Bestselling author Candace Havens has published more than 25 books. Her novels have received nominations for the RITA’s, Holt Medallion, Write Touch Reader Awards, and National Reader’s Choice Awards. She is a Barbara Wilson Award winner. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation’s leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities from George Clooney to Chris Pratt. Candace runs a free online writing workshop for more than 2000 writers and teaches comprehensive writing classes. She does film reviews with Hawkeye in the Morning on 96.3 KSCS, and is a former President of the Television Critics Association.
I wrote...
A Case for the Cookie Baker
By
Candace Havens
What is my book about?
Ainsley McGregor and the entire town of Sweet River, Texas, are preparing for the annual summer celebration. And thanks to the extra tourist traffic, Ainsley’s shop, Bless Your Art, has never been busier. Good thing her new friend, Lizzie, has opened a bakery nearby and provides Ainsley and her staff with tasty treats and daily sugar rushes. It’s all cookies and fun, until someone ends up dead in the bakery and her new pal is the prime suspect. Ainsley is convinced Lizzie is innocent. Unfortunately, her brother, the town sheriff, and her boyfriend, Jake, have some not-so-secret suspicions. With a town full of strangers who just might be suspects, Ainsley finds herself targeted by a killer. Even as her world crumbles faster than a cookie, she’s determined to prove her friend’s innocence—if she can stay alive long enough.
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The Books I Picked & Why
These Toxic Things: A Thriller
By
Rachel Howzell Hall
Why this book?
Rachel Howzell Hall keeps the reader guessing in These Toxic Things. Her protagonist Mickie Lambert creates digital scrapbooks, but when her latest client ends up dead, she's determined to find out why someone wants the peculiar objects the woman had given Mickie to preserve. To find the answers, she ends up crossing paths with a serial killer. It's twisty fun, and Hall's characters are ones you won't forget.
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When No One Is Watching: A Thriller
By
Alyssa Cole
Why this book?
The best thing about When No One is Watching is the tension doesn't let go until the end. The protagonist Sydney Green is Brooklyn-born and trying to save her neighborhood from gentrification. But it isn't long before she's discovering a few too many coincidences that might just add up to a conspiracy. The more Sydney and her neighbor, Theo, learn about the communities past, the more their lives are in danger. Just remind yourself to breathe while reading this.
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Arsenic and Adobo
By
Mia P. Manansala
Why this book?
Mixing a good mystery with humor is a special sauce for me. After a bad breakup, Lila Macapagal picks up the pieces and moves home to help her aunt with a failing restaurant. Things go from bad to worse when her ex-boyfriend drops dead—right after an argument with Lila. She's the cops' only suspect, and she knows she didn't do it. It's up to Lila to save herself, along with some help from the nosy aunt network, her best friend, and her Dachshund.
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A Deadly Inside Scoop
By
Abby Collette
Why this book?
A recent MBA grad, Bronwyn Crewse, has taken over the family ice cream parlor. But a dead body nearby causes a few hitches in her plans to improve things. The biggest problem being her poor dad happens to be the lead suspect in the crime. Thankfully, she has some quirky friends to help her find some clues fast. That's a great thing since she might be able to exonerate her dad—if she lives long enough to solve the case.
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Malice
By
Pintip Dunn
Why this book?
Okay, technically, Malice is a futuristic young adult novel, but there's a fantastic mystery here with a strong female protagonist. I did mention these books would be genre-bending. In this one, a young girl knows part of the future--the part where one of her classmates releases a virus that kills two-thirds of the population. Now she's in a race against time to find out who he is before he kills everyone she knows.
