Hi, I’m Courtney Kelly owner of Open Your Imagination, a fairy garden store in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. For the uninitiated, fairy gardens are whimsical miniature gardens decked out with plants and structures like fairy houses and castles or swings and slides. If you add fairy figurines, you will create a story. I fell in love with the art of making fairy gardens when I attended a Renaissance Fair. The ones I saw were so whimsical, I knew I had to learn the craft. It changed my life. Truly. I was working as a landscape architect in my father’s business and bored to tears. No offense, Dad. When I made my first garden, my heart lightened. I found myself smiling. A lot. When I opened this shop and met Fiona, a real fairy—she’s a righteous fairy who is a delightful imp, about three inches tall, with the prettiest wings and hair—my hope for the future was renewed.

Tonight, we’re closed and prepping the shop for the Christmas holidays. Carmel is a delightful village-style town that beckons tourists from all over, and tourists love to shop for treasures. I’ve purchased strands of bells, necklaces with bells, and freestanding bells. I’d also commissioned bells that feature beautiful flower fairies from an Etsy designer. And I’ve stocked the most delightful snow globes.

Knock-knock.

To my surprise, a darling woman from Sweet Treats bakery, who is dressed like an elf, is begging to enter. She needs to buy a present. Okay, I must admit, I’m a sucker for elves.

I let her in, and she goes directly to a flower fairy bell. She wishes to purchase it, but I don’t have change. We’ve secured the register. She promises me gingerbread cookies in the morning if I’ll let her take the bell with her. How can I refuse? I’m also a sucker for gingerbread.

When she leaves, Fiona flits to me, her face in a panic. “Courtney!” She flies to the display of snow globes and hovers. “One . . . one of . . .” Fiona is rarely at a loss for words. “One of the snow globes is cracked! Is it a sign?”

“A sign?” I ask.

“Of something evil coming.”

When strands of copper bells start to chime and there isn’t a hint of a breeze, a feeling of dread washes over me. I sure hope she’s wrong.

Note to readers: A Jingle of Justice is a novella, about one-third the length of a full novel.

A JINGLE OF JUSTICE – A “Fairy Garden” Mystery, Book 6
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: December 2025
Format: Digital, Print
Purchase Link

Carmel-by-the-Sea garden shop owner Courtney Kelly is merrily preparing the shop for the holidays . . .

Courtney cherishes the festive season. She loves displaying jingle bells and creating seasonally-themed fairy gardens. She looks forward to the book club tea when she will serve delicious gingerbread cookies and discuss a darling mystery set at the holidays.

But when a stranger comes in talking about buried treasure in the courtyard and, soon after, the stranger is found dead in the shop while clutching one of the shop’s jingle bells, Courtney’s joy fizzles. Although she knows the police are savvy, she intends to discover the truth. Did the town grinch kill the stranger? Did another treasure hunter end the woman’s life? Did the clockmaker decide it was the woman’s time to die? It might take a dash of fairy dust and some holiday magic for Courtney to identify the killer.

About the author
Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, Aroma Wellness Mysteries, Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense novels, including the well-received Accidental Murder, The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams trilogy. Daryl has published a standalone Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays, and her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website at www.darylwoodgerber.com.