Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Women Sleuths

While viewing the harbor's Gaslights and Galleons Parade from the widow's walk of Timothy Neville's Charleston mansion, local banker Carson Lanier seemingly tumbles over a narrow railing, then plunges three stories to his death. But a tragic accident becomes something much more sinister when it's discovered that the victim was first shot with a bolt from a crossbow.

Christmas has come to Chicago and Vivian Witchell is looking forward to nothing more than spending the holidays with family and friends - and maybe spotting her picture in a few radio magazines. But the discovery of a mysterious envelope stuffed with cash in her late father's study sets Vivian into a tailspin, as she discovers that her beloved father may not have been exactly who she thought he was, and who may in fact have been working with the most notorious mob boss of the time.

Spencer Murphy is a national treasure. A famous correspondent during the Vietnam War who escaped captivity in Southeast Asia, he made a fortune off of his books and television appearances. But Spence is growing forgetful with age; he's started to wander and even fails to come home one night. When a body is discovered at Step Above, the sprawling Murphy house near Steps Beach, Nantucket police detective Meredith Folger is called in to investigate.

Kathi Ellison is an English literature major at the University of California in Berkeley, living with her boyfriend off-campus. She is also the daughter of a candidate for the US Senate and his wife, a role that could affect her life should her father win the election. But before she can consider her future, Kathi must first come to terms with her past. A car accident when she was four years old killed her mother and left her in a coma for several days. The migraines and nightmares that plagued her as a child have recently returned with a vengeance.

In early 1900s New York, the formidable crime syndicate known as the Black Hand has been terrorizing the city's Italian community with bombings and kidnappings. When a young Italian girl is found drowned and sexually defiled, Dr. Genevieve Summerford suspects the organization has expanded into forced prostitution, and she won't rest until the trafficking ring is brought to justice.

Merry Folger is more than ready for a romantic vacation with her fiancé, Peter, when fate - and her police chief father - intervenes. Twenty-one-year-old Jay Santorski never should have drowned in the frigid waters off the Nantucket shore. What was the athlete, Harvard scholar, and part-time scalloper doing out alone in the storm-churned bay? At her father's insistence - and over Peter's objections - Merry returns to the island to investigate.

In the tumultuous years of the Civil War, the streets of Chicago offer a woman mostly danger and ruin - unless that woman is Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective and a desperate widow with a knack for manipulation. Descending into undercover operations, Kate is able to infiltrate the seedy side of the city in ways her fellow detectives can't. She's a seductress, an exotic foreign medium, a rich train passenger - all depending on the day and the robber, thief, or murderer she's been assigned to nab.

When Indigo Tea Shop owner Theodosia Browning is invited by Doreen Briggs, one of Charleston's most prominent hostesses, to a "Rat Tea", she is understandably intrigued. As servers dressed in rodent costumes and wearing white gloves offer elegant finger sandwiches and fine teas, Theo learns these parties date back to early 20th-century Charleston. But this party goes from odd to chaotic when a fire starts at one of the tables and Doreen's entrepreneur husband suddenly drops dead.

The Mormon Church may have disavowed the polygamy it became so famous for in the 19th century, but for some Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints, "plural marriage" isn't just ancient history. Mormon bishop's wife Linda Wallheim is stunned to learn her son Kenneth has gotten engaged to a young woman from a polygamous family. Naomi Carter may have left the religion she grew up in, but the Carters will still be the Wallheims' in-laws once Kenneth and Naomi are married.

While strolling through the Winter Market with her best friend, Ava, scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand comes upon a dying man stabbed by a serving fork. The victim is loathed restaurant critic Martin Lash, who posted his scathing reviews on the Glutton for Punishment website. And the prime suspect is New Orleans restauranteur Quigg Brevard - who was seen giving the critic a tongue-lashing minutes before someone stuck a fork in him.

After a past family tragedy for which she holds herself to blame, Dr. Genevieve Summerford wants nothing more than to succeed in her new career as a psychiatrist, and win back the respect of her family and peers. That goal is thrown into jeopardy, however, when one of her patients is arrested for murder - a murder Genevieve fears she may have unwittingly provoked. Desperate to prove to herself and the authorities that her patient is innocent, she is forced to enlist the aid of an influential Tammany captain.

A mild-mannered car salesman...a womanizing bartender...a beloved minister with a devoted family. Except for the fact that each of the murder victims is male, Minnesota police can't find a connection between the crimes. But that's because what links them can't be seen with the naked eye.

Danish Red Cross nurse Nina Borg has dedicated her life to helping Copenhagen's most desperate: illegal immigrants, abused women, and others underserved by society. But Nina's do-gooder complex often takes her into dangerous situations and communities beyond the margins of the law's protection.

Stealing with Style is a Mystery Guild Book Club Selection, and the first in a series starring the witty and charming Sterling Glass, an intrepid antiques appraiser and amateur sleuth. In her debut adventure, Sterling must foil a plot set up by a shady construction company looking to bilk the elderly out of their prized possessions. Following a trail of clues from her small Virginia town to New York City, Sterling and her #1 guy Peter try to bring these crooks to justice.

It's May, and the snow has hardly melted in Goteborg, Sweden, but things are heating up quickly for Detective Inspector Irene Huss. The staff of the Violent Crimes Unit is stretched thin, with everyone on edge as they race to solve two murders amid the city's ongoing gang violence. Soon Irene and her colleagues are on a hunt that pulls them into the world of anonymous online predators.

Mormon bishop's wife Linda Wallheim fears for the safety of the people in her community when Karl Ashby, the ward's second counselor (the bishop's right-hand man), is found dead in an elaborately staged murder. Linda tries to console Karl's grieving children and wife, but matters are complicated when the autopsy reveals that Karl was a biological woman.

As a family clinic administrator, Michele Layton has seen her share of suffering. But never anything like this. Not here in St. Cloud, Minnesota. A local activist has been found murdered, his body frozen like a statue and placed in a Winter Carnival ice sculpture display. Next a vicious hate crime puts a man in the ICU. And locked away in the Holy Rest mental ward, a deranged man of the cloth prays for more sinners to be punished - and waits for a sign from above.

Carmela couldn't imagine a finer evening than dinner at Commander's Palace with her beau, Detective Edgar Babcock. The food and the company are equally divine - with the exception of Isabelle Black stopping by to brag about her upcoming wedding. Resuming the romance with a walk in the evening air, the couple is interrupted once again - this time by a terrifying scream from inside the cemetery.

Michael Hart had been convicted for killing his wife and spent 10 years in prison. But now he has escaped, and his lawyer is tracking down new evidence that might clear him. But then the sleepwalking begins.... And one by one, the members of the jury that convicted him are being murdered.

Prague in the 1950s is a city of numerous small terrors, of political tyranny, corruption, and surveillance. There is no way of knowing whether one's neighbor is spying for the government, or what one's supposed friend will say under pressure to a state security agent. A loyal party member might be imprisoned or executed as quickly as a traitor; innocence means nothing for a person caught in a government trap.