Case Of The Curious Crystals

Small-time Crime, Big-time Danger Of all the crimes to plague the idyllic small town of Stirling Mills, Texas, Lexie Lincoln never expected jewelry theft. But thieves are breaking into local homes, stealing cheap costume jewelry and stirring up paranoia. When a ghost suggests that the jewelry may be more valuable than anyone realizes, Lexie finds herself delving into forgotten chapters of the town’s strange history. It seems the jewelry might actually be valuable to those with the ability to use its power, and that poses a real danger as the crimes escalate. Lexie needs to track down the thieves before they can use the gems for nefarious purposes—and before the town tears itself apart with fear and suspicion. She can’t exactly tell local cop Wes Mosby that she’s getting hot tips from ghosts, so it’s up to her to crack the case, stop the thieves, and foil their sinister agenda in time to save the town’s spring festival. Another Lucky Lexie mystery by the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series.

Was It an Accident—or Vengeance? When a fisherman spots a car in the river, it’s the most exciting news during a slow week in Stirling Mills, and newspaper editor Lexie Lincoln is there to cover it. The cops think it was an accident, but a ghost on the scene tells Lexie the drowned driver got what he deserved for cheating her out of her land. Lexie figures the ghost got vengeance. There are just two problems: A ghost can’t be prosecuted for murder, and the person the ghost named isn’t one of the people found in the car. Still, Lexie thinks it’s worth digging into, and she discovers that someone has been taking advantage of elderly landowners. She’d have thought the town would rally behind her investigation of a real estate scam, but she finds herself standing alone. Her suspect has an eerie hold over everyone he encounters. If she doesn’t find concrete proof that he committed a crime, she may get run out of town. That’s a real challenge when no one still alive will talk to her. And then there’s still the case of the drowned driver and his passenger—was it an accident, or did the scheme lead to murder?

Someone knows who’s been naughty, and they’re not being nice about it Lexie Lincoln is excited about the holiday season. Stirling Mills puts on a big celebration, with elaborate light displays and numerous events. It’ll be like living in one of those TV Christmas movies she binges every December. There’s just one damper on her holiday spirit: the Secret Santa, an information vigilante who seems to have access to the Naughty list and who is sharing that information through anonymous notes sometimes slipped into pockets and sometimes left in people’s homes during the night. Since nothing is damaged or taken and there’s no sign of a break-in, no one has reported these incidents to the police, so they aren’t involved, but that doesn’t stop Lexie from investigating. Informing people about affairs, backstabbing, and workplace politics stirs up strife, and the fact that the Santa sometimes also leaves gifts that fulfill unspoken needs doesn’t help. Lexie’s not sure she believes in Santa, but someone who knows secrets, good and bad, and who can slip into homes during the night sounds a lot like St. Nick. Busting Santa might put Lexie on the Naughty list, but she feels she has to save the holiday celebration before the bad vibe drives the tourists away – and before her own secrets are revealed.

It’s the event someone’s dying to attend . . . The grand-opening party at a new bed-and-breakfast in a vintage farmhouse that’s supposedly haunted poses quite the dilemma for Lexie Lincoln. Most of the other guests are noted ghost hunters, and since Lexie actually can see ghosts, she’ll know whether they’re frauds and whether the inn really is haunted. But showing what she knows or honestly reporting on what she sees and hears would make her sound like a tabloid reporter rather than a serious journalist. Ghosts become the least of Lexie’s concerns when a flash flood blocks the road out and then one of the guests is found dead. Someone in the inn has to be a killer. If they don’t figure out who, there could be more victims. It’s up to Lexie to enlist the aid of the resident ghosts to break the case and save them all, but that may mean revealing her secret talent to the rest of the world. Or is an angry ghost the real threat?

Excerpts from history and folklore trace the unusual beliefs and uses of gems since ancient times