Showing results for "Book of Shadows" in Amateur Sleuth

The sisters of Gwenafwy Abbey have cherished their contemplative life - days spent in prayer, reflection, tending the convent's vegetable gardens and making their award-winning organic cheese, Heavenly Gouda. Life seems perfect, except for Sister Agatha, a die-hard mystery fan who despairs of ever finding any real life inspiration for her own novel. That is, until the abbey's sexton is found dead under an avalanche of gouda. Despite the reservations of the local constable, Sister Agatha is convinced it's murder and the game is afoot.

Private investigator Matilda Wren is posing as the wife of Inspector William Maxwell from the City of London Police to infiltrate a burial club scheme. Maxwell is a skilled detective, but he isn't Hadrian—her usual ally and the man she trusts most. When the club's administrator is murdered, Tilda needs Hadrian's expertise, notably his uncanny ability to glimpse others' memories.

Journalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life We Bury (Publishers Weekly) Joe Talbert, Jr. has never once met his namesake. Now out of college, a cub reporter...

Drawing upon her background in ancient history and her experiences on archaeological digs, author C.S. Harris crafts authentic, compelling novels that appear regularly on best-seller lists and have won numerous awards. In 1812, surgeon Paul Gibson discovers a stiletto wound in the base of a corpse’s skull and immediately contacts Sebastian St. Cyr. And when another body turns up with the same injury, the lives of St. Cyr’s family are threatened if he doesn’t back off. Now, the pressure’s on to find the culprit before anyone else gets killed.

In this timely and terrifying thriller for listeners of Janelle Brown, Karin Slaughter, Stacy Willingham, and Jennifer Hillier, a woman with a side gig offering relationship advice on Twitch learns just how dangerous online anonymity can be....

When Kate goes to look after her estranged sister’s children in their creepy old house, she takes a photo of what seems to be a ghost. Frightened yet intrigued, Kate undertakes to uncover the secrets of the house and the two mysterious sisters who lived there over a hundred years before. But like the illusions of light and shadow in the sisters’ strange and disturbing Victorian post-mortem photography, Kate discovers that all is not what it seems. Someone – or something – has their own plans for Rookswood House – and for Kate.

It’s a wedding right after Christmas in the scenic ski resort town of Taos, New Mexico. Libby, Greg and Shadow, along with Lexi and her family head to Taos for a vacation and to attend Greg’s college friend's wedding. Not long after the ceremony, the groom goes missing, and Libby’s group is pulled into the mystery of finding out where he could possibly have gone.

With her family in fragments and hopes for a relationship with the charming Lord Braedon in peril, death and heartache cling to Lady Ravenna Birchfield like a shadow. Yet, life must go on in her charity work and in providing a home and guidance for her abandoned niece. When Lord Franklin Thornley is murdered at a charity gala and a precious black opal known as the Widow's Fire goes missing, one of Ravenna's closest friends becomes the focus of the investigation. Determined to keep her friend out of prison, Ravenna searches for the killer.

Nora is known for her window displays, and as Halloween approaches, she decides to showcase fictional heroines like Roald Dahl’s Matilda and Madeline Miller’s Circe. A family-values group disapproves of the magical themes though and wastes no time launching a modern-day witch hunt. Suddenly, former friends and customers are targeting not only Nora and Miracle Books, but a new shopkeeper, Celeste, who’s been selling CBD oil products. Nora and the Secret, Book, and Scone Society are doing their best to put an end to the strife - but then someone puts an end to a life.

As Kate Hamilton plans her upcoming wedding to Detective Inspector Tom Mallory, she is also assisting her colleague Ivor Tweedy with a project at the Netherfield Sanatorium, which is being converted into luxury townhouses. Kate and Ivor must appraise a fifteenth-century painting and verify that its provenance is the Dutch master Jan Van Eyck. But when retired criminal inspector Will Parker is found dead, Kate learns that the halls of the sanatorium housed much more than priceless art.

Dorothy Martin and her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt, go on a trip to Orkney in Scotland to visit an old friend and see some intriguing Stone Age excavations. They realize there’s considerable dissension between the archaeologists and the principal donor for the newest dig, a wealthy and abrasive American. When a more recent corpse is found at the dig, various suspects are named, but there’s not enough evidence to bring a case against anyone.

Libby Madsen, professional massage therapist and co-owner of the luxurious Dharma Inspired Day Spa, has probably heard it all. During what she thinks of as ‘tabletop confessions’ her clients often talk about way more of their personal lives than she really wants to hear. So when a regular, Maggie Crenshaw, talks about how her daughter went away on a camping trip with friends, it’s just so much chatter. But when Maggie says Isobel didn’t return home on time, is not answering her phone, and that the young woman is diabetic and really needs her meds.

Jack the Ripper begins his reign of terror. Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer, supplements her meager income by taking illicit boudoir photographs of the town's local ladies of the night. But when two of her models are found gruesomely murdered within weeks of one another, Sarah begins to suspect it's more than mere coincidence.

On a stormy Chicago night, renowned semiotician Dr. Evan Wilding and his brother, River, who’s back from an archaeological dig, reunite in a mystery. A package addressed to both of them contains a hand-drawn maze, an ancient Cretan coin, and a cryptic greeting: Let the game begin. The opening move is murder. In a downtown alley, a man has been found nearly cleaved in two, a symbol drawn on his forehead and a savage rip in his throat. Given the clues, Evan sees a parallel to a fearsome Greek myth. Which means his friend Detective Addie Bisset is on the trail of a legendary flesh-eating monster.

“A killer of a thriller with a wonderfully human, perfectly rendered heroine at its center….A terrific read.” —Dennis Lehane, author of Shutter Island and The Given Day “First-rate crime fiction.” —Washington Post (a Best Book of the Year) The raves keep pouring in for #1 New York...

The town of Lavender, Texas is buzzing with tourists, and local businesses are pulling out all the stops for the annual Pumpkin Days Festival. On the eve of opening day, Sabrina comes face-to-face with her doppelgänger, Tia Hartwell, a caricature artist at the festival. The similarities between the two women are striking, including their matching black cats. Sabrina learns that her new twin Tia has an enemy: bad-tempered jewelry vendor Calvin Fisher. When Fisher is found slumped over dead in his pickup, Tia tops the suspect list.

The new summer house on Sandhamn Island is an architectural dream for its owner, Carsten Jonsson. It’s a nightmare for the locals. The venture capitalist has flouted local traditions, property lines, and the natural beauty of the coastline. He’s also too wealthy and arrogant to heed the anonymous warnings to leave. The threats escalate when his guest lodge is burned to the ground and an unidentifiable corpse is found in the charred ruins.

Jake Sands has had a truly action-packed life as a recoverer of stolen objects and people. His work has made him a very rich man, but he paid a steep price: the murder of his wife and child. Jake now spends his days working out and his nights haunted by memories.