Agreeing to write jokes for Dorcas, a struggling stand-up comic, Jaine Austen discovers that murder is the punchline when Dorcas's rival, a heckler named Vic, is strangled with one of her props--a pair of pantyhose.

While teaching on a swanky cruise, wordsmith Jaine Austen soon discovers that her all-expenses-paid trip to the Mexican Riviera comes with a high price when she is faced with blackmail, a sleazy British dancer, eccentric passengers, and murder.

"When Jaine lands a job writing web copy and brochures for matchmaker Joy Amoroso, she's excited for a chance to help the lovelorn just in time for Valentine's Day--until she realizes what 'Dates of Joy' is really all about. Joy is a ruthless taskmaster who screams at her employees for the smallest infractions, pads her website with pictures of professional models posing as clients, and offers up convincing-but-empty promises of love in exchange for...

The future is looking bright for freelance writer Jaine Austen. She's signed up for a new job, she's looking forward to a tropical vacation, and her cat Prozac is slated to star in a major commercial. But when the claws come out behind the scenes, Jaine worries that murder might be the only thing to meow about. ...

When the neighborhood Scrooge, former child star Scotty Parker, is murdered, freelance writer Jaine Austen, who was helping him stage a comeback, finds herself on the list of suspects and must find the real killer.

A collection of three holiday mysteries includes stories by Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meyer, and features fourteen Christmas recipes.