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An Unfinished Murder
by Jude Deveraux
A novelist, Sara Medlar, and her friends use all their amateur sleuthing skills to solve a crime when a literal skeleton is discovered in a closet in the fifth novel of the series following A Relative Murder.
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Everybody Knows
by Jordan Harper
After her boss is gunned down at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a“black-bag” publicist working at LA's most powerful crisis PR firm–protecting the rich and depraved–decides to investigate, running afoul of the whole system.
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Murder Ink
by Betty Hechtman
Asked to write a celebration of life book for the funeral of a former client, writer for hire Veronica Blackstone finds herself questioning the death. No one quite knows what happened and the prominent family are more concerned with their image than the truth. While celebrating her client's life, Veronica searches for the truth about her death.
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by Julia Kelly
In this first book in the series, Evelyne Redfern, known as "The Parisian Orphan" as a child, is working on the line at a munitions factory in wartime London. When Mr. Fletcher, one of her father's old friends, spots Evelyne on a night out, Evelyne finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill's cabinet war rooms. However, shortly after she settles into her new role as a secretary, one of the girls at work is murdered, and Evelyne must use all of her amateur sleuthing expertise to find the killer. But doing so puts her right in the path of David Poole, a cagey minister's aide who seems determined to thwart her investigations. That is, until Evelyne finds out David's real mission is to root out a mole selling government secrets to Britain's enemies, and the pair begrudgingly team up. With her quick wit, sharp eyes, and determination, will Evelyne be able to find out who's been selling England's secrets and catch a killer, all while battling her growing attraction to David? |
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by Nev March
In the latest book in the series, Captain Jim Agnihotri and Lady Diana Framji return to India as they investigate a murder amidst colonial Bombay's complex hierarchy in March's fourth mystery. In 1894 colonial India, Lady Diana's family has lost their fortune in a global financial slump but, even worse, her brother Adi is accused of murder. Desperate to save him from the gallows, Captain Jim and Lady Diana rush back to Bombay. However, the traditional Parsi community finds Jim and Diana's marriage taboo and shuns them. The dying words of Adi's business partner, a silversmith, are perplexing. As Captain Jim peels back the curtains on this man's life he finds a trail of unpaid bills, broken promises, lies, and secrets. Why was the silversmith so frantic for gold, and where is it? What awful truth does it represent? Set in lush, late-Victorian India, Captain Jim and Diana struggle with the complexities of caste, tradition, and loyalty. Their success and their own lives may depend on Diana, who sacrificed her inheritance for love. Someone within their circle has the key to this puzzle. Can she find a way to reconnect with the tight community that threw them aside? |
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by Orlando Murrin The Chester Square Cookery School in the heart of London offers students a refined setting in which to master the fine art of choux pastry and hone their hollandaise. True, the ornate mansion doesn't quite sparkle the way it used to–a feeling chef Paul Delamare is familiar with these days. Worn out and newly broke, he'd be tempted to turn down the request to fill in as teacher for a week-long residential course, if anyone other than Christian Wagner were asking. Christian is one of Paul's oldest friends, as well as the former recipient of two Michelin stars and host of Pass the Gravy! Thanks to a broken arm, he's unable to teach the upcoming session himself, and recruits Paul as stand-in. The students are a motley crew, most of whom seem more interested in ogling the surroundings (including handsome Christian) than learning the best ways to temper chocolate. Yet despite his misgivings, Paul starts to enjoy imparting his extensive knowledge to the recruits–until someone turns up dead, murdered with a cleaver Paul used earlier that day to prep a pair of squabs. Did one of his students take the lesson on knife techniques too much to heart, or was this the result of a long-simmering grudge? In between clearing his own name and teaching his class how to perfectly poach a chicken, he'll have to figure out who's the killer, and avoid being the next one to get butchered... |
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by John Shen Yen Nee
In this second book in the series, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to intercept a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She–the Watson to his Holmes–along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable "dragon-taming" mace. The mace's owner is a lovely Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G. Stephen, who argues with the group about the tenuous state of Chinese nationalism, and is then poisoned two days later. Dee knows this cannot be a coincidence, and suspects Stephen won't be the only victim. Sure enough, a young Chinese communist of Lao's acquaintance is killed not long after and a note with a strange symbol is found by his body. What could connect all these disparate, bizarre events? It is once again up to Dee's brilliant investigative skills and Lao's well-meaning but often bumbling assistance to get to the bottom of the Railway Conspiracy before anyone else ends up on the chopping block. |
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by Kristen Perrin
A dual narrative, feel-good mystery in which a woman, Frances, spends a lifetime trying to prevent her murder as predicted by a fortune teller at a country fair when she was just 17. When she is in fact murdered nearly 60 years later, her great niece Annie must solve the crime to avenge her great aunt's death, and in so doing uncovers the dark heart of the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, where she might just find herself in the path of the killer. |
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by Katie Siegel As a kid, Charlotte Illes' uncanny sleuthing abilities made her a minor celebrity. But in high school, she hung up her detective's hat and stashed away the signature blue landline in her "office"–aka garage–convinced that finding her adult purpose would be as easy as tracking down missing pudding cups or locating stolen diamonds. Now twenty-five, Charlotte has a nagging fear that she hit her peak in middle school. She's living with her mom, scrolling through job listings, and her love life consists mostly of first dates. When it comes to knowing what to do next, Charlotte hasn't got a clue. And then, her old blue phone rings... Reluctantly, Charlotte is pulled back into the mystery-solving world she knew–just one more time. But that world is a whole lot more complicated for an adult. As a kid, she was able to crack the case and still get her homework done on time. Now she's dealing with dead bodies, missing persons, and villains who actually see her as a viable threat. And the detective skills she was once so eager to never use again are the only things that can stop a killer ready to make sure her next retirement is permanent... |
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by Stephen Spotswood A delightful, critically acclaimed series featuring an audacious and unlikely new detective duo in post-WWII New York City. Famed private investigator Lillian Pentecost has a mind like a steel trap and a sterling record, but as the effects of her muscular sclerosis intensify, she needs someone whose legs can pound the pavement as fast as she maps out motives. Enter Willowjean “Will” Parker, a scrappy circus runaway turned Lillian’s new, slightly over-eager, apprentice. Inspired by classic mystery series from Sherlock Holmes to Nero Wolfe, but with a contemporary take on justice, these two underdog detectives make it their business to solve the crimes that afflict those who live on the margins, not just with flair, but with the same precision and dignity afforded to the rich. (Penguin Random House) |
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