Literature Fiction Mystery

The day Danielle Harding takes her 11-year-old son, Simon, and flees from her abusive husband is the same day Kurt Harding dies. A relieved Dani believes that she and her son are finally safe, but in reality, things are just heating up. When Kurt was alive, he took something important to a mysterious person. That person wants the item back and believes that Dani now has it. As she and her son run for their lives, they have nowhere to turn.

This entertaining and humorous chapter book will feature animals who can perform amazing acts like riding motocross, foretelling the weather, and playing a guitar. These stories will enchant listeners and empower them to devour the more text-heavy "grown up" style of the book, while still keeping the story easily digestible for a hesitant listener.

Reports of a haunted house soon have amateur sleuth Agatha Raisin snooping around, only to discover the victim of the haunting is a universally disliked old biddy on whom someone is playing a practical joke. But then the old lady is murdered and, for Agatha, solving a crime is much more fun than ghost-busting. Very soon she’s up to her usual tricks, involving the villagers, local police, and, naturally, her handsome new neighbor.

The Fens are burning, and Detective Nikki Galena faces a cat-and-mouse battle with a killer arsonist. Someone is lighting fires. First they target homes and businesses, but then a body is found at one of the crime scenes. More fires are lit. And at each one a single person dies. But the victims have led spotless lives, and apparently there's no connection between them. Meanwhile, the town is facing a very peculiar threat from a group of sinister Satanists led by a charismatic businessman. Who is burning with anger, and can Nikki stop them before anyone else dies?

When firefighter and single dad Steve Springfield moved his four kids to a Colorado Christmas tree ranch, he intended for it to be a safe haven. But he never expected danger to follow them to his childhood home or that he would come face-to-face with the one girl he could never forget. Folk artist Camille Brandt lives a quiet life. As the town's resident eccentric, she's used to being lonely, until Steve Springfield changes everything. Brave and kind, he's always had a piece of her heart, and it doesn't take long before she's in danger of falling for him and his rambunctious kids.

"Who is this man, this Scarlet Pimpernel?" Each day this question grew more pressing to the leaders of the French Revolution. Only this man and his band of followers threatened their total power. Only this maddeningly elusive figure defied the vast network of fanatics, informers, and secret agents that the Revolution spread out to catch its enemies.

Warlock Holmes may have demons in his head, but now, Dr. John Watson has a mummy in his bloodstream. Specifically that of the sorcerer Xantharaxes, who, when shredded and dissolved in an eight percent solution, results in some extremely odd but useful prophetic dreams. There's also the small matter of Watson falling for yet another damsel du jour and Warlock deciding that his companion needs some domestic bliss....

His razor-sharp intellect, uncanny powers of deduction, and knowledge of the criminal underground are legendary throughout London. He solves cases with the able assistance of his close friend and confidant. And, one day, he will become the arch enemy of Sherlock Holmes. Meet Professor James Moriarty - consulting criminal.

When Agatha Raisin left behind her public-relations business in London, she fulfilled her dream of settling in the cozy British Cotswolds, where she began a successful private detective agency. Unfortunately the village she lives in is about to get a little less cozy. Lord Bellington, a wealthy land developer, wants to turn the community garden into a housing estate. When Agatha and her friend, Sir Charles Fraith, attempt to convince Lord Bellington to abandon his plans, he scoffs.

Thanks to a series of unfortunate events - and one backstabbing frenemy - home is exactly where I'm headed. Back to Winterspell Lake, where magic runs rampant and humans are outlawed. Faster than you can say hocus pocus I'm unpacking my bags and settling into the guest room of my parents' house, trying to ignore the creeping sensation that I'll never break free again. The one thing Winterspell has going for it is the sweets shop in the center of town, a bakery filled with magical creations designed to enchant the taste buds and charm even the pickiest of connoisseurs.

Raised in a magnificent Charleston house, Jessie Roland wants for nothing. But as she grows into young adulthood, all she feels is loss and a desperate need to break free from the stifling possessiveness of her parents. Somewhere, in the deepest part of herself, Jessie believes that the world she has always lived in is not the one she came from...or belongs in. Now, at 19, she has escaped to Washington, DC, where no one knows her, and where she is swept into a whirlwind marriage to a Texas senator's son.

Often compared to both Ruth Rendell and P.D. James, Deborah Crombie is internationally acclaimed for her deftly written mysteries that combine suspense, with lyrical prose. Sharply etched characters further enrich this story of tangled relationships and dark secrets. Twelve years after their divorce, Scotland Yard Superintendent Duncan Kincaid receives a phone call from his ex-wife Victoria asking for his help.

Emily Pollifax is one of a precious few gray-haired female sleuths who solve their cases through unflagging determination, moral courage and wisdom that comes with age. In "The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax", Emily answers the call of that “nice Mr. Carstairs” to go to Istanbul as a courier and search for a missing agent.

How well do you know your neighbours? When residents of a North London cul-de-sac enrol in a seemingly innocent social network, they soon find themselves embroiled in a murky web of sinister manipulation and murder. From the outside, Caroline and Jason Swinton have an idyllic life. But when the cracks start to appear, the residents of Riverside Close are drawn into a dangerous game. When Jason’s body is discovered in a house on the close, everyone becomes a suspect.

David Rivers is an elite-level assassin. He’s an expert in the art of violence. Honing his skill first as a Ranger, then as a mercenary, and now as a CIA contractor conducting covert action around the world. But in his secluded mountain home in Virginia, David Rivers lives a double life. There, Rivers is known as a caring husband to his new wife and the doting father to his young daughter. Soft targets to his enemies. Half a world away, on a mission to assassinate a foreign operative, Rivers uncovers his worst fear.

Three-year-old Sophia Lassiter disappears at the playground only to return after 40 frantic minutes - but her mother Jill's relief is short lived. Jill is convinced the tiny dots on her daughter's arm are puncture marks. When doctors find no trace of drugs in her system, Jill accepts she won't ever know what happened during her daughter's absence and is simply grateful to have her home safely. Except Sophia isn't safe.

It’s not every day that you’re summoned to the Italian countryside on business, so when archaeologist Angelo Morelli asks for Ruth Galloway’s help identifying bones found in the tiny hilltop town of Fontana Liri, she jumps at the chance to go, bringing her daughter along with her for a working vacation. Upon arriving, she begins to hear murmurs of Fontana Liri’s strong resistance movement during World War II and senses the townspeople are dancing around a deeply buried secret. But how could that be connected to the ancient remains she’s been studying?

Lexi is a survivor; she has spent her whole life moving from one abusive foster home to the next, until she decided to take charge of her own life. Living in abandoned buildings, couch surfing, and working at a strip clubs were a huge improvement on what she had before. All she needs is enough money to feed herself, finish high school, and hopefully go to college. She has a plan. That is until she is caught and sent to live with a strange foster family upstate.

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible. In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot.

When Agatha returns home after a sojourn in the capital, she finds a new woman ensconced in the affections of her attractive bachelor neighbor, James Lacey. The newcomer, Mary Fortune, is superior to Agatha in every way, especially when it comes to gardening. With Carsely Open Day approaching, Agatha longs for some fascinating crime to remind James of her genius for investigation and to distract him from Mary. Soon a series of assaults on the finest gardens is followed by murder when Mary herself is discovered buried upside down in a terracotta pot....