Showing results by publisher "Hachette UK - Bookouture" in Mystery

Sussex, 1960: It’s the perfect day for Abbeymead’s autumn fair. The village green has been transformed into a riot of stalls and tents, and Flora and Jack are keen to sample all the local produce. But when local cheesemaker Gilbert Barrow crashes into the fair, he brings the festivities to a dead halt. Flora rushes to the van and finds Gilbert slumped over the wheel, killed by his prize-winning round of cheese, which has broken free of its bonds. Flora is immediately alert–surely Gilbert would have been more careful with his treasured prize… and with his life?

When Detective Lottie Parker arrives at the devastating scene the day after Freya Healey’s birthday party, a wave of sorrow overcomes her. Holding Freya’s cold white hand, she vows to find justice for her and her parents lying dead in the next room, killed just after the last guest had gone.

Detective Kim Stone knows from the moment she looks down on Ashley Reynolds that this is no ordinary crime. No one has a bad word to say about this loving wife and mother. So why did someone murder her, and wait to make sure she was dead? Ashley was a social worker, and some claimed she tore families apart. But her husband is also acting strangely, planning to take their daughter and leave town. Did the threat to her come from home or work?

When Sheriff Jenna Alton and Deputy David Kane investigate a cold case on a remote ranch in Black Rock Falls, what they uncover chills them to the bone. In a shallow grave lies the lifeless body of farm worker Maria Reyes. Jenna’s heart breaks as she sweeps aside the woman’s long dark hair to find purple bruising all over her face. Interviewing workers at the ranch, Jenna senses hostility and feels eyes watching her.

London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt… Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke.

Judy is reading late one night when a knock at the door disturbs her. Local teenager Megan has discovered her boss Colin, owner of local fish and chip shop The Codfather, lying dead next to the fryer. Found with the book club pick of the month at his side, surely Judy and her crime-loving book group can help? The local police haven’t a clue, but as Judy gathers her bookish friends, they soon uncover more suspects than they bargained for.

England, 1941. When Jane Treen is summoned to her boss’s office at the end of a long day, she smooths down her tweed skirt and makes them both another strong pot of coffee. Brigadier Remmington-Blythe slides a folded copy of the evening newspaper towards her, with one small article circled in red ink. A body has been found on an English beach in the little seaside town where she grew up, and he wants her to investigate. Jane is used to managing secret agents and spies, but she is now part of The Secret Detective Agency, England’s answer to solving the most mysterious murders.

Maddie Penrose is settling into Cornish life with her fun and feisty grandmother, Nor. She throws herself into getting to know the locals, helping out at the village book club and enjoying the occasional G&T in the pub with handsome police officer DI Tom Trevelyan. But one sunny morning, her newfound peace is shattered when she spots Quentin, a member of the book club… dead, with a knife in his back.

Fresh from their last case at Twilight Lodge, Martin and Albie reward themselves with a relaxing trip to the sun-soaked island of Menorca. But when they head down to breakfast one morning, they happen upon a panicked husband reporting his wife, bestselling author Karen Squires, missing. Soon afterwards they’re shocked to discover Karen’s body on the beach. Local police call it a tragic accident: one look at the broken safety fence on the cliffs above suggests Karen fell. But the victim’s perfectly-manicured nails tells Martin that this was no accident. She was pushed.

The Dennings and the Cadys have been at war for years–ever since Russell Cady and Marcus Denning fell out and the business they built together fell apart. But now Russell’s daughter and Marcus’s son are tying the knot… and hopefully bringing peace. Except that someone’s sent Eve Mallow a warning along with her wedding invitation: watch out for trouble. But even she didn’t expect to find the father of the bride dead in his bed before he can walk his daughter down the aisle. So who’s ruined the big day?

Spring, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, explorer extraordinaire and accidental sleuth, hasn’t had a vacation since she arrived in England a year ago. So she books into the Grand Hotel in the fashionable resort of Brighton for some fresh air, fish and chips, and, of course, a dip in the ocean. Eleanor is enjoying her view of the waves and trying to find her bathing suit when calamity strikes: A guest has been found dead at her beautiful hotel. The distraught manager, who can’t afford a scandal, asks Eleanor to solve the case as swiftly as possible.

London, 1942. Miss Jane Treen is at her desk in Whitehall sipping a strong coffee when she receives an urgent message about her colleague, codebreaker Arthur Cilento. He’s in danger in Devon, and Jane needs to get there sharpish. But before her bags are properly unpacked, the local teashop owner in Arthur’s village is found lying amidst the scones and teacakes… and she’s dead.

When reports come in of an attack on a group of friends on the grounds of an abandoned summer camp, Detective Morgan Brookes races to the scene. Seeing a body in the lake, she throws herself into the freezing water, but the boy’s battered face and blue lips are evidence that she is far too late. With his killer at large, and one young girl missing, a desperate search ensues.

Lady Eleanor Swift is visiting Dublin with her husband Hugh Seldon and butler Clifford to meet Samuel O’Sullivan, a man who may be able to tell her more about the mysterious disappearance of her parents two decades ago. Deciding they should explore the city a little more, they jump at the chance to visit the world-renowned Finnegan’s brewery. But their taste test of the famous black stout turns deadly when Eleanor spots a body in one of the barrels!

June 1933. Independent, young Kitty Underhay has been left in charge of her family’s hotel, The Dolphin, on the tranquil English coast. But when several rooms are broken into and searched, including Kitty’s own, she quickly realizes that something out of the ordinary is afoot at the hotel. Soon, rumors are flying in the cozy town that someone is on the hunt for a stolen ruby. A ruby that Kitty’s mother may well have possessed when she herself went missing during the Great War.

Majestic mountain views, whisky by the fire and… a murder to solve? Join Ally McKinley at her cosy little guesthouse in the Scottish Highlands as she tackles her first puzzling case!For recently retired Ally McKinley, the tiny village of Locharran is the perfect place to open the guesthouse of her dreams in a lovingly restored old Scottish malthouse. Before long she is making friends with the locals, including Hamish Sinclair, the earl who owns the nearby castle. But things take an unexpected turn when her first paying guest is found sprawled across her cobblestoned courtyard.

London, 1941. Miss Jane Treen is faced with another mysterious disappearance within her Secret Detective Agency’s team. Tabitha Moore, a government typist, was on her way to meet Jane with vital information about some secret codes. But she didn’t turn up for work and has seemingly vanished without trace. Then Jane and her colleague, handsome codebreaker Arthur Cilento, receive a call: a body has been found, and it matches Tabitha’s description…

When Isabel Gallagher is found murdered on the floor of her baby’s nursery by her mother, it’s a grueling case for Detective Lottie Parker. Isabel’s pajamas have been ripped, her throat cut and an old-fashioned razor blade placed in her hand. As Lottie looks at the round blue eyes and perfect chubby cheeks of Isabel’s baby daughter, she can’t understand who would want to hurt this innocent family.

It’s spring in Saxford St. Peter - time to get back in the garden, listen to the birds, and take gentle strolls in the woods. But for some, it’s the season for murder. Eve Mallow is relishing the gentle pace of the village until a new arrival stirs everyone up. Ashton Foley is back: a teenage tearaway turned interior designer to the stars. So when he’s found murdered in the woods near his mother’s home, Apple Tree Cottage, there’s no shortage of suspects. A jealous husband? A spurned lover? Or has someone from his past life caught up with him?

It’s the annual Locharran Highland Games and Ally McKinley has never seen her little village so busy or excited. Everyone’s enjoying the Scottish dancing, the bagpipes, and cheering the competitors on. But there’s a hitch in the proceedings when champion challenger Archie Armstrong drops dead in the middle of tossing the caber. Rushing to the scene, Ally is the first to spot that Archie’s death was no accident–this was murder!