Cozy Crime Fiction

Rodeo Drive bridalwear designer Rayne McGrath expected her 30th birthday to start with a power lunch and end with champagne, lobster, and a diamond engagement ring from her fiancé. Instead, flat-broke and busted, she’s on a plane to Ireland—she’s inherited a run-down family castle....

The lives of the inhabitants of Swevenings are disrupted only by a fierce competition to catch the Old Un, a monster trout known to dwell in a beautiful stream which winds past their homes. Then one of their small community is found brutally murdered; beside him is the freshly killed trout. Both died by violence - but Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn's murder investigation seems to be much more interested in the fish.... Scales of Justice was first published in 1955.

Both the skeleton and the corpse have died with suspicious convenience for Georgia Wells, a monstrous but charming actress with a raffish entourage. Georgia's best friend just happens to be Valentine, a top couturière and Campion's sister. In order to protect Valentine, Campion must unravel a story of blackmail and ruthless murder....

In this follow-up to Austenland, Charlotte Kinder is eager to escape the numbness she feels after her divorce. Deciding to get away, she visits the Regency-themed Pembrook Park resort in England, where talented actors set the perfect scene. But with everyone playing a role, it’s hard to distinguish reality from fantasy. So when Charlotte’s heart stirs, she wonders if she’s simply caught up in the experience - or if her ability to feel is finally returning.

When Andorra’s life turns upside down, she decides on a career change. Running a diner on a mining station orbiting Saturn. It seemed like a good idea at the time.... With her best friend Cy in tow, Andorra reckons it’s the best thing for them both. A chance to start again where nobody knows them. Trouble is, there’s a secret hidden in the café. Before they have a chance to get settled, there’s a queue of dubious characters trying to find it.

It’s party time on board the Aurelia! On the LA to Hawaii leg, a Hollywood film crew are shooting scenes for a new action movie and Barbie has been given a bit-part role. It’s all great fun, and Patricia isn’t surprised when her cute, blonde friend attracts the attention of the handsome A-lister male lead. But when he's found murdered in the upper deck pool and the killer leaves a message that Barbie is next, it falls to Patricia to work out who the killer is. With Barbie, her trusted butler, and an odd-looking extra she befriended, Patricia will have plenty of help.

1945. Fen Churche follows her dreams and sails for New York. She books passage on a steam ship from France to America, excited to dance the night away in the glamorous ballroom and play games on deck. Nothing will stand in the way of her trip, not even when an eccentric heiress’s diamond tiara goes missing....

When Tilly Edgely lands a position working at Ashton’s bookshop in Cambridge, she thinks she’s found her perfect job. But one winter’s morning, when she arrives to open up, she discovers the body of her boss suspended from the ceiling, hanging by a rope around his neck. DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called to the scene and quickly find themselves searching for a twisted killer whose identity and motive are nearly impossible to trace. But just when they think they have the murderer in their sights, another body shows up throwing the case wide open....

Mimi Capurro, owner of Gotcha Detective Agency, hasn't seen her old college flame since they teamed up to find a killer several months earlier. Now, after breaking and entering into an alleged predator's home, Mimi and Charles find a murder victim on the floor in his bedroom. When homicide detective Nick Christianson and his new partner, Piper Mason, arrive on the scene, this is not the way Mimi expected to see Nick again.

The trouble started in Greece with a favor for her new father-in-law. When Poppy Fields picked up a package in Athens, she had no idea how many people were interested in its contents. Desperately interested. Murderously interested. Now she's on the run, racing across Turkey in a cat-and-mouse game with multiple killers. Because what's in the package could change the world.

Sukey Reynolds is treasuring the late-summer sun, taking long walks in the countryside, and enjoying the golden views across the Cotswold hills. At home, she’s busy cooking up feasts for her growing teenage son - amateur sleuthing is definitely off the menu. When she is called to photograph a crumbling manor, the day suddenly turns cold. In the charming garden, the body of beautiful Una May has been discovered, and all fingers are pointed at the tempestuous owner of the house, who was overheard arguing with Una that morning.... But who is the rotten apple in this beautiful orchard?

When Sukey Reynolds receives news of a death at the elegant Mariners Hotel, she is intrigued. Who could possibly have wanted to hurt Dr. Whistler, a shy and retiring archaeology professor? The dusty documents he was carrying couldn’t possibly be of value, could they? You would never expect this sophisticated establishment to be home to murder. What secrets are hiding inside the charming Mariners Hotel?

Heading back to work the day after she returns from her European honeymoon, Delaney Nichols is excited to get back to the Cracked Spine. But as she disembarks the bus and hurries toward the shop, she and another woman collide, sending a stack of books the woman is carrying to the ground. Delaney's hapless victim's name is Mary, and she and Delaney can't help but notice that they bear an uncanny resemblance to one another. According to Mary, they both also look like the long-beheaded Mary Queen of Scots.

Delaney Nichols is delighted with her life in Edinburgh, working at The Cracked Spine - a shop that specializes in hard-to-find books and artifacts. Outside the church where Delaney is searching for a reverend for her upcoming wedding, she stumbles across Norval Fraser: an elderly man obsessed with the Loch Ness monster. Always attracted to the interesting and unusual, Delaney befriends Norval. But when his nephew is found dead, the police decide Norval's obsession has moved from monsters to murder.

Melissa Craig has settled into a new job in the charming Cotswolds village of Upper Benbury. She is teaching French to several of the local teenagers, which gives her a fascinating insight into the young people’s lives. Material for a new novel, perhaps.... Her quiet life is interrupted when she sees her new neighbour running out of the woods in a blind panic. Melissa rushes to help him, but what she finds leaves her breathless: The body of young woman is lying on the bank of the river.

Beth Haldane stands on a quiet street outside an ornate front door, glances down at her watch and taps her foot impatiently. Since her partner Detective Harry York moved into her little house in Dulwich Village, things are a bit too snug. Now Beth whiles away the hours waiting for house viewings and searching for the perfect new home. When a flustered young woman finally arrives and introduces herself as the estate agent, Beth is looking forward to the charming Edwardian property. But when she peeks into a built-in wardrobe, a lifeless body is a greeting she wasn’t expecting.

Strange dealings are afoot in the Apostolic Palace - a nun leapt to her death shortly after participating in a seemingly routine exorcism. But when a priest clad in Gammarelli and a Vatican Commissario with an almost unholy level of sex appeal turn up at her door, Poldi is shocked to hear that she's a suspect in their case. Who is the woman being exorcised, and where has she disappeared to? And why in the world does she claim, in perfect Bavarian, to be Poldi, Isolde Oberreiter, of Torre Achirafari?

When an old television rival, Deirdre Shaw, is found dead at the Cotswolds manor house where she was catering for a prestigious shooting weekend, Prudence is asked to step into the breach. Prudence is only too happy to take up the position, and soon she is working in the kitchens of Farleigh Manor. But Farleigh Manor is the home to secrets, both old and new. The site of a famous unsolved murder from the 19th century, Farleigh Manor has never quite shaken off its sensationalist past. It's about to get a sensational present, too.

Olga Pushkin, Railway Engineer (Third Class) and would-be best-selling author, spends her days in a little rail-side hut with only Dmitri the hedgehog for company. While tourists and travellers clatter by on the Trans-Siberian Express, Olga dreams of studying literature at Tomsk State University and escaping the sleepy, snow-clad village of Roslazny. But Roslazny doesn't stay sleepy for long. One day Olga arrives at her hut only to be knocked unconscious by a man falling from the Trans-Siberian, an American tourist with his throat cut from ear to ear.

Summer is ending in County Cork, Ireland, and with it the tourist season. Expat Maura Donovan is determined to keep Sullivan's Pub in the black as the days grow shorter - but how? When she hears that the place was once a hot spot for Irish musicians who'd come play in the back room, she wonders if bringing back live music might be Sullivan's salvation.