Enjoy this fun amateur sleuth short story by best-selling cozy murder mystery blind author S.Y. Robins. In the midst of the crush of a lifetime, Milly Dupont finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Quiet little Milly that runs the quiet little tea shop across from the corner shop discovers that the shop owner has been possibly kidnapped, maybe even murdered. But where’s Davina’s body? With the help of Edgar, her ever observant cat and companion, Milly starts to put together clues that may lead to Davina, or to her killer. Wanting only to find out the truth about what happened to Davina, her friend and surrogate mother, Milly sets out to find the truth. But can she get to the truth before the assailant gets to her? Coping with a snarky detective, few clues, and trying to run her business, Milly may be in over her head. Through persistence and a need to know what happened to Davina, Milly starts to find clues but is the suspect Davina’s boyfriend; Callum, Davina’s shop helper and Milly’s crush; or the unknown boyfriend Milly had only just found out about? With a cast of suspects to choose from Milly isn’t sure who to look at first but she has to find the real suspect before they find her, that’s the one thing she does know. If you enjoy a light-hearted, easy, and relaxing murder mystery book, then this is the book for you. Suitable for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Deany Ray.
Addie Greyborne loved working with rare books at the Boston Public Library—she even got to play detective, tracking down clues about mysterious old volumes. But she didn’t expect her sleuthing skills to come in so handy in a little seaside town . . . Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved murder of her fiancé and her father’s fatal car accident. After an unexpected inheritance from a great aunt, she’s moved to a small New England town founded by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor, on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start her own store. But there’s trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie’s friend Serena, who owns a nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police seem pretty sure they’ve got the story in hand, but Addie’s not going to let them close the book on this case without a fight . . .
Winner of the 2008 Agatha Award for Best First Novel From deep in the heart of his eighteenth century English manor, millionaire Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk writes mystery novels and torments his four spoiled children with threats of disinheritance. Tiring of this device, the portly patriarch decides to weave a malicious twist into his well-worn plot. Gathering them all together for a family dinner, he announces his latest blow—a secret elopement with the beautiful Violet...who was once suspected of murdering her husband. Within hours, eldest son and appointed heir Ruthven is found cleaved to death by a medieval mace. Since Ruthven is generally hated, no one seems too surprised or upset—least of all his cold-blooded wife Lillian. When Detective Chief Inspector St. Just is brought in to investigate, he meets with a deadly calm that goes beyond the usual English reserve. And soon Sir Adrian himself is found slumped over his writing desk—an ornate knife thrust into his heart. Trapped amid leering gargoyles and stone walls, every member of the family is a likely suspect. Using a little Cornish brusqueness and brawn, can St. Just find the killer before the next-in-line to the family fortune ends up dead? Death of a Cozy Writer was chosen by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of 2008, nominated for a Left Coast Crime award (the Hawaii Five-O for best police procedural), short-listed for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery, nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the David G. Sasher, Sr. Award for Best Mystery Novel. Praise: "Fans of English detective work will welcome Malliet's droll debut, the first in a new series."—Publishers Weekly "Malliet's debut combines devices from Christie and Clue to keep you guessing until the dramatic denouement."—Kirkus Reviews "Malliet's skillful debut demonstrates the sophistication one would expect of a much more established writer. I'm looking forward to her next genre-bender, Death and the Lit Chick."—Mystery Scene "Almost every sentence is a polished, malicious gem, reminiscent of Robert Barnard...the book is perfect for the lover of the classical detective story or the fan of great sentences."—Deadly Pleasures "In her series debut, Malliet, who won a Malice Domestic Grant to write this novel, lays the foundation for an Agatha Christie—like murder mystery."—Library Journal "An affectionate homage to the Golden Age of British crime fiction by a skilled writer rapidly attracting attention."—The Sherbrook Record "This tale cleverly adds modern touches to an Agatha Christie style classic house mystery."—Mystery Women Magazine "Wicked, witty and full of treats!"—Peter Lovesey, recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Crime Writer's Association and Malice Domestic "The traditional British cozy is alive and well. Delicious. I was hooked from the first paragraph."—Rhys Bowen, award-winning author of Her Royal Spyness "Death of a Cozy Writer is a romp, a classic tale of family dysfunction in a moody and often humourous English country house setting."—Louise Penny, author of the award-winning Armand Gamache series of murder mysteries "The connections made by St. Just are nothing short of Sherlock Holmes at his most coherent. A most excellent first mystery!"—Midwest Book Review
Enjoy this fun amateur sleuth short story by best-selling cozy murder mystery blind author S.Y. Robins. Lacy Mitchell wasn’t looking for love in all the wrong places. She wasn’t looking for love at all. Self-sufficient and happy love was the last thing she wanted. She wasn’t looking to become involved in a murder investigation either but when you’re the one that finds the body not becoming involved is impossible. Lacy simply wanted to walk the dogs for her clients and snuggle up with her own dog Freddy while watching movies with her best friend Alex. Fate had more in mind for Lacy, however, and she soon finds herself entangled in a tangle of suspects. Is the murderer a mad man? A disgruntled family member? Or is it the building owner who was so rude to her when they first met. Can she take a chance on the man? Will the murderer be found before he kills again? Lacy has some choices to make, she just hopes her choices aren’t deadly. If you enjoy a light-hearted, easy, and relaxing murder mystery book, then this is the book for you. Suitable for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Deany Ray.
Enjoy this fun amateur sleuth short story by best-selling cozy murder mystery blind author S.Y. Robins. When Callum Davidson’s ex-girlfriend Maria is found murdered in the hills behind Wirkster village, not far from his home or Milly’s, Callum is the first suspect. When he won’t reveal an alibi Milly’s plans for Christmas with Callum are in jeopardy. She must convince him to prove his innocence, to tell the police where he was the night of the murder or he faces a lifetime in prison. Rather than face leaving his young nephew alone in the world Callum finally sees sense and reveals he has an alibi but even that doesn’t stop the chaos that is Milly and Callum’s life now. Someone, Maria’s real murder perhaps, is stalking Milly and their plans threaten not only Milly’s life but her beloved cat Edgar. Milly must find out who the murderer is, before it’s too late and the murderer ruins the rest of her life… If you enjoy a light-hearted, easy, and relaxing murder mystery book, then this is the book for you. Suitable for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Deany Ray.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.” Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters’ diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Alan Bradley’s The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches. Acclaim for Speaking from Among the Bones “[Alan] Bradley scores another success. . . . This series is a grown-up version of Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and all those mysteries you fell in love with as a child.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune “The precocious and irrepressible Flavia . . . continues to delight.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Fiendishly brilliant . . . Bradley has created an utterly charming cast of characters . . . as quirky as any British mystery fan could hope for.”—Bookreporter “Delightful and entertaining.”—San Jose Mercury News
We only see the things on the surface… When Pirate Cove’s favorite mystery bookstore owner and sometimes-amateur sleuth Ellery Page discovers a vintage diving collection bag full of antique gold coins tucked away for safe-keeping in the stockroom of the Crow’s Nest, it sets off a series of increasingly dangerous events, culminating in murder.
AN INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "No one does suburban paranoia like Shari Lapena." —Ruth Ware, internationally bestselling author of The Woman in Cabin 10 Maybe you don't know your neighbours as well as you thought you did . . . In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses—and into the owners' computers as well—learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they're telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets? In this neighbourhood, it's not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide. You never really know what people are capable of . . .
Equal parts Sherlock Holmes and P.G. Wodehouse, Charles Finch's debut mystery A Beautiful Blue Death introduces a wonderfully appealing gentleman detective in Victorian London who investigates crime as a diversion from his life of leisure. Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery. Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison. The grand house where the girl worked is full of suspects, and though Prue had dabbled with the hearts of more than a few men, Lenox is baffled by the motive for the girl's death. When another body turns up during the London season's most fashionable ball, Lenox must untangle a web of loyalties and animosities. Was it jealousy that killed Prudence Smith? Or was it something else entirely? And can Lenox find the answer before the killer strikes again—this time, disturbingly close to home?
Enjoy this fun amateur sleuth short story by best-selling cozy murder mystery blind author S.Y. Robins. Katy Gordon is having the time of her life. She is about to step on stage to accept the Bennet Award—the most prestigious award within the knitting community. She possesses a rare gift with the needle. Katy creates masterpieces, using skill and precision, of every kind of clothing imaginable, from patterns she’s created or adapted from antique patterns she owns. From Victorian and sensual to the Roaring 20s and beyond, Katy creates award winning pieces that have made her famous in the world of costume design as well as a variety of other arenas. She has never been more excited, that is, until a crazy woman rushes the stage and accuses Katy of stealing her designs and stealing her award. Katy is flabbergasted by the outburst and is stunned as the security guards drag the woman away. Katy chalks it up to some lunatic’s antics and tries not to let it spoil her evening. That is, until a few hours later when that same woman is found dead with one of Katie’s specially designed knitting needles found at the scene. Katie finds herself a suspect in a murder she did not commit. Can she discover the real killer before she is sent away for the crime? Or will this journey plunge her into a world of mystery and intrigue she has only ever read about? If you enjoy a light-hearted, easy, and relaxing murder mystery book, then this is the book for you. Suitable for fans of Agatha Christie, Richard Osman, and Deany Ray.