English Private Detectives

In Agatha Christie’s “The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan”, Poirot and Hastings are called on to solve the case of Mrs. Opalsen’s missing set of pearls, apparently stolen during a stay at the Grand Metropolitan Hotel. The two suspects are Mrs. Opalsen’s maid and the hotel chambermaid, but both blame the other. Who is the real thief?

Photographer Todd Ellison is engrossed in a photoshoot deep in Alberta’s dinosaur country when he stumbles upon human bones buried in the sand of a remote coulee. Not far away, while driving through the Alberta prairie, Amanda Doucette glimpses an abandoned farmhouse that reminds her of an old photograph hanging on her aunt’s wall. Who is the cocky young cowboy in the photo? Could it be connected to Amanda’s uncle, who went missing in Alberta 30 years ago?

Dark secrets, blackmail and murder: it’s another classic case for the world’s most famous detective. When a young woman must be rescued from a ruthless blackmailer, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson find themselves pulled dangerously close to being on the wrong side of the law.... Based on real events, this lively short is brought vividly to life by Robert Hardy, known to many for playing Cornelius Fudge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Linda and Octavia are estranged sisters. The stay-at-home mom and socialite have never had much in common... until now. When they suddenly find themselves husbandless and broke, they reluctantly agree to combine their talents and take on a faltering P.I. agency in a strip mall. Old emotional wounds keep the two at odds and both sisters think they've made a huge mistake. But soon they realize all their clients have secrets... and who better to help them than two women who have secrets of their own?

The fictional gentleman thief is a master of disguise, a criminal genius and a moral figure well-set in righting a few wrongs himself when Justice can't be bothered. Lupin is incarcerated in the famous La Santé Prison in Paris, where he claims he won't be able to attend his own trial, as when the time comes, he will be long gone! Detective Ganimard and his men are well-determined to prevent his escape. But Lupin is a true artist.

A perfectly plotted crime is foiled by a runaway bank clerk as Inspector Littlejohn navigates impersonation, forgery, embezzlement...and a murder. It was meant to be a fool-proof scheme. The victim was a recluse, cut off from the world after the death of his wife. Nobody would think it strange when they didn't see him. Nobody would make inquiries. Yet, even the most meticulous of criminals can be caught out, especially if they don't leave room for human error.

In Agatha Christie’s short story “The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman”, Poirot and Hastings investigate the suspicious death of Count Foscatini in his apartment in Regent’s Court. Found dead at the dinner table, with three empty dinner plates, the suspicion is immediately placed on his two dinner guests. But is there more to the story?

1950s Staffordshire. Within the clay tanks at the pottery company Shentall's, a body has been found. Amid cries of industrial espionage and sabotage of this leader of the pottery industry, there is a case of bitter murder to solve for Inspector Hedley Nicholson. Kelly's mystery won the CWA Gold Dagger Award in 1961 for its impeccable sense of place and detail, and for the emotional weight of its central crime. The novel is part of a shift from the cosiness of crime novels before to mysteries characterised by their psychological interest and affecting realism. An influential classic.

Fleeced is a witty portrait of modern urban life, and proves once again that Carol Higgins Clark is a uniquely talented writer.

During a stifling summer in Sydney, the body of a chaplain’s daughter is found wrapped in black plastic on the deserted grounds of an elite boarding school. Is it the work of the killer who’s been stalking the privileged neighborhoods along the Parramatta River? Gut instinct tells Detective Sergeant Rose Riley something even more devious might be at play.

In Vera Kelly: Lost and Found, Rosalie Knecht gives Vera her highest-stake case yet, as Vera quickly puts her private detective skills to good use and tracks a trail of breadcrumbs across southern California to find her missing girlfriend. She travels first to a film set in Santa Ynez and, ultimately, to a most unlikely destination where Vera has to decide how much she is willing to commit to save the woman she loves.

Pearl’s detective agency takes a back seat as she prepares to offer a warm welcome to a group of special visitors. A local arts festival is being held to honour a cultural exchange visit from representatives of Borken - Whitstable’s Twin Town in Germany. Yet very soon, personality clashes surface among the participants; local politicians try to use the festival for their own ends, while others jostle for improved billing on the festival programme. Tempers flare, old feuds re-surface, and on the eve of the first event, a cryptic message is received by the local police.

When the body of a radical protestor is found floating in one of Bologna's underground canals, it seems that most of the city is ready to blame the usual suspects: the police. But when private investigator Daniel Leicester, son-in-law to the former chief of police, receives a call from the dead man's lover, he follows a trail that begins in the 1970s and leads all the way to the rotten heart of the present-day political establishment.

Race Williams - the classic hard-boiled detective from the pages of Black Mask Magazine - takes on the biggest blackmailing scheme of his career. Plus a bonus Daly hard-boiled classic: Paying an Old Debt. Story number two in the Race Williams series. Carroll John Daly (1889-1958) was the creator of the first hard-boiled private eye story, predating Dashiell Hammett's first Continental Op story by several months.

Retired private detective and current seventh grader Steve Brixton has a new career: taking out the garbage on Wednesdays for five bucks a week. But it’s hard to leave the old game behind, and on a train trip down the California coast, Steve finds himself pulled back into sleuthing. Soon he’s in over his head in four feet and eleven inches of mystery involving a fleet of priceless automobiles, a deadly assassin (or maybe just a faulty lock on a sauna door), and a secret train car filled with intrigue. Plus there’s a girl involved, which complicates everything.

When Lord Temberton opens an Anglo-Saxon barrow and finds a securely locked Elizabethan chest with seven mummified penguins placed around it in a circle, it is to Sherlock Holmes that he turns for answers. Is this sabotage? A practical joke? Or something more sinister? Holmes, together with Watson, must unravel the journeys of an Antarctic traveler, the family history of an old lady, and discover the mind and motive behind this bizarre interment.

Quick-witted detective Stone is capable of making decisions from a pair of muddy shoes and other seemingly unimportant clues. It’s almost like a performing magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. He once remarked that “One never knows what difference anything will make until the difference is made.” Publication time of books featuring Stone are unknown so just watch for them for ordering. Even very astute listeners will often be surprised at his amazing solutions.

Private Detective, Miles Darien, is hired by Cora Sims to find her missing daughter Olivia, who has been living alone in Chicago. Miles enlists his best friend, investigative journalist, Ryan Duffy to assist in the search. Mrs. Sims has no idea where her daughter works or how she makes a living. First, they must uncover the clues which will lead them to her workplace, hoping to connect with someone who can take them to Olivia.

As October of 1900 draws to a close, London’s foggy, lamplit streets are hit by a string of burglaries which puzzle Scotland Yard. When they culminate in a gruesome murder, Sherlock Holmes is called in to investigate. But has he put the wrong man behind bars?

Time and luck seem to be running out for The Purple Heart Detective Agency. Violence has a toll. Running afoul of the law has its limits. But for Clayton Grace, there is a woman involved—the one who got away. His first love, Linda, the woman who chose another man over him. And now that man is missing. One week into retirement, Grace takes Linda's case against Roddy O'Malley's objections. The path is never easy when the heart is leading the way.