Fiona Fleming Cozy Mysteries

When Fiona inherits her grandmother's quaint bed and breakfast, Petunia's, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to return to her beloved hometown of Reading, Vermont. Little did she know that her homecoming would bring more than just nostalgia. Just as Fee starts settling into her new role as an innkeeper, she receives shocking news: the ownership of her cherished property might be in jeopardy. Determined to protect her grandmother's legacy, Fiona dives headfirst into the investigation, only to find herself in the spotlight as the prime suspect in a murder. But this is no ordinary murder mystery. Prepare to be delighted as Fee's relentless pursuit of the truth takes her on a wild journey through the quirky and captivating world of Reading, where everyone has a secret, and nothing is as it seems. From peculiar townsfolk to eccentric guests, Fee encounters a colorful cast of characters who will keep you guessing and chuckling at every turn. As she navigates the seedy underbelly lurking beneath the town's charming façade, Fiona's quick wit and determination become her greatest assets. With Petunia, her loyal four-legged companion by her side, she uncovers a string of clues that lead to shocking revelations. And with each discovery, the plot thickens, intensifying the suspense and leaving you on the edge of your seat.

A Multiple Drink Kind of Night Why was it fancy Valentine's Day drinks were always tinted red? Reminded me more of gore and mayhem than anything to do with romance. Which said a lot, I suppose, for my state of mind when it came to relationships and dating. No bitterness in Fiona Fleming toward the opposite sex or anything. I sipped carefully at the mimosa the bartender smilingly handed me and shrugged off the sweetness. It had alcohol in it, so I guess it would do. A few of these and I might even find a way to enjoy myself tonight. Yeah, right. Fiona Fleming would rather be home, at her bed and breakfast with her pug Petunia snuggled up to her while everyone else celebrates Valentine's Day without her, thank you very much. Instead, she's been recruited to attend another of Mayor Olivia Walker's Reading, Vermont tourism promotion events. But when the young majority stakeholder in the White Valley Ski Lodge ends up dead, she's ready and willing to help Sheriff Crew Turner and her father uncover who killed their victim while a snowstorm cuts them off from the rest of the world.

I skipped around a small stack of pylons while my deputy cousin unloaded more of the same from the back of the sheriff's pickup. I beamed at Robert Carlisle, not because I adored him. Quite the opposite. I couldn't stand the wretched little piece of loathing with his seventies-esque bush of a black mustache or his pompous superiority. No, I grinned and waved out of sheer delight at his less than enthusiastic expression as he grunted his way through hefting a rather heavy looking barricade onto the sidewalk. "Exercise is good for you," I said as I kept going without offering to help. "Your ass could use some lately, Fanny," he shot after me. He did not just call me fat and Fanny in the same sentence. Fiona Fleming has no intention of getting involved when Mayor Olivia Walker hosts a parade for the celebrity couple whose fame she's been using to promote their town. But when the local ski lodge can't accommodate and Willow Pink and Skip Anderson end up staying at Petunia's, Fee is not only front row center to a murder, she's trapped in her own bed and breakfast with the suspects when the frenzied media descends on Reading looking for the story of a lifetime.

A Séance kind of evening It was almost as if someone wrapped the room in a cold hand, chill in the air triggering goosebumps on my skin. I caught motion in the corner of my eye, turned in time to see a glowing, ghostly figure float through the pocket door and come to a halt at the far end of the table. This time, rather than a static image, the young man raised both arms, eyes black pits of emptiness, mouth gaping open as he reached for Emelia. Who screamed and reached back. "Manuel!" I'd be nominating Sadie for an Oscar for this performance. Right after my terror at this new and utterly believable trick allowed me to breathe. When the psychic leading the seance she's attending ends up dead, Fee can't help but feel like her bad luck yet again put her in the wrong place at the wrong time. With Sheriff Crew Turner ordering her to stay out of it or else, her father, retired from the force or not, egging her on and a string of murders begging to be solved, she can either go home and be a good B&B owner or find out whodunit!

A Tasty Kind of Afternoon Not to be indelicate about it, but if Mom made me eat one more bite of cake, I was going to throw up. I'd honestly ingested enough dessert in the last hour to sink a submarine with no end in sight. Don't get me wrong. I loved my mother's baking. But a girl has her limits, and I had finally reached mine, groaning, burping softly around the chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, buttercream, and banana that swam on the surface of a variety of other flavors I'd rather not taste again in reverse. With renovations of the new annex to Petunia's in full swing, Fiona's life might be more in order, but her habit of digging into criminal cases hasn't changed one bit. Doesn't help when her mother is on the suspect list, the death of a famous cooking show judge leading Fee into the dark side of bake offs, television, and murder.