Falling Frights
(2026)(Book 18 in the Nightsmith Novelties Cozy Mystery series)
A Story by Patti Benning
Some haunted objects come with a story. This one comes with a body.
After a perfect fall weekend filled with apple picking, cider, and donuts at Mill Creek Lumber, Bridget Rowan is ready to get back to business at Nightsmith Novelties.
Unfortunately, her employees have been doing a little shopping while she was away.
A massive box of supposedly haunted items has arrived just in time to stock the store for the upcoming Halloween season. Most of the collection seems harmless enough—even if Bridget could swear a few of the dolls are watching her—but one item quickly captures her attention.
An old journal containing what appears to be a murder confession.
At first, Bridget assumes it's an elaborate hoax. But the more she reads, the harder it becomes to dismiss. The writer describes a murder in chilling detail, and hidden among the ramblings are clues suggesting the victim's body was buried somewhere in Mill Creek.
When Bridget follows those clues and human remains are discovered, the creepy confession suddenly becomes very real.
Now she has a decades-old murder mystery on her hands, an unidentified killer who may still be out there, and a journal that could contain everything she needs to solve the crime—if she can decipher its secrets before someone realizes exactly what she's found.
In Mill Creek, Halloween may still be weeks away, but Bridget has already uncovered something far scarier than ghosts.
A twisty fall cozy mystery filled with small-town secrets, amateur sleuthing, Halloween atmosphere, buried clues, friendship, humor, and a puzzling cold-case murder.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
After a perfect fall weekend filled with apple picking, cider, and donuts at Mill Creek Lumber, Bridget Rowan is ready to get back to business at Nightsmith Novelties.
Unfortunately, her employees have been doing a little shopping while she was away.
A massive box of supposedly haunted items has arrived just in time to stock the store for the upcoming Halloween season. Most of the collection seems harmless enough—even if Bridget could swear a few of the dolls are watching her—but one item quickly captures her attention.
An old journal containing what appears to be a murder confession.
At first, Bridget assumes it's an elaborate hoax. But the more she reads, the harder it becomes to dismiss. The writer describes a murder in chilling detail, and hidden among the ramblings are clues suggesting the victim's body was buried somewhere in Mill Creek.
When Bridget follows those clues and human remains are discovered, the creepy confession suddenly becomes very real.
Now she has a decades-old murder mystery on her hands, an unidentified killer who may still be out there, and a journal that could contain everything she needs to solve the crime—if she can decipher its secrets before someone realizes exactly what she's found.
In Mill Creek, Halloween may still be weeks away, but Bridget has already uncovered something far scarier than ghosts.
A twisty fall cozy mystery filled with small-town secrets, amateur sleuthing, Halloween atmosphere, buried clues, friendship, humor, and a puzzling cold-case murder.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Patti Benning's Falling Frights