British Women Detectives

A new assignment for Penny Küfer! Has Niní Delight, the head of a luxury lingerie chain, really taken her own life with arsenic? The young woman had everything one could wish for: the villa of her dreams, professional success, a famous burlesque diva for a sister and, on top of that, a mysterious new lover. Who’d want to end such a life in this way? The police have ruled out foul play. But—as Penny will soon discover—nothing is what it seems in the world of silk, French lace, and glamour...

Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill's Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain's beloved royals against an international plot - one that could change the course of history. As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5.

Murder isn't a walk in the park...War widow fashionista, Ginger Gold, makes a gruesome discovery while walking her Boston terrier, Boss, through Kensington Gardens. A woman of ill-repute is dead. When Chief Inspector Basil Reed becomes a suspect, the blustery and often times pigheaded Superintendent Morris pulls him off the case. Ginger’s not about to be pushed around by the superintendent despite his warnings.

Chief Inspector, Lord Ralph McGinniss and Professor Claire Lane have conceded defeat and married. Then war is declared, and both are called on to help defend the Empire. Ralph to his Uncle’s regiment and Claire invited to Bletchley Park. A shift in the government’s plans for both results in the discovery of a German Spy embedded in an old murder case. They are running out of time. Will Ralph with Claire’s help unravel the mystery and prevent a National catastrophe? Or will Johannes Liebert be successful in a kidnap attempt which will change their lives forever?

Relics. Risks. Revelations. Angus Darrow just wants to finish renovating his Exmouth flat. Charlotte Lockwood just wants something — anything — to distract her from the endless smell of paint. When the local museum reports missing artefacts, Charlotte takes the case. But what seems like a simple undercover job soon turns into something far more sinister. Meanwhile, Angus can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right with his neighbour... As Charlotte and Angus race to uncover the truth, it’s not just missing artefacts they need to worry about… it’s staying one step ...

The evidence was all there: a dead body, two dessert plates, and a gun. Could it be that Mr. Ashbury was sharing his cake with his killer? The old bloke had enemies galore - even his own daughter disliked him. Mr. Ashbury's son-in-law doesn't want Inspector Witherspoon asking questions. Of course this doesn't stop Mrs. Jeffries and her staff from snooping around.

Semi-finalist, Publisher's Weekly Booklife Prize Can a conspiracy be uncovered before the Death Count rises? Forensic accountant Kat Munro fights corporate fraud during the day and kickboxes her demons at night while trying to ignore the nightmares that have plagued her since a car accident changed her life forever. DS Adam Jackson is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of a friend two years ago. When the partner of a successful London Investment fund dies in suspicious circumstances, Kat joins forces with Adam to investigate the firm. As they gather evidence of a crime with ...

'I can't deny it, I just love these characters! ' - Goodreads reviewer Investment Trust boss Hugo Morgan has celebrated his fiftieth birthday by dumping his wife of twenty-two years and is now intent on marrying a younger model. Tasked with checking out the back story of the shiny new Mrs Morgan are ex-barrister turned private eye Maggie Bainbridge and her faithful assistant Jimmy Stewart. A SUSPICIOUS SUICIDE Beautiful and clever, twenty-three year old Chardonnay Clarke has died under the wheels of a tube train, leaving behind a heart-breaking message on her social media. But in DI Frank ...

New truths to uncover and a killer to catch. With a family crisis looming, Detective Inspector Fiona Williams is hoping to take a break when she is called to a suspicious death in an isolated barn conversion, home to a quiet middle-aged couple. Duncan returned home from the pub to discover his wife dead at the foot of their cellar steps. There are no signs of a forced entry or robbery, but the evidence says Pat’s death was no accident. His reaction is strange, but he has a solid alibi for the time of death. Fiona will have to dig deep into the victim’s past to uncover the shocking truth...

The Assistant Registrar Emily Price, from the London Archives commits a crime of passion. Or is it? A man falls from the balcony. Was he pushed? And what is Emily Price hiding? Chief Police Inspector Ralph McGinniss from Scotland Yard investigates. He calls in his newly appointed assistant for help. Claire Lane is a Professor of Mathematics at London’s prestigious St Anne's University. Her speciality-scientific study of probability. In other words, the likelihood that an event will reoccur. She takes on the challenge until she discovers there is more to this story. A birth certificate ...

Lord Francis and Lady Ottilia Fanshawe have suffered a devastating blow. With Ottilia sunk deep into a depression, Francis is desperate to get his beloved wife back. So when he hears about a murder at the seaside town of Weymouth, an idea starts to form.... A young girl's body has been discovered, laid out in an open coffin, surrounded by candles. The staged scene, and the fact that the victim was a member of a theatrical troupe, suggests one of her colleagues is the killer. Knowing Ottilia's sharp intuition and penchant for solving mysteries, Francis brings her to the murder site.

Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged 52, is the widow of an archdeacon who makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator. Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in nearby Highgate with his wife and 10 children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When a case arises involving the son of the highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire undercover as the family's new governess.

DCI Matilda Darke has returned to work after a nine-month absence. A shadow of her former self, she is tasked with reopening a cold case: the terrifyingly brutal murders of Miranda and Stefan Harkness. The only witness was their 11-year-old son, Jonathan, who was too deeply traumatised to speak a word. Then a dead body is discovered, and the investigation leads back to Matilda's case. Suddenly the past and present converge, and it seems a killer may have come back for more....

Penny is invited by Alex Adamas, her secret crush, to a glamorous evening at the Vienna State Opera. But she quickly discovers that there are no romantic motives behind this rendezvous. Alex is on the trail of a poisoner at the opera house, and soon Penny is up to her ears in a new case. One that's going to challenge her in every way…

In the second in the series, Kate Brannigan investigates the bizarre case of the missing conservatories, unearthing an unscrupulous lawyer (later found hanging from his balcony in flimsy women's apparel); a supersalesman with an overstuffed bank account; and a brother-sister pair who are double-crossing everyone. And this real estate fiddling ties in with a separate scam involving Kate's best buds - and murder of the most unexpected order.

It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home.

With London's streets deserted, a young flower girl is murdered. But why was she out so late on the foggiest night of the year? Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard has nowhere to even begin looking for a suspect. However, Mrs. Jeffries, his housekeeper, is even more accomplished at detection than she is at household management. A policeman's widow herself, her quick wits allow her to nudge the inspector in the right direction to solve the mystery.

Be careful how you behave in public. You never know who is watching. DI Fiona Williams returns from a romantic week away with Stefan to walk into the most harrowing crime scene of her career. A gunman walked into a house of students and shot five of them but left one girl unharmed.With no other leads, Fiona focuses on the traumatised survivor. If she is an innocent witness, then why was she spared? Her cold indifference to the fate of her housemates could be a defence mechanism. Or could she be responsible? There was friction in the house and a motive, but the forensic evidence is ...

Christopher Gilhaney isn't a popular man, and he proves why once again when he insults every guest at Abigail Chase's Guy Fawkes Night dinner party. When Gilhaney is shot dead under the cover of the night's fireworks, his murder is deemed a robbery gone wrong. But when the case hasn't been solved six weeks later, Inspector Witherspoon is called upon to find the killer - and quickly!

Thomas Mundy checks in to London's Wrexley Hotel, but he never checks out. The maid finds him on the floor of his room, bludgeoned to death by his own walking stick. Inspector Witherspoon is soon on the case and learns Mundy was an unlikely victim for such a violent crime. But Mrs. Jeffries and the household staff uncover that Mundy was less an amiable businessman and more a duplicitous con man with enemies on both sides of the Atlantic. Now Witherspoon and his staff must determine who on their lengthy list of suspects had the motive to put Mundy in the red.