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

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?

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.

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…

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!

Newlyweds Lady Swift and Detective Hugh Seldon are honeymooning in the most romantic city on earth. Clifford, her butler, has come along for the trip to make sure everything goes to plan for the happy couple. And Gladstone, the mischievous bulldog, to make sure it doesn’t!

Recent retiree Ally McKinley has stepped out with her puppy Flora for a walk by the loch in the tiny village of Locharran, taking a break from running the cosiest little guesthouse in the Highlands. But Ally’s peace and quiet is sunk when she and Flora find the body of a mysterious woman floating in the water…

Autumn, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift is invited to her old school, St Mary’s, as a guest speaker. Her favorite teacher, Mrs. Wadsworth, has asked that Eleanor talk about her intrepid travels around the globe - travelling the Silk Road by bicycle, crossing the Himalayas and even befriending the Maharaja of India. But in the circumstances, perhaps it would have been a good idea to talk about her career as a daring detective. Because no sooner has Eleanor brushed up on her times tables than she is greeted by terrible news: Mrs. Wadsworth has been murdered.

Lady Eleanor Swift is at Buckingham Palace to see her new husband, Detective Chief Inspector Seldon, knighted. Brimming with pride, all she can hope is that Gladstone the bulldog behaves himself in front of the king. But the happy day is overshadowed when Dilly Dalrymple, a royal guard, collapses. The head of the royal police asks Eleanor and Hugh to investigate the murder–unofficially. This is her first clue that there’s more to the story....

Melissa Craig is absolutely delighted with her new life in an old crumbling cottage, spending her days pruning the primroses and getting to know Binkie, the ginger cat next door. She only wishes she had made the move to the countryside sooner. But when a knock at the door brings news of a shocking discovery, she suddenly finds herself thrown in to the middle of a baffling mystery: the bones of a young woman have been found in the woods just behind her new home. Perhaps the little village of Upper Bembury is not as idyllic as it first seemed? Strange phone calls in the night convince Melissa that the police are barking up completely the wrong tree, so she can’t resist doing a little digging of her own. From the bingo hall to the beauty salon and beyond, her search ruffles a few feathers and uncovers many of the village’s most scandalous secrets, but gets her no closer to finding the culprit.