Amateur Sleuth Mystery

When an elderly Miracle Springs resident, Lucille Wynter, arranges for Nora to deliver an order of books to her creepy, crumbling Southern Gothic mansion, Nora doesn't expect to be invited in. An agoraphobic, Lucille doesn't leave Wynter House. Nor does she invite anyone inside. But when Lucille doesn't come to the door to collect her books, Nora begins to worry. Forcing her way into Lucille's dilapidated home, Nora is shocked to find rooms packed to the ceiling with decaying books and a lifeless Lucille at the foot of her stairs.

Meg is Team Mom, and Michael is coach of their twin sons' youth baseball team, the Caerphilly Eagles. Meg tangles with Biff Brown, the petty, vindictive league head. On opening day Biff's lookalike brother is found dead in the porta-potty at the ball field. So many people think Biff's scum that it would be easy to blame him, but he has an alibi - and Meg suspects he may actually have been the intended victim.

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly) Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter...

Life in Lake Eden, Minnesota, is usually pleasantly uneventful. Lately, though, it seems everyone has more than their fair share of drama to manage. With so much on her plate, Hannah Swensen can barely find the time to think about her bakery - let alone the town's most recent murder... Hannah is nervous about the upcoming trial for her involvement in a tragic accident. She's eager to clear her name once and for all, but her troubles only double when she finds the judge bludgeoned to death with his own gavel.

Each December, the faculty of Balaclava Agricultural College goes wild with holiday decorations. The entire campus glitters with Christmas lights, save for one dark spot: the home of Professor Peter Shandy. But after years of resisting the school's Illumination festival, Shandy suddenly snaps, installing a million-watt display of flashing lights and blaring music perfectly calculated to drive his neighbors mad. Then the horticulturalist flees town, planning to spend Christmas on a tramp steamer. He returns home to find his lights extinguished - and a dead librarian in his living room.

Five chilling words flashed on Jack Stevens' screen—an anonymous message that shattered his fragile world. Again. A year has passed since his wife, Lisa, was brutally murdered—a case abandoned by the police due to lack of evidence. The lone clue: a haunting photograph found pinned to her lifeless body. Jack, an investigative journalist teetering on the edge of despair, finds new fire in those cryptic words. Determined to uncover the truth, Jack must wrestle with uncomfortable truths: Could these words hold the key to uncovering why Lisa was killed?

It’s 1968, London is in full swing, and the Savoy Hotel is at the height of its legendary glitz and glamour, welcoming the rich, famous, and aristocratic into its rarified world of perfection. Royals wait upstairs in luxurious suites for discreet encounters. All is as it should be at the Savoy. If only it weren’t for the dead body in Room 705. Could it be murder? Impossible! Who could have done such a thing? Suspicion falls upon Priscilla Tempest, the quick-witted Canadian head of the Savoy press office who has a penchant for champagne, the wrong sort of men—and trouble.

Mob head Sal Tarantino doesn't want big-time casino gambling to become legal in Rhode Island. His solution is to have the next governor comfortably in his pocket, ready to veto the legislation. That means calling in the debts owed to the mob by some of Rhode Island's most prominent politicians, to clear the way for Doug Fiore, managing partner of the state's largest law firm and soon-to-be reluctant gubernatorial candidate.

Pamela is hosting the next Knit and Nibble meeting and can't wait to liven up her otherwise empty home with colorful yarn, baking, and a little harmless gossip. She even recruits Amy Morgan, an old friend who recently moved to town, as the group's newest member. But on the night of the gathering, Amy doesn't show. Not until Pamela finds the woman dead outside - a knitting needle stabbed through the front of her handmade sweater....

Charlie and Simm, Montreal pub owners with a knack for sleuthing, thought they were taking on a straightforward case when Noah Wolfe hired them to find his missing family fortune. Their search leads them to the idyllic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, where they quickly realize this is no ordinary investigation. Joined by Noah's sharp-witted sister-in-law, Sarah, they dig into the Wolfe family's past at a grand estate brimming with secrets.

Under the Great British Baking Contest tent, the competition's heating up to be crowned Best Baker in all of Britain. For amateur baker Poppy Wilkinson, there are mysteries, secrets, and lies, even murders to solve. As a fledgling witch, Poppy's having enough trouble controlling her sponge cake, never mind trying to control her powers. Besides solving crime, Poppy's also trying to uncover the mystery surrounding her own background. Will she discover who she really is before she gets sent home? Or worse?

As the manager of Vino y Vida Wine Bar in Colinas, Cecelia "Cece" Barton's first Alexander Valley harvest is a whirlwind of activity. Her twin sister, Allie Halstead, who owns a nearby Victorian bed & breakfast, is accustomed to the hustle and bustle of peak tourist season. Just when it seems things can't grow any more intense, Colinas is rocked by a murder within the wine community . . . and Cece is identified as a possible suspect! With her reputation and her livelihood on the line—and the deputy sheriff breathing down her neck—Cece has no choice but to open up her own murder investigation.

In this entry from Anthony Award winner Charlaine Harris' New York Times best-selling series, the gorgeous and feisty telepath hits the road to find her missing boyfriend, who may have run off with his former lover - a notorious vamp.

Only recently, Roger Huntington was operating out of Berlin, where he was part of a shadowy organization tracking down killers. Now he's back in his hometown where the brutal murder of his late best friend's father has left the local police with more questions than answers--a murder that echoes the torture he and Tooth suffered in Skinny Man's basement so many years ago. Wading through the dark memories hanging over the town--his sister's death, his mother's eroding sanity--he must confront the possibility that a new killer is lurking in the shadows.

Housekeeper Phyllida Bright is quite in her element at Mallowan Hall, the charming English manor that she keeps in tip-top shape. By contrast, the bustling metropolis of London, where her famed employer Agatha Christie has temporarily relocated, leaves Phyllida a bit out of her depth. Not only must she grapple with a limited staff, but Phyllida also has to rein in a temperamental French cook who has the looks of Hercule Poirot, but none of the charm.

Ce soir-là, elle était la reine du bal... pour la dernière fois : la riche et mondaine Virginia Wakeling a été tuée lors du gala du Metropolitan Museum dont elle était l'une des plus généreuses donatrices, vraisemblablement précipitée du toit. Par qui ? L'affaire n'a jamais été élucidée. Trois ans plus tard, Laurie Moran, l'enquêtrice phare de l'émission Suspicion, s'empare du cold case. Elle découvre vite que Virginia était une femme très courtisée : un petit ami nettement plus jeune qu'elle, désigné à l'époque comme le principal suspect, mais également de nombreuses personnalités en vue - collectionneurs, promoteurs immobiliers, entrepreneurs... - avaient noué avec elle d'étroites relations. Tous étaient présents lors de la célèbre soirée caritative. Mais qui aurait eu intérêt à se débarrasser de Virginia ?

Society's eligible women are in mourning. Lord Peter Wimsey has married at last, having finally succeeded in his ardent pursuit of the lovely mystery novelist Harriet Vane. The two depart for a tranquil honeymoon in a country farmhouse but find, instead of a well-prepared love nest, the place left in a shambles by the previous owner. His sudden appearance, dead from a broken skull in the cellar, only prompts more questions. The honeymoon is over, as Lord Peter and Harriet Vane start their investigations.

The year 1920: Flying in the face of convention, legendary American adventuress Beryl Helliwell never fails to surprise and shock. The last thing her adoring public would expect is that she craves some peace and quiet. The humdrum hamlet of Walmsley Parva in the English countryside seems just the ticket. And, honestly, until America comes to its senses and repeals Prohibition, Beryl has no intention of returning stateside and subjecting herself to bathtub gin.

In the latest installment in the beloved Shady Hollow series, everyone's favorite vulpine investigator Vera Vixen must contend with a cold-hearted killer—and the ghost of her own past. It's a crisp, cool autumn in Shady Hollow, and preparations are underway for the annual Harvest Festival...

A dead hitchhiker, empty canisters found at the bottom of several trucks, and the murder of a harmless mechanic are the bizarre events that lead ex-jockey Freddie Croft to suspect that his transport company, Driving Force, is involved in drug smuggling, or something far worse.