National Network for Equitable Library Service

An outbreak of kleptomania at a student hostel is not normally the sort of crime that arouses Hercule Poirot's interest. However, the warden of the hostel is his secretary Miss Lemon's sister, and efficient Miss Lemon is less than efficient when worried. To set her mind at ease--and decrease the number of mistakes in her typing--he agrees to meet with Mrs. Hubbard. When he sees the bizarre list of stolen and vandalized items--including a stethoscope, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack, and a diamond ring (which was stolen, then discovered in a bowl of soup)--he congratulates Mrs.

Christmas Eve, and the Lee family's reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture and a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. When Hercule Poirot offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man ... This title was previously published as Murder for Christmas and A Holiday for Murder.

Janet Evanovich's #1 New York Times bestselling sensation Stephanie Plum returns in her latest captivating thriller where mutilated corpses litter the streets of New Jersey. Trouble comes in bunches for Stephanie Plum. First, professional grave robber and semi-professional loon, Simon Diggery, won't let her take him in until she agrees to care for his boa constrictor, Ethel. Stephanie's main qualification for babysitting an extremely large snake is that she owns a stun gun--whether that's for use on the wandering serpent or the petrified neighbors remains to be seen.

Seventeen-year-old Natalie Waite longs to escape home for college. Her father is a domineering and egotistical writer who keeps a tight rein on Natalie and her long-suffering mother. When Natalie finally does get away, however, college life doesn’t bring the happiness she expected. Little by little, Natalie is no longer certain of anything - even where reality ends and her dark imaginings begin. Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946.

Montgomery “Monty” Haaviko has done the crimes—robbery, assault, embezzlement, arson, smuggling, attempted murder—and has lived the criminal lifestyle, where nothing is permanent. Crime may look easy, but a career criminal can’t even follow a TV series. For Monty the endless danger and fear, along with a hard-to-kick drug habit, became too much. Now, all he wants to do is settle down in a quiet Winnipeg neighbourhood with his wife, his baby son, his dog, and his pet mouse, and try something new: an honest job and life as an ordinary decent citizen.

Anxiety is the watchword at most school reunions, with side-eye comparisons of greying hair and extra pounds around the belly. Not our Randy Craig. She's more concerned with resolving a 20 year old CanLit scandal and catching a ruthless killer. While helping her best friend Denise organize their 20 year reunion at the University of Alberta, Randy's tumultuous past as a graduate student comes rushing into the present as she faces off against old ghosts and imminent death.

Monty Haaviko, Winnipeg's favourite househusband, babysitter, and ex-con, is running for chief of Winnipeg's new police commision. It's almost honest work, except that he's been bribed to throw the election to his opponent, an ex-cop stooge of wealthy businessman, Cornelius Devanter. At the same time, Devanter's archenemy has paid Monty an even bigger bribe to ensure the ex-cop loses. Monty is happy to oblige both, but one on the campaign trail, he realises the good he can do for the citizens of Winnipeg if he wins. Meanwhile, all is not quiet on the Haaviko home front.

After serving two years in prison for breaking the neck of the man who assaulted his sister, Arden is released on bail. He lands a job working at Tuffy’s, a restaurant and bar on the beach strip, alongside his former cellmate, Slip Winegarden. Things seem to be looking good for Arden, until it all starts to unravel… When Slip is caught crossing Viktor Khernov, Tuffy’s owner, Arden witnesses the madman’s revenge from close quarters. Arden’s parole officer tells him to find another job or lose his parole status.

Reluctant amateur detective, Reverend Charles Lauchlan, departs the prairie city of Winnipeg and travels abroad to Scotland with his fiancé Maggie on a bicycle tour of the Highlands. Two near fatal accidents put members of the tour on edge and, to make matters worse, a shadowy figure seems to be observing their every move. Stuck in the remote Highland countryside, the group is thrown back on their own resources. While Charles and Maggie are trying to decipher what these strange events mean, they make another grisly discovery.

When a costumed, pike-spiked body turns up after a traditional historic reenactment of the 1645 Battle of Thornford, the Reverend Tom “Father” Christmas and the villagers of Thornford Regis find themselves in a battle of their own as they deal with events from the murky, more recent past. C.C. Benison’s latest intriguing and delightful Father Christmas mystery will leave cozy mystery readers puzzling over the outcome and, like a refreshing English cream tea, wishing there were more.