English Mystery Thrillers

Meg Gates could use a guidebook for life. Indeed, she's faced some challenges. She dropped out of college to work for a tech startup that failed—and her fiancé just took her bridesmaid to Italy on what was supposed to be Meg's honeymoon. Now, at twenty-six, Meg has taken the ferry ride of shame from Seattle back to Bainbridge Island to live with her family. At least she has her rescue cocker spaniel, Watson, by her side. But it's Meg who could use a rescue—and she's hoping it will come in the form of a part-time gig doing research for a bestselling mystery writer.

Delaney Nichols, originally of Kansas but settling happily into her new life as a bookseller in Edinburgh, works at The Cracked Spine in the heart of town. She's recently befriended a few medical school students after they came into the shop to sell some antique medical tomes. But when one of the students' friends is found murdered outside in the alley, Delaney takes it upon herself to help bring the murderer to justice.

Colin Dexter’s Chief Inspector Morse - the cranky, heavy-drinking, and exasperatingly brilliant sleuth of the Thames Valley Police - has become one of the most beloved detectives in fiction. Now, with this collection of 11 short stories, we can savor choice examples of his dry wit, devious cunning, and psychological insight at its best. Colin Dexter tantalizes us with six Inspector Morse adventures, ranging from bite-size morsels of intrigue to longer stories for listeners to sink their teeth into.

After ten years on the force, LAPD cop Sonny Rush relocates with her elderly mother to peaceful Haven, California, to join her godfather’s burgeoning PI business. What crimes could possibly happen in a town nicknamed “Mayberry by the Sea”? Sonny’s first case: find Figgy, a missing goldendoodle last seen sporting a Versace collar. At least scouting out a dognapper gives Sonny a chance to get to know her new neighbors.

Iniquus is an elite, top secret group run by some of America's most formidable retired special forces operators. Their jobs include intelligence gathering, hostage recovery, and taking on black-ops assignments when the US government needs plausible deniability. One of their newest intelligence hires is Lexi Sobado, code named Lynx. While Lynx tries to make a name for herself as a the only female operative on the team, a new neighbor moves into her neighborhood - their pasts are dangerously linked together. Lynx becomes a pawn in a deadly international game.

Raised off the grid by survivalists, Mercy Kilpatrick believed in no greater safeguard than the backwoods of Oregon. Unforgiven by her father for abandoning the fold for the FBI, Mercy still holds to her past convictions. They’re in her blood. They’re her secrets—as guarded as her private survival retreat hidden away in the foothills. In a cabin near her hideaway, Mercy encounters a young girl whose grandmother is dying from multiple knife wounds.

Following her return from a case that has turned her world upside down, Special Agent Emily Slate finds herself sidelined once more because of circumstances beyond her control. Instead of focusing on the investigation that could lead to the woman who killed her husband, Emily is ordered to keep her distance, and assigned a murder in a small Chesapeake town. But when Emily arrives with newly-minted Special Agent Coll, they find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between two law enforcement departments, both accusing the other of improper conduct.

Childbirth can be dangerous even for the wealthy. So when opera singer Claire Buchanan shows Prudence and Geoffrey a postmortem cabinet photograph of her deceased twin sister and newborn niece, they express sadness but not surprise. The popular black-bordered portraits are the era's way of coping with the devastating losses that plague every family. What makes this death different is that Claire is convinced Catherine and her child were murdered.

Decades ago in the small town of Fogg Lake, The Incident occurred: an explosion in the cave system that released unknown gases. The residents slept for two days. When they woke up they discovered that things had changed - they had changed. Some started having visions. Others heard ominous voices. And then, scientists from a mysterious government agency arrived. Determined not to become research subjects of strange experiments, the residents of Fogg Lake blamed their "hallucinations" on food poisoning, and the story worked. Now the eerie effects are showing up in Fogg Lake descendants.

Penniless graduate Blair Wilkes has always felt one step behind everyone else. Unemployed and out of luck, with the uncanny ability to cause havoc wherever she treads, when she receives a job offer from a strange town called Fairy Falls, she's certain it's too good to be true. It turns out Fairy Falls isn't just eccentric: it's magical...and so is Blair.

When local nobleman Étienne de Bremont falls to his death from the family château, it sets the historic town of Aix-en-Provence abuzz with rumors. The once-idyllic town suddenly seems filled with people who could have benefited from Bremont's death - including his playboy brother, François, who's heavily in debt and mixed up with some unsavory characters. But just as the list of suspects is being narrowed down, another death occurs. And this time, there can be no doubt - it's murder.

C.J. Sansom's Matthew Shardlake mysteries whisk listeners back in time to the tumultuous court of King Henry VIII. Shardlake has his hands full this time defending a young religious fanatic who has been thrown into Bedlam. On top of that, Shardlake's friend is murdered, and the quest to find the killer leads Shardlake right to the steps of the king's latest romantic conquest, Catherine Parr.

When Lady Cordelia, a brilliant mathematician, and her brother, Lord Woodbridge, disappear from London, rumors swirl concerning fraudulent bank loans and a secret consortium engaged in an illicit - and highly profitable - trading scheme that threatens the entire British economy. The incriminating evidence mounts, but for Charlotte and Wrexford, it's a question of loyalty and friendship. And so they begin a new investigation to clear the siblings' names, uncover their whereabouts, and unravel the truth behind the whispers.

When Nicole visits Stiles Castle, the stately home of Lady Caroline Seaton, she doesn’t expect to stumble upon a centuries-old mystery hidden in the noble family’s genealogical tree. Once she finds that some vital details have been removed from the ancestral records, Nicole can’t refuse her friend’s plea to discover the truth and help her save the floundering family business.

Lizzie Burdett was 18 when she vanished, and Noah Carruso has never forgotten her. She was his first crush, his unrequited love. She was also his brother's girlfriend. Tom Carruso hasn't been home in over a decade. He left soon after Lizzie disappeared under a darkening cloud of suspicion, and now he's back for the inquest into Lizzie's disappearance - intent on telling his side of the story. As the inquest looms, Noah meets Alice Pryce on holiday. They fall for each other fast and hard, but Noah can't bear to tell Alice his deepest fears.

Sydney Richardson's enjoying a rare night out in her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, when she learns that one of her friends has been shot. Rick Sheffield thought he was staking out a drug deal; turns out he had a front-row seat to a million-dollar cash drop gone wrong. Meanwhile, at a construction site across town, a young vagrant is killed execution-style after spreading some serious wealth among his street friends. Sydney sees no reason to link the shootings, until the money disappears from the evidence locker.

Bo Tully is the sheriff of Blight County, Idaho, where law enforcement is usually pretty mundane: tracking down truants running away from school, picking up country boys who've had a few too many beers. But Tully gets a little more than the country norm when an ex-con calls with the startling news that there's a corpse draped across one of his fences.

Johannesburg, 1980s Apartheid South Africa. Augustine flees her vengeful ex-boyfriend with nothing but her child and the clothes on her back, terrified he will find her. Because she also possesses a dangerous secret. One he will kill for. One he will never stop hunting her for. But Augustine is rescued by a wealthy white housewife who takes pity on her, offering both employment and refuge. Or so she thinks. It might seem that she is safe inside the walls of the prosperous Diamond family home, but outside her every move is watched. Her sanctuary has become her prison.

In 1920s England, private detective Henry Fleming is visiting his friend, retired author Lily Riley, in the quintessentially English village of Fulbridge. Tragedy strikes when a resident is murdered, stabbed through the heart, in the historic local church. When an inexperienced Scotland Yard detective arrives to investigate the case, Lily is accused of the terrible crime. With no sign of a murder weapon, and no obvious motive, Fleming realises it will fall to him to prove his friend's innocence and solve the baffling case.

To Clare Cosi's surprise, this fall's hottest fashion trend is anything caffeinated - because designer Lottie Harmon, a loyal coffeehouse customer, has just created an ingenious collection of coffee-inspired fashion accessories. So naturally Lottie chooses the Village Blend as the perfect backdrop for fall Fashion Week insiders to view her new line of "Java Jewelry." When barista Tucker unwittingly serves a poisonous latte to a prominent figure on the fashion scene, Clare suspects that the real target may have been Lottie. Now she must protect her thriving business, Lottie, and Tucker....