Cozy Women Sleuths

Addie Greyborne loved working with rare books at the Boston Public Library - she even got to play detective, tracking down clues about mysterious old volumes. But she didn't expect her sleuthing skills to come in so handy in a little seaside town....

All Doreen Diller wanted was to be an A-List movie star. But after finding out her family in Florida is related to the mob, she may have to settle for Plan B—a hasty exit, stage right. Sophia, the reigning Godmother, is about to turn one hundred. But someone is determined to end her centennial celebration with a bang and grab the throne for themselves.

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death: Putting all her eggs in one basket, Agatha Raisin gives up her successful PR firm, sells her London flat, and samples a taste of early retirement in the quiet village of Carsely and enters a local baking contest. But her recipe for social advancement sours when the judge not only snubs her entry―but falls over dead! Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet: Agatha Raisin hasn't quite adjusted to the slow pace of village life, or to the failure of her overtures to her handsome neighbor, James Lacey.

Irish immigrant and private detective Molly Murphy is thrilled to have a ticket to see world-famous illusionist Harry Houdini. But before he can even take the stage, the opening act goes horribly wrong—and the sensational Signor Scarpelli’s lovely assistant is sawed in half. In the aftermath, Scarpelli accuses Houdini of tampering with his equipment. Who else but the so-called Handcuff King could have got a hold of his trunk of tricks, which he keeps under lock and key?

In the latest in Rhys Bowen's award-winning historical series, Molly Murphy is supposed to give up sleuthing now that she’s married, but the murder of an alderman puts her on the trail of a killer.

Siobhán is looking forward to visiting the new bookshop and curling up with an exciting novel - only to discover the shelves contain nothing but Literature with a capital L. Despite the owner deliberately limiting his clientele, he’s hosting a reading and autographing event featuring up-and-coming Irish writers. Among them is indie author Deirdre Walsh, whose body is found the next day in the back of the store.

It's Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn. But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.

In a fit of anger, radio DJ Jaye Jordan blows a snowman’s head off with a Revolutionary War-style musket. But the corpse that tumbles out is all too human. Jaye thought life would be quieter when she left New York City and bought a tiny Vermont radio station. But now Edwin Anger — the ranting and raving radio talk-show host who Jaye recently fired — lies dead in the snow. And the Edwin Anger fans who protested his dismissal are sure she killed him.

Private detective Agatha Raisin, having recently taken up power-walking, is striding along a path in Mircester Park during her lunch break when she hears a cry for help. Rushing over, she finds an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Swinburn, in the middle of the green — with the body of an old man lying at their feet.

After dumping her cheating fiancé and canceling the wedding, Mallory Shepard can't bear another disaster. So when the former bride-to-be unexpectedly inherits Thistle Park, a ramshackle mansion in her ex's hometown of Port Quincy, it's a problem she can't afford - literally. It’s full of stray cats, peeling wallpaper, and nosy neighbors, and Mallory is dying to sell it off - once she finally fixes up both the place and her messy life.

Zara Riddle was looking forward to her first Halloween as a witch. Then the little girl ghost showed up. Zara puts costume shopping on hold, rolls up her sleeves, and does her usual "witcher-i-doo". But nothing works as planned. Mistakes are made. Dinner parties are ruined. (More than usual.) Could this stubborn spirit be connected to a family member's past? Perhaps the "big tragic secret" nobody talks about? Zara won't rest until she gets to the truth, even if means pushing the whole coven to the breaking point. And break they do.

In the first volume of a new series for younger listeners, Nancy gets to show off her sleuthing abilities while at her friend Deirdre's sleepover. Everyone's excited for pizza, cake and even a movie. But when Deirdre's Hollywood Heather doll goes missing, the fun stops, and,Nancy springs into action.

Irish immigrant Molly Murphy and her New York City P.I. business are in the midst of a sweeping influenza epidemic and a fight for women’s suffrage that lands her in jail. Her betrothed, Police Captain Daniel Sullivan, finds her, but he hardly has time to bail her out, what with Chinese gangs battling for control of a thriving opium trade. The only consolation Molly can take from her vexing afternoon in the clink is that it made her some new friends among the Vassar suffragists - and brought her a pair of new cases.

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. And that’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

While gathering a collection of vintage book cover paintings for a special event in her quaint Rhode Island bookshop, Penelope discovers a spooky portrait of a beautiful woman, one who supposedly went mad, according to town gossip. Seymour, the local mailman, falls in love with the haunting image and buys the picture, refusing to part with it, even as fatal accidents befall those around it. Is the canvas cursed? Or is something more sinister at work?

Hustling her fiance off to a neighboring tourist town might be the only way Jill Gardner can plan her nuptials to South Cove's in-demand police detective. But when a mystery man turns up dead at South Cove's PD, Greg is hightailing it back home to investigate, leaving Jill to finish the vacation solo. Jill can barely get in a spa day before her own respite is spoiled by a greedy hotel guest and unexpected revelations about Max Winter, the developer conniving to buy her home out from under her.

Sharing lodging in the sleepy English village of Walmsley Parva has eased some of the financial strain on the two old school chums, but money is still tight in these years following the Great War. So when the local vicar - and pigeon-racing club president - approaches them with a private inquiry opportunity, the ladies accept. There's been a spot of bother: The treasurer has absconded with the club's funds and several prized birds. But when they visit the man's loft, they find their elusive quarry lying in white feathers and a pool of crimson blood - the only witnesses cooing mournfully.

When Private Investigator Agatha Raisin learns that her friend and one-time lover Charles Fraith is to be married to a mysterious socialite, Miss Mary Brown-Field, she sees it as her duty to find out what she can about the woman. Coming up empty, Agatha - out of selfless concern for Charles, of course - does the only sensible thing she can think of: She crashes their wedding, which ends in a public altercation. Nursing a hangover the next morning, she gets a phone call from Charles, with even more disturbing news: Mary has been murdered.

College English professor Alison Bergeron thought that dating a cute NYPD detective like Bobby Crawford would be exciting and involve a lot of riding around in cruisers and putting away sleazy crooks, but he has yet to invite her on any stakeouts.... Then when a friend asks her to help him find his nephew, she goes to Bobby for advice only to find out that he already knows about the case. He pulled the boy out of the Hudson River a few days earlier. The boy’s employer calls it an accident, but Alison and Bobby aren’t convinced.

What's a little arson between friends? Undercover CIA agent Fortune Redding spent her first three weeks in Sinful, Louisiana, dodging insults, makeup advice, guard dogs, bullets, and Deputy Carter Trahan, both professionally and personally. But just when she thinks things are going to settle down in the small bayou town, someone sets her friend Ally's house on fire. Carter, who'd just started pursuing Fortune on a personal basis, goes back into cop mode and admonishes her to stay out of his investigation.