Historical Cozy

An exotic mystery set in 11th-century Japan....Akitada is on his way to the bedside of his dying mother when bad weather forces him to take refuge in a temple whose central treasure is a brilliantly painted hell screen. Perhaps its violent imagery influences his dreams: that night he is awakened by a terrible scream.

It's only after Akitada returns to his family and a scene of domestic unhappiness and scandal that the significance of that cry becomes clear.

If you love cozy murder mysteries set in 1920s London, the Camille Divine Murder Mysteries series is for you. Get to know sassy Lady Camille Divine and her loyal maid Cecily Nugent as they travel the world, finding adventures and solving mysteries. Our girls are a resolute pair, refusing to give up ... even when the police have!

Lady Woodridge and Tom Winchester offer the new Lady Evans their support during her first foray into local society. To their surprise, Evie's reputation as a lady detective has preceded her, and she is engaged to solve the mystery of a theft.

Amory Ames is looking forward to a tranquil period of reconnecting with reformed playboy husband Milo after an unexpected reconciliation following the murderous events at the Brightwell Hotel. However, she is drawn into another investigation when Serena Barrington asks her to look into the disappearance of valuable jewelry snatched at a dinner party. Amory agrees to help lay a trap to catch the culprit at a lavish masked ball hosted by the notorious Viscount Dunmore.

It is May 1971 and the Cambridgeshire countryside is bursting into summer. Attending to his paternal duties, Archdeacon Sidney Chambers is walking in the woods with his daughter Anna and their aging Labrador, Byron, when they stumble upon a body. Beside the dead man lies a basket of wild flowers, all poisonous. And so it is that Sidney is thrust into another murder investigation, entering a world of hippies, folk singers, and psychedelic plants, where love triangles and permissive behavior seem to hide something darker.

November, 1923. An invitation to a house party at the estate of Parkview Hall is a welcome respite for Olive Belgrave, a newly minted working girl who’s become the solver of high society’s trickiest problems. But when the sumptuous black-tie event turns deadly, Olive’s cousin Peter becomes the main suspect. Olive must unmask a sophisticated killer before an innocent man takes the blame . . . because murder doesn’t RSVP.

Posie Parker has been summoned to Chelsea, to the House of Sinne, the fashionable London perfume house. Anouk Sinne, the most brilliant perfumier of her age, has been receiving blackmail demands, and asks Posie to investigate. But is blackmail just the tip of the iceberg? A launch party for the House of Sinne’s highly anticipated new fragrance is just about to take place, and Posie finds herself rubbing shoulders with some very famous people, but after the "reveal" of the strangest perfume Posie has ever experienced, things take a chilling turn for the worse…

After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady's maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White's cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead - poisoned by an apple - the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.

When amateur sleuth Augusta Peel receives a mysterious letter about a missing young woman, she can’t resist helping with the search. But the case takes a turn when an art student is found dead in a Bloomsbury square. Could the murder have something to do with Augusta’s investigation? The more questions she asks, the fewer answers she receives. Someone’s hiding something.

Romance is in the air for the delightful Reverend Oliver Hill. Unfortunately, the choir rehearsal for the wedding ends abruptly with the sudden and disturbing appearance of a body. War widow fashionista Ginger Gold is determined to find the killer even if it means working with the dashing yet exasperating Chief Inspector Basil Reed, but only in her professional capacity as a private investigator. Like they say: once burnt, twice shy. Basil has his work cut out for him if he wants to solve this case and win back Ginger’s heart.

London glitters during a snowstorm, and a mysterious famous guest has been invited to switch on the Christmas lights at Piccadilly. But when he asks Posie Parker for help, she finds herself thrown into a dazzling world of American movie stars, high-octane glamour at the Café de Paris, Death Threats, and very, very complicated private lives.

Murder's a bad stroke of luck! River Thames boat races between the London University colleges are an popular events, and Mrs. Ginger Reed is excited to attend for the first time, especially since the son of a good friend of her new husband, Chief Inspector Basil Reed, is racing. When a very unusual murder presents itself at the boat club, Lady Gold’s Investigations is hired to take on the case. Ginger’s determined to solve the mystery before someone else dies, but can she manage it without ruining another pair of Italian leather T-strap shoes?

Rookie reporter Edie York dreams of being out in the field, instead of being stuck writing up the wartime headlines, transcribing Churchill’s rousing speeches on her cranky typewriter. So when her first real assignment one misty morning ends with the crack of a pistol shot and the sudden death of a Home Guard soldier, she’s determined to take her chance and investigate. With the local police force, under the utterly irritating but outrageously handsome DCI Louis Brennan, stretched to the limit as bombs rain down, Edie strikes out alone. And she discovers more than she’d ever hoped – or feared.

Amory Ames is a wealthy young woman who questions her marriage to her notoriously charming playboy husband Milo. Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiance, Gil Trent. Amory accompanies Gil to the luxurious Brightwell Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his sister Emmeline to Rupert Howe, a disreputable ladies' man. Amory sees in the situation a grim reflection of her own floundering marriage.

1922. Ladies’ assistant Mabel Canning is delighted to accompany young heiress Roxy to a glamorous ballroom event. When she arrives, Mabel can’t wait to practice her foxtrot skills. But a mysterious man warns her that Roxy is in danger. And he’s dead before the music stops... After a narrow escape, Roxy stumbles into Mabel’s arms with her daffodil-yellow dress splashed with blood. Never one to rely on the police, Mabel swiftly gathers the murder club ladies on a hunt for clues. Can they catch the killer before they strike again?

Lady Violet Belmaine is just finding her balance as a widow who has recently put off mourning when she’s summoned to the family seat to celebrate a sibling’s wedding. Hugh St. Sevier’s escort makes the journey somewhat bearable, while Sebastian MacHeath’s presence among the guests is a more dubious blessing.

As quirky as McGill's residents can be, they usually welcome society's oddballs and outcasts into the community with open arms. But the three members of the Lone White Wolf Pack are a different story. The ignorant gang is widely believed to have orchestrated several hate crimes in the area. When the small group's irredeemable leader, Billy Ray Sonner, is found dead in an abandoned motel, most assume it was the result of an accidental overdose. Only Stella and the sheriff have witnessed the crime scene in person, and the smell of cyanide means something more disturbing.

Emily and Colin Hargreaves make it a rule to spend as little time as possible with her parents in Kent, but are unable to refuse Lady Catherine Bromley’s invitation to join them for a pre-Christmas party that includes the family of Ala Kapur Singh, a powerful Punjabi maharaja who has come to England after receiving the Order of the Star of India.

An artist's model never shows up at Neville Grant's house...or so he claims. But when one of Mr. Grant's houseguests suddenly dies, the Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries have to work double-time to find both the missing model and the killer!

Beloved author Mary Stewart's long-lost novella, now available again for the first time in 40 years. In 1879 a wealthy young woman elopes with an impoverished fisherman, leaving her family, who live on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, distraught. In 1968, 23-year-old Perdita West, secretary to the famous author Cora Gresham, visits Lanzarote, the strangest and wildest of the Canary Isles, on a research trip. They meet Cora's estranged son, Mike, and fall in love with the unusual, beautiful little island.