Secrets hide behind those peacefully shuttered windows...Deception awaits around the next curve in the road. Rumors spread over garden hedges, fishing ponds, and knitting circles. Neighborhood cats discover a boneyard.And when Death strolls through the tranquil countryside or checks into the quaint village inn for the weekend, it's the intrepid - and often accidental - investigators who must find and decipher clues, unravel mysteries, and bring the killer to justice.

This issue, we have 17 short stories and 2 novel serials for you—one of our largest lineups ever! (Of course, quite a few of the stories are short, and hopefully you like awful-pun stories…)On the mystery front, we have original tales from Dave Zeltserman (thanks to Acquiring Editor Michael Bracken) and Justin M. Kiska (a Christmas fantasy-mystery), plus another fantasy-mystery from C. C. Guthrie (thanks to Acquiring Editor Barb Goffman). Our serial of Jack Guthrie’s Tiger Isla...

When a devious plot threatens holiday celebrations all over the world, Santa isn’t pleased. It isn’t just that his famous brand is at risk. Lives are in danger. As the calendar counts down, his crack North Pole team races to stop the mayhem.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE • The beloved first novel featuring Olive Kitteridge, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of My Name is Lucy Barton and the Oprah’s Book Club pick Olive, Again“Fiction lovers, remember this name: Olive Kitteridge. . . . You’ll never forget her.”—USA Today“Strout animates the ordinary with astonishing force.”—The New Yorker

I’ve been told to go to Hell more times than I can count. But this time I’m actually going.My name’s Bobby Dollar, sometimes known as Doloriel, and of course, Hell isn’t a great place for someone like me—I’m an angel. They don’t like my kind down there, not even the slightly fallen variety. But they have my girlfriend, who happens to be a beautiful demon named Casimira, Countess of Cold Hands. Why does an angel have a demon girlfriend? Well, certainly not because it helps ...

Attention spans are shrinking, the pace of life is accelerating, and no ones job is completely secure. As a result, everyone who lives on the planet and has a job needs at least 30-second speeches - one that tells the world who they are and the other that tells the world what they do. This short-form book by business coach Dr. Nick Morgan explains how to create pitch-perfect elevator speeches.

The Time Traveler's Almanac is the largest and most definitive collection of time travel stories ever assembled. Gathered into one volume by intrepid chrononauts and world-renowned anthologists Ann and Jeff VanderMeer, this book compiles more than a century's worth of literary travels into the past and the future that will serve to reacquaint readers with beloved classics of the time travel genre and introduce them to thrilling contemporary innovations.Thi...

Akiteru's intent on living life as efficiently as possible. Ever since Mashiro's shock revelation, up's become down and nothing's as it seems! His friend's little sister went from Annoying with capital A to Sweet with capital S?! Mashiro's grown even colder than before, and he didn’t even think that was possible! His group's script writer's suddenly swapped genres, and even Murasaki Shikibu is sticking to deadlines! What's it all mean?! And how's Akiteru supposed to stick to being efficien...

Ryoma returns to Gimul after his successful business retreat, having discovered and evolved new slimes and found uses for them along the way. Unfortunately, crime has skyrocketed in Gimul during his absence, to the point where even the familiar Morgan Company has suffered an arson attack.Ryoma attends a meeting of small business owners in the city to address the rapid increase in crime, but when the host of the conference appears untrustworthy, Ryoma decides to take a stand against ...

Smart leaders learn from their own mistakes. Smarter ones learn from others’ mistakes—and successes.John C. Maxwell wants to help you become the smartest leader you can be by sharing Chapter 10, Don't Sned Your Ducks To Eagle School, of Leadership Gold with you. After nearly forty years of leading, Maxwell has mined the gold so you don’t have to. Each chapter contains detailed application exercises and a “Mentoring Moment” for leaders who desire to mentor others u...

A collection of nineteen short stories from the Nebula and Hugo Award–winning author of The Iron Dragon's Daughter and Stations of the TideWritten over the course of a decade, Tales from Old Earth contains nineteen masterful pieces of short fiction—including the Hugo Award–winning stories "The Very Pulse of the Machine" and "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur;" the World Fantasy Award–winning novella "Radio Waves;" Hugo Award finalists "The Dead," ...

The familiar pop of a gun rings out, and I'm slammed up against the wall with Ash's giant form blocking me. All I can see is his tie pin—the eagle’s beady black eyes glinting with chips of onyx.Ash’s focus is behind us, his left wrist raised as he speaks into his sleeve. His other hand is on my waist, circling half of it. All around us people are screaming and running. Totally freaked out. Which makes sense, someone is shooting at us.Rage bubbles up in my chest. My corset d...