Amateur Sleuths

Amidst the smell of sherry trifle and the sound of lively music, the guests raise their glasses. But as a loud scream interrupts the toast, amateur detectives Flora Steele and Jack Carrington learn that not everyone is in the party spirit....

It's almost summer in Southbourne, and the ladies of the Charity Shop Detective Agency are ready for another season of sun, sea, and... murder....

When a book signing turns deadly, two bookshop owners turn detectives.

'Tis the season for mince pies, mulled wine... and murder! A dead body. A locked Christmas stall with no way in or out. A cunning killer who's gone before the tea's gone cold.

'A sure-fire page-turner that keeps readers guessing' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Shelley Burr does not take prisoners. Crime fiction at its effortless best - beautifully drawn characters, rich relationships, fast and fascinating plot, and twists that make you go "ah"' LAINIE ANDERSON 'VANISH delivers a...

Eco -architect Olivia Wells returns from her successful life in New York to the Cornish village of Penbartha intent on fulfilling her god-father’s bequest to expand and oversee a co-working community of eco and creative entrepreneurs in a converted railway building.

Summerview Secondary School is holding its annual charity auction. Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker are on hand to prepare delicious baked goods for the big day - with the assistance of Clementine's mysterious sister, Maria.

It's the end of a long day at the Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop. Fiona, Daisy, and Partial Sue, the three retired ladies who volunteer there, are ready to lock up for the night. The chippie is beckoning. But supper will have to wait.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE MESSAGE HAS DISAPPEARED. SO HAS YOUR BEST FRIEND . . . Get ready for the most unputdownable thriller of 2024, from no.1 bestselling author K. L. Slater Saffy is waiting to go into a job interview when she receives a text message from her best friend, Leona: Can’t...

The couple are determined their low-key celebration will go without a hitch, but there can’t be an ‘I do’ while the vicar is missing. And when he’s found dead – a victim of a poisoning – in the crypt behind the church, Hannah knows only she and Aunt Violet can find out who did it.

The genteel tranquility of a country house party is shattered when the gamekeeper is shot. Was his death the result of his recent indiscretions, or long-buried secrets?

When Alfie McAlister agrees to join a writers' retreat at the remote and imposing Hallwood Hall, he hopes to find inspiration - and perhaps a moment of clarity about his past and future. But among the aspiring authors and eccentric personalities, tensions simmer beneath the surface.

The first three books in the Irish Village Mystery series are included in this edition: Murder in an Irish Village, Murder at an Irish Wedding, and Murder in an Irish Churchyard....

Miss Marple meets Oscar Wilde in this series of cosy mysteries set in the picturesque Cotswolds village of Bunburry. A wealthy developer has turned up in the picturesque Cotswolds village of Bunburry with the aim of building a luxury golf course.

‘A sparklingly delicious confection to satisfy the mystery reader’s appetite’ Helena Dixon, bestselling author of the Miss Underhay Mysteries A film company is coming to the Cornish village of Penstowan, and the whole community turn up to be cast as extras, even Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker...

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person....

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly) Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter...

Doreen is slowly recovering from the mad yet joyous ending to last year, as she faces the new year and what it might bring. Since she’s now engaged to Mack—and everyone around her is pressuring her to pick a wedding date and hopefully soon—she yearns for another case to keep her busy.

Summer has arrived along with a plethora of social events that keep Cleo and her cousins busy. Between balls, dinners, concerts and picnics, they attend the final match between two proud polo clubs....

Late summer 1933. After a quarrel with too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder....

When Flora Steele sets off for a vacation with crime writer Jack Carrington, the last thing she expects to find is a body at their pretty cottage! The man had plenty of friends, and the villagers seem devastated. So why was he murdered? Flora joins forces with handsome Jack to find out....

Bookshop owner Flora Steele and writer Jack Carrington fell in love solving mysteries. Now they’re taking their first steps as husband and wife… straight into their most perplexing case yet.

A brand new Golden Age cosy crime mystery from the multi-million-copy bestseller Faith Martin. 'Hugely entertaining with an ingenious solution! I loved it!' Clare Chase 'A wonderful book with which to cosy up’ The Belfast Telegraph 'A masterfully constructed pageturner of a murder mystery...

A priceless statue, two mysterious deaths and a missing body… it can only be a case for the antique store detective!

A completely charming English cozy mystery. Fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin, and Betty Rowlands will love following the fiendish clues as Bella cracks her most puzzling case yet!

After suffering a brutal and random attack, Daniel Henderson is left fighting for his life. As he embarks on the long road to recovery, he begins experiencing disturbing visions. Fleeting and half-glanced, they are visions of women being murdered, women who are victims of the Tallyman, the notorious serial killer whose reign of terror began forty years ago. As Daniel’s family start to put back together the pieces of their life, Daniel dismisses his visions as traumatic hallucinations. But as they become more vivid, he finds himself haunted by details that only the killer could know.

'Tis the season for mince pies, mulled wine... and murder! A dead body. A locked Christmas stall with no way in or out. A cunning killer who's gone before the tea's gone cold. Christmas in Southbourne should be all twinkly lights and festive cheer, but Fiona, Daisy, and Partial Sue—the retired trio who run Dogs Need Nice Homes charity shop— have little to celebrate. What with the elusive "Southbourne Stalker" prowling the streets of their sleepy seaside town, they're in need of a little seasonal magic.

Bella Winter is happily settled in Hope Eaton, with her business flourishing: antiques sold and problems solved. So when Margie Fleming approaches her to sell a family heirloom, a beautiful marble statue of a mother and child, Bella jumps at the chance. But the day before the sale, Margie is found dead: drowned in the river Kite, a year after her older sister Bethan died the same way. Everyone is convinced it’s a tragic accident, but Bella isn’t so sure. One mysterious death might be a coincidence. Two feels a lot like murder…

Summerview Secondary School is holding its annual charity auction. Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker are on hand to prepare delicious baked goods for the big day - with the assistance of Clementine's mysterious sister, Maria. As the auction begins, chaos erupts when Eleanor Black, the owner of Dewstow Museum, is found murdered in the stage storeroom. Maria has vanished. Her fingerprints cover the crime scene. Clementine refuses to believe her sister is capable of murder and is sure they need to widen the search – Eleanor has a long list of enemies.

The year is 1925. A labyrinth of roads and rails spirals out from the bones of a nearly forgotten settlement. Londinium. Once the far-flung edge of the vast Roman Empire, it is now the seat of a greater one. Few have given more for the Empire than Colonel Hadrian Russell. Robbed of his four sons by the Great War, he now holds court as the acting president of the Britannia, a prestigious soldiers-only club in London. But when the Colonel is shot and thrown out the club’s front window, it seems the shadows of the Great War may extend further than previously thought.

In this twisty domestic suspense novel with a touch of dark humor, a struggling valet driver with a shady side hustle and a soft spot for the ladies suspects that one of his targets might be a serial killer. It’s tough to get by in Honolulu these days. Prices are high. Salaries are low. Which is why Johnny Silva tells himself he’s not doing anything that bad. The people he and his girlfriend target have a lot of insurance—and a lot of jewelry.

When sharp-tongued sugar heiress Diana is ousted from the empire she helped build, she retreats to a posh 55+ paradise expecting peace, maybe even a pool boy. Instead, she finds a ragtag group of retirees with a knack for solving cold cases—and a disturbing knack for attracting new ones. She quickly finds herself entangled with this quirky yet capable team of senior sleuths: a psychic, tarot-reading twin duo, a retired detective, a conspiracy-minded tech guru, and a nurse who might just talk to animals.

Love is in the air in wartime England—but so is murder. Crofter’s Green is abuzz with excitement. Seven young couples are preparing to say their vows at a Valentine's Day celebration—an event made even more thrilling by the expected arrival of a very important (and very secret) guest: the most famous woman in the world.

Westleham Village, May 1948 The villagers of Westleham are excited for the first village cricket match since the end of the war. But Martha Miller has more pressing concerns - namely, the sudden reappearance of her husband, Stan, missing for two years and acting as though nothing has happened. Martha doesn’t know what to feel, especially now that his return threatens her growing fondness for the kind-hearted village vicar, Luke. Yet she’s not the only one unsettled by Stan’s return…

Dans un célèbre roman d'Agatha Christie, une amie de Miss Marple affirme avoir assisté à un meurtre depuis la fenêtre d'un train... sans que personne ne la prenne au sérieux. C'est exactement ce qui arrive à Alicia Finlay, alors qu'elle traverse l'Australie à bord de l'Indian Pacific, en compagnie de ses comparses du Club des amateurs de romans policiers. Ceux-ci avaient justement décidé de mettre à profit le voyage pour s'entretenir des « polars ferroviaires ». Les membres de notre Club, tous passionnés de meurtres en huis clos, ne résistent pas à l'envie de mener l'enquête.

Für Emma stehen monumentale Veränderungen an, und sie tut ihr Bestes, um sich dafür zu wappnen. Emma Hart landet durch eine Reihe misslicher Umstände in dieser zauberhaften Stadt voller übernatürlicher Wesen. Doch es gibt ein Problem: Wegen eines Fluches können die magischen Bewohner die Stadt nicht mehr verlassen. Nicht der beste Zeitpunkt für Emma, um zu erfahren, dass sie eine Hexe ist! Die Anwältin macht das Beste aus der Situation und übernimmt den Job des Pflichtverteidigers, der kürzlich ermordet wurde. Denn auch in Spellbound gibt es Ganoven und Mörder.

"When you combine two brilliant storytellers such as Coble and Acker, the result is a beautiful, well-crafted legal thriller that keeps the reader utterly riveted." --Lynette Eason, bestselling author "Coble and Acker have forged a seamless partnership with a singular voice." --Charles Martin...

Albert Smith might be retired, but a long career as a police detective has left him with skills that just won’t switch off. So on a walking tour of the British Isles, it doesn’t take long for his eyes to spot something he wasn’t supposed to see.

Doreen eagerly anticipates her escape to the coast, leaving behind the wintery blues of Kelowna. However, the trip means returning to her old home—back when she was married to Mathew—stirring up a whirlwind of memories. She hopes for a peaceful journey, but, as soon as she steps into the conservatory, she realizes her hobby has unexpectedly followed her here. Mack takes a few days off work to assist Doreen in sorting through Mathew’s belongings, aware of the emotional challenges she faces when revisiting her former life.

Until 1989, the wildest thing to happen in the sleepy town of Sheboygan Bay was surfers catching waves on frigid Lake Michigan. Then one summer morning, Lorraine Highsmith wakes up to find a corpse on her lawn. Detective Michaela “Mike” Zenoni is on the case immediately, eager to make a name for herself in a male-dominated precinct. And Lorraine is close behind—as the local advice columnist, she’s always looking for a scoop. What they don’t know is that Lorraine once had ties to the mob, and those connections could be coming back to haunt her.

Arriving in the mountain town of Lily Rock for the Fourth of July weekend, Avery plans to rent a room from Stella Rawlins—a friendly local known for her love of books and quiet acts of defiance. When Stella is killed by a sabotaged firecracker hidden inside her library, Avery becomes the discovery witness…and an immediate suspect.

Sol Cortés decide dar un cambio radical a su vida: abandona la ciudad donde vive y su trabajo como patronista para instalarse en su pueblo natal y abrir una librería. Poco tiempo después de su regreso, el veterinario local, Xan Sequeiro, es asesinado. Sol se involucra en una investigación paralela para descubrir quién se encuentra detrás del crimen. Durante el tiempo que duran las pesquisas, surgen una serie de personajes peculiares y entrañables que abordan, con ironía y ternura, temas tan actuales como los prejuicios sociales y el valor de la diferencia.

Someone's not playing by the rules… The book club may have the clue to a murder… The reading group at Norcester’s specialist crime bookshop adore a cosy whodunnit. So they are delighted to find themselves guests of honour at a remote country house for the weekend, to inspect the extensive...

Melton Mowbray is world famous for its pork pies, but beneath the façade lies an undercurrent of lies and deceit, and Albert Smith just saw something that made him curious. The operation hiding in plain sight is worth a lot of money. The kind of money people will kill to protect and now they need to make him vanish. Quietly. Permanently. Good luck with that. Albert spent decades taking down criminals and his mind is as sharp as it ever was. Get ready for pandemonium.

Barbie meets Scream with a 90s nostalgia twist in this horror romp from Bless Your Heart author Lindy Ryan. This program is read by award-winning narrator Stephanie Németh-Parker. "[Narrator] Stephanie Németh-Parker exhibits superb range in this dialogue-heavy story. Each character’s voice...

On a culinary tour of the British Isles, a retired detective and a failed police dog intend to taste the smoked fish that made the town famous …… but when the first person they meet turns up dead a few hours later in an apparent suicide neither one of them believes, both man and dog must accept they’ve stumbled into another mystery. All too soon, they wish they hadn’t poked their noses in because what they have uncovered could be truly sinister.

Her modern-day life turns into a tangle of secrets when a fall lands her back in time. When a mundane mishap propels Ellie into a bygone era – the Roaring Twenties, she’s not only stuck in time, but she lands smack dab in the middle of another mystery. Steeped in history, a local landmark’s haunting becomes Ellie’s prime objective as she navigates a society of guys and dolls in the hopes of finding her way home. As she delves deeper, she finds out that not all is as it seems and the past is filled with secrets, puzzles, and intrigue she didn’t expect.

California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985. Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. She checks the papers. She's not headline news. Not yet. But she's made a mistake. The FBI have the cannabis-producing "Emerald Triangle" town—and its corrupt residents—in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing, and when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it's clear a serial killer is living among them.

A collection of thrilling tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, including six full-cast dramas and a short story read by Benedict Cumberbatch In the first half of the 20th century, the detective story exploded in popularity. Innovative authors penned whodunits, whydunits and...

Susan never imagined herself an amateur sleuth, and she certainly never goes looking for trouble, preferring days spent walking her loyal dogs Libs and Rocco, and maybe even a dip in the sea to cool off after this interminable heatwave. When she hears of a break-in at the vet's where her new neighbour works, Susan's curiosity is piqued. And then, a few days later, the lead vet, Peter, mysteriously disappears. They assume it's business related until his body is washed up on the beach close to his clifftop home.