Writers use many things to subtly establish a character’s personality in a story. The type of clothing a character chooses to wear can paint a vivid picture of the character’s persona, as does the way they style their hair, the type of car they drive, where they live, and how they decorate their home. Their…
Life is certainly seeming far more profitable nowadays for Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck after getting their property-flipping business up and running, with several successful projects under their tool belts. Their latest project presents an interesting new challenge though. The abandoned church and parsonage they’ve just purchased have good bones but seem pretty far…
Tell us your dream job in the comments below for your chance to win a copy of all four series debuts: The Rocky Road to Ruin – #1 in the Ice Cream Shop Mysteries by Meri Allen Getaway with Murder – #1 in the Mountain Lodge Mysteries by Diane Kelly Chapter and Curse – #1…
Chapter 1 ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE The Slasher He reached over to the wooden block of serrated steak knives on the kitchen counter and yanked one out, clutching it in his fist. He slashed and slashed, and the blood splashed and splashed. Over the walls. Over the counter-tops. Over the floor. Over skin and clothing…
We teamed up with five cozy mystery writers to create a short story in real-time. The end result was “Sweet Voodoo Magic” which you can read in full below! A special thank you goes out to the participating authors (in order of appearance): Hannah Dennison, S.C. Perkins, Donna Andrews, Diane Kelly, and Ellie Alexander. The…
Dead in the Doorway by Diane Kelly is the second in the delightful House-Flipper cozy mystery series set in Nashville, where the real estate market is to die for—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! Whitney Whitaker has scored the perfect piece of real estate: a ramshackle white Colonial at the top of a hill with…
Having grown up with multiple dogs and now living with three spoiled mutts, I’ve learned quite a bit about the canine species. Of course, all of the dogs in my family have been consistently unemployed, unless you count barking to announce the arrival of the mail carrier as a job. When I set out to…
Paw of the Jungle by Diane Kelly is the eighth Paw Enforcement novel, where police officer Megan Luz and her K-9 partner in crime, Brigit, are on all fours as they try to solve their latest Lone Star mystery—take a visual tour with GIFnotes! The weather is beautiful. The work is slow. And Megan’s canine…
Diane Kelly is back with The Long Paw of the Law, the seventh installment in her Paw Enforcement series. One night, while on duty with her four-legged crime-fighting companion, Meg gets an urgent call from her boyfriend Seth, who works for the Fort Worth fire department. A baby girl has turned up at the station with…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, a new Bailey Weggins novel from Kate White and the fourth Otter Lake Mystery by Auralee Wallace highlight an awesome…
