Author Works: Wendy Eckel's Killer in a Winter Wonderland

Holidays are fickle things, Christmas most of all.

In Killer in a Winter Wonderland, the much-anticipated holiday-themed fourth book in the Rosalie Hart Cozy Mystery Series, Wendy Sand Eckel once again brings the fictional town of Cardigan, Maryland to life and delights with suspense, humor, and mouth-watering menus.

Holidays are fickle things — often good, but sometimes not so good. It’s December in the quirky town of Cardigan, and Rosalie Hart has been thrown several curve balls. For one, her ex-husband has booked a semester break vacation to Dubai with their only daughter, Annie, leaving Rosalie alone for Christmas. And following a renovation, Rosalie’s restaurant, the Day Lily Café, is open for business with an expanded dining room and a chef with an inflated ego. To make matters worse, when her head waiter and best friend Glenn Breckinridge is concerned about a neighbor who hadn’t returned home, they learn he had been murdered while riding his bike on River Road.

In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, Rosalie and Glenn pair up once again to uncover who killed Bill Rutherford on that raw wintry night.

With delectable menus, high stakes sleuthing, and the rich atmospheric scenes only the holiday season can provide, Killer in a Winter Wonderland is a cornucopia of delicious fare, compelling new and returning characters, and a fast-paced tale that will keep one riveted to the last page.

Wendy Sand Eckel is the award-winning author of the Rosalie Hart Mystery Series. Holiday-themed Killer in a Winter Wonderland, the fourth in the series, will be released in November, 2023.

Wendy studied criminology in undergrad and earned a Master’s in Social Work. Before becoming a writer she worked as a psychotherapist, helping families and adolescents.

Her mystery series has been awarded ‘Best Cozy’ by Suspense magazine and Mystery at Windswept Farm, the third book in the series, made the humorous novel bestseller list on Amazon. A trained life coach, Wendy writes the advice column for the Maryland Writers’ Association newsletter and enjoys mentoring aspiring authors.

She lives in a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a unique and quirky part of the country, which is also the setting for her series. In addition to her husband, she lives with two male orange tabbies, Frodo and Sam, who her daughter rescued from a soybean field.

Her favorite writing moment is when a minor character takes center stage and completely changes the story, which she says happened twice while writing Killer in a Winter Wonderland. She loves to cook and is happiest when her kitchen is filled with friends and family and the table is brimming with savory food and wine.

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