English Women Sleuths

Childbirth can be dangerous even for the wealthy. So when opera singer Claire Buchanan shows Prudence and Geoffrey a postmortem cabinet photograph of her deceased twin sister and newborn niece, they express sadness but not surprise. The popular black-bordered portraits are the era's way of coping with the devastating losses that plague every family. What makes this death different is that Claire is convinced Catherine and her child were murdered.

After single-handedly thwarting hijackers on a flight to the Middle East, a young American woman has become an instant celebrity. Following television interviews at the airport in Damascus, she disappears. Was she kidnapped by the terrorists, or is she just hiding? Posing as the girl’s aunt, Mrs. P. searches for her "niece" and uncovers a sinister plot that could send shock waves around the world.

All Ellison Russell wanted was an update on her stock portfolio. Instead, she found her broker dead. With an unexpected out-of-town guest at her house, Ellison is too busy for a murder investigation. Only this time, Detective Anarchy Jones wants her help, and she can't deny the handsome detective. Can Mr. Coffee supply her with enough caffeine to keep her brain sharp and everyone else happy?

Dying is the only thing people do with any regularity, and Fiona makes her indecorous living cleaning up after the corpses are carted away. Her childhood best friend, Mary, was the last known victim of Jack the Ripper. It's been two years since Fiona scrubbed Mary's blood from the floorboards, and London is no longer buzzing about the Ripper, but Fiona hasn't forgotten. When she's called to a murder in the middle of the night, Fiona finds a victim mutilated in an eerily similar fashion to those of the Ripper, and only a few doors down from Mary's old home.

Cordelia knows books. An addict-turned-dealer of classic paperbacks, when she's not spending her days combing the charity shops and jumble sales of suburban London for valuable collector's items, she's pining for the woman of her dreams and nimbly avoiding her landlord's demands for rent. The most elusive prize of all, her white whale, has surfaced—a set of magnificent, vintage Sleuth Hound crime novels. Gorgeous, and as rare as they come. Just one problem. They're not for sale. Still, that won't stop a resourceful woman like Cordelia…

The first assessment used by Task Force Banshee when selecting its members. Hatch was the first woman to pass it. That was years ago. Now, just after completing the rigors of the Special Forces Q Course for a second time, she must face The Gauntlet. The course is uniquely different for each candidate, designed to specifically test the individual strengths and weaknesses. Hatch's former team commander, Chris Bennett, has designed the series of obstacles specially for her.

Welcome to Sarah’s Eatery, where the food is to-die-for! Escaping a dreadful marriage and an angry ex-husband, Kylie Berry moves to the small town of Camden Falls, Kentucky, to run her cousin’s café, Sarah’s Eatery. Only one problem: Kylie can’t cook to save her life, and the longtime chef walks out on Kylie’s first day. "Winters will have you giggling into your book!" Answering the call for a new chef, in walks lovely Rachel Summers, a friendly local brownie-addict who immediately gets the job. But when Rachel is found dead a few hours later, all fingers point to Kylie and her ...

Rumford, Kentucky has glowing fields of bluegrass, a fine selection of bourbons, and now a professional pastry chef. Broken-hearted Sophia Cummings has come home from New York City. She's not there a minute before she's charmed into making her high school friend Charlotte's wedding cake. The kitchen at the Rumford Country Club seems perfect until Chef Emile's body is discovered, sprawled near the stove, a cast iron skillet on the floor close by. With one look at the shiny, new pan, Sophia knows it's not Emile's. She offers her knowledge to Sheriff Carter and her talents to the manager.

Olivia LeClair's experiment with speed dating is not going well. First there was the nasty encounter with the date from hell who tried to murder her and now the mysterious Harlan Rancourt - long believed dead - sits down at her table and tells her she's the only one who can help him locate the legendary Vortex lab. This is not what Olivia had in mind when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed package offered by the dating agency. She doesn't have much choice, though, because her psychic investigation firm works for the mysterious Foundation.

Snow is a rarity in Maura Donovan's small village in County Cork, Ireland, so she wasn't sure what to expect when a major snowstorm rolled in around Sullivan's pub. But now she's stranded in a bar full of patrons - and a suspected killer in a long-ago murder. Maura's been in Ireland less than a year and hasn't heard about the decades-old unsolved crime that took place nearby, let alone the infamous suspect, Diane Caldwell.

No one would ever accuse famous opera star Dame Serena Levante of lacking a flare for the dramatic. Unfortunately, it's curtains down on the dysfunctional diva when she's found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her elegant home. Solving an opera singer's murder may not be the typical hairdresser's aria of expertise. But Dame Serena was the mother of Daisy's best friend Floria, so Daisy must do-or-dye her best to get to the roots of the case.

Field reporter Lee Barrett is not happy that her hours are being cut back at WICH-TV, although it is nice to spend more time volunteering with Aunt Ibby, a research librarian. But Lee's least favorite task is going up to the stacks, a spooky, seldom-frequented upper section of the library. On this day she has good reason to be afraid - she finds a dead man, surrounded by hundreds of scattered books and torn-out pages. Her police detective beau, Pete Mondello, is soon on the scene, and the deceased is identified as a former minor league baseball player - and ex-con....

Dr. Duncan Lathram is a brilliant plastic surgeon who recently invented a dissolving implant that allows incisions to heal without scarring. His unparalleled artistry in the operating room is the salvation of all the biggest power players in Washington, DC, whenever they need to be TV ready. Lathram appears to have it all, but something isn’t right....

It’s not every day that you’re summoned to the Italian countryside on business, so when archaeologist Angelo Morelli asks for Ruth Galloway’s help identifying bones found in the tiny hilltop town of Fontana Liri, she jumps at the chance to go, bringing her daughter along with her for a working vacation. Upon arriving, she begins to hear murmurs of Fontana Liri’s strong resistance movement during World War II and senses the townspeople are dancing around a deeply buried secret. But how could that be connected to the ancient remains she’s been studying?

New York Times best-selling authors Rita Mae Brown and her cat, Sneaky Pie, have captivated fans around the world with their Mrs. Murphy mysteries. In this fourth entry, the residents of Crozet, Virginia, find their summer slumbers interrupted by a pair of newcomers. When one of the visitors is found dead and $2 million goes missing from the Crozet National Bank, it falls to Mrs. Murphy and her four-legged pals to save the day.

Alexander McCall Smith’s internationally best-selling and award-winning series starring Botswana’s leading lady detective continues with this 11th charming tale. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi travel to the Okavango Delta to visit a safari lodge beset by unexplained events. There they are awestruck by the breathtaking scenery, but also troubled by the region’s many difficulties—not the least of which is the occasional grumpy hippopotamus.

Hatch was at one point in time the second female to ever pass the Army’s rigorous Special Forces Selection Course. Now she’s put to the test and must return to do it all over again. A challenge made that more difficult due to the injury to her right arm.

A Murdered Heiress, Death on the High Seas, a doomed High School Reunion and Anonymous Notes keep divorced baker Jenny King on her toes in this four book murder mystery anthology. 5 stars - 'I was reading these books like eating potato chips, too fast!' When forty four year old Jenny King moved to a remote island for a second chance at life, she didn't know it would involve murder. She's working at the Boardwalk Cafe, baking sweet treats to forget the bitter pill that is her life. Then a stranger's body washes up on the beach and her aunt is arrested. Compelled by circumstances, Jenny goes ...

In high school, rumors can make or destroy a reputation. A thoughtless nickname can turn each day into a living hell. Gossip is irresistible—and contagious. But sometimes, gossip can kill. Mackenzie Laughlin, formerly with Oregon's River Glen police department, has reluctantly agreed to investigate a local woman's disappearance. The case reconnects her with Jesse James Taft, a PI gifted at getting under Mac's skin. But when the body is found tangled in river weeds, Mac and Taft realize that the case has changed, from one missing woman to a hunt for a terrifying and relentless killer.

Fleeing a disastrous love affair, university librarian Amy Webber moves in with her aunt in a quiet mountain town in Virginia. She quickly busies herself with managing a charming public library that requires all her attention with its severe lack of funds and overabundance of eccentric patrons. The last thing she needs is a new, available neighbor whose charm lures her into trouble. Dancer-turned-teacher and choreographer Richard Muir inherited the farmhouse next door from his great-uncle, Paul Dassin. But town folklore claims the house's original owner was poisoned by his wife.