Historical Cozy

The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Fifty-something widow Willow Foxglove's dream is to operate a herbal tea shop. If only she could stop tripping over dead bodies long enough to organize the business! When murder comes to peaceful Aniseed Valley, Willow Foxglove is on the case. Believing the local sheriff to be unequal to the challenge, she pursues leads in between building a new tea shop and looking after her Maine Coon kitten, Mavis.

Cornwall, 1854. The people of Roche have always whispered about the recluse in the black granite tower that looms above the moorland. But one young woman is driven to discover the truth behind the old tales. Her life overshadowed by family tragedy, Mina Penrose escapes her lonely days by working at The Magpie, a cozy tearoom on the village’s edge. Lately she’s been seeing shapes in the sodden leaves that hint at the future. After one such omen, Mina stumbles upon a murdered man on the heath.

London glitters during a snowstorm, and Posie Parker, Private Detective, and her best friend, Dolly, Countess Cardigeon, enjoy a fashion show hosted by Liberty on Regent Street. Rudolph Valentino, the most famous movie star in the whole world, is also there, incognito, and he seeks Posie’s help: he’s in the country researching for a new film, but he’s also been asked to be this year’s surprise guest who will switch on the Christmas lights at Piccadilly, among crowds of excited shoppers.

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they've just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life. But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There's a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation...

England, 1920. Eleanor Swift has spent the last few years travelling the world: taking tea in China, tasting alligators in Peru, escaping bandits in Persia and she has just arrived in England after a chaotic 45-day flight from South Africa. Chipstone is about the sleepiest town you could have the misfortune to meet. But then, from the edge of a quarry, through the driving rain, Eleanor is shocked to see a man shot and killed in the distance. Before she can climb down to the spot, the villain is gone and the body has vanished.

From the authors of the best-selling series CHERRINGHAM. This compilation contains episodes 10-12:. CITY HEAT. Kat brings Harry across the Atlantic to New York for a planned whirlwind time in her hometown. But when wealthy Teddy Crowther is kidnapped by the mob, the pair are called in to help. Soon they find themselves playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse. FOOL'S GOLD. When young Ewan Mackay sails his small dinghy out to a mysterious wreck site a few miles off the coast of Littlehampton, he never returns.

Lady Eleanor Swift is at Buckingham Palace to see her new husband, Detective Chief Inspector Seldon, knighted. Brimming with pride, all she can hope is that Gladstone the bulldog behaves himself in front of the king. But the happy day is overshadowed when Dilly Dalrymple, a royal guard, collapses. The head of the royal police asks Eleanor and Hugh to investigate the murder–unofficially. This is her first clue that there’s more to the story....

England, 1941. When Jane Treen is summoned to her boss’s office at the end of a long day, she smooths down her tweed skirt and makes them both another strong pot of coffee. Brigadier Remmington-Blythe slides a folded copy of the evening newspaper towards her, with one small article circled in red ink. A body has been found on an English beach in the little seaside town where she grew up, and he wants her to investigate. Jane is used to managing secret agents and spies, but she is now part of The Secret Detective Agency, England’s answer to solving the most mysterious murders.

THE YEAR IS 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

TWO BESTSELLING MYSTERIES IN ONE GREAT PACKAGE! THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE The Murder at the Vicarage is Agatha Christie’s first mystery to feature the beloved investigator Miss Marple—as a dead body in a clergyman’s study proves to the indomitable sleuth that no place, holy or otherwise...

New York, 1908: The days are getting longer—and warmer—in Manhattan. Molly Murphy Sullivan doesn’t want to leave her home in the city, but typhoid is back, and she’s expecting. So she heads north with the children to summer with her mother-in-law in Westchester County. Molly tells herself it won’t be so bad, after all the countryside is pretty, and she’s determined to make the best of it. Even if she’s leaving her husband, Daniel, behind. And at least she’s not the only one heading north. Her great friends, Sid and Gus, are headed to the Catskills to visit Sid’s family.

Georgie, back home at her estate in Eynsleigh, impatiently awaits the birth of her baby. But she has plenty to occupy her: Her new chef, Pierre, has arrived from Paris, and Sir Hubert, who owns Eynsleigh, is back from his latest expedition. It's time for Georgie to throw her first house party to celebrate his return and show off her new chef. The dinner party is a smashing success. Sir Mortimer Mordred—famous author of creepy Gothic horror novels—is one of the guests. He recently purchased a nearby Elizabethan manor nearby because it has a famous poison garden.

Molly Murphy always knew she'd end up in trouble, just as her mother predicted. So, when she commits murder in self-defense, she flees her cherished Ireland, under cover of a false identity, for the anonymous shores of late 19th-century America. When she arrives in New York and sees the welcoming promise of freedom in the Statue of Liberty, Molly begins to breathe easier. But when a man is murdered on Ellis Island, a man Molly was seen arguing with, she becomes a prime suspect in the crime.

Spring, 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, amateur sleuth and all-round eccentric, is enjoying a well-deserved rest. But a week after a trip to the cattle market, Spencer Caradine, a local farmer, turns up dead in the pub, face-down in his beef and mushroom pie. Once again, it is up to Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, to solve the case. Armed with wit and whimsy, not to mention Florence’s mean right hook, the pair set out to discover what really happened and why. Was it poison or just ill luck?

It’s 1958, and Evelyn Elizabeth Grace Murphy has not left the Pinnacle Hotel in fourteen months. She suffers from agoraphobia, and what’s more, it’s her father’s hotel, and everything she needs is there. She’s always been good at finding things. Fifteen years earlier, she discovered her mother dead. Now, she’s finding trouble inside her sanctuary. At a party for artist Billie Bell, his newest work is stolen, and Evelyn’s fake boyfriend, movie star Henry Fox, is accused of the theft. But just as Evelyn sets out to prove Henry’s innocence, she finds Billie Bell dead.

Who killed Sir Crispin Gibbons? A wedding invitation and news of mischief that could be murder, takes Lennox to the Earl of Bloxford's country pile. He soon finds himself in a world of purloined artworks, forgeries and a priceless Bloxford Beauty. But who are the Bloxford Beauties? And why are they the focal point around which swirls death? Lennox must confront life-long friends, unscrupulous artists and dealers to finally unravel a plot so complex that even his old adversary, Chief Inspector Swift of Scotland Yard, is befuddled.

Discover how Meghan Truman, Sandy Bay's latest resident and new bakery owner, navigates her way through three murder mysteries as she gets to know the quirky characters in her adopted hometown after failing to make a career as an actress in Hollywood. The town's local detective, Jack Irvin, has an eye for Meghan, but will she find time to build a romance while she tries to clear her name?

Scotland, 1924: When Lady Poppy Proudfoot travels to the Highlands for a midsummer party, the last thing she and her fellow guests expect is for a body to wash up beside the loch. Despite protests that it could have been an accident, Poppy is convinced it’s murder and decides to dust off her law degree and hunt for clues. But when the police arrive, the grumpy Inspector MacKenzie dismisses her evidence, insisting a crime scene is no place for a Lady. The nerve!

Isabella Waverly only means to comfort the woman felled on a London street. In her final dying moments, she thrusts a letter into Bella’s hand. It’s an offer of employment in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace, and everything the budding young chef desperately wants: an escape from the constrictions of her life as a lowly servant. In the stranger’s stead, Bella can spread her wings. Arriving as Helen Barton from Yorkshire, she pursues her passion for creating culinary delights, served to the delighted Queen Victoria herself.