As picturesque Longley, New York, gets ready to ring in the holiday season, caterers Bernadette and Libby Simmons are coping with their busiest time of year. If that's not enough to make them run around like crazed elves, they're recruited for a cooking show contest that pits celebrity chefs against each other–and gives rise to murder. . .Visions of sugar plums are most decidedly not dancing in Libby's head–especially since she and her sister are set to appear on the Hortense Calabash Cooking Show. The premise is to give six professional caterers random ingredients and have them whip up a holiday meal. The icing on the fruitcake is that Hortense Calabash is a grinch of year-round proportions. And the other contestants are some of the most demanding–and difficult–chefs in the business. Bernie and Libby are thrown into the mix as arguments and accusations simmer on the set. Holiday spirit has left the building–and leaves a body–when Hortense, all dressed up as Santa Claus for the opening sequence, is killed by an exploding oven. With the holiday rush in full swing and a killer still on the loose, Bernie and Libby have no choice but to wrap up the mystery before their geese are well and fully cooked. . . Includes Scrumptious Holiday Recipes for You to Try!
When exotic pet-sitter Belinda Blake moves into a carriage house in tony Greenwich, Connecticut, she’s hoping to find some new clients. Instead she discovers a corpse in the garden—and a knack for solving murders . . .    Pet-sitter Belinda Blake doesn’t rattle easily, but move-in day has been eventful, to say the least. The python in her care tried to slither to freedom—just as she met Stone Carrington V, her landlords’ disarmingly handsome son. With the constrictor back in its cage, she heads out to the garden, only to discover a designer shoe poking out of the boxwood hedge—attached to a woman’s dead body.   The victim, Margo Fenton, was a Carrington family friend, and no one in their circle seems above suspicion. Between client trips to Manhattan and visits to her family in upstate New York, Belinda begins to put the pieces together. But though she’s falling for Stone’s numerous charms, Belinda wonders if she’s cozying up to a killer. And soon, daily contact with a deadly reptile might be the least dangerous part of her life . . .  “A humorous series debut with exotic pets and a zany cast of characters. Gilbert’s cozy will make you smile.”—Amanda Flower, USA Today bestselling author of Premeditated Peppermint “Cozy fans will root for pet-sitter Belinda Blake as she unravels this cleverly-crafted mystery in a delightfully-deadly new series by Heather Day Gilbert.”—Elizabeth Spann Craig, author of the bestselling Myrtle Clover Mysteries “Smart and fresh, with a compelling mystery at its heart, Belinda Blake and the Snake in the Grass is an enchanting cozy that will hook you from page one. As will amateur sleuth Belinda Blake, a delightfully original heroine you’ll want to meet again and again.”—Karin Kaufman, author of the bestselling Juniper Grove Cozy Mystery Series “Snakes rank only slightly more favorably with me than spiders, leeches, and ticks. So you can imagine my surprise when, by the end of this book, the snake was my second favorite character after Belinda herself. On top of being a great book for animal-lovers (trust me, you’ll love even the snake), this was a fun read with a smart sleuth. I can’t wait to see what Belinda does next, where both pets and perps are concerned.”—Emily James, award-winning and bestselling cozy mystery author