Katherine Hayton Books In Order

Publication Order of Charity Shop Haunted Mystery Books

Publication Order of Christchurch Crime Books

Publication Order of Dog Yoga Mysteries Books

Publication Order of The Honeybee Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Hotel Inspector Cozy Books

Publication Order of Knitty Kitty Cozy Mystery Books

Publication Order of Marjorie's Cozy Kitten Cafe Books

Publication Order of Ngaire Blakes Books

Publication Order of Sweet Baked Mystery Books

Publication Order of Tea Shop Cozy Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Katherine Hayton is a forty one year old author of cozy mystery novels from Christchurch New Zealand. While she has become quite the prolific author with more than thirty novels to her name, she still works a day job as an insurance agent. For most of her life she has lived in Christchurch and currently lives a few minutes from the house in which she was born and brought up. For some reason, she developed a love for fantasy worlds and made her debut publishing fiction with “Found, Near Water” the first novel of the “Christchurch Crime Thriller” series of novels. Most of her mysteries are set in Christchurch her hometown while some are set in Pnetar a quasi fictional town or Hammer Springs, a beautiful township one and a half hours from Christchurch. Her novels usually range from police procedurals to hard hitting psychological thrillers or light hearted cozy mysteries or adventure stories.

As for how Katherine Hayton got her start in storytelling, she has said that she always loved reading. She would always be found reading during her childhood and teenage years. Reading was her comfort, her solace and her passion and she would look forward to Wednesday nights when her mother would take her and her siblings to the Christchurch library. It was risky, thrilling and wonderful as she had to pick only three titles and if she picked the wrong one she would have it for an entire week. It also meant she would have to read it since she did not like watching TV or playing outside as much as reading her books. During this time, the only thing she wanted to become as an adult was an author. But fourteen years later, she was working for a travel agency with no idea how she was going to fulfill her authorship dream. It was when she changed careers and got into insurance that she started taking her dream seriously. Katherine gave up many of her hobbies and began writing the manuscript for her debut novel. She also read up on aspects of becoming a better creative fiction author and publishing.

Unlike other authors, when it came time to publish her novels she decided to go the self publishing way as she had a lot of control and impatience issues. She is very impatient and the thought of sending her manuscripts to agents and editors possibly for years was not something she wanted to do. The thought of finally having her manuscript accepted and then having to listen to someone on how to write under contract was not something she wanted. She did not want to give over control over her social media accounts, Her covers, advertising, lurbs and pricing. While self publishing has presented its own challenges as she has to devise effective marketing plans for her novels, find her own advertisers, designers and editors and grow her brand, she has come to love every aspect of it. Once she published her debut, she has never looked back and hopes to soon make writing a full time thing. While she still has the passion for reading and writing, she has now niched down to crime fiction that has been her favorite for more than ten years.

Katherine Hayton’s “Cupcakes and Conspiracies” introduces Holly Waterston, a woman who is heading back to Hammer Springs, her hometown. Her father is deceased and she is back in town to give her sister the bad news. They have to shut down the family bakery as it has been losing money and she believes that they can use the proceeds from the sale to pay off some of their debts. But Crystal, her sister, has been running the bakery while she was away and it will not be easy to tell her that she intended to sell it off. It has been in the family for four generations and Crystal has never worked anywhere else. After she arrives, Holly learns about Crystal’s relationship with Derek Master and some secret her sister had been keeping from her for years. Derek is the son of a rich businessman who is at odds with the Warterstons that he believes are interfering with the family business. He has sworn to ruin them if they persist but he collapses and dies of anaphylactic shop soon after eating one of Crystal’s cakes. Crystal is tagged the prime suspect in the mysterious death but Holly knows her sister is no murderer and sets out to investigate the mysterious Mr. Masters.

In “Strawberries and Suffering” by Ketherine Hayton, Crystal and Holly Waterston have to cater to a special wedding that has a huge guest list. But since they are experienced caterers, they believe that the worst that could happen is to stuff the strawberries on the wrong cakes. But then they find themselves trapped in a manor house with closed roads, dead phones and a butler that dropped down dead. Most people including law enforcement believe their cakes are responsible for the death. Holly now has to go through the tangled relationships of the many guests trying to find clues that she can use to clear the good name of the family bakery. But she is also dealing with a goth teen suspiciously patrolling the venue, a man flirting with her and an old woman who wants to steal the bakery’s recipes. She could have taken more than she can handle and if she cannot find the guilty party she could end up in jail.

Katherine Hayton’s “Blueberries and Bereavement” sees Holly Waterston asked to make the food for a wake. She finds the job sad but pretty much straightforward. But it does seem that the deceased designed his funeral service to drop a shocking revelation on his family. Holly finds herself embroiled in the slinging of dirty laundry as she is caught up in the web of dark secrets and distrust. The circumstances grow worse when one of the siblings is attacked and another is killed. There is supicion all around and Holy needs to be careful if she is to unveil a killer and get to the bottom of the murder mystery,. She also has to bake a ton of blueberry cupcakes for people attending a wake.