Humorous Mysteries

A film shoot in Paris… What could possible go wrong? For Ava Sext, an amateur sleuth and transplanted Londoner who sells books from an outdoor stand overlooking the Seine, an early morning knock on her door leads to a job on a film shoot. Her film career gets off to a roaring start with murder on her first day on the job. With the help of her fellow bookseller, Henri DeAth, a former notary in a country where notaries are a powerful caste, Ava investigates the strange goings-on in the production while rekindling a relationship with the film's producer, an old flame who may or may not be ...

Mac had it all - a single, care free life, living on the shores of Southampton Water in his own detached property. Ok, so it was just a rusty old Winnebago affectionately known as Minnie Winnie, but it was the first home Mac has actually owned and he loved it. A perfect existence – nights out with best friends Roger and Malik at The Wicked Parrot – sea swimming every day – and his artist’s studio in the magnificent Beauham Grange Arts Centre just a stroll down the lane. And the bad time in Mac’s life was firmly in the past – something he didn’t allow to disturb his equilibrium...

Dan Starkey is a young journalist in Belfast, who shares with his wife, Patricia, a prodigious appetite for drinking and dancing. Then Dan meets a beautiful and apparently impoverished student. And then, terrifyingly, she is murdered. Is it because she was not exactly who she claimed to be? Is it the IRA? A Protestant extremist group? A jealous lover? Before long, Dan is a target himself.…

I got me a date with Death… When Marty Zack shows up at my office at Spook Society, asking for my help, I dunno what to think. See, Marty and me… well, we’re at cross purposes when it comes to ghosties—I like to help the dead move on at their own speed, and Marty’s more like an uptight landlord kicking them to the curb. So, when Marty tells me the spooks of Haven Hollow have been disappearing for no good reason, and he needs my help to find out why, I gotta wonder what in the heck is going on. With the deceased Cain Morgan at my side (actually, it’s more fittin’ to say—...

Cassandra Thompson is the first Earth reporter with access to the classified Martian research colony of Darwin. While reporting on Darwin's transition to a free colony she quickly discovers the citizens are barely clinging to survival. Neighborhoods are split by race and class, robots make human labor obsolete, and anarchists and nationalists wrestle for control. Caught up in Darwin's power struggle, Cassandra must find a way to stop a civil war, outsmart local thugs, and avert a robot takeover, all before filing her next report.

It’s Halloween in Abbott Cove, and Grandma Grant is keen to win the pumpkin pie competition. In fact she’s so eager to win, Harper suspects her grandmother may have used magic to enhance her entry. Already concerned and on the lookout for odd signs of magic, Harper’s stress levels shoot through the roof when someone is poisoned during the competition. Fearing her grandmother may be the number one suspect, Harper gets to work, determined to solve the mystery of the poisoned pumpkin pie. Note: this is a 15,000 word short story.. This story was first published under the name D. S. Butler...

Tour guide and amateur sleuth Lana Hansen is back on the road! And where Lana travels, trouble is sure to follow… When Lana’s boyfriend, Alex Wright, gets into a jam during his first tour as a guide for Wanderlust Travels, Lana is sent to Costa Rica to help out. Yet nothing could prepare her for the mess she finds—a guide in the hospital, a hysterical client calling for Alex to be fired, and bickering guests threatening each other. This is not how Lana wanted to start touring again! Thrown into the deep, she has no choice but to help Alex overcome his problems with their clients, ...

Lexi’s life is a balancing act and it’s about to come crashing down. She was considered the best bank fraud investigator in the country. Unfortunately, now she’s in disgrace and working at the last bank that will employ her. And even that bank president would love to find any excuse to fire her. But when the bank's wealthiest client insists on hiring Lexi to find his missing daughter, the bank president can’t refuse. Lexi tracks the naive young heiress to a remote resort, deep in the jungles of Sumatra. It’s a place where rich guests disappear and things don't add up. Even worse, ...

History says it was suicide... Carly was thrilled to inherit her ex-husband's Victorian after he died. Of course, that was before she knew she was also inheriting his ghost, a 100-year-old curse, and the kind of strong mediumship skills that has every spirit in town begging for her to solve their mysteries. And Bessilyn Hind is first in line. According to history, in 1906 suffragist and local women's rights leader, Bessilyn Hind, committed suicide at her thirty-fifth birthday party after her fiancé broke up with her. Only one problem: her ghost doesn't remember it that way. And, she ...

It’s been seven years since Gloomy Knob landed in the Ted Stevens High-Security Federal Penitentiary and five years since the end of the war, the one North Korea started when they sent a missile to Cold Storage, Alaska. Serving a life sentence for the murder of his sister, Gloomy spends his time trying to forget about the past. Then one day, Gloomy is snatched from his off-site work station. Instead of celebrating his newfound freedom, Gloomy comes unmoored - he feels he belongs in prison. But his kidnappers believe Gloomy knows where a second nuclear warhead is hidden.

Welcome to Inspector Flytrap's Detective Agency, home to the world-renowned solver of Big Deal mysteries. Inspector Flytrap, a Venus flytrap, works tirelessly with his assistant Nina the Goat, a goat, on his community's unsolved cases. There's no case too big, but there are definitely cases too small for this endearingly self-important plant detective.

"Ideal for cozy mystery aficionados craving a thrilling escape into the heart of the Southwest." -NewInBooks Who knew a murder or two would turn Jake Stewart’s life around? Jake was trying to figure out his life after being abruptly downsized from what he considered the best job in the world — being a reporter in a fast moving, big city newsroom. Now, he was wandering the Southwest in the Beast, an aging RV that was his only home in the world. No job, no prospects, no love. Then in the fading moments of a brilliant sunset in the Mesa country of Arizona, he hears cries for help, and ...

A peaceful van life retreat at a Florida beachside campground. A shocking murder. Can Julia solve the case before the wrong man is convicted? Julia Ross thought trading suburbia for the camping van life would be the adventure of a lifetime. A year after her divorce, she sells everything, turns her minivan into a camper, and heads to an idyllic Florida beachfront park for a month of sunbathing, biking, and self-care. But when a fellow camper is found dead in his RV, Julia's relaxing getaway takes a dark turn. At first, Julia wants nothing to do with the investigation—she came for peace, ...

Can an 80-year-old widow, two quirky ghosts, and a little black cat with short legs find the problem causing unrest and solve the mystery at Willow Hill Mansion? When Edith buys an old mansion, she hopes for peace and quiet. Instead, she gets a lively adventure! With Molly, her playful Munchkin cat, by her side, Edith discovers the house is haunted by two very different ghosts—Lydia, a friendly spirit, and Margaret, a grumpy soul who believes her past was turbulent, causing unrest and an inability to move on to the other side. Together, this unlikely team embarks on a quest to uncover the...

Lookout, Dr. Frankenstein, because here comes Wanda Depraysie… It’s not as though I meant to create a life. I didn’t, but that life is still here, all the same. And the worst part? I created it with… sigh… my detested cousin, Maverick. Now, before you think I’m a double-timing, good-for-nothing witch, I’m not. It was all an accident. Swear. And the even craziest part? This little mixup isn’t even the worst thing that’s happened to me this week. No, that award goes to the invitation I receive to my own funeral—a party sponsored by the leader of the vampires, Rupert, ...

Lyla Cowan still isn’t sure she’s doing what she should be. Democratic Union and Naranja space proved to be hostile, but they finally convinced her to upgrade. So where next for her fledgling mercenary misfits? They’ve been invited to Karn, but is the League of Worlds’ space too tame? But adjacent to Karn is the third of the core belonging to the kangaroo like Ralnor. No-one knows anything about what goes on there, except the Ralnor value law and order above all. But where the Keerah impose military order, the Ralnor are supposed to enforce laws. Exactly what the difference is, no-...

When Adeline Bertrand-Verdon, the haughty, conniving president of the Proust Association, is murdered, Inspector Jean-Pierre Foucheroux is called on to lead the investigation. Soon Inspector Foucheroux is overwhelmed by a seemingly endless list of suspects: from her assistant to her colleagues, her fiancé to her lover, almost everyone Adeline knew had motive to kill her.

All I wanted was a piece of cake. After the last two years, I earned a piece of chocolate torte, damn it. But I owe a friend a favor. And he’s withholding my chocolate until I find a missing key. Easy peasy. How hard can it be? Well, it would have been easy if that key didn’t open a huge can of worms. And by worms, I mean mur-der. Now, I might be married off to the highest bidder. Tatiana is missing. And a giant, sparkly drag queen will strangle me with a feather boa if I don't find his wife. You thought your last Thursday was bad. My name is Wysdom Ward. These are my case files. The ...

A stampede during a parade; a supposedly accidental bull riding death; a burial with a horse drawn hearse in historic Mount Moriah Cemetery all tie together for another Mitch Tobin and crew mystery. The old mining town of Deadwood in the Black Hills of South Dakota sees plenty of action during what should be the simple merger of two small banks. In the middle of the mayhem, Judy and Mitch are trying to plan a wedding but there is little time for romance when the bodies start to pile up. Throw in some dubious characters involved with the gambling casinos, a hobo who has a way with the ladies...

In the nation’s Capital, someone is re-enacting the murders from a series of grisly horror books, and all the evidence points towards the author as the perpetrator. The big problem with that? He died a year ago. In suspicious circumstances. There were rumours of murder, but no arrests followed the original investigation. Now the victims are those who were closest to him, and it looks like the author has come back from the dead to exact his revenge. Hired by the author’s wife, who fears she may be next, Amanda and Tempest head to London for a case that will challenge the premise on which...