Library Mysteries

This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 13 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Gervase Fen novella by Edmund Crispin that has never previously been published. With the Golden Age of detective fiction shining ever more brightly thanks to the recent reappearance of many forgotten crime novels, Bodies from the Library offers a rare opportunity to read lost stories from the first half of the twentieth century by some of the genre’s most accomplished writers.

Lost in a dark, spooky forest! So I sought shelter in a crumbling old mansion. But I quickly discovered that it was haunted - by cats!

With the death of Ruprekt Matkosen, his daughter, Ashielle, is now the Lord Governor of Ceocan. Her father’s murderers still lurk in the shadows, threatening not only her rule but every mortal soul under her protection. Even her own people cannot be trusted - any one of them may be part of the poisonous plot to destroy her bloodline. Deep beneath the palace, locked away from all human contact, Ashielle finds a weapon unlike any other: a monster, more adept at hunting in the darkness than any assassin.

Arcadia “Dia” Gannon has been obsessed with Louisiana Veda, the game designer whose obsessive creations and company, Darkly, have gained a cultlike following. Dia is shocked when she’s chosen for a highly-coveted internship, along with six other teenagers from around the world. Why her? Dia has never won anything in her life. Darkly, once a game-making empire renowned for its ingenious and utterly terrifying toys and games, now lies dormant after Veda’s mysterious death. The remaining games are priced like rare works of art, with some fetching millions of dollars at auction.

Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement. Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more sinister.

You know it's going to be a rough summer when you spend Father's Day visiting your dad in the local lockup. Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor, which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can't prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah's dad is stuck in the clink.

Life is good for Rory Hawthorn. She's progressing well in her magical lessons, and is also finally unearthing her father's long-kept secrets. If not for the Grim Reaper trying to interfere in her love life, things would be perfect. Until the Grim Reaper goes missing, at the same time as a lethal curse is set loose in Ivory Beach, which leaves even Rory's family stumped.

At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance. In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world—a wish that could save her mom.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante. But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill.

It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home, at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. But then a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.

Stella and Ellie Steckler are only a year apart, but their different personalities make their relationship complicated. Stella is single-minded, driven, and she keeps to herself. Cross-country running is her life and she won't let anything get in the way of being the best. Her sister Ellie is a talented runner too, but she also lets herself have fun. She has friends. She goes to parties. She has a life off the course.

For almost two years, Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, the Duke of Scilly, has been plotting revenge against the Fowl Twins, who humiliated him in book one. Teddy plans to give them exactly what they deserve: permanent death. He threatens Myles with his weaponized jet, and Beckett and specialist Lazuli succeed in disarming the aircraft and causing an accident that kills the duke. But does it really?

Can you SPOT the mystery? Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are visiting the San Diego Zoo. When a rare amur leopard goes missing, everyone is a suspect! Can these expert clue hunters find out how the leopard got loose?

It's summertime in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Bertie James' college class is having their 40th-anniversary reunion. The opening-night reception is held at the Lighthouse Library, and Lucy and her colleagues have assembled an exhibit of library artifacts showing how libraries have changed over the years. After the reception, some of the women take a walk down the boardwalk to the pier, using flashlights to illuminate the dark path, but what's scarier than the dark is finding the former director of the Lighthouse Library floating lifeless in the water.

By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know whom to avoid, like the crazy guy on the corner.

But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then Miranda finds a mysterious note.

Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, 18-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father's approval. But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon's closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her teacher's innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

Where could those wolves be? When the kids visit the Maine wilderness, they spot a white mother wolf and her babies on a cliff. But soon after that, the pups are stolen! Can Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose sniff out the culprits?

In Piper's hometown, teenagers keep disappearing, and everyone assumes they're just a bunch of runaways. But when yet another person disappears, Piper and her best friend Hazel suspect something more sinister is going on. So they decide to investigate, determined to learn the truth. Their search for answers leads them to the source of the missing people...and their captors. Piper and Hazel suddenly find themselves locked away in a secluded building in the middle of a privately owned forest.

Luigi has a knack for games and puzzles. But sometimes it feels like the cards are stacked against him. Until a carnival arrives in town and Luigi gets the chance of a lifetime—the opportunity to work for the world-famous Professor Marvelmous, a dazzling, banana-hat-wearing barker who puts the show in showman! When the carnival closes, Professor Marvelmous leaves behind a mysterious puzzle box along with a clue. A clue that will lead Luigi and his friends on a fantastical treasure hunt to a prize beyond anything they could imagine—if they can find it!

When Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose follow a pale, dark-haired stranger into Ellie's Diner, he vanishes! But Ellie has a cut on her neck...or could it be a bite? Could there really be a vampire in Green Lawn? And could Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose be his next victims?