Animal Mysteries

Harry Lyon was a rational man, a cop who refused to let his job harden his soul. Then one fateful day, he was forced to shoot a man--and a homeless stranger with bloodshot eyes uttered the haunting words that challenged Harry Lyon's sanity:"Ticktock, ticktock. You'll be dead in sixteen hours...

Learn how fossils teach us about dinosaurs.

It's summertime, and the weather on Hank's West Texas ranch is hot and dry. So dry, in fact, that everyone is on the lookout for prairie fires. So Hank bravely adds the title of Head of Fire Safety to his already impressive list of responsibilities and gets to work. But patrolling for fires is dull, and it's hard to do on an empty stomach. Despite the distractions - desperate hunger, a cruel trick at the hands of Pete the Barncat - Hank somehow manages to stay focused on the job at hand.

It's scrap day on the ranch, and Hank is looking forward to a delicious feast of juicy, fatty bacon scraps. But just as Little Alfred is doling out the goods, two very unusual-looking creatures fly overhead, and what was promising to be a glorious day takes a dramatic turn for the worse. Suddenly the scraps have vanished, and the Head of Ranch Security finds himself dealing with an invasion by a couple of ancient dinosaur birds! Can Hank get to the bottom of this latest mystery...before it's too late?

Trudell Becket, known to her friends as Tru, finds herself in a bind when her library in lovely Cypress, South Carolina, is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless "technological center". A library with no books breaks Tru's book-loving heart. Then the town manager, who was behind the big push for the library's transformation, is crushed by an overturned shelf of DVDs. Tru becomes the prime suspect as she hadn't hid the fact that she hated having all of those wonderful books replaced by tablets and computers.

When Emma Reed moved to the Cornish village of Trevena, she was looking forward to making new friends, opening up a small tea shop, and taking plenty of brisk walks with her talking dog, Oliver. But when a valuable motorcycle and an old skeleton are found together under the local pub, Emma's antique dealing friends David and Charles become prime suspects in a forty year old mystery. The local gossip is soon flowing faster than tea in Emma's shop, and old secrets are being unearthed right along with the old bones.

It's the grand opening of Daybreak Island's cat cafe, where customers can get cozy with an assortment of friendly felines - and maybe even take one or a few home. Co-owner Maddie James is purring with excitement over her new warm-and-fuzzy venture, until she becomes entangled in a petty drama between one of her volunteers and a wealthy woman who insists on adopting a calico kitty. The catfight that ensues is bad enough for business. But when the snubbed socialite is found dead with a tell-tale catnip toy on the scene, suspicion lands squarely on Maddie's staffer.

The remarkable untold story of a network of amateur researchers who debunked the Warren Report, raising questions about JFK's assassination that remain unanswered to this day—a riveting history of obsession, heartbreak, and the myth of the great American century from an Atlantic staff writer...

Persuaded by Polly Duncan, his beloved companion, to join her in a group tour of Scotland, Qwill expects to revel in his Scottish heritage while keeping Polly safe from the Pickax Prowler. Instead, his trip is cut short when a thief swipes a suitcase, the bus driver disappears, and a fellow tourist is found dead—all in the same day. Although the town of Pickax is in a tizzy over the recent events, Qwill has other, more puzzling worries on his mind: Who is the fellow still following Polly? Why is Koko licking Qwill's photographs of Scotland and tackling him on the apple barn stairs?

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.

Audrey Smart, 34, has made a major life change, walking away from her life as a vet (and from a string of failed romance) and moving to Sicily to buy a $1 home — and embark on a mandatory renovation she knows nothing about. Audrey is busy working to open the town’s new shelter, while also renovating her own problematic home — and dating again. With the help of friends, she begins taking in sick strays. But not everyone in town is grateful for her services, and she soon makes unexpected enemies.

When Sally May and Loper head off to visit the relatives, leaving Slim in charge of Little Alfred, Hank knows that trouble is sure to come knocking. But not even the Head of Ranch Security could have predicted what would happen.

Soon after banker Willard Carmichael and his young bride arrive in Pickax, a string of petty burglaries follow. Then Willard meets his demise—an apparent victim of a mugging—and the banker's home restoration project goes to the widow's cousin. Though the clues are as elusive as a cat burglar, the suspicious Qwill and his feline companions, Koko and Yum Yum, are determined to catch a thief—and a killer.

Dr. Kate is once again on the case (not to mention thin ice) after discovering a young engaged couple frozen to death in the lake. To make matters worse, her temporary receptionist appears to have overdosed from a recreational sedative used at the animal hospital. Kate barely has time to dread Valentine's Day (and the fact that she’s alone on this holiday, once again) as the police investigation shows that all three fatalities are in fact homicides.

This collection of short stories of Chet the dog, “the most lovable narrator in all of crime fiction” (Boston Globe), and his human partner, PI Bernie Little includes: "Upper Story," "The Iggy Papers," and "The Numbers After Two."

A series of bogus reports of active shooters has rattled the Fort Worth PD. The SWAT team has been repeatedly deployed to what turn out to be nonevents. When no connection can be made between the "swatting" calls, Megan's mentor, Detective Bustamente, is at a loss. Are the phony calls being made by copycat criminals, or is there a link they haven't yet been able to identify? Megan and Brigit join the investigation. But will they be able to stop the calls before the department's reaction turns deadly?

This collection includes Olivia Nibblesqueak's Messy Mischief, Evie Scruffypup's Big Surprise, Chloe Slipperslide's Secret, Grace Woollyhop's Musical Mystery and Mia Floppyear's Snowy Adventure.

When Evelyn, her brother Elliot, and their loyal dog Ozzy meet the mysterious old groundskeeper Thomas, they stumble into a centuries-old secret hidden deep beneath the ruins of Tynemouth Priory. What begins as a moonlit adventure soon becomes a race against time as riddles, secret tunnels, and a locked stone chest lead them to a powerful relic once fought over by pirates and monks. But someone else is hunting the treasure too—a shadowy figure who will stop at nothing to claim it.

Polly Duncan is off to Paris, temporarily leaving Jim Qwilleran without his lady companion. Good thing there's lots to keep Jim busy. Like a mysterious death from a bee sting that leaves everyone but Koko the Siamese in a state of confusion. If only the kitty with sixty whiskers would stop...

As the new owner of the Coral Shores Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Emily Benton is in over her head. When she makes a house call at the home of her client, Mrs. Eliza Klein, she finds the woman's terrier, Elvis, in a state of distress and Mrs. Klein face down on the floor-dead. Emily immediately contacts her brother, Deputy Sheriff Duncan Benton, for help. The cause of death is later determined to be nicotine poisoning, triggering an official murder investigation. Who would want to kill a retired piano teacher best known for her animal charity work?