About Holidays & Homicides
Holidays & Homicides: A Short Story Collection
Holiday Cozy Mysteries
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Publication date: December 2, 2025
Print length: 419 pages
ASIN: B0FSNH17GM
- A Hometown Christmas Caper (Hometown Mysteries) by Rosalie Spielman
- Gossip, Guilt & Gingerbread (Coffee & Cream Café Mysteries) by Lena Gregory
- Larceny & Twinkle Lights (Jamie Winters Mysteries) by Kelly Rey
- Holidays & Heists (Aloha Lagoon Mysteries) by Anne Marie Stoddard
- Ornaments, Surprise & Dead Guys (Gianna Mancini Mysteries) by Jennifer Fischetto
- It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Mischief (Northwoods Mysteries) by Annie McEwen
- You Can't see the Forest for the Christmas Trees (Modern Midwife Mysteries) by Christine Knapp
- Jingle Bell Rocker (Sunny Side Up Mysteries) by Misty Simon
- Holly, Handcuffs, and Hearsay (Camelot Flowers Mysteries) by Erica Wynters
- Search for the Silent Santa (Ghost Town Mysteries) by Jamie L. Adams
- Nothing But Truffle (Cookies & Chance Mysteries) by Catherine Bruns
- A Heartland Homicide (Bourbon B&B Mysteries) by Gin Jones
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She currently lives in Maryland with her husband in a rapidly emptying nest.
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From her first discovery of Nancy Drew, USA Today bestselling author Kelly Rey has had a lifelong love for mystery and tales of things that go bump in the night, especially those with a twist of humor. Through many years of working in the court reporting and closed captioning fields, writing has remained a constant. If she's not in front of a keyboard, she can be found reading, working out or avoiding housework. She's a member of Sisters in Crime and lives in the Northeast with her husband and a menagerie of very spoiled pets.
Gin Jones is a retired lawyer who specialized in ghost-writing for other lawyers. She prefers to write her own books, though, since she doesn't have to worry that her sense of humor might get her thrown into jail for contempt of court. In her spare time, Gin makes quilts, grows garlic, and advocates for patients with rare disorders.
Jamie L. Adams fell in love with books at an early age. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott opened her imagination and sparked a dream to be a writer. She wrote her first book as a school project in 6th grade.
A graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature as well as member of American Christian Fiction Writers, The Writing Desk, and several critique groups, she spends most of her time writing, reading or learning more about the craft near to her heart.
The parents of three very active children, she and her husband live in the Ozarks surrounded by forest and wildlife.
Erica Wynters started as most authors do - as an avid reader. Cozy mysteries and romantic suspense offered her just the escape she was looking for! The combination of great love and great danger keeps her turning pages late into the night.
Now they keep her writing pages late into the night. Her goal is always two-fold: help you fall in love with love all over again and take you on an adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat!
Misty Simon always wanted to be a storyteller…preferably behind a Muppet. Animal was number one, followed closely by Sherlock Hemlock… Since that dream didn’t come true, she began writing stories to share her world with readers, one laugh at a time.
Touching people’s hearts and funny bones are two of her favorite things, and she hopes everyone at least snickers in the right places when reading her books. She lives with her husband in Central Pennsylvania, where she is hard at work on her next novel or three.
Christine Knapp practiced as a nurse-midwife for many years. A writer of texts and journal articles, she is now thrilled to combine her love of midwifery and mysteries as a fiction author. Christine currently narrates books for the visually impaired. A dog lover, she lives near Boston.
The first thing most readers want to know about my contribution to the Holidays and Homicides anthology is what the heck I was thinking when I decided that a call for short stories set during a winter holiday should be set in February. But Christmas and Valentine's Day have more in common than you might think.
First, consider the weather. In Kentucky, where "A Heartland Homicide" is set, Valentine's Day is more likely to see snow on the ground than Christmas is. Beyond that, both holidays feature chocolate, gifts, and champagne. And hearts and romance. What more could a story want (besides a bit of crime)?
I'd like to say I had thought of
all these logical explanations when I set my holiday homicide story on
Valentine's Day instead of Christmas or New Year's Eve. But really it was
because I had been sitting on an idea for a while (no spoilers here, I promise)
that was an homage to Agatha Christie's And
Then There Were None. I envisioned a blizzard, rather than a remote island,
stranding the victims, who are college friends getting together for a reunion
on "Pal-entine's Day." And the winter holiday anthology seemed like
the perfect opportunity to play with the premise.
As it turned out, short stories don't have enough space for more than one murder, so the story turned out very different from what I'd originally planned. But it still has all the hallmarks of a winter adventure—a blizzard, snowmen, and treats. So many treats!
One of the treats mentioned in
the story is my personal favorite—shortbread cookies cut into heart shapes. I
make them for both Christmas and Valentine's Day (and, really, any occasion
when there are enough people around to share them with, so I don't eat the
whole batch by myself). Not only are they extremely tasty, but they're easy to
make! Just watch them carefully while they're baking, because they can go from
not-quite-cooked to overcooked in just seconds.
Shortbread Hearts
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted
butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
½ t. vanilla
3 cups flour
½ t. salt
Optional: 1/4 cup granulated
sugar, either in its original white or with a drop of food coloring to turn it
red
Cream butter, confectioner's sugar and vanilla until light. Mix in the flour thoroughly. Gather dough into 2 balls on waxed or parchment paper, and chill for 4 to 6 hours. Roll out each ball to a little over 1/4" thick. Cut into heart shapes approximately 3" across (or smaller; I like them tiny, about half that size). Sprinkle top with granulated sugar.
Bake on ungreased cookie sheets for 20 minutes at 325 degrees for the 3" size, less if they're smaller or on the thinner side. Watch them carefully; they should just barely be set when you take them out, before they start to turn even a little brown along the edges. Cool on a rack before serving. These are among the very few cookies that taste better at room temperature than when they're still warm. For an extra bit of Christmas flavor, try them with just a dab of mincemeat or apple butter on top. Not too much, and add it only at the last minute, so the cookies don't get soggy.
Makes 20 cookies using a 3"
cookie cutter.
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Thanks for letting me take over the blog for the day! Hope everyone enjoys the shortbread cookies. They're really easy, but everyone will think you're a brilliant baker.
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