British Women Detectives

Everyone is hiding a secret. Including me. The last thing I want to be doing on the coldest day of the year is sleeping rough on the streets of Plymouth. When a young woman approaches me and says she knows of a place where I can have a bed and a hot meal, I’m quick to agree. And that’s how I end up at the House of Stars. The house is run by Jupiter, who gives all his girls and clients codenames. When he finds out I’m young and untouched, he names me Virgo. He says he’ll take care of me, because he has very special plans for me. One of his clients is going to pay a lot of money to ...

A cozy murder mystery from the heart of Europe, set in an old grand hotel. Instead of cramming for her degree at the detective academy, Penny Küfer, aspiring sleuth, finds herself in a "lost place", a former grand hotel in the foothills of the Alps. Recently a particularly devious murderer seems to have checked in, plus there is a strange rumor about a secret hiding place full of diamonds... Each book in the 'Penny Küfer Investigates' series features a complete, standalone mystery—enjoy them in any order.

Cynically exploiting the Christmas Eve suicide of her husband Alasdair, beautiful Eilish Macbeth has turned tragedy into triumph by writing a million-selling book for children who have suffered the heartbreaking loss of a parent. But then a witness emerges who claims that Alasdair Macbeth was murdered, plunging private investigator Maggie Bainbridge into a case that is as perplexing as any she ever has worked on. Can Maggie and her little team battle their way through a mountain of lies and deceit to get to the truth?

'A jigsaw puzzle that had its threads more tightly woven than a spider’s web.' - Amazon reviewer When former Naval Commodore Roderick Macallan dies in tragic circumstances, his multi-million pound Scottish country estate is destined to pass to his next of kin. Only trouble is, his next of kin are his twin daughters, the beautiful social media stars Pixie and Posy, and each is claiming that they are the elder. Tasked with sorting out the unholy mess are barrister turned private-eye Maggie Bainbridge and her faithful ex-army assistant Jimmy Stewart. A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE Meanwhile DI ...

Christmas at a snowed in country house. You know what happens next… Not necessarily. Agatha Aston is invited to spend the weekend before Christmas with some old friends. Accompanied by her Machiavellian Basset hound, Talleyrand, Agatha encounters murder, ghosts and romance at a country house where nothing is as it seems. While Agatha has her hands full solving a murder, Talleyrand has his own problems in the shape of Bismarck, the hosts’ unfriendly German Shepherd. Expect fireworks. Containing a short ghost story within a story, The Christmas Murder Mystery is a twisty box of delights, ...

How far would you go to protect your own blood? The body of a young woman is discovered within the beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Stripped naked; and posed like the subject from a depraved art exhibition. An innocent life taken in a kill that shakes the communities of South Wales to their very core. Twelve months later, and the remains of another woman are found. But this time the artist responsible has stepped up their game, the latest victim bled like cattle and presented to the world with her face obscured by a decorative mask, but for what purpose? Detective Inspector ...

World War II has finally come home to Britain, but it takes more than nightly air raids to rattle intrepid spy and expert code breaker Maggie Hope. After serving as a secret agent to protect Princess Elizabeth at Windsor Castle, Maggie is now an elite member of the Special Operations Executive–a black ops organization designed to aid the British effort abroad–and her first assignment sends her straight into Nazi-controlled Berlin, the very heart of the German war machine. Relying on her quick wit and keen instincts, Maggie infiltrates the highest level of Berlin society, gathering information to pass on to London headquarters. But the secrets she unveils will expose a darker, more dangerous side of the war–and of her own past.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Just delightful read, funny, witty, very British with good twists. It is reminiscent of other writers in the same vein, but I couldn't put the book down. I had to read the entire series in a few days. Just fun and can't wait for the next installments!" --Sylvie J.-M., amazon.com A DELIGHTFUL COZY MYSTERY FULL OF QUAINT VILLAGES, QUIRKY CHARACTERS, AND MADCAP ADVENTURES BY A BESTSELLING AUTHOR. Helen Ryes and Martha Littleword, two Americans living in England, become fast friends and amateur sleuths when a murder lands them in hot water. Killers unfortunately rarely stop at ...

DI Sheridan Holler is used to solving crimes on Liverpool’s streets, but after a decayed corpse turns up in a cemetery, she finds herself reopening not one but two cold cases. Seven years earlier, two women were gunned down and the only suspect, small-time drug dealer John Lively, was never seen again. Case closed. Until the body in the cemetery is identified as his.

A new assignment for Penny Küfer! Has Niní Delight, the head of a luxury lingerie chain, really taken her own life with arsenic? The young woman had everything one could wish for: the villa of her dreams, professional success, a famous burlesque diva for a sister and, on top of that, a mysterious new lover. Who’d want to end such a life in this way? The police have ruled out foul play. But—as Penny will soon discover—nothing is what it seems in the world of silk, French lace, and glamour...

It was supposed to be the perfect reunion: six university friends together again after twenty years. Host Ali finally has the life she always wanted, a career she can be proud of and a wonderful family with her college boyfriend, now husband. But that night her best friend makes an accusation so shocking that nothing will ever be the same again.

Fifteen years ago, a serial killer was on a rampage murdering young women in Middlehampton. Then, suddenly, the killings stopped, and the murderer was never found… So when the body of another young woman is found bearing the twisted killer’s unique hallmark—the overpowering stench of lavender and an origami heart—DS Kat Ballantyne knows this can only mean one thing: the killer is back.

'This book was epic. I enjoyed it from the first page till the end!' - Bookbub reader Man-eating soap star Melody Montague is divorcing her first husband, fellow actor Patrick Hunt, but there's a problem. Melody's copy of the pre-nuptial agreement has been lost, an oversight that stands to cost the actress several million pounds. Charged with sorting out the unholy mess are ex-barrister turned private eye Maggie Bainbridge and her faithful assistant Jimmy Stewart. So far, so perfectly routine. But the players start to die, and each time, the killer leaves his deadly calling card. A severed ...

For an instant the two trains ran together, side by side. In that frozen moment, Elspeth witnessed a murder. Helplessly, she stared out of her carriage window as a man remorselessly tightened his grip around a woman's throat. The body crumpled. Then the other train drew away. But who, apart from Miss Marple, would take her story seriously? After all, there were no suspects, no other witnesses...and no corpse. This title was previously published as What Mrs. McGrillicuddy Saw!

Bubble, bubble, toil, and murder... When a woman is found dead near her village in Norfolk, the verdict is suicide. Not everyone agrees. Detective James Simpson is ordered to investigate and he brings Agatha Aston, Betty Simpson and Talleyrand the hound, with him. They stumble across a tale of murder that stretches back two centuries. Part occult story, part murder mystery - this creepy tale is steeped in witchcraft and strange rural festivals where everything is not as it seems. The second Agatha Aston murder mystery is full of laughs, twists and things that go bump in the night. Golden ...

Judgement is in the eye of the beholder Adrian Harvey, London wine merchant, has lost the Christmas spirit. Someone is stalking him, stealing his post and vandalising his shop. When the police question him after an anonymous tip-off, he's more than anxious. He's scared. And who is that nun? Long time neighbour and friend DI Beatrice Stubbs is dispatched to Germany to investigate a series of apparently related art thefts, so Adrian seizes the chance to flee the city. He follows her to Hamburg to do some Christmas shopping and visit his ex. Yet the stalker is still on his heels. While ...

Susan Elia MacNeal introduced the remarkable Maggie Hope in her acclaimed debut, Mr. Churchill's Secretary. Now Maggie returns to protect Britain's beloved royals against an international plot - one that could change the course of history. As World War II sweeps the continent and England steels itself against German attack, Maggie Hope, former secretary to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, completes her training to become a spy for MI-5.

'I can't deny it, I just love these characters! ' - Goodreads reviewer Investment Trust boss Hugo Morgan has celebrated his fiftieth birthday by dumping his wife of twenty-two years and is now intent on marrying a younger model. Tasked with checking out the back story of the shiny new Mrs Morgan are ex-barrister turned private eye Maggie Bainbridge and her faithful assistant Jimmy Stewart. A SUSPICIOUS SUICIDE Beautiful and clever, twenty-three year old Chardonnay Clarke has died under the wheels of a tube train, leaving behind a heart-breaking message on her social media. But in DI Frank ...

Feisty, passionate Beatrice Steele has never fit the definition of a true lady, according to the strict code of conduct that reigns in Swampshire, her small English township—she is terrible at needlework, has absolutely no musical ability, and her artwork is so bad it frightens people. Nevertheless, she lives a perfectly agreeable life with her marriage-scheming mother, prankster father, and two younger sisters— beautiful Louisa and forgettable Mary. But she harbors a dark secret: She is obsessed with the true crime cases she reads about in the newspaper.

August 1911. Emily Hardcastle and her inimitable lady’s maid Florence Armstrong are enjoying a fine summer until Harry, Lady H’s brother, turns up out of the blue with a mystery for them to solve. A routine parachute test at a local aeroplane factory has gone horribly wrong - with pilot Dickie Dupree plummeting to his death. Harry is certain there is more to this ‘tragic accident’ than meets the eye, having discovered that someone at the airfield is leaking top secret intelligence to foreign rivals.