Rural Mystery

Popular author Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles Herbal Mysteries have been hailed for their intelligent plots and quirky characters. China is a member of the Pecan Springs, Texas Picklefest planning committee. When the Pickle Queen disappears just days before the festival, China and her husband P.I. Mike McQuaid relish searching for the clues in this dilly of a case. This exciting whodunit is packed with plenty of pickle jokes, folklore, and homespun recipes.

Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School’s grounds department whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice.

Uncommon Clay delves into the intriguing world of the Nordans, a deep-rooted family of talented yet cursed North Carolina potters. Judge Knott is filling in for another judge who suffered a mild stroke. When she decrees that the divorcing Nordan couple split their valuable earthenware collection, the husband winds up dead, in his own kiln! Many people have motives and the clay wheel swirls with suspects.

When racial tension erupts in the sleepy community of Colleton County, North Carolina, Deborah is caught off guard. She is happily tending her own home fires: her simmering romance with Kidd Chapin, the house she's building on her family's land, and her campaign for reelection as district judge. But then the first black church is burned, and all of Deborah's alarms go off.

No one worries much about the scantily clad woman found strangled in the Orchid Motel, she must be a tourist who brought along her own problems. But when the victim turns out to be the wife of an up-and-coming lawyer, people begin looking suspiciously among themselves for the culprit, and Judge Deborah Knott learns her cousin possesses a mighty powerful motive. While Deborah searches for the vicious killer, a deadly hurricane rages up the Carolina coast, bringing destruction and its own kind of justice.

A superb selection of Emlyn Williams’ finest plays Emlyn Williams was one of the brightest stars of Welsh stage and screen. An acclaimed playwright, actor and director, he made over 40 film and TV appearances, re-invented the one-man show with his virtuoso portrayals of Charles Dickens and...

New York Times best-selling author Nevada Barr continues her award-winning Anna Pigeon series with this riveting mystery that features the puzzling plot twists, deft characterizations, and sparkling dialogue that have become Barr's trademarks, and which her ever-growing fan base can't get enough of.

Set in a small town that keeps its secrets tidy, We Weren’t Alone unfolds in multiple points of view, each carrying one piece of what happened before the rain-slick overlook and the fall no one saw the same way. A neighbor. A bartender. A sister. And a few voices that don’t always agree with themselves.

When Ellie's good friend Ruth appears on her doorstep, clutching a packet of mysterious old letters, Ellie knows she must help. Ruth has stumbled upon hidden diaries in her attic—diaries written by the person she trusted most in the world. The shocking revelations within turn Ruth's life upside down, making her question everything she thought she knew. Determined to uncover the truth, Ellie and Ruth embark on a journey to right past wrongs. Racing against time, they delve into secrets that could change Ruth's future forever. Will they discover the key to Ruth's second chance at happiness?

Katie’s divorce was, in a word, humiliating. So when her friend Bess offers a fresh start—a resident caretaking job at a nature preserve—Katie accepts. No matter that she’s not exactly a “nature person.” How hard can it be? But from day one, something feels off. Katie’s new farmhouse looks as if the last caretaker barely moved out at all. When a frantic, terrified woman arrives late at night, expecting a safe place to hide, it’s clear caretaking involves way more than Katie bargained for.

When his sister is murdered, Father Tom Greer and Detective Helen Parr are plunged into the seedy world of human trafficking to find her killer. Doing so puts them both in mortal danger as they seek to break up an organization intent on exploiting young women. But that’s the least of their problems.

Maria Rosalia Inzerillo, conosciuta come "la Mennulara" è morta e tutto il paese di Roccacolomba si chiede chi è stata davvero. Tutti ne parlano, tutti hanno in qualche modo avuto a che fare con lei, tutti sanno e non sanno, c'è chi la odia e la maledice e chi la ricorda con gratitudine se non con venerazione. Le voci che rimbalzano dal passìo serale alle portinerie ingigantiscono e intorbidano le trame di quella donna che rabbia, passione, intelligenza hanno portato così in alto da tenere in pugno una famiglia di proprietari terrieri, un boss mafioso, un intero paese.

Everything is shipshape at Jake and Ellie’s new waterfront bakery The Chocolate Moose, especially now that the annual Pirate Festival is dropping anchor in their quaint island village of Eastport, Maine. Jake and Ellie are ready for the bounty of tourists sure to flood their shop. But their plans quickly sink when the body of celebrity foodie Henry Hadlyme is discovered in the Moose’s basement.

What happens when a police officer goes outside the law? When wealthy housewife Ella Watson is brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight it sends shockwaves through the Lake District community. Later that day, Keira Bradley meets the same fate but on the notoriously rough Beacon Estate. DI...

In the eighth novel in the Dales Detective series, Date with Evil, Samson and Delilah are about to discover that all of their new cases may be connected to a network of evil that seems to be surrounding Bruncliffe. Will they solve them all before the danger comes directly to their door? 'A...

One big day. Even bigger secrets… –––––––––––––––––––––––––– Louise’s wedding day at the isolated, idyllic Grantham Hall in rural Wales is supposed to be the best of her life, but her daily battle with chronic pain and paranoia provide a...

Last year at Cherringham High, and for three girls that means facing the School Summer Challenge, a grueling fifty-mile hike across the Cotswolds, through thick woods, over steep hills, camping each night under the stars. But when one of them disappears in the middle of the night and is found dead in the morning, most believe a terrible accident has taken place. Was it really an accident? Jack and Sarah aren't convinced - and soon discover that secrets and lies can have terrible consequences... and always leave a trail.

Suspicious goings-on at a retirement home lead to an intriguing investigation in Date with Malice, the second cosy crime novel in Julia Chapman's Dales Detective series. Perfect for fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club and M.C. Beaton. 'A Yorkshire Agatha Raisin' - Dalesman It’s...

Parker Hayes is busy serving up steaming lattes and warm smiles at her cozy cafe, Catch You Latte, when Magnolia Grove's annual tree-lighting ceremony takes a shocking turn. A prominent town figure is found dead, clutching a cup of Parker's signature blend, throwing the community into turmoil. Determined to clear her friend Maggie's name, Parker once again takes on the role of amateur sleuth. As she digs deeper, she uncovers a tangled web of secrets, scandals, and surprising betrayals hidden beneath Magnolia Grove's quaint charm.

This final chapter in Daniel Woolrell's Ozark trilogy peels the lid back on a dysfunctional Missouri family as infidelity threatens to consume their world in violence and terror. Shug Akins is a lonely, overweight thirteen-year-old boy. His mother, Glenda, is the one person who loves him—she...