Amateur Detective

Oxford summer balls are one of the highlights of the calendar and tearoom sleuth Gemma Rose is looking forward to taking a break and slipping into something gorgeous for the evening. But when the night ends with a celebrity chef murdered by his own whisk, Gemma finds herself plunged into a new mystery - and the nosy Old Biddies keen to help with the investigation.

If you’ve finished The Missing Manuscript Murder - A Grace Thompson Mystery Book 1 and are curious to discover what Grace and Chloe decide to name their detective agency, this short story is for you! Follow along as Chloe begins her part-time role with the Sheriff’s office, and learn how she and Grace come together to officially launch their new agency. Get a glimpse into their first few days of this exciting new chapter and the adventures that await!

Lord Peter Wimsey discovers the body of a man wearing nothing but a gold pince nez in the bathtub of a nearby flat. His ensuing investigation introduces us to a variety of suspicious characters, his witty repartee, and his mind-boggling deductive reasoning.

The Headless Horseman. Everyone knows the legend. That’s all it is, right? When a third headless victim is found on Boston’s streets, Chloe Mayfield is tasked with finding the person behind the crime spree – no one else wants a case this weird. It would be easy to dismiss the murders as nothing more than the random acts of a madman with a cosplay fetish, but when her investigations lead her to the morgue, she comes face to face with an apparition she cannot explain. Throw in the stalker-like attentions of a deranged clown, dangerous interactions with the Salem witches, and an enemy ...

In one of his earliest cases, Ellery Queen confronts a murder in blue blood. From the very beginning, the Khalkis case struck a somber note. It began, as was peculiarly harmonious in the light of what was to come, with the death of an old man. Georg Khalkis, internationally famous art dealer and collector, died of heart failure. After his funeral, his attorney found that the will was missing and immediately called in the district attorney. When Inspector Queen and his son, Ellery, are brought in to solve the mystery, Ellery mentions the one place they have not searched for the will: the coffin.

When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame.

Juniper Song knows secrets - how to keep them and how to search them out. As a girl, noir fiction was her favorite escape, and Philip Marlowe has always been her literary idol. So when her friend, Luke, asks her to investigate a possible affair between his father and a young employee, Juniper (or "Song" as her friends call her) finds an opportunity to play detective.

The plan was to start over here with the picture-perfect Genova’s pastry elite; not to catch the culprit who iced the last chef. When Paolo’s death goes from natural causes to murder, my trip to the beautiful Italian harbour town turns into a case of spine-chilling whodunit. I whip up confections, not conspiracies. But my scruffy clue-sniffing beagle has different plans for us in this sun-kissed town; to remove the stench of murder. Motives linger as the sous chef, Enzo, craves the spotlight, while Luca, the supplier, has a sour taste left behind after a heated argument. Even Giulia, ...

Good friends Caroline and Laura were in daily contact. When Laura fails to return her calls, Caroline is prompted to find out what is going on. It had been a lover’s tiff; Robert informed her, that had provoked Laura to walk out on him. Caroline knew that in such circumstances her best friend would turn to her for sympathy and advice, yet she hadn’t. There had to be other factors at work. Caroline, together with Robert, begin to track Laura’s movements over the past week. They follow a trail that leads them into the dark world of illegal antiques, illicit drug dealing and money ...

Michael Bishop’s forty-ninth year of teaching is off to a good start until the body of one of his colleagues is found floating in a country club swimming pool. The victim was easily the most disliked teacher in the school, and when Ron Jennings, the principal and close friend of Bishop, emerges as the primary suspect, Bishop faces his most challenging case as an amateur detective. In his personal life, Bishop is now in a relationship with a former student who happens to be the mother of the assistant principal, blonde bombshell Luella “Lulu” Pitts. Complicating matters, the Kate Upton...

Tainted Course Vermont. Covered bridges, craft fairs, and murder? When the new superintendent of schools moves to town, she finds the job isn't a piece of cake. When she drops dead after eating dessert, sleuthing couple Emily and Henry Fox rise to the occasion by stirring up clues and solving the case. The Muddy Course When a man falls from a roof at the Sugarbury Falls arts fair, amateur sleuths Emily and Henry Fox set out to prove it wasn’t an accident. The Sinister Course When the dear friend of the town’s beloved innkeeper is murdered, sleuthing couple Emily and Henry Fox don’t ...

A Cupcakes-And-Crime Caper Roger Owen’s business isn’t doing well, and when he takes his wife and son to glitzy, glamorous Las Vegas for some quality family vacation time, he brings along a surprising +1: his mistress! "Winters will have you giggling into your book!" Life seems to pick up for Roger when he wins a huge jackpot… until someone gleefully kills him on the casino floor. Caught in the hot seat as suspect number one, Roger’s wife Wendy hires Tiffany and Ian to clear her name and to solve the mystery of who really killed Roger Owen—even though it may very well be black ...

What’s worse than a self-centered beauty queen? A cruise chock full of them! “Winters will have you giggling into your book!” But what if the self-centred beauty queen is also a murderer? When the Swan of the Seas hosts a beauty pageant, Adrienne is forced to spend her time dealing with narcissistic judges, oblivious contestants and a feminist protest. The event seems hectic enough, when Diana Penn, the esteemed beauty queen and headlining judge, is found murdered! Now, it’s up to Adrienne and her friends Cece, Sam, and First Officer Hot Stuff—er, First Officer Ethan Lee—to sort...

Death by devil's food—but was it really the cake? Savannah Stanton thought she was finally settling into small-town life in Spring Grove. But when a prestigious judge drops dead during the town's annual Dessert Festival—right after sampling Holly's signature devil's food cake—Savannah finds herself kneading through far more than just dough. With the bakery's reputation at stake and whispers of sabotage rising like badly proofed bread, Savannah must sift through a cast of colorful suspects: a fiercely competitive rival baker, a resentful estranged brother, and a host of other townsfolk...

When a local publican is murdered, Inspector Witherspoon takes Mrs. Jeffries' advice to heart. He is going to trust his own instincts - but that keeps Mrs. Jeffries in the dark. She must rouse the household staff to action and hope the Inspector doesn't arrest the wrong person before they can solve the crime.

In The Ghost at the Lighthouse, Maddie Moore senses an eerie presence near the Osprey Cove lighthouse, rumored to be haunted by a lost sailor. When mysterious deaths and sightings occur, Maddie’s investigation uncovers ties to the Midnight Star, a ship that vanished under suspicious circumstances. With guidance from her mentor, Esme, and support from her friend Sophie, can she find what is causing local deaths? Return with us to Osprey Cove for more adventures with Maddie and her friends.

A mystery novel set in New Cornwall during the early 20th century. Immerse yourself in the gripping world of crime and intrigue in "Deception in New Cornwall," where the shocking murder of Julian H. Clark sends shockwaves through a seemingly serene community. Join Philo Quentin, an eccentric art aficionado and amateur detective, as he unravels a web of deceit and psychological complexities that reveals the darker sides of humanity. The narrative unfolds with a seemingly innocuous breakfast meeting interrupted by the devastating news of a murder that propels Quentin into a high-stakes ...

When Gemma’s romantic holiday with her boyfriend is cancelled, the tearoom sleuth finds herself heading to Vienna instead with her cat Muesli and the nosy Old Biddies for company. And it’s not long before they stumble across a murder right in the heart of Austria’s historic capital. A handsome art critic dies suspiciously at their hotel, and the Old Biddies are determined to sniff out the killer. Is it the bitter hotel owner nursing a grudge? The critic’s jealous mistress wanting revenge? Or even the American horse trainer who seems inexplicably nervous around the police?

The very first collection of superb short stories featuring Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings... First there was the mystery of the film star and the diamond... then came the 'suicide' that was murder... the mystery of the absurdly cheap flat... a suspicious death in a locked gun-room... a million dollar bond robbery... the curse of a pharaoh's tomb... a jewel robbery by the sea... the abduction of a Prime Minister... the disappearance of a banker... a phone call from a dying man... and, finally, the mystery of the missing will.

When a friend needs help... you drop everything for them. Isabella's apartment building has suffered because she lives there. In one year, her landlord has put up iron railings on the windows, revamped the entire security system, and refurbished the entire inside because someone tried to burn her out of the building. When he needed her to prove his son was innocent she agreed without needing to know any of the details. Once she started digging into the case, she started to have second thoughts. Add in the tensions between the witches in the Sorority of Brigid all aimed at her, and she's got...