Hi, y’all. I’m Jade Hicks, owner of ‘Tis the Season, a Christmas shop in the tiny little beach town of Mermaid Bay, Virginia, on the coast near the historic triangle of Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. Life has been turned upside down here since the Love Channel came to town to film, “My Coastal Valentine.” The crew is staying in campers in the vacant lot next to my store, and everyone in town is trying to nab a spot as an extra on the show. Sales at the store have been off the charts, and my team, Patti, Aunt Lorelei, Bernie, Chloe, and Neville the Devil Cat, are excited to be in the middle for all the action.

Crowds of fans have flocked to town to get a glimpse of their favorite actors. It’s been fun, but let me tell you, there is more drama off camera than on. The actors who aren’t so lovey dovey in person are constantly competing for the biggest headline or the latest scandal. And one needs a dance card to keep up with the latest dalliance or feud.

And if things couldn’t get more chaotic, a reporter is found dead in one of the actor’s rooms at the town B&B, and no one knows why he’s there. Before that mystery can be solved, the production manager is kidnapped and left for dead, and a few days later, the publicist is attacked and abandoned under the fishing pier. The town is in an uproar, and everyone is looking over his or her shoulder, waiting to see what happens next. The Love Channel has brought nothing but trouble when it was supposed to be all hugs and kisses, and some on the town council are waffling on their support for the project that has brought so much bad publicity to the community.

On top of all the turmoil, the sheriff’s investigation seems to be going nowhere fast, so I decide to poke around and ask some questions before anyone else gets hurt or the Love Channel execs decide to pull the plug on the filming (and our new source of tourist cash). Chloe helps me find one of the weapons, and I’m able to put the pieces together to zero in on the murderer’s identity, but not before we get in an epic tussle. Who knew owning a Christmas shop would get me in so much trouble?

Twinkle Twinkle Au Revoir, A Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mystery Book #2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: January 2024
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Love is in the air when Hollywood arrives in Mermaid Bay, and the town may never be the same. Fans will do almost anything to get a glimpse of the actors or a chance to be an extra in the Love Channel’s “My Coastal Valentine.” Crowds flock to the cozy beach town from all over and business is booming for Christmas shop owner, Jade Hicks until the body of a testy reporter is found in one of the actors rooms. And if murder isn’t bad enough, someone tries to kill the show’s star, hunky Raphael Allard.

The cozy little beach town feels cursed, as the Love Channel threatens to pull out of the project. Jade and the gang, Lorelei, Peppermint Patti, Bernie, Chloe, and Neville the Devil Cat, have to solve the crimes before it ruins the town’s reputation and breaks the hearts of fans across the country.

About the author
Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. She writes the Pearly Girls Mysteries, the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries, The Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, and The Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries.

Her short stories appear in the Virginia is for Mysteries series, 50 Shades of Cabernet, Deadly Southern Charm, and Murder by the Glass, and she has non-fiction pieces in Promophobia and The Secret Ingredient: A Mystery Writers’ Cookbook.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime: National, Central Virginia, Chessie, Guppies, and Grand Canyon Writers, International Thriller Writers, and James River Writers, and she blogs regularly with the Writers Who Kill.

Originally from Virginia Beach, Heather has been a mystery fan since Scooby-Doo and Nancy Drew. She lives in Central Virginia with her husband and a pair of Jack Russell terriers.

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