Humor Detective

These are the first four novels featuring Charles Bentley, a retired professor of English Literature who worked at Opal College in Opalsville, Massachusetts in the upper northwestern corner of the state. Upon his retirement, Charles finds himself becoming involved in solving a number of murders that occur in his part of the world. A widower, now without a full-time job, he is also at a decision point in his life where he must deal with new romantic interests and the possibility of pursuing a career path allowing him to develop new talents. Charles rapidly finds that the remaining decades of...

Are you a fan of Jack Reacher, John Wick, and The Equalizer?! Meet Ray Price. Ex-Cop, Ex-Plosive! "There's so many laugh out-loud moments, you almost forget everyone is fighting for their lives." Ray Price's days as a Detroit cop are over. When word drops that his estranged younger brother is missing, Ray escapes from his broken career--and even more broken marriage--to return to his small Michigan hometown looking for answers. Teaming up with an on-the-run hooker, Ray quickly becomes convinced someone involved with the powerful, corrupt family running the town made his brother disappear....

Verity King has a problem with her husband. He’s been turned into a frog, and contrary to opinion, that’s not an improvement. A cryptic message, a severed finger in her fridge, and no signs of forced entry make it clear to Tempest why he was called, but Mr King’s worrying transformation is just the first act. Almost before he can add up the clues, a second victim confirms the theme and Tempest finds himself up against someone performing modern retellings of the Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales … with real live human characters. Tempest also has a new partner and it’s not his old army...

There are places in this world where even angels fear to tread. In book 2 of the gripping thriller, Cain Haight — a drunk ex-soldier, his opportunist ex-wife, her redneck mother, and a sweet Amish woman are on a mission to rescue two kids from the rebel soldiers who kidnapped them. But they have to survive journeying across the Tennessee landscape filled with nightmarish creatures. The words of Cain’s grandmother echo in his ears. “There are places in this world where even angels fear to tread.” But that’s where we’re headed, straight into Hell. Grab your copy and start reading ...

The sun was shining in Gabe's eyes. And his face was being washed with something rough. He opened one eye. A beautiful collie was licking his face and making little moans of concern. The collie's once-lovely coat was now wet, muddy, and tinged slime green by the bumper crop of algae flourishing in the ditch. “Hey, Boy." The collie, heartened by this greeting, wuffed a couple of times and then started barking in earnest. A little boy in a t-shirt and shorts parted the reeds enough to spot him before pulling back. “Come here, Chance!” Chance wuffed but was loathe to leave his new friend...

Charlie just wants a quiet life … Then he finds a human skull buried in the front yard. Mystery writer Charlie McGinley moves from L.A. to a small town in New Mexico. No more big-city hassles. No more big-city hustles. Guess again! Suddenly Charlie has to deal with disappearing bodies, crabby cops, crazed killers, and a very pregnant wife, while trying desperately to avoid ending up in an unmarked grave next to the mysterious stiff. Gold Medal Winner, Humor and Satire —2024 Global Book Awards “Proverbial skeletons in closets and actual ones buried in the yard help make this a bone-...

Although it is autumn in the small English town of Bishop’s Lacey, the chapel is decked with exotic flowers. Yes, Flavia de Luce’s sister, Ophelia, is at last getting hitched, like a mule to a wagon. “A church is a wonderful place for a wedding”, muses Flavia, “surrounded as it is by the legions of the dead, whose listening bones bear silent witness to every promise made at the altar.”

Aspiring potion-witch Isabella Proctor dreams of a normal life away from magic. But when she stumbles upon her mentor's lifeless body, her world turns upside down, and a simple life seems far from reach. Suddenly entangled in a murder investigation, Isabella finds herself the prime suspect in the eyes of the newly-arrived Detective Palmer. Juggling a failing apothecary, a grandmother who sees people that aren't there, and a police department inexperienced in solving murders, Isabella must use her wits and magic to clear her name. With danger lurking around every corner and her freedom on ...

A body in a lake. A castle on the ridge. Can she sweep the streets clean and restore her town’s legendary appeal? Camelot, West Virginia. Mayor Dreama Avalon longs to see her small town thrive again. And her noble cause begins by transforming her ailing community in the heart of coal country into a bustling tourist hotspot. But when a former beauty queen turns up dead, the determined widow fears a growing crime wave means her home will never reclaim its prosperous past. Appointing a brave newcomer as her new white knight police chief, Dreama discovers the troublemaker victim was already ...

In the genteel depths of Southern society—where gossip is currency, calamity wears lace gloves, and bourbon flows before brunch—Colonel Cedric Beauregard Fitzhugh the Third stumbles through a trilogy of misadventures. From scandalous garden brunches and matchmaking misfires to a murder-mystery club’s deadly encounter (and one goat with political aspirations), chaos simmers beneath the genteel surface. Standing as the last bastion of order is Arora Palindrome, his razor-sharp majordomo armed with cold ceviche, a clipboard, and a plan for every catastrophe. With biting wit, bourbon-...

‘Imelda Sheridan was dead, which was tough cookies on Imelda, but then every silver lining has its cloud. My job was to find out who and why, at 12 cent per word for the right facts in the right order … which is how it all started out, anyway.’ Freelance hack Harry Rigby likes a smoke, the easy life and Robert Ryan playing the bad buy in late night black-and-whites. Sweet. But when the wife of a prominent politician is murdered in her best nightdress, Rigby finds himself caught in a crossfire between rogue paramilitaries, an internal Garda inquiry and the heaviest blizzard of coke ...

I wanted a surprise party, not a zombie apocalypse. For my 42nd birthday, I think I’m getting a surprise party. But my best friend didn’t invite me to her office for a party. She wants me to find a missing corpse. Dr. Faith Jackson, the Regional Medical Examiner, lost a body on her watch. If I can’t find the missing corpse, Faith could lose her job. And a murder suspect will get off scot-free. The Reluctant Corpse is anything but the start of the zombie apocalypse. And the odds are good - I might end up in a dumpster before it’s all said and done. Must be Thursday. The Reluctant ...

Fans of small-town sleuths, smart women, and canine sidekicks will love this fresh take on the classic cozy mystery! Grace Thompson thought her biggest challenge this spring would be keeping up with floral orders for the annual Bloomsville Flower Festival. But when she opens her shop’s storage room and finds a dead man lying among the tulip crates, everything changes. Suddenly, the town is buzzing with suspicion, and Grace’s once-wholesome reputation is under fire. Refusing to wilt under pressure, Grace teams up with her best friend Chloe, an eccentric forensic specialist who thrives on...

America’s most-read, most-watched, and most­ beloved serial killer - Dexter Morgan - is back. After selling more than one million copies and inspiring the wildly popular number one Showtime series and top-rated crime drama on pay-cable television, New York Times best-selling author Jeff Lindsay returns with his most hilarious, macabre, and purely entertaining novel yet. Dexter Morgan has always lived a happy homicidal life. He keeps his dark urges in check by adhering to one stead­fast rule...he only kills very bad people.

Mike Hunt: A Private Investigator’s Christmas Cases When Christmas cheer collides with crime, Mike Hunt, Private Investigator, is the man to untangle the mess. In this collection of five razor-sharp flash fiction stories, Mike takes on cases as unpredictable as a re-gifted fruitcake and as tangled as holiday lights. With his trademark wit, unmatched deductive prowess, and an uncanny ability to find himself in awkwardly sensual situations, Mike’s holiday caseload is anything but merry and bright. Each year when he offers his Christmas services pro bono, every weirdo and crooked freak in ...

Out of bail skippers and rent money, Stephanie Plum throws caution to the wind and follows in the entrepreneurial bootsteps of Super Bounty Hunter, Ranger, engaging in morally corrupt and marginally legal enterprises. So, a scumbag blows himself to smithereens on her first day of policing a crack house and the sheik she was chauffeuring stole the limo. But hey, nobody’s perfect!

A cosy mystery compilation perfect for fans of Sally Smith, Steve Higgs, LJ Ross, Robert Thorogood, and Richard Osman. When she relocates to Spain’s Costa del Sol, Karen McLaren turns her back on an unfaithful husband and a long teaching career. She arrives at the Club Britannia complex for the over-60s carrying many plans for her future… …finding herself investigating crimes along with an eccentric group of Spanish and expat friends isn’t one of them. But Karen discovers she has a real talent as an amateur sleuth. She’s aided by her sharp intellect, the expert lip-reading skills ...

Richard's cousin is missing, and his best hope of finding her rests with the wily, one-eyed, ex-governor of Florida. Carl Hiaasen introduces his iconic character Skink to a younger audience in this nail-biting adventure! Classic Malley: Her parents are about to ship her off to boarding school, so she takes off with some guy she met online...Poor Richard: He's less of a rebel than Malley, and a lot less trusting. He knows his cousin is in trouble before she does. Wild Skink: He's a ragged, one-eyed, ex-governor of Florida, and enough of a renegade to think he can track Malley down.

Think Electraweave. Think of fabrics of tomorrow! Textile scientist Eliza Bennett attends a textile conference where she plans to present her work, accompanied by her talking cat, Merlin. Their plans are disrupted by a blackout during which Eliza's presentation banner is stolen, leading them to uncover a complex plot involving corporate espionage, a mysterious surveillance network, and a dangerous rival named Croft who seeks to weaponize Eliza's technology for his own gain. Eliza's revolutionary material called Electraweave nullifies static discharge and has potential applications in space....

Moving to Bath was supposed to be a fresh start. Until a corpse clutching the jack of clubs turns my shop into a deadly poker game. How did my walk in the park end with dead bodies, poker hands, and me in the middle of the shuffle? Unaffected by Detective Caleb's warnings, I’m determined to unmask the killer, with my Teacup Chihuahua, Teo, nose to the ground. As cards and corpses stack up, each tied to Bath’s failed bakery co-op, my curiosity peaks. Secrets rise like yeast, revealing a web of deceit and betrayal that's far from sweet. Local baker, Maisie, seems too kneaded into the mix....