Showing titles in Amateur Sleuths

A routine weekend visit by the Gillibry Bird Observatory Trust is made memorable by the owner’s announcement that he is going to sell the island. A sale would mean the end of the Observatory, which for some of the birders made life worth living. A fire in Charlie Todd’s cottage added to their distress. And when, next morning, after a fierce storm, they found Charlie dead in a bird hide, their pleasant September weekend assumed a dangerous new face.

I was the girl who survived the Nothing Man. Now I am the woman who is going to catch him.... You've just read the opening pages of The Nothing Man, the true-crime memoir Eve Black has written about her obsessive search for the man who killed her family nearly two decades ago. Supermarket security guard Jim Doyle is reading it too, and with each turn of the page his rage grows. Because Jim was - is - the Nothing Man. The more Jim reads, the more he realises how dangerously close Eve is getting to the truth.

Miss Marple senses danger when she visits a friend living in a Victorian mansion which doubles as a rehabilitation centre for delinquents. Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a revolver at the administrator, Lewis Serrocold. Neither is injured. But a mysterious visitor, Mr Gilbrandsen, is less fortunate - shot dead simultaneously in another part of the building. Pure coincidence? Miss Marple thinks not, and vows to discover the real reason for Mr Gilbrandsen's visit.

Bee Bearhorn had a number-one hit single in 1985 - and was never heard of again. Fifteen years later she is found dead in her flat and nobody seems to care. But Ana Wills always day-dreamed about the exotic half-sister she hasn't seen in years. And when she comes to London to clear Bee's flat, she uncovers a life more exotic than she imagined: a secret country cottage, mysterious weekends away and even a missing cat. With Bee's closest friends - mad Lol and strong, silent Flint - Ana sets out to discover exactly what did happen to Bee Bearhorn, the one-hit wonder....

With his cape, canes and shovel hat, portly amateur sleuth Dr Gideon Fell cuts an eccentric figure - but his odd appearance belies his sharp intellect and astonishing faculty for deduction. Created by crime novelist John Dickson Carr and supposedly based on fellow author G. K. Chesterton, Dr Fell appeared in 23 novels between 1933 and 1967. This radio collection comprises all eight of the BBC adaptations based on Carr's best-selling books.

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy. By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead. The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder. But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye—and it’s down to them to prove it.

Florence, New Year’s Day 1557. As dawn breaks, a painter is discovered lying on the floor of a church, stabbed through the heart. Above him, the paintings he laboured over for more than a decade. At his home, a hidden painting scandalously depicting Maria de Medici, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Florence, as a naked Venus. Who is the murderer? Who is behind the painting? As the city erupts in chaos, Giorgio Vasari, the great art historian, is picked to lead the investigation.

The Priory may look ramshackle in appearance, but Peter, Margaret and Celia are totally charmed by their newly inherited country house. But there's more to The Priory than meets the eye. Left empty for years, hardly a single person has set foot inside, and down in the village, the locals whisper of a ghostly figure that roams the halls. When a murder is committed, the new owners start to fear the rumours are true - but is their new home really haunted, or is someone trying to scare them away?

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.

A welcome interlude of calm has descended on Wrexford and Charlotte, though with three lively young boys in their care and an unconventional circle of friends and allies, quiet rarely lasts. And sure enough, in the dead of night, an old acquaintance appears and asks for help. His brother-in-law has been accused of murdering a fellow member of the prestigious Royal Society at their London headquarters, Somerset House.

Christmas at Hedgelord Garden Centre should be simple. But when one of those Santas goes rogue and films an incriminating adult movie, with Hedgelord’s grotto as the backdrop, sales manager Charlotte Mitchell finds herself in the middle of a festive disaster. The only way to save Hedgelord’s reputation is to track down the wayward Santa and secure the footage before it’s released. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one on the case — Jack Hartigan, her infuriatingly charming rival from Bloomers garden centre, is also in pursuit. Worse still, Santa has already fled to Lapland.

Trouble is stirring when murder comes wrapped in the guise of a seascape painting. The gift from a close friend who deals in art becomes a mystery to solve after Izzie and Chloe Abbington accidently discover that hidden behind the seascape is a priceless Vermeer which many would kill to possess. When the seascape with its hidden masterpiece is stolen, and a murder hits too close to home, their friend is accused of the crime.

Ex-NY Times reporter McMorrow is happy in Maine, until one day his social worker wife Roxanne returns home shaken by a confrontation with the father of neglected children she removed. Into their lives comes the mysterious young woman, Mandi, and a world of trouble. As the dangers converge, it will take a heroic act to save Jack, Roxanne, and daughter Caitlin. But who will put their life on the line when the moment comes?

Courtney Hart has always been the quiet one—the steady friend who keeps bestselling author Dana Broderick’s glamorous life from spinning out of control. Then Dana vanishes. One would expects panic. Headlines. A search. Instead, Dana’s family, staff, and agent dismiss her disappearance. Even a ransom request is brushed off as a stunt. Why is she the only one who's worried? Determined to find her friend, Courtney digs into Dana’s glittering, secret-filled world—and begins to realize the real question isn’t where Dana went, but why no one wants her back.

Michael Reed is charming, smooth-talking, and deadly. With a killer smile and a carefully rehearsed past, he enters the lives of women who have everything—except someone to watch their back. Felicia was a respected attorney. Miranda, a successful dentist. Lisa, Miranda’s loyal and sharp-eyed receptionist. They were smart, powerful, and independent—until Michael slipped into their lives like a dream and began spinning his deadly game behind the scenes. But when two friends—Nina and Jamal—begin to uncover the twisted pattern, they set a silent trap designed to bring a killer into the light.

Fifteen-year-old Crystal O'Mally never thought her detective career would take off with a bang, literally. No sooner does she wish to solve a case NOT connected to diamonds, a local rancher approaches her with a baffling case. A saboteur has been stalking him for over five years, intent on blowing the family ranch to smithereens. Horses are stolen, cows stampeded, and workers injured. No matter where the rancher moves or what he does, the saboteur always manages to wreak havoc. Crystal's a little more cautious to take this case and for good reason.

‘Sally leapt out of bed, snagging her walking stick… “What? Who’s there?” She tip-toed to peer around the curtain that served as a wall to her bedroom. Nothing appeared. “Rodney! Did you hear a deafening, spine-chilling, growling screech?” Rodney bleeped. “Yes, I did, milady. It came from outside. I was searching the internet to identify it. But I found nothing even close. I thought maybe it was a jaguar or mountain lion…’

Phillip Brown’s sister discovers a dead man, shot in the back, behind the dress shop she where she’s employed. Sarah Brown begs her brother to find out who has shot the man as the shop owner is fearful and harassed, caught up in the dead man’s crimes. The investigation leads Brown to danger from a notorious dockside fence. While uncovering the murder, his supervisor demands he investigate thefts at his home, the man convinced his servants are thieves. Brown uncovers the true culprit with the help of the daughter of the owner of the Wiest Cannery.

Ashley is shocked to discover that her husband, believed to be dead for five years, has been mysteriously killed. She searches for clues to uncover secrets long hidden from her, each revelation more surprising than the last. Until she discovers the most shattering secret of all. Why would her husband hide truths from her? Has her marriage all been a lie? Who can she trust? And what secret is so important that an assassin has been sent to eliminate her? Ashley searches for answers as she unravels the clues hiding the secrets she’s obsessed with discovering.

You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay on this island. Wedding bells are ringing for Avery Baldwin and Chance Zabrowski. The pair, and all their nearest and dearest, leave Buenaventura Beach, hop aboard a luxury cruise ship, and sail to the Bahamas so they can say their sacred vows and finally become man and wife. But trouble follows them to paradise. An uninvited guest joins the wedding party at the last minute. The wedding ceremony is moved to the end of the week. And the new vacation friends they meet, Ramona and Harold, suddenly disappear.