Woman Detective

When Sophie Carter finds her flatmate dead, it's just the beginning of her nightmare. As more victims surface, the evidence points to Sophie, and she realizes someone is methodically destroying her life. Detective Inspector Miranda Murphy knows coincidences can be deadly. But as she digs deeper, she uncovers a pattern more disturbing than random kills—these deaths tell a story, and Sophie Carter might be its final chapter.

When a terminally ill man is found dead on the London Underground, it looks like suicide. But Detective Inspector Miranda Murphy suspects foul play—who kills a dying man? As Florence Weaver builds her social media empire, her father's mysterious death threatens to unravel everything. Behind her carefully curated posts lies a web of secrets, and when a second body appears, Murphy must navigate the toxic world of influencer culture to separate truth from filtered fiction.

Wayward daughters. Missing husbands. Philandering partners. Curious con men. If you've got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Mma Ramotswe, Botswana's only female private detective. Her methods may not be conventional, and her manner not exactly Miss Marple's, but she's got warmth, wit, and canny intuition on her side - not to mention Mr J.L.B. Maketoni, the charming proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.

An engagement party should be a happy event but this one ends in tragedy. Can PI Hannah and Dog Detective Mazie solve the case before the wrong people lose everything? Mrs. Ellen Moriarty, a party planner, suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband and business partner is attempting to steal all of their clients and she wants Hannah to prove it. While this isn’t her usual case Hannah is intrigued when she learns that Seth Moriarty’s upcoming event, an engagement party, for a wealthy client is taking place at Priscilla Ralston’s pet-friendly restaurant.

When her daughter Sana is accused of murdering the unpopular landlord of her clothing boutique, Kausar Khan returns to Toronto for the first time in twenty years. Back in the Golden Crescent suburb she once called home, Kausar finds that the thriving neighbourhood she remembered has changed. The murder of Sana's unpopular landlord is only the latest in a wave of local crimes which have gone unsolved.

Detective Riley Quinn left the big city to return to her hometown. A sleepy town, where the origins of the many mysteries of her life began. When she is called to a missing person's case involving a young woman. She never expected the strange twists of events that would soon unfold.

In the dead of night, four teenagers taking a shortcut through an archaeological dig site find a body in a trench. It doesn’t take long for them to be more scared than they’ve ever been in their lives. These are no ancient remains: the woman was killed just hours earlier . . .

The handpicked stories in this collection introduce us to the most determined of gumshoe gals, from debutant detectives like Anna Katharine Green's Violet Strange to spinster sleuths like Mary Roberts Rinehart's Hilda Adams, from groundbreaking female cops like Baroness Orczy's Lady Molly to contemporary crime-fighting PIs like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, and include indelible tales from Agatha Christie, Carolyn Wells, Edgar Wallace, L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace, Sara Paretsky, Nevada Barr, Laura Lippman, and many more.

First published in 1864, decades before there were official female detectives or female police officers in Britain, The Female Detective features the original lady detective: the determined and resourceful Miss Gladden, known as “G”. She examines crime scenes incognito, tracks down killers, and solves mysteries employing all manner of skill, subterfuge, and charm to achieve her ends while attempting to conceal her own identity from others..

Irene Adler, American opera singer and the one woman who outsmarted Sherlock Holmes, finds herself a widow at thirty-two, wealthy but emotionally broken. At the same time, Sherlock Holmes finds himself unable to return to England after faking his death at Reichenbach Falls and is drawn into an investigation of two men with designs on a woman they call Miss A, who is none other than Irene Adler herself. The Detective and The Woman throw their lot in together to uncover a dangerous plot with implications that stretch across the Atlantic. In the process, they meet legendary inventor Thomas Edison and experience life in Florida at the turn of the 20th century.

Hannah Smith was murdered. She must find out who did it. Issabella Ross (aka Bella), her best friend, has a special ability to see spirits bound to Earth. Together they will follow the clues, already gathered by Detective Frank, and find a few of their own. The city is shut down, but it didn't stop another cheerleader from being kidnapped. With some evidence not adding up, Hannah questions Frank's involvement. Does he know who the killer is? Did he kill Hannah and the others—six in all? Why would anyone kill them?

In the small town of Crooked Creek, where the Appalachian Mountains climb into the clouds, 19-year-old Mandy’s Spring Break takes a sinister turn. Detective Ellie Reeves races straight to the scene, driving through the winding roads to the abandoned orphanage. Ellie saves the teenage girl but discovers human remains that have been there for 30 years, ever since the home for children closed down. Her heart shatters at the thought that they might belong to the helpless orphans. Working day and night on the case, Ellie searches for the orphanage’s files, but they have been stolen.

November, 1923. An invitation to a house party at the estate of Parkview Hall is a welcome respite for Olive Belgrave, a newly minted working girl who’s become the solver of high society’s trickiest problems. But when the sumptuous black-tie event turns deadly, Olive’s cousin Peter becomes the main suspect. Olive must unmask a sophisticated killer before an innocent man takes the blame . . . because murder doesn’t RSVP.

Pampered pooches and delightful dogs are all showing their best at the world-famous Woofs Dog Show until the judge, Una Freeman, is murdered. Was it a rival? After all, Una made a controversial choice for Best in Show. More than one competitor was left stunned and angry. Could this have pushed them to commit such a crime? Or did Una’s past come back to haunt her? Lola Ramsay and French bulldog Sassy must sniff out the clues and find the culprit.

Mercedes Devane is missing and feared dead. Can PI Hannah and dog detective Mazie solve her murder in this race against time? PI Hannah and her sleuthing beagle Mazie become fast friends with Mercedes Devane, a new waitress in town.

Don't be fooled by the uniform. There's badge around my neck, but I'm just a dirty cop with a revenge fantasy. Jasmine was a beauty in the photo, the girl who belongs to a man I hate. The plan was simple: Find her, get laid, come home. Then she became more than a fantasy. Hell, she's the girl of my dreams. I don't want to take her back, I want her home with me. Except Jasmine won't leave, and I won't leave her. It would be perfect, if it weren't for Richard. Her ex. The FBI agent. We were destined to hate each other, and now he knows I stole his girl.

Emersyn Gray is definitely not a detective. Really, she’s an unemployed twenty-eight-year-old raising her beloved niece in the only place she can afford after her ex-boyfriend ran off with her life savings: a run-down, seniors-only apartment complex that was desperate for tenants. But never fear—her wild best friend has the perfect plan to get Emersyn back on her feet and stick it to her thieving ex: scare him into returning her money by hiring a private investigator to prove he stole it.

When Jesse Camden, owner of the Gilded Lily Tea Room and Coffee House, agrees to meet her childhood friend, Winnie Rogers, for a morning of girl talk and reminiscing, or "fishing" as Winnie likes to call it, Jesse anticipates a morning of shared confidences over a picnic brunch in the countryside. But spring in Oklahoma can be unpredictable, and when a tornado drops out of a wall cloud practically on top of them, Jesse and Winnie find themselves stranded with a demolished pickup and a dead body before they've even opened the picnic basket.

Emma’s heading out for an assignment. One she’s been looking forward to until a phone call derails her plans and gives her a different agenda. And with it comes a dilemma. Deke’s back. Detective McHottie’s been absent. And now there’s a dead body in a portapotty.

Ex-celebrity and current (assistant) private investigator Maizie Albright finds her already strange life has become even odder. Her new partner is 150 pounds and canine. Her ex-partner/still-boyfriend is on the wrong side of her infidelity case. So it's Spy vs Spy — or rather, Detective vs Detective — when Maizie and Nash realize they're both tailing the same subject for very different reasons.