Humorous Detective

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-...

Most Sinful residents are unaware of Carter’s crisis and are going about their daily lives as they always have, including local prankster Gage Babin. Except this time, Gage’s attempt to elicit laughs leaves him on a slab in the medical examiner’s office. Everyone knows how unhealthy he was, but Fortune thinks there’s more to his death than a poorly timed prank that caused his bad heart to give out.

“...a suspenseful, pitch-perfect novel with an unlikely lead detective: a fictionalized version of iconic Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges… An intelligent, original detective novel.” - Kirkus Reviews. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1967. The blind poet Jorge Luis Borges, visiting at Harvard, faces a crisis of conscience and identity as he and his young assistant Nick Martin grapple with an extraordinary series of crimes and the equally baffling conundrums of literature and philosophy. Forty-five years later, struggling with pain and grief, Nick Martin looks back with wonder at that ...

A luxurious beach resort, a missing friend, and secrets to die for. Emily Parker, meticulous bookbinder and amateur sleuth, thought a getaway to Azure Bay Resort would be the perfect escape from solving mysteries. But paradise quickly turns perilous when her best friend, investigative journalist Jenny Walsh, vanishes without a trace, leaving behind only a treasured pen near the murdered resort owner, Blake Montgomery. Accompanied by her intuitive Maine Coon, Fitzgerald, Emily teams up with Josh Reynolds, a charming local artist whose gallery hides clues as expressive as his paintings. The ...

Granny Gosling, a dodgy, unscrupulous amateur detective, is strictly in it for the money and fame. Accompanied by her neurotic grandson Doughy (pronounced Dough-ee), she is invited by her friend, Lady Dunholm, to investigate the suspected poisoning of her husband. When a fresh attempt is made on Lord Dunholm's life that results in his death, Granny Gosling is ecstatic. For it is now a murder case. Her very first. Armed with her leather valise containing the written exploits of the leading fictional crime solvers of the day as well as the most advanced technological detecting equipment "that...

A suspenseful yet delightful cozy mystery that I couldn't put down. The twist and turns kept me reading till the very end. ARC Team reviewer. I wanted to learn calligraphy at the local craft store. I didn't know the owner would kick the bucket after our first class. Her death is too suspicious. As I talk to the craft club who knows everyone that has ever come into the craft store I find out who would have wanted the victim inked out. Everyone saw her cat fight with the town's blabber mouth and her cousin's estranged husband and city councilman just happened to emerge just in time to call ...

Set in 1946 England, Murder at Rutherford Hall is a gripping tale that will have you turning pages till the end to figure out ‘whodunit’! The charming characters simply pull you into a setting of elaborate richness woven with humour and portraits of a bygone era where homes were large and beautiful, people dressed for dinners and life moved with a certain grace for the privileged. Against this enchanting backdrop, love and betrayal, life and death, laughter and grief, wealth and poverty come together to provide an immensely entertaining read. Star Reviews for ‘Murder at Rutherford ...

Dealing with Europe is never easy It's Paris 1919 and the Peace Conference following the end of the Great War is proving anything but peaceful. In fact, it can be murder... A French Diplomat has been murdered. When the chief suspect turns out to be the girlfriend of Aldric 'Spunky' Stephens, Kit Aston is called in to investigate. The investigation becomes a race against time as Europe faces a deadly new enemy, intent on dragging it back into the carnage from which it has just escaped. The Kit Aston mysteries mix real life historical characters and events with crime thrillers full of red ...

It's time for Addi, Sam, and Cece to set sail again on another magical cruise. This time, literally. "Winters will have you giggling into your book!" The whole cruise is set up for a magic theme. All the guests are set to enjoy a cruise they’ll never forget. It becomes even more unforgettable when one of the magician’s assistants dies on stage in the middle of a show! Addi, Sam and Cece set to finding out just what happened to the unfortunate magician’s assistant, following a path of mistruths and distractions. Praise for A.R. Winters: "The perfect balance of being lighthearted, but ...

Instead of catering to cozy readers at my inherited bookshop, I found myself staring at the town’s crabbiest gardener… taking a dirt nap in my alleyway. I just turned a new page in my life when I returned to Bramble Dale to start a laid back book club. But when my old crush is pegged as a suspect for a murder it became a crime story that I needed to solve. When my trusty yellow lab, Peanut, sniffs out a bloodied scarf, me and my bestie start questioning suspects. With the victim rigging the gardening competition so he always won there were more than enough people that wanted to dig his ...

After twelve-year-old John Boarhog’s mom dies, the last thing he wants is to be schlepped off to the Jersey Home for Boys, where kids are forced to make skinny jeans for hipsters and are fed nothing but kale. Instead, he makes himself a snug home in the ceiling of the New York Museum of Natural History, where he reads anything he can get his hands on and explores the artifacts after hours. But when a rare Egyptian ruby—the highlight of the museum’s new exhibit—goes missing, John is accused of the crime.

RJ Spencer is a lucky 12-year-old. He lives in the big city and his parents are landlords of the high-rise apartment building that is his home. The many tenants in the building, along with the endless possibilities of adventures in the city itself, are the perfect setting for the young detective as he sets out to solve every case he can get his hands on. RJ is getting caught up in disgusting green goo everywhere he goes. After seeing some strange bright lights at the park one night, he and Joey are determined to catch the aliens before they get what they are seeking...possibly RJ and Joey!

Sisters Sage and Summer Dixon have turned The Novel Brew into Riverbend, Montana’s go-to spot for books, coffee, and community. But when their beagle, Brody, finds a bloodied napkin under a table, their cozy world is upended. Moments later, a shaken Deputy Emily Harper arrives with shocking news—Lillian Barrett, a dear friend of the sisters, has been found dead. Determined to uncover the truth, Sage and Summer dive into the investigation, only to discover that beneath Riverbend’s charming exterior lies a tangled web of secrets, betrayals, and long-buried grudges. As the sisters piece ...

What do a dead cat, a computer whiz-kid, an electric monk who believes the world is pink, quantum mechanics, a chronologist over 200 years old, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (poet) and pizza have in common? Apparently not much, until Dirk Gently, self-styled private investigator, sets out to prove the fundamental interconnectedness of all things by solving a mysterious murder, assisting a mysterious professor, unravelling a mysterious mystery and eating a lot of pizza - not to mention saving the entire human race from extinction along the way (at no extra charge).

High school wasn’t a grand time for everyone, but when a group of friends decide to meet up at a B and B ahead of their 10-year reunion, old grudges resurface, and one of them ends up dead. Now the owners, a kindly older couple, are on the hook for the accidental death due to anaphylaxis, but they insist no mistakes were made on their part. Fortune is asked to look into the situation before the inept local sheriff railroads the couple or simply allows gossip to run them out of business, which will cost them their home. Swamp Team 3 heads to Voodoo Island to find a way to clear the couple.

When a killer strikes, single mom and PI, Tracy Belden and her friends put game nights on hold to solve a case of murder. Escape to Tahoe. Help a friend. No problems. No pressure. What could go wrong? I'm Tracy Belden, a rookie PI with a handful of cases solved, but when a fellow PI calls, I answer. Twelve hours later, my investigator friend is missing, the client is dead, and I'm at the murder scene. With the police eyeing me as a suspect, I have to find the killer if there’s any hope of completing my crossword puzzle. If you like fast-paced, humorous cozies, dive into the Crossword ...

A thrilling collection of the first eight Samantha Moon short stories, including: Teeth - What happens when a child is born with a rare throwback gene, a gene that produces two exceptionally long teeth? Vampire Nights - Samantha Moon meets someone unexpected on a late night trip to Denny's, someone who seems to know all her secrets and has all the answers. Vampire Blues - Samantha Moon discovers that even a routine case can offer a few surprises―and that not all men are created equal. Vampire Dreams - Samantha Moon sets out to find the answer to a mysterious, haunting dream...a dream in ...

For years, a monolithic Timberwolf-class starship has been hidden, but now it’s about to reappear. Together with his girlfriend Sam and the rest of the Striker Force Raptor team, Joel has been assigned to retrieve this ghost ship and return it to its rightful owners. But what seems like an exhilarating adventure takes a dangerous turn amid chance encounters with black holes and hidden planets. When the team find the crew of the ghost ship dead with no discernible cause, they must figure out what happened—and if they themselves are at risk. In this quest for answers, Joel is about to ...

A missing manuscript and a dead author spell a narrative of chaos in Bloomsville. When reclusive author Ashton Blackwood is found lifeless at Shelf Indulgence, I’m drawn into a plot twist thicker than the most intricate novel. I’m Grace Thompson—florist by trade, sleuth by necessity. Rosie, my terrier with a nose for mysteries, sniffs out intrigue, guiding me to characters ranging from rival authors to disgruntled editors. The stakes rise higher than a climactic chapter as I join forces with Chloe, my forensic partner. Sheriff Waverly admits this mystery is more baffling than a poorly...

Adrienne is looking forward to a nice, relaxing cruise—especially when she hears that this time, the theme is beauty and pampering. Unfortunately, “beauty and pampering” means something different for the cruise passengers! When one of the passengers is killed by a lethal beauty injection, it's up to Addy and the gang to uncover the truth of whose flawless face doesn’t match the ugliness within. This time around, the investigation is aided by the Swan of the Seas’ new captain, Jonathan Ellman, who seems vaguely familiar to Adrienne and the others… Praise for A.R. Winters: "The ...