Cozy Crime Fiction

When Jack and Sarah are called in to investigate mysterious pranks at an exclusive girls' private school, it seems at first that it might be the work of a few mean pupils with a grudge. But things quickly turn serious when a popular teacher meets a sudden, violent death. Now, with murder in the air, Jack and Sarah have their own lessons to learn about the Cherringham Girls School, its dark secrets... and who wanted that teacher dead before they learned the truth.

There's a new man in charge at Bow Street Magistrates' Court and all is not well. His ambition is to split up Lavender and Woods—and to add to Lavender's woes, someone is leaking exaggerated stories about his investigations to The Times. Lavender is tasked with solving the theft of an aristocrat's precious jewels, while Woods is instructed to track down a libeler. But after a series of vicious murders and surprising coincidences, they discover that these apparently unconnected crimes have more in common than they could ever have imagined.

Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye, is having a hard time getting over a gunshot wound from her last case-especially because she didn't see the shots coming. Out of work and second-guessing her abilities, she tries to get back in the saddle by helping her boyfriend Dutch with some of his FBI cases. And soon enough, her intuition returns-with a vengeance.

It’s late evening when the Regional Control Centre receives a mysterious 999 call. No one speaks, but the call location is somewhere along a narrow, hardly used tree-lined stretch of road that leads nowhere. With no uniformed officers free to investigate, they pass the call on to DC Judy Lane at Llangwelli station. Lane informs DS Norman Norman who, concerned it may be a trap, agrees to meet her at the scene. But when Norman arrives, he finds a dead motorcyclist sitting against a tree, and the young detective unconscious nearby.

This December in Kilbane, if you’re planning to warm up with a cuppa tea at Naomi’s Bistro, you may have a bit of a wait - the entire O’Sullivan brood has gone off to West Cork to spend the holidays with brother James’s fiancée Elise’s family, including her grandfather, the famous orchestral conductor Enda Elliot. Siobhán is so happy for James and Elise, but she’s also quietly disappointed that she must put her own wedding to fellow garda Macdara Flannery on hold. Then a cantankerous conductor is discovered crushed under a 90-pound harp in a local concert hall.

Carole Seddon has never enjoyed holidays much. Nevertheless, she has allowed herself to be persuaded by her friend Jude to accept a fortnight’s free accommodation at a luxurious Turkish villa owned by Jude’s property developer friend Barney Willingdon. But from the outset the holiday is marred by a series of menacing incidents.

Five thrilling tales of mystery, mayhem, and murder from an exceptional quintet of Edgar, CWA Dagger, and National Book Award winners.

There was a certain heavy air of intrigue and mystery emanating from the old inn high on the cliff top. The Catherine-Wheel had once been a home for pirates and smugglers, but now it looked like it was harbouring a murderer. It had begun with an advertisement in the paper requesting descendants of the late innkeeper, Jeremiah Taverner, to stay for a weekend at the inn. They had arrived, a mixed assortment, to the family reunion eager to discover the secrets of their ancestry. But one of them had been hideously murdered, bringing the inn's stormy past into frightening focus.

Jo Jones has always had a little trouble fitting in. As a neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor and divorced New Yorker transplanted into the English countryside, Jo doesn’t know what stands out more: her Americanisms or her autism. After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, she couldn’t be happier to take possession of a possibly haunted (and clearly unwanted) family estate in North Yorkshire. But when the body of the moody town groundskeeper turns up on her rug with three bullets in his back, Jo finds herself in potential danger—and she’s also a potential suspect.

When the Zakro Corporation attempts to build a mammoth supermarket outside Cherringham, the whole village is up in arms. But the accidental death of lead environmentalist Sam Lewis seems to hand victory to the developers. Could Sam's opposition to the project be the real reason he died? When Jack and Sarah take on the case, they will learn that what looked like an accident was - in fact - one very wild murder.

Decorations of cobwebs and creatures are just being taken down across Eastport’s picturesque houses as the community says farewell to Halloween and ushers in winter with the unique confections found only at the Chocolate Moose. Revelers have gathered on the waterfront for a party at local celebrity Hank Rafferty’s ramshackle mansion, known as Stone House. The home repair TV show star and his guests await a devilish dessert delivery from Jake and Ellie—who arrive just after Hank falls to his death from the house’s turret’s balcony.

It's a perfectly normal day for Kitt Hartley at her job at the University of the Vale of York library, until Detective Inspector Halloran arrives at her desk to tell her that her best friend, Evie Bowes, is under suspicion of murder. Evie's ex-boyfriend Owen has been found dead - with a fountain pen stabbed through his heart - and all the evidence points to her. Kitt knows there is no way Evie could murder anyone - let alone Owen, whom she adored.

Kitty Underhay is looking forward to a week of long lunches and wedding planning with her husband-to-be, Captain Matthew Bryant. But the plan is derailed when he is called on to collect a former comrade-in-arms, arriving on the 15:50 from Paddington. As the train bearing Simon Travers pulls up to the platform, a piercing scream rises over the screech of its brakes. Travers is dead in his seat, a dagger in his heart. Only a few individuals had access to Travers’s compartment, and Kitty must find out which of these seemingly benign passengers is, in fact, a cross-country killer.

Dan Armstrong and the new love of his life, Anna, are heading to a hotel deep in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside for a long weekend, looking forward to some time away from the stresses of their day jobs. With the beautiful and historic city of Siena just around the corner, it promises to be relaxing and enjoyable. What could possibly go wrong? But when a mutilated body is discovered in the hotel grounds Dan is called in to help with the investigation. But who or what could have been responsible for such a vicious attack? Was it the work of wild animals, or is there a brutal murderer at large?

A woman in tears in the Dales Detective Agency is never the best way to start the week. But when that woman is the wife of Bernard Taylor, town mayor and eminent businessman, there is even more cause for alarm. So when Nancy Taylor asks the detectives to investigate whether her husband is having an affair, Samson O’Brien and Delilah Metcalfe know they will have to tread carefully. The case, however, proves to be more complex than even they had imagined.

Winter is leaving the residents of Glenkillen snowbound, but Eden isn't about to let the weather dampen her spirits. With only a little time left in Scotland, she's determined to make the most of it - starting with attending a fancy whisky tasting with local looker Leith Cameron. But her classy date turns into a major party foul after a woman is found drowned in one of the vats of alcohol.

Police photographer Sukey Reynolds is called to investigate a seemingly routine break-in at the beautiful Dearley Manor estate, but when she arrives, she is shocked to find the body of someone she knows all too well. The owner of Dearley Manor is none other than the wealthy woman whom Sukey’s husband, Paul Reynolds, left her for...and she has been brutally murdered. With her close personal connection, Sukey is officially pulled off the case. But as the police close in on Paul, convinced he is guilty, Sukey realises she has no choice but to try and prove his innocence.

It started as a student exercise, the knife under the drape, the model's pose chalked in place. But before Agatha Troy, artist and instructor, returns to the class, the pose has been re-enacted in earnest: the model is dead, fixed for ever in one of the most dramatic poses Troy has ever seen. It's a difficult case for Chief Detective Inspector Alleyn. How can he believe that the woman he loves is a murderess? And yet no one can be above suspicion.

It’s love at first sight when Penelope Kite sees Le Chant d’Eau - The Song of Water - the stone farmhouse tucked high in the hills above the Luberon valley. For years, Penelope put her unfaithful ex-husband and her ungrateful stepchildren first. Now, she’s going to start living for herself. Though her dream house needs major renovations, Penelope impulsively buys the property and moves to St. Merlot. But Penelope’s daydreams of an adventurous life in Provence didn’t include finding a corpse floating face down in her swimming pool.

L'extravagante Priscilla Tempest est l'attachée de presse du très prestigieux hôtel Savoy à Londres. Au cœur des fringantes années 1960, l'établissement accueille des invités célèbres : Elizabeth Taylor et Richard Burton se crêpent le chignon dans le lobby, des membres de la famille royale folâtrent dans les couloirs… Rien qui ne saurait entacher la réputation du lieu. Rien, sauf peut-être ce cadavre retrouvé dans la suite 705 ? Un meurtre au Savoy ? Shocking !