Amateur Sleuth Suspense

Young Tom French was found dead, lying in a marsh on the Norfolk coast, with his head bashed in and his binoculars still around his neck. One of the best birders in England, Tom had put the village of Rushy on the birdwatching map. Everyone liked him. Or did they? George Palmer-Jones, an elderly birdwatcher who decided quietly to look into the brutal crime, discovered mixed feelings aplenty. Still, he remained baffled by a deed that could have been motivated by thwarted love, pure envy, or something else altogether.

In a small Southern town where loyalty to family and to "your people" carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition. After 15 years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn't being pushed around, he is being completely ignored.

A visit to the local village fete for a spot of fun and relaxation turns into a nightmare for Agatha Raisin when she discovers the body of the local landowner in the woods with an arrow in his chest and trousers round his ankles. Agatha’s old adversary, Detective Chief Inspector Wilkes, declares the death a tragic accident, believing the victim has been hit by a stray arrow from an archery demonstration. Agatha is convinced of foul play, however, and is shocked when Wilkes eventually agrees … with her as his prime murder suspect.

To the tourists and summer residents, Kentwater County is a picturesque community of small-town charm, fruitful farmland, and gorgeous freshwater beaches. To middle-aged widow Isabel Puddles, it's where she preserves pickles, bakes pies, works the counter at her cousin's hardware shop, and occasionally helps "fix up" the hair of corpses at the local funeral parlor. When Isabel discovers a two-inch nail embedded in the skull of Earl Jonasson, it seems the octogenarian may not have died of a stroke.

When Flora Steele sets off for a peaceful vacation with crime writer Jack Carrington, the last thing she expects to find is a body at their pretty rental cottage! More baffling, they discover Roger Gifford was a man with plenty of friends, and the villagers seem devastated by his sudden death.... So why was he murdered? Who has blood on their hands? His estranged wife, Beatrice, his wayward younger brother, Lionel, or the suspicious newcomer, Mercy Dearlove? Inquisitive, Flora joins forces with handsome Jack to find out how the poor man came to such an untimely end.

Lane Winslow is enjoying a perfect sunny day at the lake when she spots a gravely injured young man drifting in a sinking rowboat. Hypothermic, bleeding, and soaked in icy, bloody water, he is unable to speak, leaving Lane at a loss. What series of events brought him to this grisly fate? Darling and Ames are quick to pick up the case, but leads are few until Angela’s young son finds an unsettling clue on the beach - a bright red swastika lapel pin - that points to the National Unity Party of Canada.

Toni and Agatha are in the car on the way to Officer Bill Wong’s long-awaited wedding when, much to their shock, a naked young man bursts through a hedge on the side of the road and comes running toward them. Terrified, he explains that he has just seen a dead body in the woods. Toni lends him an old t-shirt to cover himself, Agatha calls the police, and the young man takes them to the spot where he saw the body, across from a meadow where the Mircester Naturist Club is due to have its annual summer barbecue.

England, 1914. Joanna Blalock's keen mind and incredible insight lead her to become a highly skilled nurse, one of the few professions that allow her to use her finely tuned brain. But when she and her 10-year-old son witness a man fall to his death, apparently by suicide, they are visited by the elderly Dr. John Watson and his charming, handsome son, Dr. John Watson Jr. Impressed by her forensic skills, they invite her to become the third member of their investigative team.

Tough and demanding LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is the leader of the investigation into a high-rise office building murder. The case is intriguing but routine - until Kate interviews the only witness, Ellen O'Neil. When Ellen O'Neil took her new job over the objections of her lover, she wasn't expecting to become embroiled in murder. The curiosity that Kate Delafield rouses is equally unexpected. But it is never far from Ellen's mind that she is merely a name on an interview sheet to the tight-lipped detective.

"Existe-t-il encore un jardin secret que nous ne livrions pas aux machines ?" Partout, il y a la terreur. Celle d'une jeune femme dans une chambre d'hôtel sordide, ventre loué à prix d'or pour couple en mal d'enfant, et qui s'évapore comme elle était arrivée. Partout, il y a la terreur. Celle d'un corps mutilé qui gît au fond d'une fosse creusée dans la forêt. Partout, il y a la terreur. Celle d'un homme qui connaît le jour et l'heure de sa mort. Et puis il y a une lettre, comme un manifeste, et qui annonce le pire.

Claire Barclay is enthusiastic about her British Mystery Book Tour business. She enjoys taking her guests, usually from America, to the settings of mystery novels where bodies are long dead. Her neighbor's plea for help to deal with a recently murdered well-known author unsettles her. She leaves the body to the police and takes her guests to Cornwall, including a British tourist who far is too interested in the dead author.

Cat Conway has recently returned to Port Ellis to work as a reporter at the Quill & Packet. She's fled the tattered remains of her high-profile career and bad divorce for the holiday town of her childhood, famous for its butter tarts, theater, and a century-old feud. One of Cat's first assignments is to interview legendary actor Eliot Fraser, the lead in the theater's season opener of Inherit the Wind. When Eliot ends up dead onstage on opening night, the curtain rises on the sleepy town's secrets.

A Royal Witch: There are new roommates in the Beechwood Manor, and one of them is a royal witch. When tragedy strikes, it's going to take all hands on deck if the paranormal roomies hope to make it out alive. First Place Witch: With her potions shop officially open for business, Holly sets off to the San Francisco Haven to compete with the most elite potions masters in the entire country. Sassy Witch: It's Valentine's Day in Beechwood Harbor, and the town is rolling out the rose-colored carpet to host a group of eager singles in an effort to boost town tourism.

Jessica Sterling's candlelight-themed nuptial promises to be the perfect kick-off to the summer's first official holiday weekend. Stella's thrilled to have been chosen to provide the decorative centerpiece for the wedding ceremony: a two-foot tall scented unity candle - a symbol of the happy couple's love. But it looks like the bride-to-be's uncle won't be walking his niece down the aisle after he's found dead. The murder weapon is Stella's seemingly indestructible candle, now split in two.

To solve her father's murder and save the family-owned glass shop, Savannah Webb must shatter a killer's carefully constructed façade... After Savannah's father dies unexpectedly of a heart attack, she drops everything to return home to St. Petersburg, Florida, to settle his affairs - including the fate of the beloved, family-owned glass shop. Savannah intends to hand over ownership to her father's trusted assistant and fellow glass expert, Hugh Trevor, but soon discovers the master craftsman also dead of an apparent heart attack.

Since childhood, Courtney has loved fairies. After her mother died when Courtney was 10, she lost touch with that feeling of magic. A year ago, at age 29, she rediscovered it when she left her father's landscaping business to spread her wings and start a fairy garden business and teashop in beautiful Carmel, California. At Open Your Imagination, she teaches garden design and sells everything from fairy figurines to tinkling wind chimes. Now she's starting a book club tea.

It's love at first sight when Cleo arrives in Fairhope, Alabama, after taking early retirement from her longtime position as professor of social work. Touted as "the nicest town in the world," Fairhope is home to an eclectic community of retirees. Harbor Village boasts classes in painting, pottery, and photography, not to mention being a buyer's market for husbands. It seems an ideal place to make new friends and rediscover life. Until a dead body is found in the pool. When the victim turns out to be the unpopular director of senior living, Cleo is named acting director.

Someone is trying to turn Portland High into a school for scandal with a gossipy website called Dirty Laundry. The latest target of ruinous rumors is newly elected PTA President Sandra Wallage. After a heated meeting with outraged parents, Sandra runs into fellow school mom and Private Investigator Maya Kendrick, who's discovered the person behind the website. But when the women storm into the venomous gossip columnist's office they find a lifeless body - along with a confession.

When Poppy goes from complacent retiree to penniless widow in a matter of weeks, the idea of spending her golden years as the biggest charity case in Palm Springs renders her speechless. With no real skills and nothing left to lose, Poppy uses her obsession with true crime shows to start a career as a private eye....

Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything—which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.