Is it hotter than Hades everywhere? Sweltering heat that makes the pools feel like bathwater, and the lakes a petrie dish for bacteria? We’ve had blistering heat that won’t relent, so this week I decided to step into the shade and enjoy what the shadows bring. I wanted to test the darkest corners and see what little monsters I could find—embrace every deadly kiss the shadow man delivered. And boy did he deliver! For a taste that will chill the blood flowing through your veins, check out these four mysteries this summer. THE DARKEST CORNERS by Kara Thomas There are secrets around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about what happened there that last summer. She and her childhood best friend Callie never talked about what they saw. Not before the trial. And certainly not after. But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth. Only the…

Whether you like to sit on the porch with a hardback book in your hands, or with your Kindle or Nook on your lap, this week I’ve chosen four mystery must-reads to enjoy during your summer nights. Pour a glass of iced tea and join these great heroines and their quirky sidekicks in a cozy corner—each one is a treat not to be missed! ONLY SKEIN DEEP by Maggie Sefton Knitting Mystery In the latest novel from The New York Times bestselling author of Knit to Be Tied, Kelly Flynn and The Lambspun Knitters are eagerly awaiting a bundle of joy but find themselves heaped with trouble instead… Kelly Flynn and her boyfriend, Steve, couldn’t be happier as they await the birth of their bouncing baby boy. Kelly’s got a built-in group of fiber arts specialists, the Lambspun Knitters, who are working away on blankets and booties. As they sit around the table crafting their keepsakes, the story of Giselle Callahan is a popular topic of conversation. Giselle is the young wife of Henry Callahan, a Fort Connor banking scion, who traded in his previous wife of forty years for a newer model. Giselle’s prowess as a skilled country club…

The summer months are full of new treats from fresh fruit at the local market to new flavors of ice cream, all of them mouth-wateringly delicious. But I’m here to address the treats for your mind. The mysteries that catch you with the cozy warmth of small town love thy neighbor attitudes and humor to make you smile. Enjoy my four new picks this week! BEARLY DEPARTED by Meg Macy Teddy Bear The Silver Bear Shop and Factory might be the cutest place around, but there’s nothing warm and fuzzy about murder . . . As manager of the family teddy bear shop and factory, thirty-one-year-old Sasha Silverman leads a charmed life. Well, except for the part about being a single divorcée with a ticking biological clock in small-town Silver Hollow. And that’s just kid’s stuff compared to Will Taylor, the sales rep who’s set on making drastic changes to the business her parents built from scratch—with or without Sasha’s approval . . . But before Will digs his claws in, someone pulls the stuffing out of his plan . . . and leaves his dead body inside the factory. Reeling from shock, Sasha’s hit with more bad news—police suspect…

Miranda Owen: When you have two successful and entertaining cozy mystery series, what made you decide to write romance? Do you read romance? If so, who are some of your favorite romance authors and books? Jenn McKinlay: The cozy mystery market seemed to be saturated and I had written five different mystery series over the past eight years, so I felt like I had gone as far as I could go in that genre, so I asked my editor what she thought I could write in addition to the mysteries. Immediately, she said, “Romantic comedy.” Well, okay, then. So I decided to give it a go. I do read romance and mystery and sci-fic/fantasy and YA – basically, I am a genre fiction fangirl. I love it all! Favorite romance writers and their books (at the moment) are Christina Lauren’s DARK WILD NIGHT, Tessa Dare’s A WEEK TO BE WICKED, Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s NATURAL BORN CHARMER, and Kristan Higgins’s WAITING ON YOU. Miranda Owen: Do you know how many books will be in this Bluff Point series? Do you plan on writing another romance series after this one? Jenn McKinlay: At this point, I know there will be three. I…

Miranda Owen: For readers like me, who are unfamiliar with your books written as Madeline Baker, could you please describe what your historical romances are like? Amanda Ashley: They all have Indian or half-Indian heroes. A few of them are gunfighters because I love bad boys. Several of the books are time travel romances because they are such fun to write. Of course, they are all set in the Old West – Arizona, Montana, the Dakotas – places like that. I did a lot of research on the Lakota, the Cheyenne, and the Apache, as well as a few other tribes, in an effort to make the books as realistic as possible. Miranda Owen: I’ve always described most of your vampire romances as being “contemporary paranormal Gothic”. I love Gothic historical romance and I always felt like your writing style was tailor-made for that type of story. You’ve written a few books with many of those same elements that make historical Gothics so delicious. Would you ever consider writing a Gothic historical series? Amanda Ashley: I actually started one a few years ago, but it never got off the ground. I just couldn’t make it work. Miranda Owen: Although I…

By Kym Roberts You don’t need to plan a vacation or a staycation this week. Take the week off and relax from all the hubbub that has had you running around like a crazed mom of quintuplet five year olds in a toy store. Pick up a book or two, or three—the ones that have been stacking up in your to-be-read pile and just breathe. Escape into another world where ghosts are real, magic is everywhere, sewing is easy and a Book Barn is on Main Street. Trust me, the May releases are to die for—including one of my own 😉 GHOSTAL LIVING by Kathleen Bridge Hamptons Home & Garden In the latest mystery from the author of Better Homes and Corpses and Hearse and Gardens, Hamptons interior designer and antiques picker Meg Barrett uncovers a veil of spooky goings-on… The first Sag Harbor Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Fair is right around the corner, and interior designer Meg Barrett has her hands full decorating rooms at the Bibliophile Bed & Breakfast for wealthy rare book collector Franklin Hollingsworth. Rumor has it Hollingsworth is in possession of an unpublished manuscript written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When the Fitzgerald manuscript’s authenticator is…

One of my favorite authors is sitting down in the Cozy Corner this week. Darcie Wilde’s tales of regency England enthrall readers with layers of romantic intrigue both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Her May release, A PURELY PRIVATE MATTER, takes us on a journey that weaves Rosalind Thorne’s past with her future, while she unravels the secrets behind the mysterious death of a famous actor. A literal heartthrob, Fletcher Cavendish has made his way to fame while laughing at the haute ton who adore him. When he turns up dead, London is in mourning and demanding justice be served, but the man in charge of the investigation isn’t so much interested in justice, as protecting one of the main suspects in the case. A PURELY PRIVATE MATTER by Darcie Wilde Rosalind Thorne The Rosalind Thorne Mysteries—inspired by the novels of Jane Austen—continue as the audacious Rosalind strives to aid those in need while navigating the halls of high society… Rosalind Thorne has slowly but assuredly gained a reputation as “a useful woman”—by helping respectable women out of some less-than-respectable predicaments. Her latest endeavor is a tragedy waiting to happen. Desperate Margaretta Seymore is with child—and her husband is receiving poisoned pen…

Kym: Welcome to The Cozy Corner, Winnie! Kym: Many readers may not know that Winnie Archer is a pen name for your new series, and that you’re actually Melissa Bourbon, Misa Ramirez, and Melissa Bourbon Ramirez. What challenges have your new name brought you as an author? Winnie: I have trouble keeping things straight myself! Different publishers like you to have different names on your books. I’ve migrated everything to either Winnie Archer or Melissa Ramirez. The challenges are maintaining the different websites for each author, finding time to do everything that needs doing, etc. But I love both series and the other books I’ve written, so the challenges are worth it! Kym: Your new series, A Bread Shop Mystery, is set in Santa Sofia, California. Can you tell our readers how this series ties together your life from California to Texas? Winnie: My Magical Dressmaking Mystery series is set in the small town of Bliss, Texas. We moved to Texas from California 8 years ago and I really wanted to set that series here, but when it came time to write the Bread Shop mysteries, I wanted to set it in my home state. I think it was the…

Every now and then I go for broke—take a chance that the biggest names in the industry will answer my requests for an interview. I’ve never been disappointed. 😉 Like a few months back when I asked Susan Wittig Albert to sit down at the Cozy Corner and answer a few questions. She quickly responded and was open and candid with my sometimes-nosey questions. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did! About Susan Wittig Albert Susan Wittig Albert is the award-winning, NYT bestselling author of Loving Eleanor (2016), about the intimate friendship of Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok; and A Wilder Rose (2014), about Rose Wilder Lane and the writing of the Little House books. Her award-winning fiction also includes mysteries in the China Bayles series, the Darling Dahlias, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries she has written with her husband, Bill Albert, under the pseudonym of Robin Paige. She has written two memoirs: An Extraordinary Year of Ordinary Days and Together, Alone: A Memoir of Marriage and Place, published by the University of Texas Press. She is founder and current president (2015-2017) of the Story Circle Network and a…

GREAT WITH CHILD tells the story of ambitious, driven Abigail Thomas. The hard working daughter of immigrants, Abigail is up for partnership at a prestigious law firm. But then she is thrown by an accidental pregnancy that threatens to upend her life. While tempted by a new man she meets, she’s also secretly pining for the man who is the father of her child. Witty, warm, and wise, this novel confronts the true meanings of love, morality, and duty. Below, Taitz shares her thoughts on work, love and motherhood with Writing a Woman’s Life columnist, Yona Zeldis McDonough. About Sonia Taitz Sonia Taitz is a playwright, essayist, and author of three novels and two works of non-fiction. An award-winning writer, her work has been praised by The New York Times Book Review, The Chicago Tribune, People, Vanity Fair, and many other publications. WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS YZM: You have a law degree from Yale; how did that inform the novel in general and Abigail’s character in particular? ST: Like my plucky heroine, Abigail Thomas, I was raised as the ambitious daughter of immigrants. My parents came over to this country without a nickel to their name, and…