Women Sleuths Detective

After years of bullying and cajoling others as a high-flying public relations boss, Agatha Raisin’s early retirement to the picture-postcard village of Carsley in the Cotswolds is a dream come true. And how better to begin making herself a local leading light than by entering the village quiche-making competition? Unburdened by old-fashioned ideas of fair play, the ruthless Agatha decides to ensure she wins by buying her entry from a London delicatessen.

Moonstone Bay is in a tizzy. Not only has a new village been discovered—it was hidden by magic for hundreds of years—but family members long thought dead are back and infiltrating lives that had changed in their absence. It is not all smooth sailing. Hadley Hunter is trying to keep things under wraps but she’s as excited to explore the village as anybody. There’s just one little problem. How did a body make it into the village when it was magically warded to keep people out?

Sunny Randall is a Boston P.I. and former cop, a college graduate, an aspiring painter, a divorcée, and the owner of a miniature bull terrier named Rosie. Hired by a wealthy family to locate their teenage daughter, Sunny is tested by the parents' preconceived notion of what a detective should be. With the help of underworld contacts, she tracks down the runaway Millicent, who has turned to prostitution. Rescuing her from a vicious pimp, Sunny finds herself the unlikely custodian of a difficult teenager when the girl refuses to return to her family.

Kate Rosetti is supposed to be taking the week off. After all, she’s the maid of honor in her sister’s wedding, and Jane Rosetti will kill her if she’s too busy chasing a murderer to participate in the long-anticipated nuptials. Unfortunately, the police chief has news for Kate. When a severed hand shows up in a box at the precinct and a local jewelry store is robbed, Kate is called in to help investigate a not-quite-homicide. But with such a high-profile diamond heist combined with random body parts appearing ad nauseum, this case is unlike anything the department has seen before.

A wealthy woman needs to find her sister to settle a will. It looks routine...boring. Still, business is slow and even a private investigator has bills to pay, so Kinsey Millhone takes the case. But this is not routine and the deeper Kinsey digs the trickier things get. The client tries to call Kinsey off, an accusing husband surfaces, and a double murder turns the case sinister.

When a call comes in about a young girl found dead at a high school prom—her life drained away from a fatal stab wound—Detective Josie Quinn drops everything to attend the scene. Taking in the girl’s neatly braided hair, Josie feels a flicker of recognition. But no one comes forward to identify this innocent child, murdered on what should have been the happiest night of her life. Trawling missing-persons files, Josie realizes where she has seen the girl before. Gemma Farmer disappeared a few months ago. But why would her body appear now, on her 16th birthday?

Have yourself a scary little Christmas. In the heart of the holiday season, priceless paintings have vanished from a Park Avenue murder scene. Now, dashing French detective Luc Moncrief must become a quick study in the art of the steal - before a cold-blooded killer paints the town red. Merry Christmas, Detective.

Deputy Mattie Cobb is in a dark place and has withdrawn from Cole Walker and his family to work on issues from her past. When she and her K-9 partner, Robo, get called to track a missing junior high student, they find the girl dead on Smoker's Hill behind the high school, and Mattie must head to the Walker home to break the bad news. But that's only the start of trouble in Timber Creek because soon another girl goes missing - and this time it's one of Cole's daughters.

"G" Is for Gumshoe: Kinsey Millhone's 33 birthday brings about final renovations to her apartment, a new case, and the top slot on Tyrone Patty's hit list. "H" Is for Homicide To the cops, the death of claims adjuster Parnell Perkins looked like a robbery gone sour; to Kinsey Millhone, it looks strangely suspicious. "I" Is for Innocent Kenneth Voight thought that justice had not been served when David Barney was acquitted in the shooting death of Voight's ex-wife, Isabelle. Five years later, Voight is the plaintiff in a civil suit in which Barney stands accused of Isabelle's wrongful death.

When firefighters tackling a blazing house in a quiet suburb of Pine Valley, California, discover human remains, Detective Katie Scott races to 717 Maple Street. She calls a halt to the excavations the moment she sees the full number and size of the bones; someone has buried a whole family down here. Working night and day, it’s up to Katie to prove her theory that the fire was no accident, that someone wanted to expose the secret in the basement. Tiny traces of explosives residue found at the scene is all the proof she needs.

A silent turf war is brewing, threatening to drag New York City down. Can she stop it before it reaches the boiling point? When Special Agent Heather Chase discovers a mysterious pattern of deaths, she knows it’s no coincidence. Every victim died at exactly 5:40 p.m. – and she’s hell-bent on finding out why. With the help of her close detective friend and an investigative journalist, she takes to the back alleys of the Bronx on a hunt for leads. They call him the Russian. Determined to unmask the identity of the killer, Chase quickly finds herself caught up in the middle of a vicious ...

Gloria French was a jolly widow with dyed blonde hair, a raucous laugh, and rosy cheeks. When she first moved from London to the charming Cotswold hills, she was heartily welcomed. She seemed a do-gooder par-excellence, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she had a nasty habit of borrowing things and not giving them back. They're just small things - a teapot here, a set of silverware there - so it's quite the shock when she is found dead, murdered with a poisoned bottle of elderberry wine.

County Cork, Ireland. Skye Brigid O'Shea is still struggling to fit in. Still branded an outsider in her adopted rural town, the ex-pat American strives to get her inherited B&B shipshape despite the flaky local help. But after waking with a fright from a dream her fae cat claims she borrowed, the discombobulated newcomer trips over a dead body in her pub. Not about to head the suspect list again, the nosy former nurse chases down clues both mundane and otherworldly.

Mention “returning to the scene of a crime,” and people don’t usually picture a middle school. But that’s where kid detective Lottie Illes enjoyed some of her greatest successes—before the world of adult responsibilities came crashing in... Twentysomething Charlotte is now back in the classroom, this time as a substitute teacher. However, as much as she’s tried to escape the shadow of her younger self, others haven’t forgotten about Lottie. In fact, a fellow teacher is hoping for help discovering the culprit behind anonymous threats being sent to her and her aunt.

Arriving at a quiet family home on the outskirts of the Lake District, Detective Morgan Brookes must deliver devastating news to a heartbroken mother. Seeing Lexie’s pink boots against the side of the house, she remembers the girl’s happy face and can’t help but think of her carefree childhood. Three years ago, Morgan saved Lexie from a serial killer, who is now behind bars. But this time, she’s failed to protect her. Certain a new and more terrifying killer is at large, Morgan finds a neighbor who claims a man in a silver car was watching Lexie’s house.

Detective Harriet Blue is a very good cop...gone very bad. In the space of a week, she has committed theft and fraud, resisted arrest, assaulted a police officer, and is considered a dangerous fugitive from the law. It's all because of one man: Regan Banks. He viciously killed the only person in the world who matters to Harriet - and he plans to kill her next. As she recklessly speeds toward the dark side - and finally crosses it - Harriet won't stop until Regan pays for the many lives he has taken.

When firefighters discover the body of a teenage girl at an abandoned house, Detective Amanda Steele hurries to the scene. Dumfries, Virginia, is a small town, yet no one seems to have any idea who the dead girl is, until Amanda finds a dragonfly pin with the name Crystal engraved on it. Working tirelessly, Amanda traces the pin to Crystal Foster, a 13-year-old who disappeared three years ago from her wealthy parents’ home. Breaking the news to the distraught parents won’t be easy, but the loss of her own daughter still haunts Amanda, and she knows this will bring them closure.

Monroetown, where there’s a skeleton in every closet... After Gordon Greene is found safe, life is quiet for Reece Donelly until she discovers another threatening note. The same day, Gordon finds the body of a young woman floating at the edge of Lilac Lake. Is there a killer in their sleepy town? As Reece puts together the clues left by her stalker, she and her neighbor, Cloris, hear strange noises at night. Even Reece’s new companion, Durga, knows something is amiss. Then frightening messages show up in Reece’s apartment. How is the stalker getting inside? Another murder places Reece...

When the enemy is a blood-magic-wielding Orthodoxy, most private detectives allow someone else to deal with the problem. Not Kera MacDonagh! Unfortunately, she is presently dealing with a relationship that tries her patience. Her mother! Can she finish just one trip without one of them hurting the other or Kera becoming a raging alcoholic?

When Patrol Officer Lauren Starkly finds an unconscious teenage girl posed as a corpse, she learns that the offense mirrors two other recent assaults. The attack is intensely personal to Lauren—the girl is her daughter’s close friend. Lauren feels compelled to do some off-duty investigation. The perpetrator is intelligent and methodical, and essentially invisible. But Lauren has uncanny detection skills, and routinely finds evidence missed by the detectives. She earns official trouble for her effort, but the warnings from her superiors don’t keep her from tugging at elusive clues. As ...