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About the Books
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She is a mystery. He is a recluse who writes mysteries. Are they a perfect match or a recipe for murder?
Ivy Kelly is on the run and searching for refuge in the small town of Balefire Bay on the Oregon Coast. But when she arrives, she finds more than just a safe haven. Someone has died and one of her new friends could be the killer. On top of that, the people hunting Ivy want her to disappear permanently.
Ivy isn't on the run long before she meets Aggie, a knitter, book club member, true crime sleuth, and part owner of Balefire Bay's Book and Tea Shop. Aggie introduces Ivy to the possibility of a new life that includes a dream job working in a library that looks like a mashup of Downton Abbey and Hogwarts and is owned by her favorite reclusive author. With a new life comes a new mystery, as Ivy finds herself enmeshed in a murder that the town is determined to keep a secret.
Is Ivy's new employer a possible love interest or a stone-cold killer? As her past collides with her present, Ivy must risk everything to uncover the secrets of Balefire Bay. Join Ivy on this thrilling journey and find out who she really is and who wants her gone.
Murder Takes a Selfie
Book #1 in the
By The Sea Cozy Mystery Series!
Oceanside High students Esther and Sophie prefer life between the covers of their favorite books, but they open an entirely new adventure and begin an exciting new chapter when the Stuart twins, Parker and Paisley, move from Great Britain to an old mansion in Esther and Sophie’s small beach town. The girls score invitations to a celebrity author’s book-launch party at the twins’ mansion, but after the selfies are snapped, The focus is on murder, and everyone is a suspect.
Used to hiding behind her glasses and cardigans, Esther has secrets that only her cat and Sophie know. But when someone’s life is at stake, what will Esther risk to solve the mystery and save her friends?
Get 15% Off your entire order at Cedar Fort!
Discount Code: COZYBYTHESEA
The Seaside Murder Before Christmas!
This year, Christmas in Esther and Sophie's beach town is anything but jolly.
Despite enjoying the Parade of Lights, cutting fresh Christmas trees, and eating delicious treats, murder has darkened the Christmas spirit in Necanicum.
With all the strange goings on, Sophie and Esther take seasonal jobs at the newest business in town: a books and bakery shop. But when someone starts killing the competition at another bookstore, the girls know they must find answers before Santa comes to town.
Was it the bad boy baker with the wrench in the library? Or was it the new school principal with the Christmas cookies by the fire?
Make room for some old-fashioned traditions and sleuthing as Sophie and Esther race to solve the mystery before this Christmas becomes someone's last chapter.
Murder is Delivered
Winner of the
Author to Watch Award
Book 5 in the
By the Sea Cozy Mysteries
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Esther and Sophie didn’t know there would be a multiple-choice test when they arrived at the Victorian library of Oceanside High, or that the person with the answers would die before breakfast was served.
It was twilight when the school board met to hear the head librarian’s complaint of harassment and argue about tearing down the gothic school and replacing it with a new school of glass and steel outside the Tsunami zone. Before they cast the final vote, two of Esther’s friends become suspects in a murder investigation. To catch a killer and save their friends, Esther and Sophie join the board at a retreat center and haunted house.
No one could have predicted how the vote would go, or the storm that would trap the girls with a killer, while another breakfast was about to be served.
If you love Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie, you will love Esther and Sophie in the By The Sea Cozy Mysteries!
Murder Makes a Vlog
Book 2
Lights, camera, murder-and two beach town best friends caught in a mystery!
Small town beach girls Esther and Sophie are happiest working in the school library, surfing, and hanging out with Parker and Paisley, twins from Britain.
Esther has always hidden behind her cardigan and glasses, but Parker's handsome face and brilliant mind convince her to risk going on a date with him. When the best-selling author of Blessed Be announces she will film part of her movie in their Oregon Coast town, Esther and Sophie get a job tutoring the celebrity stars playing the parts of the witches and warlocks. But when Parker is cast as an extra, strange things start happening on set.
To find the killer, the girls ditch the library, take bit parts in the movie, and travel to a castle on a seaside cliff. Not everyone survives, but everyone is a suspect!
Get 15% Off your entire order at Cedar Fort!
Discount Code: COZYBYTHESEA
Murder Has a Ball
Book 3
Save the date for a masquerade! Forget Phantom of the Opera. The Oceanside High Masked Ball has Esther and Sophie waltzing around clues to solve a cozy mystery murder by the sea.
When Esther has her first actual date, she can’t find a single book in the school’s historic library that will help her. After Romeo and Juliette depressed her, Mr. Darcy infuriated her, and Eliza Doolittle abandoned her authentic self, Sophie dived into contemporary literature to ensure the Masked ball will be a success for these two BFFs. The school’s Victorian era library is the perfect setting for a masquerade. When the girls add the dance committee to their list of responsibilities as library aids, a threat is made, and a close friend is the target.
After the party is over, can Esther and Sophie unmask the murderer before it’s too late? What will the girls do if their last dance is with a killer?
Get 15% Off your entire order at Cedar Fort!
Discount Code: COZYBYTHESEA
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Murder Hosts an Event
Book 4
Save the date for a masquerade! Forget Phantom of the Opera. The Oceanside High Masked Ball has Esther and Sophie waltzing around clues to solve a cozy mystery murder by the sea.
When Esther has her first actual date, she can't find a single book in the school's historic library that will help her. After Romeo and Juliette depressed her, Mr. Darcy infuriated her, and Eliza Doolittle abandoned her authentic self, Sophie dived into contemporary literature to ensure the Masked ball will be a success for these two BFFs. The school's Victorian era library is the perfect setting for a masquerade. When the girls add the dance committee to their list of responsibilities as library aids, a threat is made, and a close friend is the target.
After the party is over, can Esther and Sophie unmask the murderer before it's too late? What will the girls do if their last dance is with a killer?
Get 15% Off your entire order at Cedar Fort!
Discount Code: COZYBYTHESEA
About the Author
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Shannon Symonds writes in an old house by the sea. She loves laughter, a good mystery, walking the beach, deep sea fishing, and bonfires.
Shannon published her first book with Cedar Fort Publishing in 2017. In 2023, she was nominated for the LDS PMA Praiseworthy Award. In 2021, she was awarded the Author Ready Author to Watch Award for her “By the Sea” Cozy Mystery YA series. In 2020, she was the volunteer of the year for O.U.R. In addition, her debut novel was a Whitney Award Nominee in 2017. Her first cozy mystery, Murder Takes a Selfie, was sold at Costco (who knew having one’s book in a big box store would be the mark of success). Her books continue to be available at Deseret Book, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Cedar Fort, Spotify, and her favorite beach town book stores.
Shannon worked for over 15 years as a certified DV/SA advocate serving survivors of trauma alongside law enforcement. Currently, she is a Family Support Specialist, and loves volunteering for other causes that she is ridiculously passionate about. Shannon has been a hybrid author since 2014. She authored 9 books, articles for Deseret Digital Media (Which were periodically syndicated), and blogged for Hilary Weeks’ Billion Clicks project. Shannon received the Davis County Child Abuse Prevention Award, the Oregon Trial Lawyers Public Justice Award 2002 for the Tiffany Alvera Case that changed housing for victims nationally, and the 2002 Star Advocate Commendation from the Oregon Department of Justice. In 2020.
