cause dangerous flooding and dark secrets begin to unfold, Momma Peach is thrown into a horrible current that tests her wits and courage. And to make matters worse, a tired family shows up before the storm arrives with a hot-headed teenager and two very tired children who are unaware a killer is running loose. With no other choice but to face the storm—and get out of the kitchen, as Momma Peach would say—Momma Peach battles a darkness that threatens to swallow her alive while praying the flood waters doesn't make her float out to the ocean because, after all, Momma Peach can't float. Will Momma Peach walk out of the dark storm alive or will the killer pull her down into a watery abyss and extinguish her stove once and for all?

It's a murder case that cuts just a little too close to home for Nikki, an amateur sleuth, in the latest crime to hit her not-so-quiet cozy town! Nikki Bates’s time in picturesque Maple Hills, Vermont has been far from the postcard scene she first imagined. While her chocolate shop is doing well, her personal life has hit a few snags… and bodies… along the way. Between exposing corrupt officials, unmasking the Mafia and solving more than a few murders, Nikki has made some friends and earned many enemies.Now, an old vendetta from her days in Atlanta has reared its head and followed her north, finding her nestled amongst the trees and chocolate, surrounded by gossip, intrigue and people that want Nikki out of town. When a woman with close ties to her newest ward is found murdered, Nikki must race to connect the clues, solve the case and salvage her reputation.Yet the wheels of vengeance are turning and this is one time Nikki may lose everything, including her life…This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language. It can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Read all the Maple Hills cozy mysteries:1. Raspberry Truffle Murder2. Peppermint Chocolate Murder3. Blueberry Truffle Murder4. Sea Salt Caramel Murder5. Georgia Peach Truffle Murder6. Gold Flake Chocolate Murder7. Coconut Chocolate Murder8. Turkey Truffle Murder9. Christmas Chocolate Murder10. Chocolate Heart Murder11. Bear Truffle Murder

This winter cozy mystery series can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Sarah Garland, a retired homicide detective who’s gone through a painful divorce, seems to have found her peace at last, as a coffeeshop owner, in the sleepy (and freezing) small town of Snow Falls, Alaska. What she didn’t expect, was for her past life to catch up with her. Or, for her new life as a mystery writer to inspire a deadly killer to target her. Yet, when the killer leaves a frightening clue-a creepy snowman, donning a leather jacket and eating a peppermint candy cane, left in front of her cabin-Sarah begins to suspect Conrad Spencer, the new detective in town, who is pursuing a murderer of his own. Soon, it becomes obvious that the sleuths would have to join forces, in order to catch the killer. Sarah and Conrad must put their tragic pasts behind them and find out who’s after her…before the trail becomes frozen.

A new chocolate shop owner in a cozy Vermont town, a hit and run leaves a man dead, and unexpected twists no one saw coming...When Nikki’s husband of 20 years decided that he wanted a different life in Los Angeles it spawns a new life for her as well. Leaving behind Atlanta and her Journalism career there, she and her college bound son move to the small and tightknit town of Maple Hills, Vermont. With a bustling tourist season, the thriving community seems the perfect place to set up her new Chocolate Shop… yet opening day proves more deadly than profitable.A hit and run right outside her shop door leaves a man dead and questions swirling. When the victim is identified as Steven Denforth, the most hated and reviled man in town, it resurrects the fissures that had recently torn Maple Hills apart.Now he is dead and everyone is a suspect, including Nikki. As both a former reporter and an FBI Consultant, Nikki instinctively knows the dirt in Maple Hills is piled high and if she doesn’t get to the bottom of it, and to the murder, then her stay in the quaint Northern Town may very well be short lived.This cozy mystery is a clean read: no graphic violence, sex, or strong language. It can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read.Read all the Maple Hills cozy mysteries:1. Raspberry Truffle Murder2. Peppermint Chocolate Murder3. Blueberry Truffle Murder4. Sea Salt Caramel Murder5. Georgia Peach Truffle Murder6. Gold Flake Chocolate Murder7. Coconut Chocolate Murder8. Turkey Truffle Murder9. Christmas Chocolate Murder10. Chocolate Heart Murder11. Bear Truffle Murder