Jane K. Cleland

Jane K. Cleland returns with Jane Austen's Lost Letters, the fourteenth installment in the beloved Josie Prescott Antiques series, set on the rugged New Hampshire coast. Antiques appraiser Josie Prescott is in the midst of filming a segment for her new television show, Josie’s Antiques, when the assistant director interrupts to let her know she has a visitor. Josie reluctantly pauses production and goes outside, where she finds an elegant older woman waiting to see her. Veronica Sutton introduces herself as an old friend of Josie’s father, who had died twenty years earlier. Veronica seems fidgety, and after only a few minutes, hands Josie a brown paper-wrapped package, about the size of a shoebox, and leaves. Mystified, Josie opens the package, and gasps when she sees what’s inside: a notecard bearing her name—in her father’s handwriting—and a green leather box. Inside the box are two letters in transparent plastic sleeves. The first bears the salutation, “My dear Cassandra,” the latter, “Dearest Fanny.” Both are signed “Jane Austen.” Could her father have really accidentally found two previously unknown letters by one of the world’s most beloved authors—Jane Austen? Reeling, Josie tries to track down Veronica, but the woman has vanished without a trace. Josie sets off on the quest of a lifetime to learn what Veronica knows about her father and to discover whether the Jane Austen letters are real. As she draws close to the truth, she finds herself in danger, and learns that some people will do anything to keep a secret—even kill.

A Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery

Jane Austen's Lost Letters

By exploring how suspense in a narrative is built through careful attention to both plot and structure, Suspense, Structure, and Plot provides thirteen results-oriented techniques for creating suspense in a story, no matter what the genre.

Mastering Suspense Structure and Plot

Abandoning her lucrative career with a famous New York auction house following a high profile price-fixing scandal to live on the New Hampshire coast, Josie Prescott's peaceful new life is turned upside down by murder when the local police chief pegs her as a prime suspect in the crime. Reprint.

Consigned to Death

"Suspense is one of the most powerful tools a writer has for captivating readers--but it isn't just for thrillers. From mainstream fiction to memoir, suspense creates the emotional tension that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Mastering Suspense, Structure, & Plot is your hands-on guide to weaving suspense into your narrative. Award-winning author Jane K. Cleland teaches you how to navigate genre conventions, write for your audience, and build gripping tension to craft an irresistible page-turner."--Back cover.

How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers

Mastering Plot Twists

As a warm ocean breeze ruffles the tall grass along Rocky Point's sandy dunes, Josie Prescott visits the house of a wealthy local couple, Edwin and Ava Belcher. She's been called in to appraise their Tiffany lamp, which everyone is delighted to find is genuine. Josie's good friend, Police Chief Ellis Hunter, is helping Josie prepare for her annual Fourth of July barbecue when he gets a call that Ava has been murdered. Unable to reach Edwin, Ellis asks Josie to identify the body.Josie is stunned to discover that the dead woman lying on the Belcher kitchen floor is not the woman she knew as Ava. Shock turns to perplexity when Josie discovers that everything she thought she knew about the Tiffany lamp and the Belchers is built on lies.Readers will delight in spending time in Rocky Point as these much-loved characters come together to solve a dastardly crime. In this cunning and twisty tale of envy, greed, and revenge, Josie uses her knowledge of antiques to learn the truth about the priceless Tiffany lamp-and to discover Ava's killer.

Glow of Death

Since Josie Prescott left a high-paying job in New York to set up shop as an antiques appraiser on the rugged New Hampshire coast, her life has not gone exactly according to plan. In many ways, it’s gone better: She has a booming business, good friends and neighbors, and even a promising romance. But dead bodies do seem to keep crossing her path. And now her friend Rosalie has been killed just hours after confiding a secret to Josie, leaving a bereaved twelve-year-old sister, Paige, who reminds Josie of herself when her mother died. It turns out that Rosalie had other secrets too: a mysterious treasure she told her sister she was leaving behind—and a secret admirer who now seems to be turning his creepy attention to Josie! As Josie races to solve the crime while helping Paige and trying to keep her business afloat, Jane K. Cleland brings us an irresistible new blend of coziness, crime, and collectibles.

Antiques to Die For

Arriving in Rocky Point, New Hampshire, to appraise a Faberge Spring Egg snow globe, which includes five ruby-red tulips, expert antiques appraiser Josie Prescott instead finds murder and a fake Faberge smashed to pieces, which prompts her to team up with her reporter friend to solve this mystery. By the author of Lethal Treasure.

Blood Rubies

Showing a recently acquired doll collection to an investor who is subsequently shot and killed, antiques dealer Josie Prescott is horrified when one of her employees is kidnapped by an abductor who demands the doll collection as ransom.

Dolled Up for Murder

Ellie Alexander

Diane Kelly

Vivien Chien

Donna Andrews

Cate Conte

Elizabeth Penney

Carolyn Haines

Ashley Weaver

Ellen Hart

Susan Cox

Looking for a new cozy series? In the new edition of Cozy Case Files, Minotaur Books compiles the beginnings of eleven charming cozy mysteries publishing in Fall 2020 for free for easy sampling. The tenth edition of Cozy Case Files features the latest cozies by the following authors: Ashley Weaver, Jane K. Cleland, Ellen Hart, Carolyn Haines, Donna Andrews, Ellie Alexander, Cate Conte, Diane Kelly, Elizabeth Penney, Vivien Chien, and Susan Cox. In 1930s England, Amory Ames must sort through secret identities and whirlwind romances to uncover the killer in the crowd in A Deception at Thornecrest. Or in Hidden Treasure and In a Midnight Wood, things from the past shake things up in the present. Christmas is threatened to be canceled in A Garland of Bones, The Gift of the Magpie, and A Whisker of a Doubt. Then after the holidays are over, a murder in the midst of preparation for the town’s annual IceFest means brewer Sloan Krause must serve a pint of hoppy justice in Without a Brew. In Bending the Paw, murder without a body is like a dog without a bone. Need an excuse to order takeout? Thread & Dead and Killer Kung Pao have you covered with a lobster festival or the popular Ho-Lee Noodle House. And finally, San Francisco is calling your name in The Man in the Microwave Oven.

Cozy Case Files, A Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 10

Hosting an antiques class in her cozy New Hampshire appraisals shop, Josie Prescott is shocked to discover the murdered body of a guest lecturer and teams up with the local police chief when she suspects that one of her employees is involved. By the Agatha Award-finalist author of Killer Keepsakes. 20,000 first printing.

Deadly Threads

Antiques expert Josie Prescott's new life in New Hampshire is thriving, with a successful business and a romance with the police chief, until Maisy Gaylor drops dead at a benefit and Josie finds herself on the short list of suspects.

Deadly Appraisal

For antiques dealer Josie Prescott, an abandoned storage unit is the perfect place to find some killer treasure, but finding a dead body amongst the wares is more than she bargained for With Valentine's Day a week away and the sun sparkling on the fresh-fallen snow in Rocky Point, New Hampshire, it is the perfect day for antiques dealer Josie Prescott to pursue her newest source of unexpected treasures—the contents of abandoned storage units sold at auction. A crowd gathers at the storage facility, including the owner of a local interior design store, Henri Dubois, who bids against a man who is new to the local auction scene. Josie is thrilled with her win, a small unit filled with Depression-era glassware and stunning vintage jewelry. The unit won by Henri includes hand-painted silent movie posters, which he eagerly hands over to Josie for appraisal. The next morning, Josie receives a frantic call from Henri's wife and learns that he never made it home. When the police open Henri's storage unit they find him dead amidst a jumble of objects. Was he killed over one of the objects? Is his wife hiding secrets that led to his death? And who was the stranger who bid against Henri? The police turn to Josie's antiques expertise and she discovers more than provenance—she uncovers a murderer. Jane K. Cleland's Lethal Treasure is a page-turning addition to her beloved Josie Prescott mystery series, with the fascinating antiques details and devilishly clever mystery plot that fans adore and newcomers will love.

Lethal Treasure

One of the mainstays of Prescott's Antiques and Appraisals has always been the cheerful and helpful assistant, Gretchen, who turned up unexpectedly just as Josie was setting up shop in New Hampshire. Gretchen has always been so dependable that it seems odd when she doesn't show up for work one day. Surprise soon turns to alarm when a dead body is found in Gretchen's house, with Gretchen the prime suspect. How much does Josie know about Gretchen, anyway? Enough to believe she isn't capable of murder, so Josie, with a crack team of antiques appraisers at her side, sets out to find the real killer and bring Gretchen home safely, no matter the cost.

Killer Keepsakes

The discovery of a mysterious antique trunk leads to a disappearance—and murder—in the latest in this beloved cozy series set on the rugged New Hampshire coast, Jane K. Cleland's Hidden Treasure. When antiques expert Josie Prescott finds a mysterious trunk, no one thinks it could lead to murder. Josie, the owner of Prescott’s Antiques & Auctions, and her new husband, Ty, have finally found their dream home, a Victorian beauty on the beach known in the town of Rocky Point as the “Gingerbread House.” It was recently vacated by Maudie Wilson, an aging widow, whose concerned nieces have moved her into a nearby assisted living facility. Josie befriends Maudie, who seems surprisingly sharp, considering her family’s doubts about her soundness of mind. As Josie and Ty joyfully begin renovations on the Gingerbread House, the nieces report that Maudie, in her forgetfulness, may have left behind an old trunk, which she’s desperate to get back. Sure enough, Josie finds the trunk inside a hidden compartment, and within it a jewel-encrusted box holding a sculpture of a cat. Josie can understand the sense of urgency about getting the objects back—they look valuable, and not just in the sentimental sense. But when Josie goes to return the box to Maudie, the woman has vanished. And on the floor of her empty apartment lies a corpse, a woman bludgeoned to death. Sick with worry for Maudie’s safety, Josie begins to piece together the clues to the murder. Everyone around her seems to want to pitch in, from Maudie’s family, to the receptionist at the facility, to the young couple helping Josie with her renovations, but with the killer so close to home, Josie has to be on her guard.

Hidden Treasure

As a warm ocean breeze ruffles the tall grass along Rocky Point’s sandy dunes, Josie Prescott visits the house of a wealthy local couple, Edwin and Ava Belcher. She’s been called in to appraise their Tiffany lamp, which everyone is delighted to find is genuine. Josie’s good friend, Police Chief Ellis Hunter, is helping prepare for her annual Fourth of July barbeque when he gets a call that Ava has been murdered. Unable to reach Edwin, Ellis asks Josie to identify the body. Josie is stunned to discover that the dead woman lying on the Belcher kitchen floor is not the woman she knew as Ava. Astonishment turns to shock when Josie discovers that everything she thought she knew about the Tiffany lamp and the Belchers has been built on lies. Readers will delight in spending time in Rocky Point as these much-loved characters come together to solve a dastardly crime in the Glow of Death, a masterful addition to Jane Cleland's Josie Prescott series. In this cunning and twisty tale of envy, greed, and revenge, Josie uses her knowledge of antiques to learn the truth about the priceless Tiffany lamp—and to discover Ava’s killer.

The tenth book in Jane K. Cleland's mystery series featuring an amateur sleuth/antiques appraiser in New Hampshire

Ornaments of Death

M. C. Beaton

Jess Dylan

Looking for a new cozy series? In the new edition of Cozy Case Files, Minotaur Books compiles the beginnings of seven charming cozy mysteries publishing in Fall 2021 for free for easy sampling. The thirteenth edition of Cozy Case Files features the latest cozies by the following authors: Ellie Alexander, Donna Andrews, M. C. Beaton with R. W. Green, Jane K. Cleland, Jess Dylan, Elizabeth Penney, and Diane Kelly. Dip into two series debuts! In Chapter and Curse, follow Molly Kimball as she heads to Cambridge, England to help run the family bookshop. In Getaway with Murder, Misty Murphy celebrates her fiftieth birthday by ending her marriage, emptying both her nest and her bank account, and purchasing a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Spring has arrived in Leavenworth, Washington in The Cure for What Ales You, and despite the festive spirit Slone Krause is brewing over her past. And speaking of things in bloom, Petals and Poison returns readers to a flower shop with a knack for attracting trouble as well as customers. Beloved heroine Agatha Raisin is back in Down the Hatch, where a newfound hobby, power-walking, leads Agatha to a dead body and right into her newest case. In Jane Austen’s Lost Letters, Josie Prescott comes across two undiscovered letters, under mysterious circumstances, written by the beloved novelist. Finish by getting in the holiday spirit in The Twelve Jays of Christmas, where a snowstorm brings to light not only a murder, but an elopement within the Langslow family.

Cozy Case Files, A Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 13

Ever-crafty Josie must confront suspicious antiques dealers and her own friend’s killer in Antique Blues, the twelfth mystery in Jane K. Cleland's beloved Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series set in New Hampshire. When amateur sleuth and antiques expert Josie Prescott is called in to appraise a Japanese woodblock print and vintage guitar for her friend Mo, she’s thrilled—until Mo is murdered. It doesn’t take her long to pinpoint one suspect: Mo’s sister’s manipulative boyfriend, who sold her the print—and has now, conveniently, disappeared. Josie’s antiques know-how and detective skills soon lead her down an increasingly perplexing trail, scattered with gamblers, extramarital affairs, and under-the-table purchases. Readers will relish a return to Rocky Point with Josie as she works together with her friends—the ambitious young reporter Wes Smith, and Rocky Point’s savvy police chief, Ellis Hunter—to sift through the conflicting stories around them and find Mo’s killer.

Jane K. Cleland

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