Read Linda Gerber's posts on the Penguin Blog. It was only a few weeks ago that Aphra Connolly’s life changed completely. She had been living a quiet existence on her father’s secluded island resort, until Seth Mulo turned up and stole her heart . . . and provided information that led her to find her mom in Seattle. But the reunion isn’t quite what she expected. Aphra’s mom, Natalie, doesn’t seem happy to see Aphra, and Natalie’s boyfriend, Joe, insists that Aphra go home. Even worse, Seth shows up, only to ask her to return the ring he gave her the previous summer. At least Natalie’s hunky neighbor is sympathetic. But when Joe is found dead at a nearby coffee shop, Aphra discovers her whole trip to Seattle has been based on a lie. And now someone just might be trying to kill her. . . .

A fun, sexy, murder-mystery romance for all teen sleuths! Aphra Behn Connolly has the type of life most teenage girls envy. She lives on a remote tropical island and spends most of her time eavesdropping on the rich and famous. The problem is that her family?s resort allows few opportunities for her to make friends?much less to meet cute boys. So when a smoldering Seth Mulo arrives with his parents, she?s immediately drawn to him. Sure, he?s a little bit guarded, and sure his parents are rather cold, and okay he won?t say a word about his past, but their chemistry is undeniable. Then a famous rock star?s girlfriend turns up dead on the beach?strangled by her own bikini top?and alarm bells sound. Is it too great a coincidence that Seth?s family turned up just one day before a murder? As the plot thickens, Aphra finds that danger lurks behind even the most unexpected of faces. . . .

Hitting the books. Solving murders. Counting calories. It's all in a day's work for Tara Holloway, the U.S. Treasury's latest, greatest, soon-to-be-skinniest weapon against the biggest, richest tax cheats in the nation... When she joined the Criminal Investigations Division, Tara knew she'd be investigating some very real crooks. Forget about waitresses hiding tips from the IRS or babysitters not declaring income! Tara and her partner, Eddie, are going after one of country's richest, dirtiest felons. Being on a diet doesn't help Tara's mood much. Hopefully, by the time the investigation is over, she'll be sitting somewhere in a string bikini, far, far away... "PREPARE TO LAUGH YOUR ASSETS OFF."—Jana DeLeon, author of the Ghost-in-Law mysteries But first: Reality. Marcos Mendoza is a suspected loan shark with connections across the Mexican border. He's never been accused of any crimes, yet his business associates have a history of disappearing...and resurfacing...in body bags. Will Tara risk life, limb, and the pursuit of filing a joint tax return with her maybe-serious boyfriend Brett? Fighting crime, like drinking a cup of coffee with low-fat milk and artificial sweetener, is often bittersweet... "HUNTING DOWN TAX CHEATS HAS NEVER ADDED UP TO SO MUCH FUN!"—Robin Kaye, award-winning author of The Domestic Gods series

Aphra Connolly is being chased by some very dangerous people. She knows her survival depends upon staying far away from love interest Seth, and listening to her mom?s lectures on the finer points of anonymity and survival. But how is a girl supposed to live under the radar and not think about her boyfriend when she?s in Paris?the most romantic city in the world? When her mom?s contact in Paris is found floating in the Seine with a deadly message stuffed in his mouth, Aphra realizes that she will never be able to stop running unless she confronts the situation head-on. Sneaking away from her mom, Aphra tracks down the criminal mastermind in Italy, only to unwittingly reveal Seth?s location. And her mistake has just put them both in mortal danger. . . .

Convinced by her new boyfriend to go in search of her mother, Aphra is shocked by her mother's unhappy reaction to their reunion, but when her mother's boyfriend ends up murdered, things take a strange turn which makes Aphra think that someone is trying to set her up for the crime. Original.

Krissy Hancock runs a bookstore-café in Pine Hills, Ohio, but she’ll be setting up shop as a sleuth when she discovers a long-unsolved murder . . . Krissy’s helping a friend clean out her late mother’s house when she learns that although the deceased died peacefully at an advanced age, her brother did not. In fact, Wade was killed more than thirty years ago, and the case was never closed. What surprises Krissy even more is that she has a personal connection to the story—her friend Rita was seeing Wade at the time, scandalizing the town with the couple’s large age difference. With an older Rita now part of Krissy’s writing group—and another member with police experience—she starts digging up gossip, talking to the victim’s local coffee klatsch, and trying to find real clues amid the old rumors. But things just seem to grow muddier as she fights to identify whodunit . . .

When Krissy Hancock and her best friend Vicki decide to open a bookstore café in their new town of Pine Hills, they decide to call it "Death by Coffee," after Krissy’s father’s most famous mystery novel. Little do they know how well the name fits… On their very first day of business, Brendon Lawyer huffily takes his coffee…to the grave. It seems he had a severe allergy to peanuts…but how could there have been nuts in his coffee? And who stole his emergency allergy medication? Fortunately, Krissy’s love of puzzles and mysteries leads her not only to Officer Paul Dalton, but also to many of her new neighbors, who aren’t terribly upset that the book is closed on Brendon. But one of them is a killer, and Krissy needs to read between the lies if she wants to save her new store—and live to see how this story ends…

Book 2 in the Agatha Award-Winning Series Cold-blooded murder is, like, totally un-cool As the wildly successful darling of the publishing industry, chick lit mystery writer Kimberlee Kalder is the guest of honor at an exclusive writers' conference at Dalmorton Castle in Scotland. But jealousy and resentment are soon replaced with shock when Kimberlee is found dead at the bottom of the castle's bottle dungeon. Who didn't want to see prima donna Kimberlee brutally extinguished like one of her ill-fated characters? It's up to Detective Chief Inspector St. Just to track down the true killer in a castle full of cagey mystery connoisseurs who live and breathe malicious murder and artful alibis... Praise: Named a Best Book of 2009 by Deadly Pleasures "[In] her superior second cozy, Malliet's satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Malliet excels at stylish writing very reminiscent of the golden age of British mysteries. A real find for old-school mystery fans."—Booklist (starred review) "An absolutely delicious skewering of the world of mystery publishing and its none-too-savory denizens, Death and the Lit Chick is even wittier and more skillfully constructed than her Agatha Award-winning Death of a Cozy Writer."—Denver Post "Delicious. Malliet is laugh-out-loud funny in describing the cadre of crime writers encountered by the sometimes-flustered St. Just."—Mystery Scene "An entertaining diversion"—Kirkus Reviews "A good choice for readers who enjoy intelligent cozies and traditional mysteries."—Library Journal "Readers who enjoy all things British, as well as a good whodunit, will find these novels just the ticket."—Free Lance-Star "The writing is A+—smooth, clever (in the good sense) and a pleasure to read."—Cozy Library "Death and the Lit Chick shows why classics never go out of style...Malliet belongs on your bookshelf."—Reviewing the Evidence "Malliet's old-fashioned style is reminiscent of the traditional whodunits of the past... but with a distinctly humorous flair. The book is a clever mystery as well as a witty satire." —Vickie Britton at Suite 101

Ever since café owner Krissy Hancock settled into a relationship and—mostly—forgot about old flames, life has become surprisingly serene. Too bad her father, famed mystery writer James Hancock, had to pay an unexpected visit to Death by Coffee and brew up a batch of trouble... While caught off-guard by her dad’s presence, Krissy never dreamed he’d become the biggest murder suspect in town. But that’s exactly what happens when James’s boorish agent—a man he allegedly fired just hours earlier—is found cold and lifeless, a still-warm vanilla latte resting by his hand... With Pine Hills divided over her father’s innocence and a fanatical fan keen on locking the author away for safe keeping, Krissy must end the madness and identify the real criminal—even if that means meeting an ex or two along the way. But as her social life becomes increasingly chaotic, Krissy may be caught in a case that’s far too hot to handle...

When a mystery writer cries bloody murder, everyone blames her overactive imagination… Thriller scribe Sophie Katz is as hard-boiled as a woman who drinks Grande Caramel Brownie Frappuccinos can be. So Sophie knows it’s not paranoia or post-divorce, living-alone-again jitters, when she becomes convinced that a crazed reader is sneaking into her apartment to reenact scenes from her books. The police, however, can’t tell a good plot from an unmarked grave. When a filmmaker friend is brutally murdered in the manner of a death scene in one of his movies, Sophie becomes convinced that a copycat killer is on the loose —and that she’s the next target. If she doesn’t solve the mystery, her own bestseller will spell out her doom. Cursing her grisly imagination (why, oh, why did she have to pick the ax?), Sophie engages in some real-life gumshoe tactics. The man who swoops in to save her in dark alleys is mysterious new love interest Anatoly Darinsky. Of course, if this were fiction, Anatoly would be her prime suspect.…