Occupation: Owner of ‘Tis the Season Christmas Shoppe

Hi, all. I’m Jade Hicks, owner of ‘Tis the Season, a Christmas shop in the tiny little beach town of Mermaid Bay, Virginia. It’s near the historic triangle on the coast near Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. A few years ago, I returned home to take over the Christmas store that was my grandmother’s pride and joy. I spend most of my days (and nights) striving to keep the store viable in today’s rapidly changing world. Retail marketing isn’t what it used to be when my grandmother opened the store to cater to tourists during beach season. I’ve had a lot of growing pains with learning the business and how to find my place in the retail space. I think my biggest accomplishment was to invest in a good commercial website that has made my store viable all through the year and has taken my catalog to a worldwide audience.

I have an amazing team who help me keep the brick-and-mortar store open year-round. They are Peppermint Patti Hall, the bubbly ball of energy who has more ugly Christmas sweaters than anyone I know, Lorelei Tucker, my fashion plate of an aunt who keeps her ear close to the Mermaid Bay gossip mill, and Bernie Nash, my part-time handyman and Santa doppelganger. They help me share the Christmas spirit with the locals and thousands of visitors who flock to our town that prides itself in preserving the historic traditions of a bygone era. There are no big box stores, mega hotels, or McMansions in Mermaid Bay.

I share my tiny cottage with my trusty sidekick and faithful companion Chloe. She’s a French bulldog who likes long walks on the beach, frequent naps, and plenty of snacks. She’s a good ambassador for the store. Though she grudgingly shares that role with my grandmother’s tuxedo cat, Neville (the Devil Cat) who really rules the showrooms with his iron paw.

I am so excited. This week, the town is hosting Christmas in July, and we have been so busy with all the plans that include a lighted boat parade, a fun run in the sand, and a Christmas craft show. We have all worked so hard with the planning and marketing to make this a big celebration and hopefully a boon for the local businesses.

This morning before the big kick off started, Chloe and I took a quiet walk on the beach to enjoy the sounds and smells of the shore. This is my happy place, a great stress reliever when my days get hectic. All was calm and perfect. The puffy white clouds floated above the bay, dotted with a few ships on the horizon. Seagulls and sandpipers outnumbered the people, and the lapping of the waves on the wet sand provided a soothing soundtrack. All quiet except for the occasional caws from the gulls.

Until a scream rang out and shattered the peace.

An early morning jogger tripped over something in the sand that turned out to be a suitcase that had washed ashore. Its contents, a collection of bones, a skull, and rusty pistol spilled out onto the sand and drew a small crowd of gawkers. The gruesome discovery, along with some cryptic warning notes that some of the local business owners received a few days earlier, rock the small community. Word spreads like wildfire, and the town leaders schedule an emergency meeting to decide what to do about the weekend’s festivities and the macabre find.

Thankfully, calmer heads prevailed, and our Sheriff (and my handsome boyfriend) Nick Driscoll reminded everyone that his office had stepped up security and for everyone to be vigilant. There didn’t seem to be any imminent threats, and he warned everyone to be cautious. His investigation is ongoing, so he didn’t offer any more details, and unfortunately, that didn’t seem to calm some of the jangled nerves. A few of the naysayers grumbled on their way out. They wanted the truth about how the bones got in the suitcase. In the absence of an explanation, rumors about mob hits and murders flew around faster than a pickup game of Frisbee.

Of course, I’m on Team Nick, so I trust that his guys have security under control, and I’m relieved that the events will go on as scheduled. I’m really excited about tonight’s beach concert and the lighted boat parade. Hopefully, this will be the start of a new annual tradition for Mermaid Bay, and a night that everyone in the town will never forget.

Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones, A Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: January 2023
Format: Print and Digital
Purchase Link

When a beat-up suitcase full of bones washes up by the pier, the residents of the quaint resort town of Mermaid Bay are whipped into a hurricane-sized frenzy over the gruesome find in the middle of their Christmas in July festivities. The holly jolly mood retreats like the tide with everyone wondering who was in the suitcase.

Christmas shoppe owner, Jade Hicks, wades into the fracas when voodoo dolls and mysterious notes and posters about impending doom start popping up all over town, threatening to destroy the economy of a community that lives and dies by tourist dollars. Then tensions crest when the prickly bookstore owner is found strangled to death with a string of holiday lights.

Jade and her French bulldog Chloe, have to solve the crime before anyone else gets hurt and her business and the festival are forever tainted.

Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones is the first in the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries cozy series.

About the author
Through the years, Heather Weidner has been a cop’s kid, technical writer, editor, college professor, software tester, and IT manager. Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones is the first in her cozy mystery series, the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries. She also writes the Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series and the Jules Keene Glamping 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 her novellas appear in The Mutt Mysteries series.

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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