Puzzle Mystery

“I don’t want to die,” said the man in the brown suit, who was the last passenger to board the little airplane, but he did. The other passengers thought he was just airsick and the pilots of the Dragonfly assumed it was a heart attack, but when they landed on Catalina Island where Miss Hildegarde Withers was enjoying her first vacation in five years, they bowed to her insistence that the body be examined by the island doctor as well as the chief of police.

A collection of five ingenious short stories featuring husband and wife sleuths Imogen and Hugh Croft. The Flawed Emerald When Imogen Croft bumps into an old friend at a railway station, the young woman asks for her help. Imogen is required to get to the bottom of a recent spate of vicious hate mail which threatens to end a burgeoning love affair. But Imogen's conclusions are not at all what her friend expected. The Witch's Burial An archaeological dig at the ancient Chapel of St Peter's turns up a skeleton, roughly hidden in a shallow grave. It becomes clear that the group are facing a ...

1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of an intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge's daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle.

Welcome to Rush City, where the croissants are golden, the locals are quirky, and murder is always on the menu. Cornelia “Corny” Baker’s cozy little bakery is the heart of this charming mining town—famous for its mouthwatering pastries and friendly atmosphere. But when a ruthless billionaire is found dead clutching one of Corny’s signature croissants, her reputation crumbles like stale bread. With the entire town watching, Corny teams up with her eccentric best friend, Marcel, to prove her innocence. Together, they’ll sift through clues, uncover a recipe for betrayal, and bake ...

In book 10, the gang witness the horror of a house going up in flames. Then there's the theft of a very valuable violin. Are the two incidents connected? The Seven mean to use all their detective know-how to find out!

Cedar Grove is abuzz with excitement as the Halloween Festival draws near, but for Lila Harrington, owner of the Harrington Inn, the holiday takes a chilling turn. Strange creaks echo from the empty upper floors, shadowy figures flit through the halls, and a mysterious history of tragic lovers haunts the property. When one of her guests is found dead under suspicious circumstances, Lila’s unease turns to determination. With her best friend Jane by her side and her clever beagle Barkley sniffing out clues, Lila dives into a mystery that blurs the lines between the supernatural and the all-...

When a mysterious letter arrives at the Shady Pines Library, Librarian Maggie Montgomery never expects it to lead her to Everwood Manor- a crumbling estate steeped in secrets. The new owners have uncovered a bundle of old letters and a diary in the attic. They believe Maggie, with her knowledge of local history, is the perfect person to unravel their secrets. Joined by her loyal beagle Sherlock and her two best friends, Tessa and Hannah, Maggie begins digging into the story of the Van Allen family— The manor’s previous residents who vanished without a trace decades ago. Once the ...

Are you a Law & Order or CSI crime junkie? In these You Solve It mini mysteries, you get to be the lead detective who takes on the case. You will read the case file, collect the evidence and solve the crime. Become an iDetective.

Destination: China. An endangered Giant Panda has been kidnapped from the Wolong Nature Reserve in China. Can Secret Agent Jack Stalwart find the panda and rescue it before the evil Scorpion Gang sells it on the black market? Time is running out…Listen more about Jack’s thrilling adventures as he travels the globe….

William Benson knows what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do - the fear, the vulnerability and the nightmare of watching your life unravel. Now he speaks on behalf of those who have no voice, defending anyone who claims to be innocent. This time, it's Karmen Naylor, estranged daughter of a south London crime boss, fighting a murder charge and desperate to be believed. But Benson becomes trapped into a grudge match between two rival clans, endangering himself and those he loves.

Abbie's holiday spirit vanishes when she overhears a troubling conversation. But her friends are certain she must have misunderstood. The Cozy Chess Club brainstorms theories, but clues are hard to find. When all hope fades, a mysterious angel appears and takes them on an extraordinary adventure where important truths from the past, present, and future are revealed. Can Abbie’s friends help her regain her Christmas spirit before the day ends and the long holiday break begins?

An enthralling collection of creepy and mysterious stories. From classic detective stories to spine-tingling horror and scary ghost stories, these tales will make your flesh crawl.... 1. 'A Ghost Story' by Mark Twain. 2. 'The Silver Mask' by Hugh Walpole. 3. 'The Cactus' by O. Henry. 4. 'Dead of Night' by W. F. Harvey. 5. 'The Terrible Old Man' by H. P. Lovecraft. 6. 'Rattle of Bones' by Robert E. Howard. 7. 'The Last Leaf' by O. Henry. 8. 'The Magnet' by Barry Pain. 9. 'Pickman’s Model' by H. P. Lovecraft.

Hildegarde Withers heads down Mexico way where the death in the afternoon involves neither a matador nor a bull. Inspector Oscar Piper is off on a junket to Mexico in the summer of 1937 (surrounded by a bunch of Democrats, huffed Miss Withers) when a customs inspector on a train headed for Mexico City sniffs a very potent bottle of cheap perfume and promptly drops dead. Quite naturally, Oscar telegraphs Hildegarde in Manhattan about the perfume and quite naturally Miss Withers packs her bags and heads south of the border, figuring Oscar is out of his depth if he has to rely on deductive reasoning rather than a rubber hose.

The time is now. We’ve waited long enough. We’ve got to know. How did I die? I’m sharp, and I’m not just talking about my beak. In fact, you won’t find a parakeet brighter than me. But in my previous life, as a man, I was an even more brilliant. A detective, in fact. However, there’s one question that neither I nor anybody I love can seem to recall: just how did I die? To get to the bottom of it, it’s time for a little road trip to the scene of the crime. All of the Tripletts—my wife Sharon, daughter Lila, son Ethan, and I—leave Mountain Springs in the rearview mirror and ...

[This revised edition addresses feedback from readers!] Can a young widow clear her name and save her hometown's livelihood when its beloved wine festival turns deadly? When the annual Winter Wine Festival in charming small-town Los Robles comes to a shocking halt with the discovery of a dead body, amateur sleuth Avery Parker finds herself thrust into a twisted murder mystery. Having recently returned to run her family’s vineyard after her husband’s untimely death, Avery must navigate complex small-town social politics and quirky characters to uncover clues, clear her own name, and ...

Army veteran, MASON HOOD, has a promise to keep and a demon to defeat. Fresh off the front lines of World War Two, he moves to Bluebird Valley in rural Southeast Missouri and brings the war with him. Local schoolmarm, STELLA REYNOLDS, is still reeling from the death of her husband at Pearl Harbor. To honor his memory, she vows to assist and protect any veteran who comes her way. But Mason isn’t just any veteran. When a brutal murder sets the entire valley on edge, Stella is told that Mason needs her. She rushes to his side and ends up in a place she never wanted to revisit. Torn between ...

Top model Violet Feverel should be a pretty picture riding the big red thoroughbred Siwash - but the front page photo on the tabloids is ugly as death. The police dub the tragedy an unfortunate accident. But Miss Hildegarde Withers, who stumbled across the girl's body on the Central Park bridle path, knows they are, unfortunately, wrong. Just plain horse sense tells her it was murder....

THESE WOMEN ARE GRAPES DRESSED IN RAISIN COSTUMES… That's Hilde, Emma and Vivien, inseparable friends... On a Mediterranean vacation in the coastal paradise of Vistabelle. But very close to them are murder and mayhem, lobsters and pink sand! Hilde, Emma and Vivien get to work. Appearing harmless, and adorable, they learn details the detectives could never get. Of course, they are not alone in this! Honorio, the elegant, sleuthy cat helps them in this dangerous adventure. Emma believes her late Uncle Roddy inhabit Honorio's body. Our witty friends keep their school spirit and sisterly ...

Champagne corks only hint at the pressure that builds as this New Year’s witching hour approaches. Maggie Bixler, a saucy ghost who runs a spectral speakeasy in the gloomy basement of the old family home, was brutally betrayed and is ready to POP! She’s hired me, Seymour—part-time detective, full-time parakeet—to find who double-crossed her a hundred years ago. I’m game! (Get it?) Meanwhile, my former wife (and now owner) Sharon throws a wing-ding on New Year’s Eve and the whole town crashes the private party. Seymour Triplett’s the name. Once human and a full-time gumshoe, I ...

Crusty schoolteacher/sleuth Hildegarde Withers can't escape mysterious deaths, even on a trans-Atlantic crossing on an ocean liner. En route to England she spends part of her time (when not feeling queasy) sizing up her fellow passengers. Her intuition helps when passengers and crew start dropping over the side, or just dropping, period.