Showing titles in Amateur Sleuths

Golden-age gadabout Anty Boisjoly, his valet Vickers, the weary and wary Inspector Wittersham, and a passenger list of howling eccentrics find themselves prey to the sway and spray of the Scilly Seas when what at first seems a simple, unexplainable, locked-stateroom murder twists into a tale of pirate treasure, perilous weather and treacherous endeavours at sea.

Sit. Stay. Play Dead: Woofstock Whodunit marks the seventh installment of the Lily Rock Mystery Series, where springtime in Lily Rock heralds the arrival of the highly anticipated Woofstock weekend festival. This beloved event is a celebration of all things canine, featuring dog shows, agility contests, and a variety of vendors and activities for dog lovers. The excitement is cut short when a long-time resident and festival organizer is found dead in the dog park. With the town in shock, Janis Jets, Lily Rock's only cop, calls on Olivia to assist in solving the case.

Battered by floods and crushed by overtourism, the city of Venice faces an uncertain future. The election of a new Mayor, therefore, has never felt more important. As the candidates jostle for position and alliances are made and promises broken, Andrea Mazzon, a controversial writer and historian, emerges as a strong candidate. Nathan Sutherland, meanwhile, has more important things on his mind as he investigates the case of an elderly British academic who has disappeared whilst researching the fate of his grandfather during the Great War.

A woman is found dead in an alley of the bad part of town called Rotten Row. She's thought to have been bludgeoned to death, but as Lady Vivienne Harlowe and Sheriff Zachariah Fitch investigate the crime, it is soon realized that she was poisoned.

Temple House near Bath is built upon an old Roman Temple, the house bequeathed many centuries before to a secret order of old aristocracy. The 'Saints' are not true saints, they are remnants; the last of their line, they have wealth, but no heirs.

Summer is in full swing in the picturesque Sussex countryside, and Maisie Cooper is bound for the annual Bitling Fair. Maisie expects to enjoy homemade cakes, a glass of cider and a spot of Morris dancing. But what she doesn't bargain for is the tensions running high between the villagers of East Bitling and the disagreements being stirred up by the high and mighty Lady Catherine, from the big house on the hill.

Wingate, Connecticut, is famed as one of the top ten shopping destinations in the state and home to Mallory Monroe’s beloved Cookie Shop—a place where patrons are greeted with the heavenly aroma of freshly baked cookies that are as beautifully decorated as they are insanely delicious. But things aren’t going so smoothly for Mallory. Her two employees are a disaster in the kitchen, she catches her boyfriend with another woman, and she’s seen having a fierce argument with food blogger Beatrice Wright, who accuses Mallory of stealing her cookie recipe.

Jilted by her soap opera fiancé, crime writer August Saunders decides to return to her roots in rural Wiltshire. Determined to reignite her writing mojo, she rents a desk in a shared workspace in local Futtingbrook Farm. The converted barn comes with a motley array of fellow users, including a matchmaker, a TikToker with a dodgy nocturnal side-line and an ethical clothes designer—causing August to realize she doesn’t have far to look for real-life plot fuel!

Lane Holland's crime-solving career ended the day he went to prison. Yet one unsolved case continues to haunt him: the disappearance of Matilda Carver two decades ago. Against the odds, Lane finds a lead - a mysterious farm community where Matilda lived briefly, led by the enigmatic Samuel Karpathy. The farm attracts lost souls. People looking for answers. People hiding from their pasts. People who have nowhere else to go. But some of those who go to the farm seem to vanish without a trace.

Jude Gray never thought she’d find herself widowed and running a working farm full-time, but here she is, living in the small Malvern village her husband Adam spent most of his life in. After a particularly gruelling lambing season, she is looking forward to some time off, but there’s no rest for the wicked, especially when she finds the body of one of Adam’s oldest friends on her farm. Unimpressed with the local constabulary's efforts, Jude starts an investigation of her own. But as the body count rises, danger creeps ever closer to Malvern Farm.

In "Murder in High Places", the sixth Bunburry book, Oscar will brave the Cotswolds for the first time! Alfie has tried for months to convince his best friend to visit him - but when a glamorous High Society Party in honour of celebrated actor Dorian Stevens is announced, Oscar just can't resist. He is - after all - Dorian's greatest fan and can't wait to meet his hero. But the evening at the lovely Saville mansion takes a murderous turn … Nathaniel Parker, born in 1962, graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and went on to join the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Melanie West is getting her life back on track after a messy divorce when her grandmother, Liza Harris, asks her to join her in opening a bed-and-breakfast inn. Together, Liza and Melanie purchase a purportedly haunted mansion on the Oregon coast and jump right into clearing out the cobwebs. But while attempting to remove wallpaper in an upstairs bedroom, the new B&B owners stumble upon a very real skeleton in their closet.

Sylvia van Lidth sits atop a criminal empire providing a service to a very specific clientele…a very wealthy clientele with a particular taste. She fought to achieve her lofty status and is not about to let anything stop her. Lee Yoo the local boss of Korea’s most ruthless crime family, has an order of high-end cars to steal. He doesn’t want to consider the consequences of failure. Arriving in the heart of Amsterdam, Albert’s only aim is to sample the local cuisine, but when his detective’s nose results in being mistaken for a thief, his faithful companion and sidekick, Rex, is taken from him.

The Inugami Curse is a fiendish, intricately plotted classic mystery starring the legendary Detective Kosuke Kindaichi. In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami clan dies, and his family eagerly await the reading of the will. But no sooner are its strange details revealed than a series of bizarre, gruesome murders begins. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan’s terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty and hidden identities to find the murderer and lift the curse wreaking its bloody revenge on the Inugamis.

Jim Qwilleran has officially inherited a fortune and his freedom, which leaves him with a serious dilemma: What should he do next? Seeking a place of peace and isolation to make up his mind, he heads to the Potato Mountains for the summer. But Qwill lands in the middle of controversy, not solitude. Developers are eager to turn the pristine Potatoes into a tourist trap, and one of the locals has been convicted of murdering millionaire J.J. Hawkinfield. Some people swear the wrong man was convicted, and Qwill is inclined to agree. But if Forest Beechum didn't do the dirty deed, who did?

Divorced, broke, and broken down in the old mining town of Nightmare, Arizona, Olivia Kendrick is desperate for a job. At forty-two years old, she never thought she would be starting over like this, let alone in a tucked-away town filled with tourists, offbeat residents, and an outspoken UFO hunter. Olivia takes a job at a year-round haunted house, but when she arrives for her first day, she faces real horror: a local man's body has been dumped at the front entrance.

Halloween is coming to North Yorkshire, and the seaside town of Whitby is getting ready for its annual Goth Festival, where Goths of all ages descend on the town for a week of music, costumes, and spooky fun. When one of Liz McLuckie’s friends has a terrifying encounter with the Barghest—Yorkshire’s legendary Dog of Death—it sparks a series of mysterious fatalities in the town. Are supernatural forces at work, or is there another, more human, explanation?

As Christmas descends on Mistletoe, Maine, Holly White has an extra gift for the season: a new baby on the way. Her husband, Sheriff Evan Gray, has been worried about her elevated blood pressure, and Holly has agreed to take this year easy. Being idle has never been one of Holly’s gifts, so when Evan surprises her with tickets to the town-wide dinner, she and her many cravings thank him. But when a thief tries and fails to steal an antique ornament from the dinner’s holiday display, it’s clear that someone is on the naughty list.

Henry Beaumont keeps a renowned pack of foxhounds, quick, brave and ruthless at the kill. One December hunt, the dogs uncover more than a fox in the woodlands - brushing aside dead leaves, Beaumont finds the crushed body of Martin Reynard, a former member of his household. Enraged, Henry, though he has no experience in such matters, swears to find the killer, but his impetuosity and rudimentary investigative skills lead him to arrest a man of questionable guilt. Fortunately, Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, in the area to settle a land dispute, are available to lend their expertise.

Award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh was well known for her four Lord Peter Wimsey novels that continued and completed Dorothy L. Sayers's much-loved series. These two cosy crime dramas introduce her own sparkling creation, Imogen Quy, a college nurse and amateur sleuth who investigates foul play in academia.