Womens Mystery Fiction

It was just an ordinary Wednesday lunchtime when Detective Martha Munro's life changed forever. Her sergeant is speaking, but she barely hears what he's telling her. Your mother has been shot dead. Your four-year-old daughter has been taken. There are no leads. Who would want to hurt her family? Martha realizes it's time to ask herself some hard questions about her late father. He led the anti-corruption squad at Scotland Yard. It's rumored he kept a list of everyone who worked for him, from coppers to criminals. And just being on the list was a sure-fire way to lower your life expectancy.

When their beloved godmother, Letty, dies suddenly, the Concordia sisters converge on the beach town of Sarasota, Florida, to mourn the passing of the woman who raised them. While there, they must scatter her ashes as instructed and decide what to do with her consignment shop, One Woman's Junk.

Love is full of surprises—though few compare to realizing that you’re marrying the real-life Santa. April Claus dearly loves her new husband, Nick, but adjusting to life in the North Pole is not all sugarplums and candy canes. Especially when a cantankerous elf named Giblet Hollyberry is killed—felled by a black widow spider in his stocking—shortly after publicly arguing with Nick. Christmastown is hardly a hotbed of crime, aside from mishaps caused by too much eggnog, but April disagrees with Constable Crinkle’s verdict of accidental death.

Four young women have been found murdered—tortured and strangled in their own beds—all victims of the same brilliant monster. Using a skilled hand and the latest technology in forensic medicine, Kay Scarpetta begins the process of gathering the microscopic clues the latest battered body has to give.

The last thing Ruby McGavin thought she would be doing after her husband, Cole, died was meeting his family. He had claimed his relatives were all dead, and she didn't know him long enough - they were only married one year - to think otherwise. But it turns out that members of Cole's family, from a small ranch town in California, are very much alive, and they show up on Ruby's doorstep with the news that she has inherited some land from her husband.

In 1914 collisions between motor cars and horse-drawn carriages are an everyday occurrence on the streets of Paterson, New Jersey. But when an out-of-control driver smashes into a buggy driven by Constance, Norma, and Fleurette Kopp, their lives change forever. Constance, the oldest, demands payment for the damages but quickly realizes that she is dealing with a madman.

Fin Fleming thrives where others fear to go: exploring the dazzling depths off the Cayman Islands as chief underwater photographer for an elite oceanographic institute. Underwater, she’s fearless and in control. On land, her life is anything but calm—tangled by a manipulative ex, complicated new stepsiblings, and a career that’s always on the edge.

Living back at Mom's place with her and Gram is not how this ex-district attorney intended to start the next chapter of her life, but I shouldn't be surprised it's where I ended up. You see, my family is cursed. Literally. At least that's what both Gram and Mom claim. I've never given much thought to their ridiculous superstitions, but when three local patrons from my mom's occult shop end up dead, even I'm a bit unnerved. So I decide to dive right into the crazy headfirst. And what I thought would be the end of my journey...may only be the beginning.

Yes. I'm the daughter of the infamous couple, June Heal and Oscar Park. One teeny weeny problem, I'm a mortal. Yep. I guess I got my granny Darla's DNA. Good news! I might not have spiritual powers but I have a mean set of baking skills. I'm delighted to be moving out of Whispering Falls, where y'all know I can't live since I'm mortal, and to Celestial Falls, another small Southern town where I'm opening Heavenly Desserts. Of course, The Marys wouldn't let me leave unless I took my new kitten with me.

""Crombie’s Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James characters are rich, emotionally textured, fully human. They are the remarkable creations of a remarkable writer.""—Louise Penny New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie returns with a mesmerizing entry in her “excellent” (Miami Herald)...

Stuck with Alan's ghost following her around, Bree is in hot water now with no easy way out as she's been framed for his murder and plunked in the local pokey. If that weren't bad enough, Gran's ghost has been kidnapped, and all clues point to the Big Easy - New Orleans. With the police on her never-mind-the-size butt, two men vying for her attentions, and a mystery wrapped around the murder of her Gran and ex, she has more than enough to keep her stressed and turning prematurely gray.

The descendant of adventuring-dead-aristocrats, Clarissa Knightley supplements a modest inheritance by penning gothic novels that cost more than they earn. Upon learning that she has mysteriously inherited a share of an earl's estate, she rashly packs up her household. In remote Gravesyde Priory, she hopes to find a safe haven and family who will welcome her and her young nephew. Instead, she discovers a drunken American army captain, his African servant, and ancient, surly caretakers.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Winner of the Alex Award and the Massachusetts Book Award Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR, San Francisco Chronicle, Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Grantland...

Abby Maddox is serving 20 years for slashing Seattle PD officer Jerry Isaac's throat during the harrowing capture of her former lover, serial killer Ethan Wolfe. To the demented fans, lunatics, and creeps on the outside, she is a celebrity. But to Jerry, now a private investigator whose scarred neck and tortured speech are daily reminders of Abby's vicious attack, she alone may be the key to solving a new wave of murders. Because this killer has been sending her love letters, and carving a message on the victims' bodies: Free Abby Maddox.

Facing a seemingly insurmountable enemy, Rachel Hatch risks everything for her team. While serving as an interrogator attached to an elite group of Army Green Berets, Rachel Hatch's team comes under heavy fire. She has to rely on grit and instinct to keep herself, and her team, alive. But her actions will leave her forever changed... Fractured.

Jane Kelly is through following men. She left Southern California for the murky quaintness of Lake Chinook, Oregon, apparently so she could trade her bartending skills for much more glamorous work as a process server. But things have been looking a little brighter lately. Her hobby doing PI work is kind of fun, especially when she lands a real case - that pays real money. But the case is about Bobby Reynolds, best friend of Tim Murphy, the only guy she's never gotten over. Everyone except Tim believed Bobby murdered his young family - isn't that why he vanished?

King George IV is petitioning Parliament for a divorce from his queen on the grounds of her adultery. But rumor has it that the king secretly married Maria Fitzherbert—long before he married the queen. Now Mrs. Fitzherbert has been robbed—and she's frantically calling on Rosalind for help. Because what those thieves took is proof that she and King George did really marry. That single piece of paper could destroy Mrs. Fitzherbert and her family—or it could prove the king guilty of bigamy.

Spring has come to Port Marie, Vermont, shedding new light on old mysteries. Margot has discovered two sets of skeletal remains buried in the wall of the church basement. And even though her police officer cousin Sam warned her to stay out of the case, Margot can’t help herself. After all, it’s her church, her domain, and her responsibility. Hoping for answers, Margot seeks out Conrad Baptiste, the former church custodian, and becomes reacquainted with a loss from his past—his teenage son who went missing 20 years ago has been identified as one of the bodies.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of 10, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

As if hitting the half-century mark wasn't enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who'd slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to "namastay" for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling Zen - at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.