Private Family

Harry Starke loves a cold case, but this one is really cold, more than a hundred years cold. Family Matters is a tale that takes place on the lonely coast of Maine, where Amanda, a true believer in the paranormal, has inherited—you guessed it—a haunted house. At least that’s what the rumors say. It all begins when Amanda inherits the house, substantial assets, and a large sum of money from her grandmother. The windfall comes with a request to look into the disappearance of Elizabeth, Amanda’s great-great-grandmother, more than a hundred years ago.

When the biggest villain in the country makes you an offer you can't refuse, what should you do? In my case, I decided to accept that offer, made by Mr. Vincent Vanzetti. Vanzetti hired me to find his missing daughter, Vittoria, while threatening reprisals should I fail in my task. While searching for Vittoria, I had to deal with the other members of the Vanzetti clan.

After a year in Battle Lake, Minnesota, aspiring PI Mira James would kill not to stumble over another dead body. Given her latest discovery, though, it isn’t looking good. An ominous note hidden in an old book not only mentions Battle Lake’s former librarian, who vanished into thin air, but also Mira’s own father, who died thirteen years ago. The word “HELP” scrawled at the top is even more unnerving. But who’s in danger? And why? As if the note isn’t mystery enough, a girl’s sudden disappearance adds another case to Mira’s plate.

"Ich glaube, das siebte Lebensjahr des Menschen wird gnadenlos unterschätzt. Alle starren immer nur auf die Pubertät, aber die Pubertät beginnt im Grunde viel früher. Es muss sich erst einmal vieles ansammeln, bis es dann explosionsartig austritt." So furios beginnt das neue Buch von Margit Schreiner, in dem es nicht nur um die Entwicklung der Siebenjährigen geht, sondern auch um den Blick der Erwachsenen auf das Kind, das sie einmal war.

In ihrem ersten Erinnerungsbuch "Vater. Mutter. Kind. Kriegserklärungen" erzählt Margit Schreiner von der siebenjährigen Margit, die sich ein Dackelmädchen namens Bella erfindet, das nie von ihrer Seite weicht (das Hörbuch ist auch im derDiwan Hörbuchverlag erschienen). In "Mütter. Väter. Männer. Klassenkämpfe" besetzt ein paar Jahre später ein Maharadscha ihre Fantasien, während das Mädchen ihm als Panther zu Füßen liegt. Doch auch diese wunderbare Zeit endete irgendwann, "und ich saß an meinem Schreibtisch und löste Rechenaufgaben".

Windsor, 1943. Britain is in the grip of war and treachery is afoot. The body of controversial former courtier Lord Blackwater is found in the abandoned Fort Belvedere, once the country bolthole of the King’s wayward brother. And all signs point to murder. Royal confidant Guy Harford is called in to solve the mystery quickly and quietly, before any hint of scandal reaches the public. Investigating with the help of Rodie, his roguish burglar girlfriend, his enquiries lead him into the world of the Royal Ballet, where on-stage glamour hides an undercurrent of off-stage deceit.

Denny McConnell, Private Investigator, is hired to research the deeds, land swaps, and old lawsuits regarding Texas ranchland and oil, the rights to which are now disputed by Wendy Axtell Shearer. Obstacles develop, in part, because of Wendy's charming but flawed character. Denny puts to good use his engineering skills, and becomes entangled in the bitter family feud that includes murder, mayhem, and lies. Now, he has to stay alive long enough to untangle this deadly mess.

As usual, 17-year-old Alice Teale walked out of school at the end of a bright spring day. She's not been seen since. Alice was popular and well-liked, and her boyfriend, friends and family are desperate to find her. But when the police start asking questions, it becomes clear that almost everyone has something to hide. Torn between a host of suspects, Detectives Beth Winter and Lucas Black don't know which way to turn. But then they receive a disturbing package: pages from Alice's precious diary. Who could have sent them? And have they done with Alice?

For Kirsten McKenna, the world is crumbling. Her parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has come under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna. Only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. Meanwhile, for Walker Jones, the goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin.

Chrissy Livingstone grieves over her dad's sudden death. While she cleans out his old things, she discovers something she can't explain: seven photos of schoolboys with the year 1987 stamped on the back. Unable to turn off her desire for the truth, she hunts down the boys in the photos only to find out that three of the seven have committed suicide…. Tracing the clues from Surrey to Santa Monica, Chrissy unearths disturbing ties between her father's work as a financier and the victims.

Die neunte Tür des Sherlock Holmes-Adventkalenders: Holmes und Watson kommen schließlich in Jerusalem an. Als sie im Haus ihres palästinensischen Kollegen Sallah zu Gast sind, erfahren sie erstaunliche Details über diesen.

Veronica is late, and Julián is increasingly convinced she won't ever come home. To pass the time, he improvises a story about trees to coax his stepdaughter, Daniela, to sleep. He has made a life as a literature professor, developing a novel about a man tending to a bonsai tree on the weekends. He is a narrator, an architect, a chronicler of other people's stories. But as the night stretches on before him, and the hours pass with no sign of Veronica, Julián finds himself caught up in the slipstream of the story of his life—of their lives together.

Amy is a typical teenager at Bethel Christian School. She's popular and always has a party to attend. So, why does life feel so empty? Why is it so hard to get out of bed every morning? After a bad grade in math and finding out her parents are getting a divorce, Amy makes a choice that will change her life forever.

When two teenagers - Johannes and Mari - are found murdered inside their school, in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim, the finger is soon is pointed at 18-year-old Even, whose relationship with Mari ended just before she died. Mari was writing a story for the school newspaper about Even and his dad, who died in a car accident 10 years earlier. But was it really an accident? And had Mari uncovered information that someone was willing to commit murder to protect?

France was a five-year-old boy who loved to dress and behave as if he was from France. One day, France was at an art festival with his parents in his hometown of Franklin, Tennessee, when he accidentally ended up soaring through the sky alone. Thus, the headlines ran about Private France and his adventure of flying for the first time. His wonder grew as he saw his hometown from high above, and he gained attention from everyone around him.

Die neunte Tür des Sherlock Holmes-Adventkalenders: Holmes und Watson kommen schließlich in Jerusalem an. Als sie im Haus ihres palästinensischen Kollegen Sallah zu Gast sind, erfahren sie erstaunliche Details über diesen.

One of the most popular pieces in the author's Main Travelled Roads collection was "The Return of a Private", a story that certainly rings true today. A soldier returns home only to find that his experiences have changed things forever.

"Der Katechismus der Familie Musgrave" ("The Musgrave Ritual") erschien erstmals im Mai 1893 im Strand Magazine und wurde ein Jahr später mit 10 anderen Fällen in Die Memoiren des Sherlock Holmes veröffentlicht. Holmes erzählt Watson von einem seiner ersten Aufträge, die er in London als beratender Detektiv annahm: Reginald Musgrave, ein Bekannter aus Sherlocks College-Zeiten, bat ihn damals um Hilfe, da auf seinem Landsitz zwei Menschen spurlos verschwanden.