Historical Cozy

April 1928: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is visited in London by her young cousins. On the list of must-see sites is the Crystal Palace. Discovering that her children's nanny, Nanny Gilpin, has never seen the Palace, Daisy decides to make a day of it - bringing her cousins, her three-year-old twins, her step-daughter Belinda, the nurserymaid, and Nanny Gilpin. Yet this ordinary outing goes wrong when Mrs. Gilpin goes off to the ladies room and fails to return. When Daisy goes to look for her, she doesn't find her nanny but instead the body of another woman dressed in a nanny's uniform.

England, 1920. Eleanor Swift has spent the last few years travelling the world: taking tea in China, tasting alligators in Peru, escaping bandits in Persia and she has just arrived in England after a chaotic 45-day flight from South Africa. Chipstone is about the sleepiest town you could have the misfortune to meet. But then, from the edge of a quarry, through the driving rain, Eleanor is shocked to see a man shot and killed in the distance. Before she can climb down to the spot, the villain is gone and the body has vanished.

In September 1925, Scotland Yard DCI Alec Fletcher inherits a large house on the outskirts of London from a recently deceased great-uncle. Fortunately so, as he and his wife, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, are the recent proud parents of twins, and their house is practically bursting at the seams. Though in need of a bit of work, this new, larger house seems a godsend - set in a small circle of houses, with Hampstead Heath nearby, the setting is idyllic. Idyllic, that is until a dead body shows up half-hidden under the bushes of the communal garden.

Lady Violet returns with St. Sevier to her family seat, and finds Derwent Hall at sixes and sevens upon the occasion of her nephew’s christening. Other guests have brought their children along to celebrate the occasion, and Sebastian MacHeath is on hand to serve as godfather. Nobody seems to be getting along, despite the happy nature of the gathering. Summer heat builds to an unbearable crescendo as clandestine affairs, marital troubles, and family tensions escalate. Then somebody starts kidnapping little girls.

London. 1923. Much to her consternation, Kitty Worthington's debut season is a resounding success, prompting marriage proposals from lords, rogues, scoundrels, and ne'er do wells. Even as she dodges them, a new intrigue arises, and at Westminster, no less. A high-ranking member of the nobility is murdered, and her sister's beau has been framed to take the fall. With her sister's happiness at stake, Kitty sets out to investigate, ably aided by her faithful maid, two noble lords, a titled lady, and Sir Winston, her still flatulent Basset Hound.

In early 1925, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher - recent mother of twins - resumes her journalistic career by agreeing to write a piece about the Tower of London - the Bloody Tower - for an American magazine. Invited to observe the centuries-old ritual Ceremony of the Keys, she's spending the night (her first time away from her babies), since the complex is locked and guarded, and the high walls are surrounded by a disused moat.

Harriet Andover had no intention of dying young like her silly siblings had. She intended to outlive them and outdo them as she always had. But Harriet discovers that the best intentions can lead to murder when she is strangled inside her mansion with a house full of holiday guests. As much as Inspector Witherspoon enjoys his job delivering justice, the last thing he wanted was a complicated murder case just a week before Christmas. He soon discovers that Harriet's own husband and grown stepchildren are not overcome with grief and neither are most of her friends.

One morning in April 1924, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher finds herself in a most unenviable position. Despite her best attempts to elude the inevitable, she must face her darkest fears and with all the strength and courage she can muster, must confront the one person she has tried hardest to avoid - the dentist. But upon arriving for her appointment, she finds the waiting room deserted and adjoining examination room locked, with no hint of either Dr. Talmadge or his nurse.

England, 1941. When Jane Treen is summoned to her boss’s office at the end of a long day, she smooths down her tweed skirt and makes them both another strong pot of coffee. Brigadier Remmington-Blythe slides a folded copy of the evening newspaper towards her, with one small article circled in red ink. A body has been found on an English beach in the little seaside town where she grew up, and he wants her to investigate. Jane is used to managing secret agents and spies, but she is now part of The Secret Detective Agency, England’s answer to solving the most mysterious murders.

Step into the enchanting world of Victorian England with "The Mrs. Imogene Lynch Series," where mysteries lurk beneath the genteel facade of rural society. The Cotswolds, 1893 In the picturesque village of Landdulton, where tea is always brewing and gossip flows like fine wine, Imogene Lynch, the wife of the esteemed chief constable Thaddeus Lynch, finds herself at the heart of every curious case that unfolds. As the new year dawns, Imogene is determined to keep her resolution: to ensure her husband takes a well-deserved rest from his constabulary duties. But when a double shooting rocks ...

From USA Today bestselling author, Julie Mulhern, comes a short worthy of the Country Club Murders name. For Aggie DeLucci, former assistant private investigator and current housekeeper extraordinaire, 1975 is turning out to be a banner year. There’s a new man her life, Mac. He makes her laugh, takes her dancing, and makes a helluva salami sandwich. When Mac is accused of theft, it’s up to Aggie to clear his name. She’ll have to polish her slightly tarnished investigative kills and tame her fears (and her hair) to catch the real thief. If this is your first trip to 70s Kansas City, ...

London. 1923. When an invitation arrives to the Duchess of Brightwell's Midsummer Masked Ball, Kitty Worthington does not even think of declining. Not with a mother on the hunt for a noble husband for her. But no sooner does she curtsy to her hostess at the ball than tragedy strikes. A very dead earl is found at the bottom of a staircase, and it's clearly the work of foul play.

In September 1926, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher visits Sybil Sutherby, a school friend now living in Derbyshire as the confidential secretary to a novelist. Suspecting that something is seriously amiss, Sybil has asked Daisy to discretely investigate. Upon arrival, Daisy finds a household of relatives and would-be suitors living off the hospitality of Humphrey Birtwhistle, who had been supporting them through his thrice-yearly, pseudonymous Westerns. When he took ill, though, Sybil took over writing them while he recovered, only to see the sales increase. Now, she fears that someone in the household is poisoning Birtwhistle to keep him ill and Sybil writing the better-paying versions.

Elizabeth II's coronation is looming, but DI Edgar Stephens is busy investigating the death of a local fortune-teller. Meanwhile, his old pal, the magician Max Mephisto, is rehearsing for his television debut, a Coronation Day variety show. But upon hearing that their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, has been found dead in his flat, the two men join forces to find out what happened. While Max is stuck in rehearsals, Edgar finds himself heading to New York, hot on the trail of a mesmerist he's sure has valuable information for them.

As 35th in line for the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch may not be the most sophisticated young woman, but she knows her table manners. It's forks on the left, knives on the right - not in His Majesty's back….

Scores of innocent women died during the Suffolk witch trials. Fear and uncertainty swept the land. Years later and two unexplained deaths in the village of Fressingfield stir up rumours of witchcraft again. Private Detective Lawrence Harpham agrees to investigate. But Lawrence is still tormented by the loss of his family in a house fire. Can he overcome his own demons and discover who is behind the flurry of deaths? The sins of the fathers return to haunt in this intricately plotted Victorian murder mystery.

Madame Tussauds, London’s extravagant wax museum, reopens in 1928 to much fanfare. The horrific fire of ’25, which had destroyed the wax figurines of famous and sometimes infamous characters, was news of the past. Ginger Reed and her good friend Haley Higgins are intrigued and eager to visit the museum which promises new and exciting exhibits. Of particular interest is the one on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Hailed by some as effective literary horror and by others as unnecessarily frightening, the exhibition about the book attracts all kinds.

One dreadful night, in the shrouded mists of a London peasouper, an unknown assailant knifes Ross Davis of the Foreign Office. His mentor, Neil Griffith, not only discovers the body but is arrested for the murder. Though they haven’t known Neil long, Oxford Tutors/Sleuths, Catherine and Harry Bascombe, investigate at her mother’s request. Catherine is convinced that her mother’s beau would never murder his Foreign Office protégé and future son-in-law. As he is banned from returning to work until his name is cleared, Griffith convinces Catherine to take a temporary job liaising ...

A governess and a duke could never be a good match, but the Duke of Harrogate will stop at nothing to save Miss Sophia Weston from a desperate situation. Miss Sophia Weston is left destitute after her father dies. Her brother and sister-in-law, Lord and Lady Brookridge, refuse to support her, even though it is their duty. When Sophia is forced to seek employment, she accepts a position as a governess for the widowed Duke of Harrogate. The duke’s only daughter, Sarah, brings an immense amount of joy to Sophia. Soon enough, Sophia learns to accept her new situation and loves her daily ...

London. 1923. Excited about her new direction in life, Kitty Worthington motors about London in her spiffy new roadster. Granted, finding purloined Poodles and lost Labradors may not be what she envisioned, but they keep her busy enough. At least, there aren't any bodies dropping at her feet. But then a visiting royal dignitary loses his head at the Tower of London, and she finds herself embroiled in yet another murder investigation. The suspects are endless. Could it be the wastrel son? The betrayed wife? The devious cousin? The ghost of Anne Boleyn?