Suspense Amateur Detective

Gwinny Tuffel, the dog sitter, stays at an ageing rock singer's Little Venice houseboat to look after his border collie while he goes on tour. But during the annual Canal Carnival the singer's body is discovered, having never made it out of London. The police dismiss it as an accident, but Gwinny suspects murder most foul. It is up to her to solve this curious crime .

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.

Kamil Rahman is a cook in a Brick Lane restaurant. But he used to be a detective back in Kolkata. And somehow trouble still knows how to find him. When a young woman Kamil knows is murdered the police are convinced her boyfriend is the culprit. Kamil isn't so sure and feels he has no choice but to start his own investigation. Meanwhile, his friend and restaurant manager, Anjoli, is troubled by a rise in the number of homeless deaths in their local area.

It's that time of year again! It's always Christmas in Holiday Haven, but this December is a special one. Carolyn Highcrest is preparing for her parents to visit for the inn's annual celebration . . . and to finally meet her boyfriend, Spencer. But when a mysterious package thief strikes the local postal service, Carol finds herself compelled to help Spencer find the culprit. Someone seems intent on ruining the holiday fun, with presents disappearing left and right and a spate of bad luck, which reminds Carol of the havoc the previous year wreaked by an out-of-control wishing box.

It's National Library Week, and the Athena Public Library is planning an exhibit to honor the centenary of famous novelist Electra Barnes Cartwright - creator of the beloved Veronica Thane series. Charlie has a soft spot for Cartwright's girl detective stories (not to mention an extensive collection of her books!). When the author agrees to make a rare public appearance, the news of her whereabouts goes viral overnight, and series devotees and book collectors converge on Athena.

Something is not right with George the shepherd. His sheep have gathered around him on a hill outside the cozy Irish village of Glennkill to assess the situation. George has cared for the sheep, reading them books every night, and now he lies pinned to the ground with a spade. His flock, far savvier about the workings of the human mind than your average sheep, set out to find George’s killer, led by Miss Maple, the smartest sheep in Glennkill (and possibly the world).

She keeps house for Inspector Witherspoon...and keeps him on his toes. Everyone's awed by his Scotland Yard successes - but they don't know about his secret weapon. No matter how messy the murder or how dirty the deed, Mrs. Jeffries's polished detection skills are up to the task...proving that behind every great man there's a woman - and that a crimesolver's work is never done. It took no time at all for the magistrate to rule the death of Harlan Westover a suicide. But not everyone is convinced by the result of what may have been a slip-shod investigation.

Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged 52, is the widow of an archdeacon who makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator. Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in nearby Highgate with his wife and 10 children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When a case arises involving the son of the highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire undercover as the family's new governess.

Another day, another dead woman in Ellison Russell's study. Only this one claimed to be Mrs. Anarchy Jones. As Ellison juggles mothers, daughter, unhappy wives, and near-miss murder attempts, one thing is clear - someone will go to any lengths to hide the truth. Can Ellison and Anarchy catch a killer before the body count rises? Or will Ellison be the next corpse in the study?

June wedding bells are ringing! Cameron Cripps Hayman is the matron of honor, and her five furry good boys are all ushers, so what could go wrong? The day before the wedding, the new pastor is found hanging from the choir loft. It's ruled a suicide by the police, but Cam and her Action Agency suspect foul play. Cam's police-officer husband warns her to not stir up trouble where none exists, but when the pastor's home is ransacked, it's clear to Cam that she was murdered.

Things are always odd and strange in Metamora, but when the proprietor of the curiosity shop, Odd and Strange Metamora, hosts a spring carnival showing off his collection of oddities, the day goes right in the garbage - or rather, out of the garbage when a raccoon overturns a trash can in the middle of town scattering human bones around the park. When it's discovered that the remains date back over a century, rumors start to run as rampant as the pack of furry bandits taking over the town at night.

Kate Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not - outspoken, free-thinking, American...and a writer of the frowned upon penny dreadfuls. Soon after her arrival in Essex, England, a body is unearthed in a nearby archeological dig - and Kate has the chance to not only research her latest story but to begin her first case with amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan.

With Juliet Brody and Reverend Brook tying the knot in Ohio Amish Country's most anticipated nuptials of the year, Bailey King is determined to do everything in her power to make the event a sweet success. Except midsummer heat waves and outdoor ceremonies don't mix, and an exasperated Bailey soon finds herself struggling to fulfill bridesmaid duties and keep her stunning marshmallow-frosted wedding cake from becoming a gooey disaster. Then much to everyone's shock, the entire ceremony crumbles when a guest drops dead, and the cause isn't sunstroke....

Emily and her husband, Colin Hargreaves, have accompanied her dear friend Ivy Brandon on a trip to Pompeii. When they uncover a corpse and the police dismiss the murder as the work of local gangsters, Emily launches an investigation of her own. She seems to be aided by the archaeologists excavating the ruins, including a moody painter, the enigmatic site director, and a free-thinking American capable of sparring with even the Duke of Bainbridge. But each of them has secrets hiding among the ruins.

Amateur sleuth Mordecai Tremaine is back in another classic mystery from the author of Murder for Christmas. Mordecai Tremaine and Chief Inspector Jonathan Boyce are never pleased to have a promising game of chess interrupted - though when murder is the disrupting force, they are persuaded to make an exception. A quick stop at Scotland Yard to collect any detective's most trusted piece of equipment - the murder bag - the pair are spirited away to Bridgton.

For Ellery Queen, there is no puzzle that reason cannot solve. In his time, he has faced down killers, thugs, and thieves, protected only by the might of his brain - and the odd bit of timely intervention by his father, a burly New York police inspector. But when a university professor asks Queen to teach a class, the detective finds there are people whom reason cannot touch: college students. Queen's adventure on campus is only the first of this incomparable collection of short mysteries.

Members of the Greenhaugh and Hill families are staying at Lily's grandmother's bed and breakfast, and now they've gathered at Tea by the Sea to sip some delicious blends while they shower bride-to-be Hannah Hill with presents. But the last package Hannah unwraps contains a beheaded Raggedy Ann doll and triggers a bloodcurdling scream. A doll like this was the last gift from her father before he died long ago, and she's chilled to the bone. Lily senses that the shocking anonymous gift just might be related to other tensions she's picking up on.

The first of the classic mysteries featuring governess-turned-detective Miss Silver, who investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring. Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.

A classic mystery for the festive season: mulled wine, mince pies...and murder. Mordecai Tremaine, former tobacconist and perennial lover of romance novels, has been invited to spend Christmas in the sleepy village of Sherbroome, at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame. Arriving on Christmas Eve, he finds that the revelries are in full flow - but so, too, are tensions amongst the assortment of guests.

Christopher Gilhaney isn't a popular man, and he proves why once again when he insults every guest at Abigail Chase's Guy Fawkes Night dinner party. When Gilhaney is shot dead under the cover of the night's fireworks, his murder is deemed a robbery gone wrong. But when the case hasn't been solved six weeks later, Inspector Witherspoon is called upon to find the killer - and quickly!