Historical Detective

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A finger in a wedding cake is only the beginning in this deliciously shocking mystery featuring Flavia de Luce, “the world’s greatest adolescent British chemist/busybody/sleuth” (The Seattle Times). Although it is autumn in the small English town of Bishop’s...

The gathering has the appearance of a smart autumn house party - stunning women and powerful men enjoying a few days of leisurely pleasure in a setting of exquisite beauty. In fact, the guests are Irish Protestants and Catholics gathered in a reluctant parley over home rule for Ireland, a problem that has plagued the British Isles since the reign of Elizabeth I. When the meeting's moderator, government bigwig Ainsley Greville, is found murdered in his bath, the negotations seemed doomed.

The world is poised for social and political change, but England holds tight to its traditions, classes, and prejudices. When an explosion in London kills two policemen and seriously injures three more, many believe that anarchists are the culprits. But Thomas Pitt, commander of Special Branch, knows the city's radical groups well enough to suspect otherwise: that someone with decidedly more personal motives lit the deadly fuse.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Hailed as “a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes” by The Boston Globe, Flavia de Luce returns in a Christmas mystery from award-winning author Alan Bradley. In spite of being ejected from Miss Bodycote’s Female Academy in Canada, twelve-year-old Flavia...

On a cold night in February, the popular Lighterman's ball festivities are cut short when a guest of honor, Stephen Bremmer, goes into spasms and abruptly collapses. Once again Inspector Witherspoon returns to the Wrexley Hotel to investigate a murder. The victim was considered a boorish snob who felt entitled to anything and anyone he wanted. Yet despite his Oxford education, he was barely literate, lazy, and prone to make stupid mistakes - his last mistake turned out to be crossing a killer.

Father Mercier is on a mission to save the souls of the possessed in the Kingdom of France, but he makes a mistake when he pries a young woman from the arms of her loving family in the sleepy village of Crécy-la-Chapelle. For this is the home of Templar Knight Sir Marcus de Rancourt and his men, and the young woman is a friend. Once word is received of her abduction, Sir Marcus and his men spring into action to not only try and save their friend, but uncover the shocking secret behind what motivates this unholy exorcist and his loyal followers.

An NPR Book of the Year A Crime Reads Best Crime Book of 2018 A vicious murder puts Bernie Gunther on the trail of World War 2 criminals in Greece in this riveting historical thriller in Philip Kerr's New York Times bestselling series. Munich, 1956. Bernie Gunther has a new name, a chip on his...

It is 1969 and Glasgow is in the grip of the worst winter in decades, yet it is something else that has Glaswegians on edge: a serial killer whose name alone is enough to make them tremble with fear. The Quaker has killed another victim, snatching a young woman from a nightclub and dumping her body like trash in the back of a cold-water tenement. He leaves no clues, and the investigation has led police down one blind alley after another.

In the Spring of 1926, the corpses of three men are found in shallow graves off the beaten path in Epping Forest outside of London - each shot through the heart and bearing no identification. DCI Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, the lead detective, is immediately given two urgent orders by his supervisor at the Yard: solve the murders quickly and keep his wife, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher, away from the case! Thankfully, Daisy's off visiting their daughter at school. But when a teacher is found dead, Daisy is once again in the thick of it.

The evidence was all there: a dead body, two dessert plates, and a gun. Could it be that Mr. Ashbury was sharing his cake with his killer? The old bloke had enemies galore - even his own daughter disliked him. Mr. Ashbury's son-in-law doesn't want Inspector Witherspoon asking questions. Of course this doesn't stop Mrs. Jeffries and her staff from snooping around.

When Harriet Gordon receives word from a friend about a tragic death, she and Inspector Curran are thrust into a web of family secrets that threatens to destroy them both in this all-new mystery from the author of Singapore Sapphire. Singapore, 1910—Harriet Gordon has found fulfillment at last...

A hilarious thriller that pits a CIA-trained assassin against a cross-dressing Mafioso. Henry and his wife Frances have gone bamboo—living an idyllic, tequila-drenched life as two of the Caribbean’s most charming expatriates (and professional assassins). But when Charlie “Wagons”...

Private enquiry agent Cyrus Barker, along with his partner Thomas Llewelyn, has a long, accomplished history—he's worked with all aspects of society, from the highest (including the Crown and the government) to the lowest (various forces in London's underworld). He's been the target of murder attempts, character assassination, bombings and attacks upon his closest associates but never has he and his agency partner Thomas Llewelyn faced such destruction and potential disaster.

“Alafair Burke's latest propulsive thrill-ride is a suspenseful, twisty mystery about memory, friendship and secrets. A page-turner of the highest order.” -Laura Dave, author of The Last Thing He Told Me The disappearance of a young woman leaves her best friend reeling and an NYPD homicide...

When Inspector Witherspoon becomes the main suspect in a murder case, Scotland Yard refuses to let him investigate. But no one said anything about Mrs. Jeffries and her polished detection skills, proving that behind every great man there's a woman - and that a crime solver's work is never done.

The small village of Maldon is controlled by the wealthy and rapacious FitzCorbucion family, led by Hamo FitzCorbucion, the lord of Blackwater Castle. When his eldest son, Guy, is found murdered, an enraged Hamo demands justice. Into this charged atmosphere arrives a tribunal, led by soldier Ralph Delchard and lawyer Gervase Bret. Surveying the lands of Maldon, the tribunal detects irregularities in various deeds, and plans to call the FitzCorbucion family to account.

As the nineteenth century draws to a close, most of Europe is in political turmoil, and terrorist threats loom large across the continent. Adding to this unrest is the controversial Sofia Delacruz, who has come to London from Spain to preach a revolutionary gospel of love and forgiveness that many consider blasphemous. Thomas Pitt, commander of Special Branch, is charged with protecting Sofia.

Maurice Leblanc, a writer of detective fiction during the same period as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, created Arsene Lupin, a sort of French Robin Hood. An inventive genius, a master of disguise, and an accomplished actor, Lupin operates in the choice chateaux and salons. He scorns sham and with great disdain leaves his card in a baron's residence. The card reads, "Arsene Lupin, gentleman-burglar, will return when the furniture is genuine."

‘The Silk Code had me absolutely hooked… A great storyline full of bravery, trust, love, survival, betrayal and determination.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Based on the true story of ‘Englandspiel’, one woman must race against the clock to uncover a traitor, even if it means...

"Moreira displays his many years of dramatic training and extensive theatrical experience as he animates characters as diverse as low-life thugs, the upper-class Bainbridge women, and even Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Tim Campbell and Suzanne Toren ably narrate the court deposition sequences. This...