A Case for the Toy Maker

Ainsley McGregor, #3

by Candace Havens

(Publication date: October 26th 2020

Published by: Tule Publishing

Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

BLURB

Ho. Ho. No…

It’s Christmas in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is feeling festive apart from Ainsley McGregor. Ainsley has never enjoyed the holidays and would rather ignore them, but with her shop Bless Your Art busier than ever and filled with happy shoppers, even she’s feeling some Christmas spirit. That is, until her Great Dane, George Clooney, sniffs out a dead body in the Santa House at the Christmas Festival.

When one of her favorite crafters becomes the prime suspect, Ainsley is determined to prove his innocence. The case is full of so many twists and turns that even Ainsley begins to fear the truth. Is she protecting a killer?

With help from her friends and some extremely nosey townsfolk, Ainsley and her dog hurry to find the truth––as long as they can outwit and outrun the killer first. Otherwise, this Christmas might just be her last.

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EXCERPT:

“There’s the Santa house,” Shannon said, just as George growled menacingly. “What’s wrong, George?” That growl was never a good sign, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

I had a strong urge to turn around and walk back to the store. But my curiosity knew no bounds. I had to find out what was going on.

We stopped in front of Santa’s house, which was a bigger version of our booth except it really did look like a house right out of the North Pole. “Wow, they did a great job. It’s fancy,” I said.

George growled again. A knot formed in my stomach, twisting hard.

Shannon glanced at him and then me. “Ainsley? You don’t think…is something wrong?”

“I hope not,” I said. George had done this before and it had never been good news.

He barked and then did the high-pitched whine that told me something I really didn’t want to know.

“No,” I whispered.

“Ains?”

I took a deep breath and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Hold on to George—tight.” After handing her the leash, I turned on the flashlight app on my phone.

“You’re freaking me out,” she said, as she gripped the leash tightly.

“I’m freaking myself out.” Opening the double doors to Santa’s house, I peeked inside.

My breath caught, and bile rose in my throat.

“Call my brother.” My voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper. I forgot I had my phone in my hand. “What is it?”

The image of the man with the candy-cane-striped pole sticking out of his chest would be burned in my brain forever.

“Santa is dead.”

Author Info

Bestselling author Candace Havens has written more than 35 novels. She has won the Holt Medallion and her books have received nominations for the RITA's and Write Touch Reader Awards. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation's leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities including Tom Hanks, Nicolas Cage, Tom Cruise, George Clooney and many more. Candace also runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews for Hawkeye in the morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.

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A CASE FOR THE YARN MAKER

Ainsley McGregor, #2

by Candace Havens

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Spin a yarn…at your own risk.

Everyone at Bless Your Art in Sweet River, Texas, is excited about the Yarn Goddess (yes, that’s her real name) coming to town. Ainsley McGregor has set up a special event at the local community center, but when old Mrs. Whedon doesn’t see eye-to-eye with the Goddess about using quality yarn, a fight breaks out. Who knew the octogenarian had ninja moves like that?

It’s all fun and games until George Clooney, Ainsley’s Great Dane, finds Ms. Yarn’s dead body in a booth at Bless Your Art. Now the prime suspect is Mrs. Whedon, and while she’s not the easiest woman to get along with, there’s no way she’s the killer. At least, Ainsley doesn’t think so. As this yarn unravels, Ainsley and her quirky friends learn some interesting things about the case and the Goddess’s checkered past. But there’s a killer on the loose, and George may be the only thing protecting Ainsley from certain death.

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EXCERPTS

Thirty minutes later, loud voices from the back of the store had George sitting up from his nap.

Mike’s face was priceless. His eyes wide, and his eyebrows nearly disappearing into his hairline.

“Let me guess,” I whispered as he neared the counter. “She’s here.”

“Um. Yep. And she’s not happy,” he said. “Something about the peonies not being large enough and it’s messing up her feng shoo shoo something for the signing.”

The woman was impossible. Who needed fêng shui for a book signing? She couldn’t cancel the signing this late. All of those poor people were standing in line to see the woman. Surely, she wouldn’t disappoint them.

I guessed this is what Hilary meant about her having a bad day.

I grabbed a sip of water to push down the knot of terror in my throat. We’d bought several hundred copies of her books, and they were nonreturnable. I’d be out all of that money.

“I guess, I should say hello,” I croaked.

George followed me to the middle of the store where several of the booth owners worked to move things around.

Yarn Goddess, who was at least sixty but thanks to a great plastic surgeon, could pass for forty, wore a Chanel suit with pearls. Her dark hair had been styled into a chignon, giving the appearance of an elegant woman one might see shopping on Fifth Avenue in New York.

I’d watched her videos and she seemed so friendly on camera. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“I don’t want my fans to see any other yarn than my own,” she shrieked. “Do you have morons running this place? Why would you try to take away from my business when I’m doing you a favor?”

Maybe, I’d just go back to the checkout counter.

Sensing the tension, George barked.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Yarn Goddess screamed. “What is that beast doing in here? It’s contaminating my yarn.”

“Hello,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm. No one called George a beast, except me. “I’m Ainsley, the owner of Bless Your Art. I wanted to thank you for being here,” I said. “We’re very honored to have you.”

Her eyebrow lifted, not too high, as I’m sure there was a bunch of Botox keeping her from having many facial expressions.

I reached out a hand to shake, but she just stared at it.

“Why is your nose red? Do you have a cold?” She grabbed one of her wipes. “Did you touch anything in here? What is it with this place? Animals and sick people. Hilary,” she shrieked as she waved toward me and George, “take care of this. Now. Or I’m leaving.”

Nerves boiled deep in my belly.

“I’ll take George for a walk,” Mike said.

I took a deep breath. “Can you see if maybe Jake can watch him for me? Just until the signing and classes are over?”

Jake was the fire chief and a great friend. His place out in the country was next to mine, and he loved George.

“Got it,” he said.

Hilary guided me back to the front of the store. “I’m so sorry. I know I keep saying that,” she said. “I’d like to say she’s just nervous. This is her first time in public since her—um, procedures. She’s worried people will think she had work done, even though she did.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

A CASE FOR THE WINEMAKER

Ainsley McGregor, #1

The closer she gets to the truth, the more she finds herself drowning in trouble.

It’s an exciting time in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town's talking. Maybe, a little too much. Former English professor Ainsley McGregor has gambled everything on her new business: Bless Your Art, an artisan market where local artists sell their wares and teach classes.

The bright, white space is filled to the brim with colorful art, yarn, jewelry, pet treats, antiques and even a few medieval weapons. Oh, and there are wine tastings. Everything's better with wine. Ainsley is surprised by how well things are going–right up until the moment her Great Dane finds a dead body. With her friend accused of the murder, it’s up to Ainsley to find the real killer.

As the suspect list grows longer, Ainsley has her work cut out for her. The task is made more difficult by the fact her brother, the sheriff, doesn’t seem to want her help. If she doesn’t wrap up the case soon, she might be the next wine, um, one to die.

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Bestselling author Candace Havens has published more than 25 books. Her novels have received nominations for the RITA's, Holt Medallion, Write Touch Reader Awards and National Readers Choice Awards. She is a Barbara Wilson Award winner. She is the author of the biography “Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy” and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation's leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities from George Clooney to Chris Pratt. Candace also runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers, and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews with Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.

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