British Women Sleuths

Penelope Parish has hit a streak of bad luck, including a severe case of writer's block that is threatening her sophomore book. Hoping a writer in residence position at The Open Book bookstore in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England, will shake the cobwebs loose, Pen, as she's affectionately known, packs her typewriter and heads across the pond. Unfortunately, life in Chumley is far from quiet, and when the chairwoman of the local Worthington Fest is found dead, fingers are pointed at Charlotte Davenport, an American romance novelist and the future duchess of Worthington.

Crime-scene photographers Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they've ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England's top hangman. Sir Gerald, owner of the Daily World, announces that they‚ meaning Sarah and her friends‚ will investigate and solve Warbrick's murder before the police do. She and her friends discover a connection between Warbrick's murder and the most notorious criminal he ever executed: Amelia Carlisle.

It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home.

Sir Tode has finally died at the age of 93. Lady Tode wants to leave the country to spend her remaining years in Capri. Unfortunately, her three tiresome children are either unwilling, or unable (too mad, too lefty or too happy in Australia), to take on management of their large and important home, so the mantle passes to a distant relative and his glamorous wife. Not long after the new owners take over, Lady Tode is found dead in the mausoleum. Accident? Or is there more going on behind the scenes of Tode Hall than an outsider would ever guess?

Tea maven Theodosia Browning and her tea sommelier Drayton Conneley are guests at a bird hunt styled in the precise manner of an English shooting party. Which means elevenses (sloe gin fizzes), gun loaders, the drawing of pegs, fine-looking bird dogs, and shooting costumes of tweed, herringbone, and suede. But as gunshots explode like a riff of Black Cat firecrackers, another shot sounds too close for comfort to Theodosia and Drayton. Intrigued but worried, Theodosia wanders into the neighbor's lavender field where she discovers their host, Reginald Doyle, bleeding to death.

Steph Williams is excited to get her hands stuck into her latest gardening project. This time, she's been commissioned by Lady Clara of Ashford Manor to restore the stately gardens to their former glory. But the estate is suddenly thrown into chaos when a dead body is discovered in one of the rooms. The police rule it as suicide, though Steph's convinced they're barking up the wrong tree. For she knows the deceased better than they do and it could only be one thing: murder. And if the police won't listen to her, then Steph will have to investigate the case herself.

Single mom and school historian Beth Haldane has promised her new beau, Detective Harry York, that her sleuthing days are behind her. But when she stumbles over the body of local artist Mark Smeaton while ambling in the park, it’s clear a dangerous killer is on the loose in peaceful Dulwich Village. Shocked, Beth can’t resist delving into the mystery. Snooping around the nearby cozy cafes, Beth listens carefully to gossip and soon learns Mark's graffiti-style art was famously controversial. There are plenty who might want him gone.

Writer-in-residence Penelope Parish will need to use every trick in her quaint British bookshop to unravel a murderous plot that threatens to ruin a ducal wedding. The wedding of the duke and duchess of Upper Chumley - on Stoke has all the makings of a fairy tale, complete with a glowing bride and horse-drawn carriage. But it wouldn't be much of a story without a villain, and as American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish is coming to learn, happy-ever-afters are as fraught in this charming British town as they are in her books.

Spring is a magical time in England - bluebells massing along the woodland paths, primrose and wild thyme dotting the meadows. Antiques dealer Kate Hamilton is spending the month of May in the Suffolk village of Long Barston, enjoying precious time with Detective Inspector Tom Mallory. While attending the May Fair, the annual pageant based on a well-known Anglo-Saxon folktale, a body turns up in the middle of the festivities.

It was just an ordinary Wednesday lunchtime when Detective Martha Munro's life changed forever. Her sergeant is speaking, but she barely hears what he's telling her. Your mother has been shot dead. Your four-year-old daughter has been taken. There are no leads. Who would want to hurt her family? Martha realizes it's time to ask herself some hard questions about her late father. He led the anti-corruption squad at Scotland Yard. It's rumored he kept a list of everyone who worked for him, from coppers to criminals. And just being on the list was a sure-fire way to lower your life expectancy.

DCI Lesley Clarke is a busy woman. She's dealing with the reopened investigation into DCI Mackie's death, supporting DS Dennis Frampton through recurring mental health problems, and making plans for her own future. And then prominent crime boss Arthur Kelvin is found dead at a local beauty spot. Who killed him? Could it have been a member of his own gang? A rival, from within Dorset or further afield? Or maybe one of Kelvin's many victims? When Lesley starts to suspect that someone close to her might be involved, her world turns on its head.

The Susannah Ramsay and Sadie Dawes cases are solved and DCI Lesley Clarke's team is back together. But there are tensions. Is Dennis hiding more than just mental health problems? Did Superintendent Carpenter cover up the details of DCI Mackie's death? And does Lesley's girlfriend Elsa know more about Mackie than she's letting on? Just as Lesley feels she is getting closer to answers, she's forced to work on the other side of Dorset after a body is uncovered by a landslide at Lyme Regis's beach. Who is the body and is there a connection to DCI Mackie, Arthur Kelvin, and Elsa's law firm?

When a body is found draped over Swanage’s iconic Globe monument, DCI Lesley Clarke is called in. A message points to the motive: Go Home. Is this a hate crime? Or something closer to home? Lesley must find the killer before he or she strikes again, all while dealing with a mutiny in her team and political pressure from her boss. At the same time, a local journalist has been investigating the death of Lesley's predecessor - and claims to have key information. Wary of involving her team, Lesley brings in her old colleague Zoe Finch to help.

While attending a crime scene on the outskirts of Maidstone, DI Kay Hunter makes a shocking discovery. The victim has been brutally cut to pieces, his identity unknown. When more body parts start turning up in the Kentish countryside, Kay realizes the disturbing truth–a serial killer is at large and must be stopped at all costs. With no motive for the murders and a killer who has gone undetected until now, Kay and her team of detectives must work fast to calm a terrified local population and a scornful media. When a third victim is found, her investigation grows even more complicated.

Forensic entomologist Dr Vanessa Marwood is settling into her new role in Manhattan when she's faced with a chilling case: an Oscar-winning actress has been found dead, poisoned by a glittering hair clip adorned with a live beetle. As a second high-profile death emerges - a fashion designer poisoned by an insect-encrusted watch - shockwaves run through New York's elite.

1956: In the quiet village of Wilbeth Green, the smoldering ruins of Rosemont Abbey set the residents' tongues wagging, and everyone is quick to accuse troublemaker Paul Everly of being the arsonist. Paul has vanished without a trace, leaving only his twin sister, Louisa, certain of his innocence. Fueling her conviction is an inexplicable connection—she felt her twin's death an hour before the abbey went up in flames. Knowing no one will believe her, Louisa embarks on her own investigation, challenging the skepticism of her neighbors and the disdain of her aunt and uncle.

When a shocking murder rocks the picture-perfect English village of Raven’s Edge, erstwhile amateur detective Milla Graham finds herself right at the centre of the mystery. Still reeling from her recent breakup with local police officer Ben Taylor, Milla sets her sights on solving the case, hoping to win Ben back. But when the evidence begins to point to Milla’s old friend and former paramour Lorcan Black, she must choose between her loyalties to the past and the possibilities of the future.

When DI Allie Shenton is called out to a murder suicide, it quickly becomes clear that it's a double slaying, and there is a killer on the loose. The bodies are found in a property owned by local entrepreneur/drug dealer Kenny Webb. Several young women are staying there, they are refusing to talk and one of them is missing. While she waits on forensic evidence, Allie decides to do what she does best. She takes to the community to see who will talk. Right now, she's the only one who can get answers. But then a third murder rattles everyone.

It's the end of the summer season in the harbour town of Estepona. The holiday makers are heading home, leaving the British expats to reclaim their little corner of paradise. Among them is art restorer Astrid Swift's estranged father. She's sailed into town to reunite with him but has instead been tasked with catching an internet troll who's been threatening his wife online. Soon Astrid is entwined in the lives of these expats, from the boozy local heckler to the socially awkward beachcomber. And then she discovers a body in the bunker of the golf course.

Jennie Jensen is touring Europe, already living her dream, when Prince Hugh of Wales—the future King of England—appears at a gig and requests his favorite song. He’s already smitten, and soon so is she. After a secretive, whirlwind romance, Hugh proposes, and when Jennie accepts, her world changes overnight. She’s still learning to navigate the minefield of constant scrutiny, barbed social interactions, and royal protocol (there are rules about pantyhose), as she learns that not everyone in England is excited about the prospect of an American princess.