Cozy Crime Fiction

In the chilly depths of a Yorkshire winter, a well-liked rector is found bludgeoned to death in her own church. With no sign of a murder weapon, local superstition quickly pins the blame on the ghost of a medieval monk believed to haunt the building. Well accustomed to unusual murder investigations, DCI Jim Oldroyd takes on the case, along with his assistant, Sergeant Andy Carter, but they are hampered at every turn by the deepening snow and the threat of the supernatural.

Sukey Reynolds is invited to an evening at her local library to hear Jennifer Cottrell, a noted novelist, speak about her latest book. But instead of an interesting event attended by the author’s fans, a woman in the audience, Wendy Downie, accuses Jennifer of killing her lover. Before a shocked Sukey can go after her, she flees into the night. The very next day, Jennifer is found dead.... The police chase after Wendy, convinced she must have attacked Jennifer. But they find that she too has been killed - in the grounds of Jennifer’s beautiful manor.

A family day out at Briar’s Hall ends in tragedy when a young boy goes missing - and his body is found at the bottom of a disused well in the orchard. It looks like a simple case of an 11-year-old exploring where he shouldn’t: a tragic accident. But Coroner Clement Ryder and Probationary WPC Trudy Loveday aren’t convinced. If Eddie had been climbing and fallen, why were there no cuts or dirt on his hands? Why would a boy terrified of heights be around a well at all?

Francesca is nervous about catering her first-ever murder mystery party - but it’s clear from the clink of champagne flutes and piles of empty plates that the evening is a roaring success. The guests look spectacular in their disguises, whispering and giggling, as they try to identify who killed the beautiful, young Becky. But days later, the game takes a sinister turn, when Becky is found poisoned, and all the signs point to the culprit being a party guest.

When librarian and budding Private Investigator Kitt Hartley visits her ex-assistant Grace Edwards in Durham, she soon learns of an unsolved murder. A year ago, Jodie Perkins, a Mechanics student, disappeared after her student-radio broadcast was cut short with a deafening scream. The police suspect Jodie was murdered although her body was never found. Keen to be on the front line of one of Kitt's investigations, Grace convinces Kit to use her recent private investigator training to solve the mystery.

The shadowy head of an underground army fighting to liberate India from British rule, Zapata has brought their ruthless campaign of terror to the streets of Paris. Having assassinated the young journalist and explorer Jacques de Villers at his own engagement party, Zapata's next target is the Paris head of the British Intelligence Service.

Spirited, beautiful, and thoroughly unconventional, Prudence Pinsent is a remarkable young woman. One fine morning she sets out for Suffolk to join her cousin Lord Wellende for a few days hunting. On the way Prudence encounters Captain Studde of the coastguard who is pursuing a quarry of his own. Studde is on the trail of a drug smuggling ring that connects Wellende Hall with the cloistered world of Cambridge.

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.

The recently rediscovered short story 'The Lost One', perfect for fans of Daphne du Maurier, Santa Montefiore and Anya Seton. First published in Woman's Journal in 1960, and set against the backdrop of unfenced country and dark winding valleys at night, the aptly named 'The Lost One' features The Wind off the Small Isles heroine Perdita West, who brings her characteristic pluck and courage to this classic Mary Stewart tale of suspense and intrigue....

Leighann Dobbs and Harmony Williams present Book 5 in the Lady Katherine Regency Mysteries.

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?

Nell Valenti is settling into her role of transforming the Villa Orlandini into a superb farm-to-table cooking school, and the time has finally come for a full taste test run. But when Chef Orlandini prepares to reveal his top secret marinara recipe for the first time to a group of American gastro-tourists, Nell realizes she might have bitten off more than she can chew.

It isn't easy having Hollywood's biggest, brightest star for a mother - especially when her Russian oligarch boyfriend has been kidnapped. When Poppy Fields flies to London to be with her mother, she finds nothing but fog, danger, and phenomenal shopping. Too bad half the city wants Poppy dead, and she has no idea why. The odds against her are high, the menace is real, and if she doesn't find answers quickly, a dirty bomb will send global financial markets plummeting.

Thea and Drew have been married for a year and are settled in the village of Broad Campden, but Thea is chafing at the domestic routines she is expected to devote herself to, missing the novelty and adventure that house-sitting used to bring. When a routine burial exposes the secrets of the deceased, Drew finds himself caught in the middle of a family feud, in which he feels he is on the wrong side, and Thea's inquisitiveness and penchant for solving crimes draws her in, too.

1957. Lord James Harrington and his wife, Beth, run a country hotel in the village of Cavendish, deep in the heart of West Sussex. James and Beth are discussing the latest Cavendish Players production, The Devil Incarnate, when their cleaner informs them that farmer Alec Grimes is missing.

When Bobbie Cheldon falls in love with a pretty young dancer at the Frozen Fang night club, he has every hope of an idyllic marriage. But Nancy has more worldly ideas about her future: She is attracted not so much to Bobbie as to the fortune he expects to inherit. Bobbie's miserly uncle Massy stands between him and happiness: Massy will not relinquish the $10,000 a year on which Nancy's hopes rest.

It’s December in Cornwall, and Mousehole harbour is illuminated with its famous Christmas lights. Ally Bright is among the crowd listening to the carol singers—and then to the piercing screams that rip through the darkness. A body has been found, brutally murdered and dumped in a fisherman’s boat.

After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by 18th-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies. Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task...that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body....

When the boss of the big local DIY outlet is murdered on a moonlit night, all the evidence points to the store's junior manager. And when police retrieve the murder weapon from the Thames, the manager goes on the run. But Jack and Sarah are not at all sure of his guilt. Can they uncover the real killer before it's too late for the runaway suspect? Cherringham is a serial novel à la Charles Dickens, with a new audio episode released every two weeks. Set in the sleepy English village of Cherringham, the detective series brings together an unlikely sleuthing duo.

"Already it looked as if the police were up against a carefully planned and cleverly executed murder, and, what was more, a murder without a corpse!” Two brothers, John and William Rother, live together at Chalklands Farm in the beautiful Sussex Downs. Their peaceful rural life is shattered when John Rother disappears and his abandoned car is found. Has he been kidnapped? Or is his disappearance more sinister - connected, perhaps, to his growing rather too friendly with his brother's wife?