Amateur Detective

Genealogist Lucy Lancaster is just about to tuck into a plate of tacos at her favorite Austin joint, Big Flaco’s, when she gets an unexpected visit from her former - and least favorite - coworker. Camilla Braithwaite hasn’t gotten much friendlier since the last time Lucy saw her, but that doesn't stop her from asking a favor. In her hand is a newspaper feature on an ancestor, a Civil War corporal - and a liar, according to the article. Charles Braithwaite is depicted as a phony and a deserter, and Camilla wants Lucy’s help clearing his name.

New York, January 1896: Arthur Conan Doyle, the renowned creator of Sherlock Holmes, arrives at the Britannic Hotel with his wife, Louisa, ready to begin his first American tour. While he prepares his lectures, Louisa becomes mesmerised by this brash, vibrant, dangerous city, especially when a woman's brutally butchered corpse is found in a Bowery alley and Louisa is convinced from the artist's sketch in the paper that she'd seen the victim at the hotel.

London, 1941: Major Edgar Brampton is found shot dead in his office in Buckingham Palace. All signs point towards a self-inflicted tragedy, but when Palace authorities hurry his body away and order staff to stay silent, fellow courtier Guy Harford's suspicions are raised. While the outside world faces the onslaught of war, within the Palace walls a curious mystery unfolds. Rumours swirl about Brampton's relationship with the Queen, and there's talk of other plots involving those closest to the King.

Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins won’t be shushed when an upstart young mayor threatens to permanently shelve her tiny town’s storm-damaged library. She takes to her bookmobile, Words on Wheels, to collect allies and rally library support throughout Catalpa Springs, GA. However, Cleo soon rolls into trouble. A major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all available books on getting away with murder. He’s no Georgia peach, and Cleo wonders if she should be worried. She knows she should when she finds him murdered - and evidence points to her best friend.

A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She's ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.

For ex-accountant Emma Reed and her beloved corgi, Oliver, opening Reed's Classic Tea & Cakes in the idyllic village of Trevena in Cornwall has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. How about being asked to help cater the local Daphne DuMaurier literary festival? But when the festival organizer is found dead and foul play is suspected, Emma, Oliver, and their friends are plunged deep into a poisonous mix of village jealousy, family tension, money troubles, and secret love affairs.

Lady Dunbridge was not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She’s come to New York City, ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. The social events of the summer have been amusing, but Lady Phil is searching for more excitement - and she finds it, when an early morning visitor arrives begging for her help. After all, Lady Phil has been known to be useful in a crisis. Especially when the crisis involves the untimely death of a handsome, young business tycoon.

17 juillet 2011. Désiré Bugeard, un notaire parisien unanimement apprécié, disparaît après avoir trucidé son épouse et trois de leurs quatre enfants. Juin 2012. Alors que le notaire et son fils aîné semblent avoir disparu à jamais, un SDF toxicomane est retrouvé mort dans une rue de Paris. Avec, au poignet, la Rolex du notaire. Octobre 2013 : Dimitri Boizot se lance dans une enquête sur l'affaire Bugeard à la demande d'un éditeur qui veut publier un livre sur le sujet.

Ce matin-là, le parc du manoir baignait dans une brume d'été qui laissait présager une belle journée. Dimitri Boizot venait d'allumer une cigarette avec volupté lorsque son regard fut attiré par une étrange tache rouge au fond du parc. Il s'approcha et comprit très vite qu'il s’agissait du cadavre à demi dénudé de l'une de ses compagnes de table de la veille. Françoise Altmeyer avait été sauvagement frappée, sa robe rouge avait été retroussée. Sa culotte avait été jetée à quelques mètres d'elle.

Investigating the disappearance of a vicar's daughter in London, the popular novelist and amateur detective Roger Sheringham is shocked to discover that the girl is already dead, found hanging from a screw by her own silk stocking. Reports of similar deaths across the capital strengthen his conviction that this is no suicide cult but the work of a homicidal maniac out for vengeance - a desperate situation requiring desperate measures.

Whoever killed Shiloh Merkin hated her and wanted her dead. Her brother-in-law, Wade, is accused of the murder. An Indian activist and zealous defender of Native Montana lands, despised by Shiloh's New Age women's group, his knife appears to be the murder weapon. But Alix Thorssen, art dealer and forgery expert, knows there is no artistry in slashing a woman's throat, and believes Wade isn't the killer.

Art expert Alix Thorssen is asked to appraise the charred ruins of a friend's local gallery. The tragedy doubles when artist Ray Thornton's body is found among the debris. The death is ruled a suicide; the fire, arson. Case closed. But not for Alix, who doesn't believe the body was Thornton's.

As night falls, 17-year-old Cassie Baker leaves Winchcome and takes her usual shortcut down a moonlit country lane. She never makes it home. With no body and no evidence, she's just another teenage runaway.

Mayor Parish is determined Silverlake should win the prestigious Best Fall Getaway award for Witch Reader's Magazine—especially since the town is already a top contender. But when the journalist covering Silverlake writes a scathing review and is found dead, things go from fall festive to fatal misfortune. The Mystic Inn guest had his fair share of critics, but the killer couldn't possibly be someone living in Silverlake, could they? Angelica and her friends are racing to find out.

Jonathan Knox was an auctioneer of somewhat dubious repute with a photographic memory. So when a frightened woman offered him a discount on eleven of the rarest stamps in existence, worth something like $500,000, he became suspicious. He figured also that if the stamps had been stolen he might net a pretty reward by returning them to their rightful owner. But he couldn't find a single collector willing to admit to owning them. And when the girl who had originally offered them was murdered, Knox knew that he'd be the next one canceled unless he could find the person who would pay.

Joseph Timar soll für eine Handelsgesellschaft in Gabun arbeiten. In Libreville angekommen, erfährt er, dass es keine Aufgabe für ihn gibt. Der junge Mann fällt in eine quälende Lethargie, er trinkt, vertreibt sich die Zeit beim Billardspiel - und beginnt eine Affäre mit Adèle, der verheirateten Wirtin seines Hotels. Sie ist die Einzige, zu der er eine Beziehung an diesem fremden Ort entwickelt. Dann wird der Hotelboy ermordet, und bald stirbt auch Adèles Mann. Obwohl er einen schrecklichen Verdacht hat, reist Joseph mit Adèle ins Landesinnere.

Annie Darling, popular proprietress of the Death on Demand bookstore, has done it again! Her murder-mystery cruise in the waters off her not-always-idyllic isle of Broward's Rock is sure to be a roaring success, with every participant dressing up as a favorite fictional sleuth. And sure enough, everything goes swimmingly, until one of the revelers plunges overboard. And despite hubby Max Darling's courageous rescue attempt, faux murder turns all too quickly into real-life death.

Hank was found standing over the body of visiting Norwegian artist Glasius Dokken. When Hank won't say a word in his own defense, it falls to his step-daughter, Alix Thorssen, to clear him and uncover who actually sent Dokken, the painter of myths, to Valhalla.

A random accident leads Grit Norris to an unlikely friendship with a retired banker and his search for treasure hidden in historical letters. Inspired by his love of detective stories, Grit and his two best friends embark on a journey of intrigue and a danger. An unlikely friend provides encouragement, but the questions accumulate.

Estate sale organizer Audrey Nealon combines business with pleasure as she plans a sale at the exquisite beach home of the Gardner family. But the romantic getaway weekend with her husband is shattered when the body of a teenage boy washes up on the sand. The death soon proves to be more than an unpleasant distraction from Audrey’s work. Sophia, the troubled young woman who lives next door to the Gardners, is wracked with guilt over the death of her friend.