Amateur Detective

In the quaint streets of South-West London, four female pensioners are about to embark on the heist of a lifetime. United by forty years of friendship, and desperate to raise funds for Beth’s healthcare, the Crones set about a daring plan to steal a priceless brooch from Hawling House. But this is no ordinary theft. It's a mission to right a decades-old wrong – the ‘death’ of their friend Ronnie at the hand of the mansion's enigmatic owner, Edgar Hawling.

Hettie Bagshot has bitten off more than any cat could chew. As soon as she launches her No. 2 Feline Detective Agency, she's bucketed into a case: Furcross, a home for slightly older cats, has a nasty spate of bodysnatching, and three of the residents have been stolen from their graves. Hettie...

Texas genealogist Lucy Lancaster deals with murders in both the past and present in this captivating first mystery in the Ancestry Detective series.

Lucy McGuffin makes the best muffins in Whispering Bay, but her secret talent as a human lie detector hasn't always been as sweet. When she stumbles upon a dead body and her priest brother becomes a suspect, Lucy must use her skills to clear his name.

Murder is a dish best served ice cold... In the idyllic, small town of Dewstow, Margery and Clementine are eagerly awaiting retirement from their work on the front-line serving meals to the students at Summerview secondary school. Their peaceful life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead in the school’s walk-in freezer. The police are adamant that it’s an open-and-shut case of accidental death. But Margery and Clementine are convinced that something more sinister is afoot and take it upon themselves to investigate.

Lucy McGuffin has three problems: She's a human lie detector, a "gift" she tries hard to keep hidden. Her rescue dog Paco is a ghost-whisperer. And someone's just been found murdered in her kitchen. The murder weapon? One of Lucy's famous apple walnut cream cheese muffins. The victim? Tara Bell, the producer for a reality TV cooking competition that Lucy is determined to win. Lucy and Tara had a very public disagreement the day before the murder. When it's discovered that Lucy's cafe was about to be disqualified from the show, all fingers point to Lucy as the prime suspect.

When world-famous, highly reclusive author J. W. Quicksilver chooses a local book club for his first public appearance, the residents of Whispering Bay have trouble containing their excitement. That is until he's found murdered. But things are not always what they seem. It turns out that the dead man wasn't J. W. Quicksilver after all, but a shifty conman who'd been running a publishing scam leaving a mile-long trail of victims. When the real J. W. Quicksilver becomes the prime suspect in the murder, he turns to Lucy for help.

‘A sparklingly delicious confection to satisfy the mystery reader’s appetite’ Helena Dixon, bestselling author of the Miss Underhay Mysteries Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is back! When popular TV baking contest and national institution ‘The Best of British Baking Roadshow’ rolls into town...

At this brewery, the last orders are to die for… When handsome, former-rugby-playing, pub landlord Mil asks Juno Mulligan for a favour, she immediately says yes. Although she’s initially disappointed that the favour doesn’t involve any sort of romantic shenanigans, Juno is reminded that...

Retired actress Guinevere 'Gwinny' Tuffel is finding life hard after inheriting her late father's run-down house and discovering she's broke. But Gwinny is delighted to be at Hayburn Stead for her best friend Tina's wedding to a handsome Italian business magnate. However, before they get the chance to declare 'till death do us part', the husband-to-be is found dead in the library and Tina is accused of his murder. Convinced of her friend's innocence, Gwinny must uncover the real killer from a pool of larger-than-life suspects.

In Dianne Freeman's charming Victorian-era mystery series, Frances Wynn, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, finds her sister's wedding threatened by a vow of vengeance. London is known for its bustle and intrigues, but the sedate English countryside can host--or hide--any number of secrets...

Meet Erin, her puppy Sausage and friends as they swap recipes and pots for clues and culprits and try to solve the mystery of why their cookery club is closing and save it for everyone. The fourth middle-grade book from Waterstones-shortlisted author Ewa Jozefkowicz about family, friendship and...

‘Eyes Peeled’ is the Isle of Man’s first and only Detective Agency. Not much happens on the idyllic Island that needs detecting, so on the whole, the team is not the most adept. In fact, generally speaking, they’re pretty useless. One of the agency’s more eager employees is Sam Levy...

When Cookie Berelli, a dress designer for full-figured women, discovers her private investigator dead in her salon, she calls on a few friends to get her out of trouble. This cozy mystery with a dog includes a cute little dachshund she named Sigmund Freud because he's such a good listener. She has a bunch of crackpot ideas for how to catch the murderer, and Sigmund, the trustworthy dog he is, follows right along, sometimes even discovering a clue or two himself.

Gwinny is at a stately home in the Yorkshire Dales, filming a small part in a gender-swapped remake of Dracula while looking after the dog of an elderly friend who lives nearby. During filming, an actor is found dead inside a locked trailer - with a stake through their heart! The film's star, an...

A gripping 1920s-set whodunnit, this debut features a queer sleuth who must solve a murder in a mansion on London’s Hampstead Heath without revealing his sexuality, lest he be arrested as a criminal. Nominated for the 2026 Crime Writers of America Dagger Award and winner of the 2026 Lambda...

WATERSTONES BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2023 PICK The Kamogawa Food Detectives, translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood, is the first book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Japanese sleuthing series for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold. What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just...

Meet Ladarat Patalung -- the first and only nurse detective in Thailand. Two nights ago, a young woman brought her husband into the emergency room of the Sriphat Hospital in Thailand, where he passed away. A guard thinks she remembers her coming in before, but with a different husband -- one who...

A festive adventure for the No. 2 Feline Detective Agency. Hettie and Tilly are invited to host a Christmas Eve murder mystery aboard the Santa Claws Express. No sooner has the train left the station at Mogbury-on-the-Tilt than our two feline detectives are caught up in a murderous family feud...

Matthew Fallow is no real detective - just a podcaster who stumbled into fame after uncovering his own murdered father's grave. Now broke, grieving and desperate, he accepts a bizarre job offer: to solve the impossible murder of Clare Dunsmuir, who vanished as a teenager and reappeared fourteen...