Co-authored by New York Times Bestseller Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan series) and USA Today Bestseller Hannah Morrissey (Black Harbor series), a light-hearted murder mystery with a dash of lust and merriment, for fans of Ally Carter’s The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year.
What if the perfect romcom heroine didn’t get her happy ending…because she got murdered instead? In this will-they-or-won’t-they holiday mystery, Special Agents Holly and Mark are on the case, on each other’s nerves, and on fire for each other.
HOME FOR THE HOMICIDES:
A Holly and Mark Mystery
by Elle Cosimano & Hannah Morrissey
Minotaur, Fall 2026
(via Levine Greenberg Rostan)
When big-city Special Agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd report to the idyllic small town of Christmas to investigate a very less than idyllic murder, they’re in for more than the average whodunnit.
This podunk assignment three hundred miles north is their punishment, and it has nothing to do with them getting naughty in the janitor’s closet at last year’s holiday party. Rather, Holly and Mark are both on thin ice after messing up on the job—Mark licked a frozen pole on a dare and Holly accidentally scarfed down a tray of pot brownies. Their lapses in judgment were caught on camera, embarrassing their department, and a rural, remote location like Christmas is the perfect place to lay low.
As much as this assignment is a punishment, it’s also their shot at redemption. Whoever outperforms the other will either get to stay in Major Crimes, or kick the other one out.
Regrets of last year’s holiday hookup riding shotgun between them, each agent has their reasons for wanting to wrap up this romcom gone wrong as soon as possible. Mark left Christmas for a reason—one that looks an awful lot like a quiet, cookiecutter life with an ex-fiancée who’s way too friendly with his mom, the mayor. And Holly, a Scrooge when it comes to all things Christmas, would prefer to avoid any reminders of the holiday that stole her parents in a tragic car accident when she was young. This kitschy town and her new partner are getting on her last nerve.
With just twelve days until the festival, the countdown is on.
Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Writers Award winner, and an Edgar Award nominee. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a People magazine pick and was named one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2021. The third book in the series, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, was an instant New York Times bestseller.
Hannah Morrissey studied English and Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her first novel, Hello, Transcriber, was inspired by her experience as a police transcriber. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two pugs.
