English Authors Mystery

Stalkers, shootings, and sassy special agents. All part of being famous, right? Well, they are for Oscar-winning actress Amelia Kingston when she starts getting deeply disturbing and threatening notes left by a stalker. When her boyfriend Ty is shot, she calls in the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency (CCIA), the elite agency that specializes in solving crimes for the rich and famous. The CCIA send new recruit Amber Reed and her rather handsome special agent partner Charlie undercover to Amelia's luxury mountain chalet to investigate.

Meet Jessica Huntington, an amateur sleuth with a shopping jones and a black AMEX card. She soon finds out that money can't buy happiness or save your neck. Her well-planned life in shambles, she's hiding out near Palm Springs, California. When her best friend's husband is murdered, Jessica and her friends are soon stalked by scoundrels in pantyhose, stilettos, Bruno Maglis, and Armani suits. Roger Stone had something that got him killed. What was it and what will they do to get it back?

Dashiell Hammett changed the face of crime fiction. In five novels published over five years as well as a string of stories, he transformed the mystery genre into literature and left us with the figure of the hard-boiled detective, from the Continental Op to Sam Spade - immortalized on film by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon - and the more glamorous Thin Man, also made iconic with the aid of Hollywood.

Storyton Hall, Virginia, is a paradise for book lovers who come from all over for literary getaways. Manager Jane Steward is temporarily leaving for another renowned resort - in hopes of solving a twist-filled mystery. Jane's boyfriend is missing, and she thinks she may find him at North Carolina's historic Biltmore Estate. Officially, she's there to learn about luxury hotel management, but she's also prowling around, looking for secret passageways and clues. One of the staff gardeners promises to be helpful. His body turns up in the reading room of his cottage, a book on his lap.

Hamelin is overflowing with tourists enjoying the Scottish-themed games - and most of them are donning tartans from Peggy Winn's ScotShop. And her 14th-century ghostly companion, Dirk, has been indispensable, keeping an eye out for shoplifters and matching customers' family names to their clan plaid. Adding to the chaos is Big Willie, a longtime champion of the games, but not everyone is happy to have him in town.

It's June in Cranberry Cove, and Monica Albertson's plan to sell cranberry relish to chain stores is taking off. The cranberry bogs are in bloom, and local beekeeper Rick Taylor and his assistant Lori Wenk are bringing in bees to pollinate the blossoms. When a fatal prick fells Lori, the buzz is that Rick is to blame. In trying to clear her friend's name, Monica discovers that more than a few people in Cranberry Cove have felt the power of Lori's venom.

Sent to investigate, San Francisco reporter Arnold Rednapp soon discovers that the boy's unorthodox beliefs had turned a large section of the small town against him, leading the journalist to suspect a community-wide conspiracy to hide the truth of what happened. Rednapp's suspicions are hardened when he himself receives anonymous threats...

After a woman is found dead in Cal Corwin's car, and police detectives come knocking at her door, the case turns far more personal than it first seemed. As the ghosts of past cases rear their ugly heads, not only must she find out who murdered the victim, but why. Teasing the answers out soon reveals the disturbing question: Who is the hunter, and who hunted?

When a blackmailed drag queen walks into Cal Corwin's P. I. agency, she quickly throws herself into the investigation, but with each new clue she finds the case gets murkier, its web of lies more tangled. When murder rears its ugly head, it becomes clear more is at stake than money, and Cal must watch her own back even as she tries to find the culprit.

From a simple robbery gone horribly wrong to a grisly murder in a secret love dungeon, this stellar collection of crime fiction short stories showcases some of today's finest voices of color. Edited by Wall Street Journal best-selling author Abby L. Vandiver, this thrilling anthology will keep you on the edge of your seat. Includes "Midnight Escapade" by Jennifer Chow, "Lucky Thirteen" by Tracy Clark, "Murderers' Feast" by H.C. Chan, "In the Matter of Mabel and Bobby Jefferson" by Christopher Chambers, and many more.

When an esteemed institute in London hires Althea and her dive master buddy, Trace, to document a high-stakes treasure expedition, they are pulled into a game that neither of them had realized they were playing.

Could you obey an order that might cost you everything? When the director of a local veterans’ charity is found murdered on the steps of a war memorial, it seems like a straight-forward case of random street violence. But similarities with a previous death arouse Blake’s suspicions and the apparently well-loved victim turns out to have had hidden flaws and many enemies. Blake is drawn into a web of intrigue and danger as he investigates the murder. Could it be terrorist activity? Is a psychotic serial killer stalking veterans? Or is there another explanation?

The mutilated corpse of a young prostitute is discovered in a squalid apartment. Angela Murphy has recently started working as a detective on the mean streets of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. Just days into the job, she's called to attend this grisly murder. She is shocked by the horror of the scene. It's a ghastly sight of blood and despair. To her boss, Frank Martin, there's something horribly familiar about the scene. Is this the work of a copycat killer? Will he kill again?

Skyler Foxe is a brand new English teacher in his hometown of Redlands, CA. He loves literature, loves his students, loves his friends, especially his best friend Detective Sidney Feldman. But he doesn't love keeping his orientation a secret, afraid of the backlash in this conservative county. But will murder thrust him into unwanted limelight?

While chaperoning a high school dance, English teacher Skyler Foxe has just been dragged out of the closet by the hunky assistant football coach - a man he thought he knew. But when Sky discovers Keith has been keeping a big secret, he breaks it off, leaving both of them lonely and confused. With troubles mounting from the press, angry parents, confused students, Skyler's own mom, and a murdered teacher, what's a boy to do but discover - once and for all - who's behind all the dirty doings at James Polk High?

Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, go on a trip to Orkney in Scotland to visit an old friend and see some intriguing Stone Age excavations. They realize there’s considerable dissension between the archaeologists and the principal donor for the newest dig, a wealthy and abrasive American. When a more recent corpse is found at the dig, various suspects are named, but there’s not enough evidence to bring a case against anyone.

When Chloe Martin makes the long overdue trip to Jericho Falls, Nevada, to check on her grandma, she doesn’t plan to stay long. In fact, she has every intention of hightailing it right back to Idaho and leaving the historic mining town she loves to hate, for good. But then, a man turns up dead in the flower bed and memories about lost loves and lost lives begin to surface. To complicate matters, Chloe finds herself in a love triangle almost as tricky as the mystery she has to solve.

Shawn Scott has the perfect life—a rewarding career, a nice house, a loving wife with a healthy baby on the way. But after running into an old acquaintance—a strange man named Aiden Anderson—his life is thrown into a terrifying tailspin. Aiden knows Shawn’s darkest secrets. And he wants to punish Shawn for his history of ruthless bullying by playing a special "game". Shawn must complete five challenges reflecting the bullying of their past, each one more disturbing than the last. If he fails or quits, his worst secrets will be revealed to the world—secrets with the power to ruin his life.

A murdered pop star. A mysterious island. A life changing secret about to be uncovered. Who would want to murder pop star Flynn Garrison? That's exactly what Amber Reed needs to find out. As the lowly support officer and newest recruit at the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency's (CCIA), she has a lot to prove. She's desperate to get to grips with her first assignment and show that she's up to the job with the elite agency that specializes in solving crimes for the rich and famous, but there's a lot at stake... and it's not only her new career that's on the line.

An international crisis threatens to plunge the world into war at the dawn of the 20th century, but the British Foreign Office finds itself blinded by the bizarre deaths of crucial agents and informants as it struggles to stave off the coming conflagration. For help, they turn to an unconventional outsider, Inspector Jenkins of Scotland Yard, who soon finds himself on the trail of a mysterious man with a deadly black box and a host of devoted accomplices.