Showing titles in Amateur Sleuths

While Brother Cadfael has bent Abbey rules, he has never broken his monastic vows—until now. Word has come to Shrewsbury of a treacherous act that has left 30 of Empress Maud's knights imprisoned during England's dynastic war between two grandchildren of William the Conqueror. All have been ransomed except Cadfael's secret son, Olivier. Conceived in Cadfael's soldiering youth and unaware of his father's identity, Olivier will die if he is not freed. Cadfael is determined to find him but must leave the monastery without his abbot's blessing.

Everyone in Saxford is delighted when jeweller Cleo Marbeck suggests a prize for the village’s best garden. Flowers are planted, grass is cut, and the competition is on. But the event only digs up dirt… Twenty-five years ago, a young woman fell to her death in Cleo’s house, and rumours soon resurface about Cleo’s part in the tragedy. Eve’s best friend Viv is hosting Stevie, her son’s fiancée, ahead of the wedding. On the open garden day, Stevie has a horrible flashback: the memory of a woman lying at the bottom of a staircase.

It’s always an occasion when the Hale family descend on their country pile, Lockley Grange. Almost everyone in Saxford St Peter has been called upon to dust the rooms, tidy the garden, and cater for the party. Eve Mallow’s delighted to be invited: years ago she babysat for the Hale children, and she can’t wait to see how they turned out. But the night will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The following morning, Lance is found dead in his indoor pool. He’d been the life and soul of the party, but Eve saw him arguing with friends and family.

There was a certain heavy air of intrigue and mystery emanating from the old inn high on the cliff top. The Catherine-Wheel had once been a home for pirates and smugglers, but now it looked like it was harbouring a murderer. It had begun with an advertisement in the paper requesting descendants of the late innkeeper, Jeremiah Taverner, to stay for a weekend at the inn. They had arrived, a mixed assortment, to the family reunion eager to discover the secrets of their ancestry. But one of them had been hideously murdered, bringing the inn's stormy past into frightening focus.

Two young women are found murdered in the heart of London. There are no answers, only a single red rose left on each young woman's body, the calling card of a cold-blooded killer. Could the Whitechapel murderer be stalking the streets of London once more? For Mikaela and Brodie, the crime is highly personal. The first victim was an accomplished musician who gave lessons to ladies of society, including their ward, Lily. She had become a close friend to the girl, and Lily asked them to take the case to find the killer.

Retired teachers Pat, Liz and Thelma are happiest whiling away their hours over coffee, cake and chat at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But when their good friend tells them about unsettling experience she had in a sinister-feeling charity shop, they simply can’t resist investigating. Because the entire shop has vanished into thin air. Before long, our trio of unlikely sleuths find themselves embroiled in a race against the clock to get to the bottom of this mystery – but who has a secret to hide and how far will they go to keep it concealed?

When the formidable Marchioness of Bandberry arrives at Ashcombe Hall, Lady Ellen feels the weight of her critical gaze upon her. But pomp and pageantry soon give way to scandal when a London journalist is found dead on Ellen’s drive. And his body has been marked with the chilling symbol of the Vigilante Slasher.

Like most families, they had their secrets...and they hid them under a genteelly respectable veneer. No onlooker would guess that prim Vera Hillyard and her beautiful, adored younger sister, Eden, were locked in a dark and bitter combat over one of those secrets. England in the '50s was not kind to women who erred, so they had to use every means necessary to keep the truth hidden behind closed doors - even murder.

Avery Shaw finds trouble wherever she goes. That’s why, when two rival biker gangs start throwing threats at one another after one member is found dead, she can’t help but insert herself into the situation. Avery lives by the motto “trust no one” but it’s especially hard to figure out who she should be looking at when she’s convinced everybody is lying to her. The threats are flying fast and furious, and absolutely nobody wants Avery involved in any aspect of this case. That only excites her more.

It's an exciting time in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is talking. Maybe, a little too much. Former English professor Ainsley McGregor has gambled everything on her new business: Bless Your Art, an artisan market where local artists sell their wares and teach classes. The bright, white space is filled to the brim with colorful art, yarn, jewelry, pet treats, antiques, and even a few medieval weapons. Oh, and there are wine tastings. Everything is better with wine. Ainsley is surprised by how well things are going—right up until the moment her Great Dane finds a dead body.

Early twentieth-century Singapore is a place where a person can disappear, and Harriet Gordon hopes to make a new life for herself there, leaving her tragic memories behind her--but murder gets in the way. Singapore, 1910--Desperate for a fresh start, Harriet Gordon finds herself living with her...

Rescue Alaska is a small town in northern Alaska where visitors come to hike and ski. Harmony Carson is a lifelong resident who volunteers as a member of the local search and rescue team. Harmony has a unique gift which she often considers a curse. She is able to 'see' the individuals she is meant to help rescue, and more often than not she can feel their fear and their pain as well. Book 1 a longtime local sends an old friend a letter with a photo stating that if he should turn up dead at some point in the near future, the man in the photo is the one who killed him.

Historic Inishmore Castle is opening its doors for the first time, hosting a charming weekend of whiskey tasting and soda bread baking. Sisters Mercy and Lizzie McCarthy are badly in need of a break, but their relaxing trip takes a decidedly unrestful turn when Mercy finds fellow guest Father Brennen slumped over the desk in the library… Did he have one glass too many or did someone want him dead?

Paris, 1922. The marriage between the Auclair and Picard families is the talk of the town. June can’t wait to attend the engagement party with her friends, Nate and Jack. But Nate has an ulterior motive: he’s there to stop the wedding. Before he can complete his task, he’s stabbed in the chest with Jack’s knife. Jack is arrested, but June knows he wouldn’t hurt a fly.

College English professor Alison Bergeron thought that dating a cute NYPD detective like Bobby Crawford would be exciting and involve a lot of riding around in cruisers and putting away sleazy crooks, but he has yet to invite her on any stakeouts.... Then when a friend asks her to help him find his nephew, she goes to Bobby for advice only to find out that he already knows about the case. He pulled the boy out of the Hudson River a few days earlier. The boy’s employer calls it an accident, but Alison and Bobby aren’t convinced.

In summer of 1144, a strange calm has settled over England. The armies of King Stephen and Empress Maudhave temporarily exhausted each other. Brother Cadfael, herbalist-sleuth of Shrewsbury's Benedictine Abbey, agrees to accompany wise young Brother Mark on Church business in Wales. But the brothers soon find themselves caught up in yet another feud. A Welsh prince has banished his brother, accusing him of the treacherous murder of an ally, and the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Cadfael has to survive the brotherly quarrel that could plunge an entire kingdom into chaos.

One advantage of being caught up in a whirl of dress fittings and decisions about flower arrangements is that Charlotte Sloane has little time for any pre-wedding qualms. Her love for Wrexford isn't in question. But will being a wife - and a countess - make it difficult for her to maintain her independence - not to mention, her secret identity as famed satirical artist A. J. Quill? Despite those concerns, there are soon even more urgent matters to attend to during Charlotte and Wrexford's first public outing as an engaged couple.

Recently widowed and looking for a fresh start away from city life, Sarah Vane moves into a lovely little cottage by the sea. The rustic charm is everything she hoped it would be, but her new home doesn’t quite have enough space for her things. Her old friend Daphne offers to store Sarah’s boxes in her messy beach hut, but while clearing it out, they are shocked to find a heavy trunk… containing a dead body. They immediately recognise the poor man as pub landlord Gus Trubshaw.

June Munrow, an elderly resident of Annie’s home town, Redwood Grove, is convinced that young Kelly Taylor’s recent drowning wasn't the tragic accident everyone believes it to be. Despite the police ruling, June is determined to prove there’s more to the story and hires the Novel Detectives to uncover the truth.

Margot Bennett thought she was leaving the past behind when she moved to Mount Dora, Florida. A fresh start, a charming old house, and the promise of peace—until she unearths something sinister buried beneath the floorboards of Hawthorn Manor. As Margot digs deeper into the manor's history, she finds herself tangled in the chilling legacy of George and Cecilia Hawthorn, a once-beloved couple whose presence still lingers in ways no one dares to explain. Nightmares bleed into reality. Puzzles stretch throughout the sleepy city. And the deeper she searches, the more she realizes the truth.