Showing results for "life" in Amateur Sleuths

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they've just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life. But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There's a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation...

Moored among the tranquil islands off Thailand's coast, the Aurelia's passengers are completely unaware of the danger lurking just out of sight. Patricia would happily remain oblivious, too, but that's not really how her life works. So when a couple report their teenage kids have gone missing, the ship's detective swings into action. Had she glimpsed the terror awaiting her, she might have thought twice. There's a secret to uncover, the kind people will kill to protect, and she must expose it if there is any hope of rescuing the missing teenagers.

Aunt Lavender is gearing up for the quest of a lifetime, while I’m settling into life in my newly renovated home and dreaming of long summer days spent on the lake. However, with the appearance of two old rivals in Winterspell and a harrowing premonition, our dreams fall into jeopardy. Selene has to prove herself right (naturally…), and before I know it, I’m chasing her furry behind smack dab into the middle of a cutthroat world of scheming adventure-seekers, who will do anything for their next big thrill. Let’s just hope she has an escape plan.

All Cookie James, FBI agent and Innkeeper extraordinaire, wants is a romantic date with her hot handy man… but what she gets is a corpse presented with a big red bow. When she and Dylan discover a boat with a dead body, not only is her picnic ruined, but a woman from Dylan's past returns to the island. The famous rock star appears to want a comeback tour with her former bodyguard. But Cookie doesn't have time to worry about that, because her oh-so-sexy ex-FBI partner has arrived, too. And he's ready to make a little music of his own.

Winner of four major prizes for the best critical/biographical book related to crime fiction: the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and H.R.F. Keating Awards; and shortlisted for both the Agatha and Gold Dagger Awards. ‘Martin Edwards is the closest thing there has been to a philosopher of crime...

Upon the death of her father, Mary Bennet’s life is thrown into turmoil. With no fortune or marriage prospects, she must rely on the kindness of her relatives. When a mysterious late-night visit by an unknown relative - a Lady Trafford from Castle Durrington - leads to an extended stay and the chance for an education, Mary gratefully accepts the opportunity. But even as she arrives at the castle, she’s faced with one mystery after another.

Cat Cooper never imagined selling off her in-demand marketing firm would mean going from the pinnacle of success to a walking hot mess. Gouged from an unexpected divorce, Cat suddenly finds herself struggling through a new career as a business-savvy life coach for the hopelessly adrift in East Hampton and contending with Heather Holland - a spiteful neighbor who will do anything to bully her out of town. But her second act may very well continue behind bars when Heather's dead body turns up next to a shattered punchbowl...and Cat's pinned as the murderer.

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly) Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter...

Gilley's whirlwind romance with creative director Stuart Jacobs began in Paris, where Stuart was sourcing fabric for the world-renowned Texas Rose Festival, which he is heading up for the first time. The festival is nothing short of spectacular, bringing in half a million people (and their wallets) to see the artistic displays, and exquisite gowns and jewels worn by the Rose Queen and her court. Stuart and his crew seem to have it all under control. But the night Cat arrives in Texas, someone is shot in cold blood, and a member of Stuart's staff is named the prime suspect!

Laos, 1981: When an unofficial mailman drops off a strange bilingual diary, Dr. Siri is intrigued. Half is in Lao, but the other half is in Japanese, which no one Siri knows can read; it appears to have been written during the Second World War. Most mysterious of all, it comes with a note stapled to it: Dr. Siri, we need your help most urgently. But who is “we”, and why have they left no return address?

It's Bridget Sway's first dead Christmas. And she's dreading it. Almost more than she dreaded Christmas when she was alive. In an attempt to get her in the holiday mood, her parole officer signed her up to participate in the Christmas Parade which means she has to spend the entire Christmas week spreading seasonal joy as a Festive Spirit. But that's only if she graduates from Christmas Camp. Everything is going terribly until she finds a dead body under a fir tree.

Soaking up a luxurious new chapter alongside her saucy bestie, Cat Cooper plans on emerging as the premier life coach in East Hampton by summertime. All she has to do is survive an off season replete with desolate beaches, slow business, and murder. As the Hamptons drags through early spring, Cats shot at becoming the toast of the town in time for Memorial Day is dwindling and fast. The only client she can find has been housebound for decades and claims to be the victim of a devastating curse.

Bridget Sway is still uncertain about her future as a private investigator. But when the Bureau of Ghostly Affairs invites her and her business partner, Sabrina, to give a presentation at a conference, they can't really say no. Thinking it will be all tea, biscuits, and boring speeches, Bridget isn't expecting too much excitement. Until she finds a dead body. That's not totally out of the ordinary for Bridget, but something about this murder has echoes of the past.

I was done with being a crime reporter in Washington, DC, tired of all the violence. So I packed up and moved to the small town of Laurel Falls, NC. It looked like heaven to me—ancient mountains brimming with tall trees and songbirds, peace and quiet. Until I found the body. The sheriff took the easy path, calling it a suicide. No way. I’d found that young woman, and I knew she hadn’t taken her own life. I’d spent my whole career searching for the truth, and I wasn’t about to stop now. Trouble was, without my usual sources, how much of a murder investigation could I pull off?

Bridget and Sabrina are considering a career change when a reporter brings them a case they can't refuse. A vandal is graffitiing a small area of Scarborough. Not earth shattering as cases go, but Bridget is certain the vandal is Petal, her newly-graduated-from-probation housemate.

Not so newly dead Bridget Sway is making a difference. Sort of. She and her best friend, Sabrina, are solving murders all over the show while minding their own business. And then Detective Johnson shows up at their office and drops a missing person's case in their lap. Although deeply suspicious of his motives, they decide it would be wise to at least give it a cursory investigation. Forewarned is forearmed, after all. And that's when things get messy.

With Gilley heartbroken over the collapse of his marriage, Cat has the perfect remedy—a three-week-long getaway to Italy. But before the duo can pack their bags and sip prosecco on the sunny riviera, they first must help a troubled client carve out a fresh start of her own. Wealthy Scarlet Rubi desperately seeks a greater purpose and immediate distance from her toxic descendants. The urgency of the situation isn't quite so clear until Scarlet takes healthy steps toward progress, only to turn up dead.

Wild rumors are swirling in the Hamptons over Twelve Angry Men, a ruthlessly revealing one-woman show written and performed by Yelena Galanis. The well-known socialite dated her way through some of the East End's most eligible bachelors, and now she's sparing few details while spilling their humiliating secrets to scandalized crowds. It's a mean-spirited spectacle that urges Cat to make a beeline for the theater exit during the first act - only to later discover that Yelena was found stabbed to death during intermission that same evening.

Forty-two-year-old Mia Thorne is settling into her new life in the small riverside town of Newberry, Pennsylvania. Part of her misses the bright lights of the big city, but Mia is determined to make the best of the cottage she inherited and its surrounding gardens, as well as her blossoming love life.