British Women Sleuths

What horrific secret is an innocent rose bush hiding? When it's mysteriously uprooted in the middle of the night, Daisy embarks on a dangerous trail that grows darker and darker with each unexpected turn. Essentially-English, almost-certainly quirky, and definitely a little crazy, come and meet our Norfolk-based R.E.D. (Retired Extremely Daisy) heroine, and find out why she’s such a hit with readers of all ages. “One of the best cozy mysteries I’ve ever read!” “A real breath of fresh literary air!” Retirement to a sleepy East-Anglian village doesn't go quite as Daisy hoped, ...

“Ames, with her great writing and brilliant story, has created a masterpiece of her own in Marked Masters. She leaves her readers doing their own research between the pages. Like Laurel, Ritter keeps the story with its rightful owner—the reader.” – Crimespree Magazine Laurel Beacham made working solo a personal success story and is known for her nerve, instincts, and ability to do whatever necessary to return each priceless masterpiece safely intact. As the world’s leading art recovery expert, she’s thwarted more heists than the average law enforcement professional. Museums ...

“As engaging and entertaining a worldwide romp as the first two books…Ritter Ames has penned a marvelous story with Laurel Beacham continuing to show her cleverness and intuition portraying a strong character…I was thrilled!” – King’s River Life Magazine Abstract clues lead to new questions. New leads turn to “dead” ends. A heist plot ties to forgeries. Adversaries resurface twisting an already complicated case. And art recovery expert Laurel Beacham must not only outwit criminals, but keep her wits around Jack Hawkes’s cheeky ego. Before the criminals they were tracking ...

Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, go on a trip to Orkney in Scotland to visit an old friend and see some intriguing Stone Age excavations. They realize there’s considerable dissension between the archaeologists and the principal donor for the newest dig, a wealthy and abrasive American. When a more recent corpse is found at the dig, various suspects are named, but there’s not enough evidence to bring a case against anyone.

(This book was previously published with the subtitle 'The Strange Case of the Exploding Dolly-trolley') When tragedy comes to Daisy's doorstep, it's way too close for comfort. Those responsible have to be brought to justice... and quickly, before they strike again. It’s been two weeks since Daisy brought Finn’s aristocratic world crashing down, and village life reverted to as normal as it ever gets where she is concerned. But then one morning it all changes, in a very disturbing way. To begin with, Daisy believes someone from her past is to blame. Before she retired, she had a job very...

Teenager Cordelia Mathison went missing during a gap year trip in 2017. When her freshly dumped body is found three years later, in fields less than a mile from her home, local police are baffled. Detective Inspector Nate Lawrence is new to his posting on the east Essex coast. His first case here will challenge him like no other. The investigation takes him to a remote Mediterranean island and throws him together with Bridie Croft and her parents; an intriguing local family who may just hold the key to unlocking what seems like an impossible mystery.

Abi attends a murder mystery play and dinner at a local hotel with friends and family but the evening soon takes on a real sinister turn when one of the actors is found sprawled on the floor backstage. With a blizzard raging outside, it could take a while for the emergency services to battle through the weather to reach the hotel, so Abi dives into investigating what happened, why and who caused things to take such a deadly turn. As the snow falls and the story unfolds, Abi is soon unravelling a true mystery. With a bunch of convincing actors to question, will she be able to decipher who is...

Revised - Revamped - Refreshed - 2025 A Riveting Psychological Thriller Geri and James are back—sharper, bolder, and caught in their most explosive mystery yet! Just when their neighbour, Lydia, finally seems to have found peace with the birth of her second son, disaster strikes once more. Determined to help their friend, Geri and James step in—but they soon realise Lydia’s troubles are only the beginning. While researching historic unsolved murders for James’s latest book, Geri stumbles upon a chilling revelation: one of the prime suspects from a decades-old case is now a resident ...

From the bestselling author of Murder at Rutherford Hall, Murder at Ravenrock and The Riverton Case, comes the fourth book in the Rachel Markham Mystery Series - The Santinelli Case. Set in the exciting world of post-war Paris, in the winter of 1947, Rachel and Jeremy are called upon to investigate the sensational murder of Countess Santinelli in a Montmartre art studio. Their quest to uncover the truth leads them from the charming avant-garde streets of fashionable Paris and the gilded rooms of the Ritz and Maxim’s to the dingy by-lanes of Montmartre - a place that offers refuge to ...

The theft of a priceless emerald neckless leads to murder and Blythe, the Dowager Duchess of Ashby along with Bow Street Runner Owen Kennedy must rely on a lie to find the killer before they become the next victims.

Here comes the fifth globetrotting adventure in the fast-paced Bodies of Art Mystery series from USA TODAY bestselling author Ritter Ames. A masterpiece swapped for a forgery, a murder victim left behind, and a relentless game of hide and seek keeps Laurel Beacham and Jack Hawkes on the run. They are racing to find answers despite roadblocks at every turn. The chase crisscrosses the Atlantic as they pursue threads to murders and thefts that extend from the current day and back several decades. A startling forgery points toward an unexpected new nemesis, and the team pursues a Paris forger ...

Amber heads to a remote castle in the snowy depths of the Scottish Highlands on a desperate mission to try and save her job and secure the future of the Celebrity Crimes Investigation Agency. Someone powerful is out to destroy the agency but who is behind the plot and why are they targeting the CCIA? Battling blizzards, numerous untruths and one complication after another, Amber certainly has her work cut out! And then, to add even further to her problems, as the temperature plummets, the snow blankets the landscape, and the fierce winds rip through the Highlands, somebody is murdered... ...

The woman in white—surreal artist Damaris Gethin—has invited a select group to the opening of her exhibit Artist in Crime, held in the eerie subterranean Hades Gallery. As costumed models reenact famously violent deaths, the artist herself portrays Marie Antoinette on the day of her execution, complete with a guillotine on the stage. It's not a prop; within ten minutes of Rachel's promise to solve Damaris's future murder, the artist slips her neck into the collar of the device and the very real blade sends her head rolling at the feet of her horrified audience.

Penrose & Pyke venture to the edge of madness when they reunite to investigate two tragic deaths and an old mystery. The last words of a frightened woman may be a vital clue to the disappearance of an old friend, if they aren’t the ravings of delusional lunatic. Detective Constable Charlie Pyke is desperate to find out. But is he desperate enough to risk the life of his sleuthing partner, medical student Grace Penrose? More to the point, can he stop her? The answers lie behind the locked doors of an asylum for wealthy young women of delicate sensibilities, where high walls and dark ...

A young boy walks into a police station in France. He claims to be Carl Meagan - a missing child from Sheffield whose name is still whispered as a warning to kids who stay out after dark. On her way home from the supermarket, nine-year-old Keeley Armitage vanishes without trace. Her family is overcome with shock and DCI Matilda Darke can’t help but focus on memories of the Carl Meagan case that almost ruined her career.

Forensic entomologist Dr Vanessa Marwood is settling into her new role in Manhattan when she's faced with a chilling case: an Oscar-winning actress has been found dead, poisoned by a glittering hair clip adorned with a live beetle. As a second high-profile death emerges - a fashion designer poisoned by an insect-encrusted watch - shockwaves run through New York's elite.

She’s lost a friend. He’s lost his sight. Can this unlikely duo solve an untouchable murder? College student Alexandra Neve never backs down from a challenge. So when her BFF Irina dies of an apparent suicide, she channels her grief into cracking the case police refuse to touch. After discovering a mysterious list of Russian names in her friend’s room, Neve’s attempts to retrace Irina’s steps nabs her an unexpected crime-solving partner. With the help of her blind history professor Ashford Egan, Neve connects the suspicious death to a recent London murder. But as the Russian mafia...

Have this ambitious private eye and her blind sidekick just accepted the wrong client? Newbie investigator Alexandra Neve is sick and tired of tracking down cheating spouses. Fearing her business partner won’t stick around without something to sink his teeth into, she’s excited when an elderly woman tasks them with recovering a priceless family heirloom. And her curiosity becomes an obsession when she discovers the same piece of jewelry went missing once before—in Nazi Germany. Convinced the robberies are connected, the persistent PIs dig through holocaust records and trace the twice-...

They took down his partner. Can a blind detective bring a dark conspiracy to light? Professor-turned-PI Ashford Egan owes everything to Alexandra Neve. So when his kind-hearted colleague is shot and slips into a coma, he vows to take revenge. But even using every trick she taught him, a sightless investigator may be no match for London’s most ruthless criminal kingpin. Desperate to leave no stone unturned, Egan teams up with cops and criminals alike. But someone is hiding their true allegiance, and the professor fears he’s being played for a pawn. With Neve’s life hanging in the ...

Anna is a wife, a mother, a businesswoman...and a serial killer. As part of a unique support group comprised of like minded compulsive multiple murderers known as the Bristol Savages, she has been able to suppress the compulsion to kill and begun to carve out a normal life for herself. But someone is aware of the Bristol Savages, and is targeting its members...and making it look as if Anna is responsible. At the same time, a new task force is set up to focus solely on psychopaths, and as this new unit begins to close in on her and the Bristol Savages, Anna must race against the clock to ...