Mystery Women Sleuths

Trading in Texas heat for Maine's tangy salt air, Natalie Barnes risked it all to buy the Gray Whale Inn, a quaint bed and breakfast on Cranberry Island. She adores whipping up buttery muffins and other rich breakfast treats for her guests until Bernard Katz checks in. The overbearing land developer plans to build a resort next door where an endangered colony of black-chinned terns is nesting. Worried about the birds, the inevitable transformation of the sleepy fishing community, and her livelihood, Natalie takes a public stand against the project.

Three gripping crime fiction thrillers featuring DCI Whitney Walker and forensic psychologist Dr. Georgina Cavendish. Deadly Games: DCI Whitney Walker’s in trouble. She’s threatened with demotion if she screws up another case. When a killer starts murdering female students, it’s a chance to redeem herself. Forensic psychologist, Dr Georgina Cavendish, has spent her life inside the university walls, but when one of her students is murdered, she steps out from behind the books, putting her skills to the test. The two headstrong women join forces to stop the killer.

Her marriage over and career gone bust, Arly Hanks flees Manhattan for her hometown: Maggody, Arkansas. In a town this size, nothing much ever happens, so Arly figures she's safe as the town's first female chief of police - until the husband of one of the local barmaids escapes from state prison and heads for town. And that's not all. An EPA official with ties to polluting the local fishing hole has suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.

An escape - that's exactly what Birdie Devaine needs when witches around the world publicly announce their existence. Instead of performing for the sold-out crowd at her world-famous magic show in Vegas, Birdie runs away from the dazzling lights to her hometown in Mississippi. She thinks she has it all planned out - keeping busy with renovating an old beautiful house and eventually fading away from the spotlight. But the house has its secrets, including the haunted cemetery that Birdie is now responsible for. It doesn't help when her nosy neighbor catches on to Birdie's big secret....

Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township—she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters— beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper.

She said yes to Morelli. She said yes to Ranger. Now Stephanie Plum has two fiancés and no idea what to do about it. But the way things are going, she might not live long enough to marry anyone. While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There’s Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy.

Like most women, Elizabeth Miles assumes many roles; unlike most, hers have made her a woman on the run. Living on the edge of society, Elizabeth uses her guile to relieve so-called respectable men of their ill-gotten gains. But brutal and greedy entrepreneur Oscar Thornton is out for blood. He's lost a great deal of money and is not going to forgive a woman for outwitting him. With his thugs hot on her trail, Elizabeth seizes the moment to blend in with a group of women who have an agenda of their own.

Nothing much happens in Myrtle Grove, Oklahoma. So when prominent businessman Harry Kerr is discovered face down in his pool shortly after dawn, the breakfast crowd in Jesse Camden's tearoom is buzzing. Recognizing the name, Jesse hurries to her friend Vivian Windsor, Myrtle Grove's resident oil heiress. Vivian is the great-aunt to Bliss Kerr, widow of the deceased and soon-to-be prime suspect in his suspicious death.

On a remote island off the coast of Maine lies a secluded estate. There, behind wrought iron gates and rock walls, sits Halcyon Hall. Today, it is an exclusive spa catering to wealthy elites and pampered celebrities. But once, it had another name - and a terrifying reputation.... Rosemary Tulle has come to Halcyon Hall desperate to find her younger sister. Seventeen-year-old Genevieve left a brief, troubling message on Rosemary's phone, begging to be picked up. But Rosemary is not on the visitor list, and no one will let her in....

Quentin McGee, author of a sensational exposé, has been murdered, and her lover, Allison, is charged with the crime. Sarah is hired to find the real culprit, but the investigation won't be easy. Quentin had so many enemies, including her own family and all those rich, powerful people mentioned in her book. As scandal brews, the suspect list continues to grow, and Sarah fears that the killer isn't finished yet.

She may be a Mississippi belle, but Sarah Booth Delaney is no pampered daddy’s girl. Unwed and over thirty, Sarah has her own set of problems - like coping with regular hauntings by her great-great-grandmother’s nanny, a busybody of a ghost who’s set on marrying her off to the first suitor who comes calling. But when an old friend is in trouble, Sarah Booth doesn’t hesitate to get involved.

Antique dealer Sarah Byrne has never unspooled the truth about her past to anyone. But the enigmatic Aussie finally has the one thing she's searched for all her life - family. And now she and long-lost half-brother, Ted Lawrence, a wealthy old artist and gallery owner in town, are ready to reveal their secret connection. Ted's adult children are suspicious of their newfound aunt Sarah - especially after Ted, in declining health, announces plans to leave her his museum-worthy heirloom paintings. So when Ted is poisoned to death during a lobster bake, everyone assumes she's guilty.

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand is excited to be attending the Pluvius Parade along with her best friend, Ava. Carmela's ex-husband, Shamus, rides by the duo on his float at the head of the parade, when suddenly the revelry turns to disaster. Shamus' float crashes and explodes, and although Shamus escapes unhurt, a member of his krewe is killed. Carmela and Ava plunge into an investigation of the krewe member's death, but as they dig deeper, it starts to look less like an accident and more like a murder...and Shamus seems like a suspect.

In an all-new novella in E.J. Copperman’s “funny, charming, and thoroughly enjoyable” ( Spinetingler Magazine) series, the storm of the century bears down on the haunted guesthouse, and stirs up a gale of memories for a troubled ghost. Haunted guesthouse owner Alison Kerby may have only recently discovered her ability to communicate with ghosts, but for her mother Loretta, it’s been a lifelong gift.

Claire DeWitt is not your average private investigator. She has brilliant skills of deduction and is an ace at discovering evidence. But Claire also uses her dreams, omens, and mind-expanding herbs to help her solve mysteries, and relies on Détection—the only book published by the great and mysterious French detective Jacques Silette before his death.

Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: When she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster, and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey's best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana's husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it's time for the two of them to disappear again. Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives.

Prescription DEATH. Eight attractive, talented people, each tottering on the razor's edge of sanity. Now their psychiatrist, Dr. Elias, is dying from a ravaging cancer, and he has made his cold final judgment. Those he can't cure, he must kill.

Halia Watkins has her hands full cooking, hosting, and keeping her boisterous young cousin, Wavonne, from getting too sassy with customers. Having fast-talking entrepreneur Marcus Rand turn up in her kitchen is annoying enough when he's alive - but finding his dead body face-down on her ceramic tile after hours is much worse. Marcus had his enemies, and the cast iron frying pan beside his corpse suggests that at last, his shady business deals went too far. Halia is desperate to keep Sweet Tea's name out of the sordid spotlight but her efforts only make Wavonne a prime suspect.

It's springtime on Cranberry Island - and love is in the air. It seems like every woman has the hots for buff trainer Dirk De Leon. He and his equally gorgeous business partner, Vanessa Black, are leading a weight-loss retreat at the Gray Whale Inn - forcing innkeeper Natalie Barnes to lighten up her butter-laden breakfast menu. The mood on the island darkens when two grisly discoveries are made. The first is a skeleton walled up at the island's lighthouse. The second is a corpse of the fresh variety - the handsome Dirk!

It's Wine and Chocolate Days in San Benedetto, and paranormal museum owner Maddie Kosloski has sweet dreams about her new Magic of Chocolate exhibit. Her latest attraction is a haunted Mexican whisk called a molinillo that rattles if someone lies. When Maddie visits the town's new boutique chocolate shop, she finds one of the owners dead and covered in melted cocoa.