International Cozy Mysteries

In Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon’s first novel in the Commissario Brunetti series, readers were introduced to the glamorous and cut-throat world of opera and to one of Italy’s finest living sopranos, Flavia Petrelli - then a suspect in the poisoning of a renowned German conductor. Now, many years after Brunetti cleared her name, Flavia has returned to the illustrious La Fenice to sing the lead in Tosca. As an opera superstar, Flavia is well acquainted with attention from adoring fans and aspiring singers.

Mumbai, murder and a baby elephant combine in a charming, joyful mystery for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Harold Fry. On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra inherits two unexpected mysteries. The first is the case of a drowned boy, whose suspicious death no one seems to want solved. And the second is a baby elephant.

Ever since he survived a suicide attempt, New York artist Stan Foster has not been himself. Plagued by amnesia and a head full of visions of death and destruction that fuel his ever-more disturbing work, he claws his way through a life he doesn't recognize in search of his true identity. What he finds leads him to believe he is Satan, spit out from the bowels of hell to live among the mortal inhabitants of earth. Is he delusional, or is there truth behind this troubling revelation? One woman can help him find out.

Dorothy Martin’s husband, Alan Nesbitt, is heavily involved in the complex and lengthy process of choosing a new bishop for Sherebury Cathedral. The very day that the short list is announced publicly, one of the candidates is found murdered in his own church. With a long list of possible suspects, including Alan himself, Dorothy and Alan start to delve into the history of the victim, hoping to find some clue to a motive for murder. Then a second candidate is found dead, and the case becomes very complicated indeed. Who is murdering England’s clergymen and why …?

Darkness in Ronda is the second in Paul S Bradley’s Andalusian Mystery Series. Bullfighting in Spain is fading fast. The majority demand that this centuries-old national tradition be banned forever, yet the old men who run the controlling committee are stone-deaf to public protests. Bullfighter Diego Romero recognises the need for change and suggests reforms to stop killing such magnificent animals. The division between vested interests and modernisers grows wider. Tempers fray, and violence raises its ugly head. The conflict comes to a head at La Goyesca, Ronda’s stylish bullfighting ...

When Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired police detective Alan Nesbitt, decide to visit the beautiful island of Alderney in the English Channel, they hope for a pleasant, peaceful holiday. It’s not to be. Taking a walk on their very first day, they discover a body, apparently the victim of an unfortunate accident, on a precipitous hill path.

Dorothy Martin isn’t overly enthusiastic when her husband, retired police detective Alan Nesbitt, invites her to accompany him to a conference in Cambridge, picturing cramped student accommodation. But St. Stephen’s turns out to be recently renovated, and, bolstered by ensuite facilities, Dorothy is looking forward to exploring the historic and beautiful city. It is not long, though, before disaster strikes. Lost in the maze of college buildings, Dorothy stumbles into a laboratory—and is shocked to find what looks like a pool of blood on the floor.

Wherever there was trouble in the world, one would find Martha McGillivray. The celebrated journalist had a nose for rooting out corruption and a passion for sticking it to the man. Unsurprisingly, then, eventually trouble finds her and she dies of Ricin poisoning whilst traveling on a train to Edinburgh. Back from a spell on a punitive training course for middle-aged male dinosaurs, Detective Inspector Russell McCord is under pressure to crack the case quickly. However, his superiors have forbidden all contact with the press. In particular magazine writer and amateur sleuth Amy Thornton.

It's 1955. Two young couples move to the uninhabited, isolated fjord of Hedinsfjordur. Their stay ends abruptly when one of the women meets her death in mysterious circumstances. The case is never solved. Fifty years later an old photograph comes to light, and it becomes clear that the couple may not have been alone on the fjord after all....

Winter has come early to the tiny Siberian village of Roslazny, but for Olga Pushkin, aspiring writer and Railway Engineer (Second Class), it only makes leaving the harder. Olga is being forced overseas by her jealous superior, and now faces two years in exile from her beloved rail-side hut, her white-breasted hedgehog Dmitri and Vassily Marushkin, sergeant-in-charge at the tiny Roslazny police station. Fate seems to intervene when Olga's train crashes outside Roslazny, shutting the line and killing two on board—local celebrity Danyl Petrovich and his wife, Anoushka.

After finding herself mixed up in a murder investigation the previous Summer, Katherine Goff's life simply has not been the same. Her husband has been in the United States recording a new album, the Burgundy region locals are finally starting to see her as a real neighbor, and Katherine has even started helping out with "tourist" excursions. It seems she's finally found her place in the small community of Reigny-sur-Canne. But when Katherine stumbles across a body in the local museum during a tour, she finds herself caught up once again in a whirlwind of gossip and speculation.

Interpol has requested that Millie appear in Marrakesh, Morocco, at an International Tribunal to testify against the seemly harmless scoundrel they met aboard their first cruise. They soon learn that they and Ferdinand Modesto are in deeper trouble than they ever dreamed. Joined by her sister Abby, the two are challenged at every turn of their travels. They come face-to-face with an explosion, being taken in for questioning by local authorities, a kidnapping, murder and a phantom-criminal known as Balthazar, all while Millie and Abby endeavor to do the right thing, but will they prevail?

In dem malerischen Dörfchen Ballydehag in Irland, in das die Hexe Quinn Callahan vor kurzem gezogen ist, scheint ein uralter Fluch Unheil zu stiften. Ist dieser schuld an dem Mord, der sich ereignet? Oder läuft dort ein sehr lebendiger Mörder frei herum? Der Umzug in ein kleines irisches Dorf hätte die nicht mehr allzu junge Hexe vor Schwierigkeiten bewahren sollen. Doch leider geht diese Rechnung nicht auf. Quinn und ihre untoten Bücherwürmer müssen den wahren Mörder finden und dem Fluch ein Ende setzen, bevor noch jemand ums Leben kommt.

Sailing on a cruise ship to discover unusual adventures for her travel magazine, journalist Sam Anderson gets caught up in the disappearance of a wealthy dining companion. From the glaciers of Alaska to the steamy heat of New Orleans, Sam begins to tie up the loose strings of this intriguing mystery.

A business magnate calls on wine expert Benjamin Cooker to kick-start his new wine business in Beaujolais, sparking bitter rivalries. Can the Winemaker Detective and his assistant keep calculating real estate agents, taciturn winegrowers, dubious wine merchants, and suspicious deaths from delaying delivery of the world-famous Beaujolais Nouveau?

In a loft in the 18th Arrondissment near Montmartre, Jamie Litton has become intoxicated with his life as a member of Parisian Cafe Society. A group of artists, musicians, and poets unconditionally embrace their newest member, not knowing that this somewhat eccentric man hides a dangerous secret. His best friend Ben Foulof, a missing journalist, is on the run from a powerful news organization that wants its rogue agent back - dead or alive.

A small town holds fiercely on to its secrets. In the heart of Gascony, a fire ravages the warehouse of one of Armagnac's top estates, killing the master distiller. Wine expert Benjamin Cooker is called in to estimate the value of the losses. But Cooker and his assistant, Virgile, want to know more. How did the old alembic explode? Was it really an accident? Why is the estate owner, Baron de Castayrac, penniless? How legal are his dealings?

When Chrys asks her brother, Spencer, for help to clean a foreclosed house for the bank, neither expects their lives to be on the line. It's supposed to be a simple Sunday: take pictures, clean out the house, collect the cash. The amateur sleuths are plunged into a mystery fight for their lives when the house reveals unspeakable horrors and an unknown serial killer hunts them and the people around them. Sometimes things in the light are even more deadly.

Kim faces two cases in this gripping instalment. An escaped felon and a strange request from an olive-skinned beauty. She must wrestle simultaneously with both conundrums, and track down the convict while resolving the mystery of what exactly is inside the booty in the boathouse - and who put it there and why? There are the usual splashes of humour as Kim gets to grips with her tasks.

What could be better than going to Northern England to visit the places where famous authors such as Bram Stoker, Beatrix Potter, and Catherine Cookson lived and worked? It was something Kat had always wanted to do. Her dream became a reality when her friend, Marion, decided such a trip should be a payback to her friends for helping her discover the truth about her husband. But having the popular pub employee, Sam, murdered the night they arrived at the pub/hotel where Kat and her friends were staying, was not a preferred way to start a vacation.