Animal Mysteries

"Harry" Haristeen and her friends and animal companions pursue the threads of a mystery dating back to Virginia's post-Revolutionary past, introduced in A Hiss Before Dying, while their 18th century predecessors continue to struggle with the challenges of the fledgling country.

Drawing on 40 years of research and stories, Sylvia Browne gives us an exploratory look at how animals "live" after death on the Other Side. From our pets' never-ending loyalty, heroic deeds, and comedic behavior to how animals see spirits, Browne shares heartwarming and tear-jerking tales about pets from across the country and around the world.

It's summer in Mayville Heights, and Kathleen Paulson and her detective boyfriend Marcus are eager to attend the closing concert of the local music festival. The concert is a success, but then one of the band members is discovered dead shortly after it. At first it's assumed the death is a robbery gone wrong, but Kathleen suspects foul play - and she's certain that she, along with her trusty side-cats, Owen and Hercules, can help solve the murder.

When a millionaire is murdered and his Persian is orphaned, cat groomer Cassie must solve the case using clues from the feline before someone tries to silence them for good.

Holly Miller is delighted that her grandmother has finally left the Sugar Maple Inn to take a well-deserved vacation. It means that Holly's in charge, but running the inn might be more challenging than she realized. Wagtail's throwing a weekend-long murder mystery game to draw in tourists during the slow season, the inn has a full house, and a blizzard is on the way. Trouble is unleashed the night the game begins, when the storm blows in and the lights go out.

When an extra $5000 shows up in her bank account, Kinsey Millhone puts it down to a clerical error. But suddenly the deposit makes sense. It's not a mistake, it's a setup. Kinsey now has a new client: herself/ As she unravels the frame, she finds her future tied to one family's secret, hidden...

Celeste Cabot has a flair for painting - and a touch of paranormal talent, too. She's just arrived to sell her artwork at a big craft fair in North Carolina, complete with rides, games, and deep-fried everything. But the sunny landscape takes on a darker hue when her Chihuahua, Van Gogh, leads her to the riverbank - and to a body that was definitely not part of her design.

Although Sarah Grayson is often tending to the contained chaos of her delightful secondhand store in North Harbor, Maine, plus dealing with the quirky personality of her rescue cat, Elvis, she still takes an occasional night off. But her evening out comes to an abrupt end when Sarah discovers Stella Hall, a member of the library board, standing over a body in the street.

Maddie James has big plans for the summer season at JJ’s House of Purrs. But when her friend, master meditator and Tai Chi teacher Cass Hendricks, brings a potential animal hoarding situation to her attention, Maddie has to refocus her attention on the furry felines who may need a helping paw.

The Tour de Cascade is the brainchild of Charming Books proprietor Violet Waverly's Grandma Daisy. But not everyone in this Niagara Region village supports the race. As if the bike race weren't tiring enough, pesky private investigator Joel Redding is snooping around Charming Books. When Redding perishes in an accident during the race, David discovers that the brake line of the private eye's bike was cut. Worse, Violet tops his list of suspects. As Emerson the tuxedo cat and resident crow Faulkner look on, Charming Books steers Violet to the works of Walt Whitman to solve the crime.

America's favorite dog comes to pet-friendly Wagtail for some rest and relaxation, but Holly quickly discovers that this perfect pup is a total scamp who takes every opportunity to run off and misbehave. During an outdoor treasure-hunting game, the star dog and Trixie, Holly's beloved Jack Russell terrier, stumble across a dead body. Holly has more than murder to worry about, though, when a man shows up after reading an article featuring Trixie in a magazine and claims that he is the dog's rightful owner.

In addition to his library duties and his role as doting grandad, Charlie has enrolled in an early medieval history course offered by young, charismatic professor Carey Warriner. Charlie feels a bit out of place - his fellow classmates are half his age - except for Dixie Bell Compton, another "mature" student. When Charlie hears an angry exchange between her and their professor, his interest in piqued. He's even more intrigued when she shows up at his office asking for a study partner.

Spencer Quinn's Heart of Barkness is the latest in the New York Times best-selling series that the Los Angeles Times called "nothing short of masterful".

Charlie and Diesel, along with Charlie's fiancee, Helen Louise Brady, are heading to Asheville, North Carolina, to spend a week at a boutique hotel and participate in a gathering of a mystery reader's club composed of patrons of the Athena Public Library. The always spry Ducote sisters, friends of the hotel's owners, are helping underwrite the expenses, and they've insisted that Charlie, Helen, and Diesel join them. When an intrusive, uninvited guest turns up dead, only one mystery club member with a connection to the deceased appears to have a motive to kill.

Charlie Harris has sworn off investigating murder and mayhem after a recent close call. Instead, he's delighted to cheer on his daughter, Laura, who's starring in a production of Careless Whispers. Laura is upset to learn that Luke Lombardi, an overbearing actor she knew from her time in Hollywood, will also be taking part in the production as a guest artist. When he collapses and dies on stage after drinking from a glass Laura handed him, she becomes the chief suspect in his murder. Charlie knows his daughter is innocent.

Raine Stockton and her high-spirited, big-hearted golden retriever, Cisco, are accustomed to being heroes wherever they go. But there's a new dog in town, and Raine and Cisco find themselves upstaged by a flashy K-9 addition to the sheriff's department. Nike and her handler, Jolene, are part of a new government-funded program. Though Raine admires Nike's talent almost as much as she resents Jolene's arrogance, she wonders why the Department of Homeland Security would send such an expensive gift to their sleepy Smoky Mountain community.

Holly Miller and her grandmother, Oma, are working their tails off to prepare the Sugar Maple Inn for an upcoming matchmaking event for pet owners. While Holly has no interest in pairing up, Oma plans on playing Cupid and finding someone to warm her reluctant granddaughter's heart. Unfortunately, one man Holly does meet is cold - dead cold - and he has a personal letter from Oma in his pocket.

Cressida’s hopes for a relaxing journey are dashed when a gunshot resounds through the carriages. Industrial tycoon Lewis Warriner has been shot dead in his cabin. And as this train has been racing through the countryside, the culprit must be among Cressy’s fellow passengers. Teaming up with Detective Andrews of Scotland Yard, also on his way back to London, they work their way through the suspects. Did Warriner’s mistress, a famous dancer, see his death as her ticket on to the silver screen? Or was it the mysterious man who can’t take his eyes off Lewis’s close companion?

A grieving young widow, Charlene needed a new start - so she bought a historic mansion, sight unseen, and drove from Chicago to New England to start turning it into a bed-and-breakfast. On her first night in the house, she awakens to find a handsome man with startling blue eyes in her bedroom. Terror turns to utter disbelief when he politely introduces himself as Jack Strathmore - and explains that he used to live here - when he was alive. He firmly believes that someone pushed him down the stairs three years ago, and he won't be able to leave until someone figures out who.

Maddie is hoping to have some downtime during Daybreak Island's off-season to tackle her to-do list. Her grandfather's house-turned-cat-cafe is under construction, and she's also scoping out places to open a juice bar on the island. On top of that, her relationship with adorable dog groomer Lucas has taken a pawsitive turn. But easy is getting harder every day for Maddie, especially when a big-name writer who's on the island working on a new project winds up floating in the canal.