Showing results for "Helen" 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.

On a locked ward in the world’s highest-security prison hospital for the criminally insane, a nurse has been murdered and her newborn baby kidnapped. A ransom must be paid, and the clock is ticking. Forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine is renowned for her ability to get inside the mind of a murderer. Now she must go deep undercover among the most deranged and dangerous men on earth, and use her unique skills to find the baby–before it’s too late.

Poppy Denby is intrigued when she is invited to attend the auction for the death mask of Nefertiti. Held on the country estate of Sir James Maddox, a famous explorer, the auction promises to be a controversial and newsworthy affair. Representatives from the world's leading museums are gathering to bid on the mask, which was discovered in Egypt. Poppy quickly sniffs out that the mask was not the only thing found that night: the underground chamber also contained a dead body.

When eighty-year-old Eleanora Duncan is found dead on her kitchen floor, Sheriff Frank Biddle suspects it isn't from natural causes. Eleanora wasn't exactly your average senior citizen. She was a widow worth millions, although all her money couldn't buy her happiness-not after losing both her husband and son.

Spring has sprung, the river is rising, and when Luann Dupree, the head of River Bend's Historical Society, vanishes into the night, everyone in town is convinced she's run off with her Internet Romeo. But her lifelong friend, Sarah Biddle, is convinced Luann is the victim of foul play. No one believes her—not even her husband, the local sheriff, so she turns to Helen Evans for help.

Every nosy neighbor, gossipy friend, and meddling relative is just one good mystery away from becoming a detective. From behind locked doors or out in broad daylight, driven by chance or curiosity, amateur sleuths get in over their heads in these six hair-raising, hilarious stories.

As yuletide settles upon Gwenafwy Abbey, the rural Welsh convent's peace is shattered when Tiffany Reese, president of the Village Art Society, is found dead on the floor of the parish hall. Sister Agatha, whose interests lie more with reading and writing mystery stories than with making the abbey's world-renowned organic gouda, is not shy about inserting herself into the case. With the not-entirely eager assistance of Father Selwyn, she begins her investigation.

When Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton's corpse is discovered behind the easels of Manhattan's famed art school, whispers in the art community say he had it coming. As Benton's list of enemies lengthens to include League instructors, Vietnam War protesters, and members of Andy Warhol's entourage, one art student is ultimately pinned for the crime. The only problem? The suspect has vanished.

Private Investigator Kitt Hartley and her twin sister, Rebecca, are preparing for a holiday in Scotland when cruise ship entertainer Errol Jackson appears at the door. Errol breaks the news that Bryce Griffin, a former smuggler and an old friend of Kitt's, has been murdered; his body found washed up by a lighthouse, bearing a gunshot wound. Kitt persuades Rebecca to cancel their trip, and, together with Kitt's assistant, Grace Edwards, and best friend, Evie Bowes, book onto the next cruise to Norway to help with the ongoing murder investigation.

Helen Dexter is enjoying the new four-star status of the Seaview Hotel. But she begins to wonder if this accolade is cursed when a series of disasters strike. It starts when a crazy golf team arrive to play in a Scarborough tournament. Their odd behaviour heightens when the rival team captain turns up. Yet, there's worse to come for Helen when one of the guests is murdered playing crazy golf. Then the Seaview's prize-winning cook Jean quits, leaving Helen devastated. And so, as Helen's fiftieth birthday approaches, the last thing she's in the mood for is a celebration.

When Clio – a former actress and current struggling private detective – manages to score a key role in the town’s Christmas pantomime, she’s secretly delighted. At last, perhaps, her talents will be recognized? It’s all going dramatically well, until their esteemed director is found murdered on the opening night. And Clio knows it’s up to her to find out who the mistletoe murderer is. She knows her best chance of capturing the culprit is to bring her best friends Amber and Jeanie into the cast. Even if the best way to sneak them in is to carefully conceal them both in a pantomime cow costume.

Zwei Freundinnen auf der Suche nach gestohlenen Erstausgaben. Evie Bowes dachte, dass ihr Leben nach den aufregenden Ereignissen um den Mord am Münster wieder in normalen Bahnen verlaufen würde. Doch dann gibt es unerfreuliche Neuigkeiten: Die sympathische Detective Sergeant Charlotte Banks wurde vom Dienst suspendiert, weil sie einen Einbrecher in einem Buchladen brutal niedergeschlagen haben soll. Evie weiß, dass Charlotte unter keinen Umständen die Angreiferin sein kann.

Reverend Clare Brakespear is used to a challenge. With a young family to wrangle, a parish to manage and a particularly excitable Golden Retriever by her side, life is never dull. But when she attends a wedding where one of the guests is fatally stabbed with a cake knife, even Clare admits that she might have been given too much to handle this time. As the police investigate the murder, they zero-in on one woman as their prime suspect, who they believe had the motive, means and opportunity to commit the crime. The trouble is, Clare is convinced that they have the wrong person.

Tensions are high at the Three Counties Show when accusations of cheating add fuel to a longstanding feud. For Jude Gray, whose only hope was to not make a fool of herself showing her Kerry Hill sheep, farming life has never been so dramatic. When a body is found, belonging to one of the competitors, there is no shortage of suspects. Every sheep farmer in this close-knit community has a motive and beneath their show-ready smiles, they all have something to hide.

Leah Williams knows exactly what she wants from life – comfort, luxury and security. All the things she would have had if her childhood hadn’t been derailed by her father’s bad decisions. And then she meets Miles Sinclair. After the death of his wife last year, Miles is ready to start living his life again, and Leah knows just how to help him… what could be so wrong with that?

For her husband’s 40th birthday, Lily Leonard books a table at the exclusive restaurant of Hector Bolson-Woods renowned celebrity chef. It should be the perfect evening for Lily and Stig, but not even a perfect menu can heal the cracks in the marriage. So when Hector invites them to dine with him privately, Lily is thrilled. Surely this will please Stig? Hector is charming and attentive – everything Stig is not – and she finds herself drawn more and more drawn to the enigmatic Hector.

When Jude Gray and DI Binnie Khatri join a local walking group, their expectations for a peaceful outing to the Malvern Hills takes a grim turn. Arguments abound, and the hike ends in tragedy when one of the walkers is found dead in her car. Initially ruled as an accident, Jude's instincts tell her there’s more to the story. As Jude and Binnie dig deeper, they uncover tensions and secrets within the group. From hidden affairs to longstanding rivalries, it becomes clear this death was no accident.

I am accused of the worst of crimes – murdering my baby – and I have hours before this passenger ferry docks in Spain to find him, alive. Someone knows about my difficult past and darkest secrets, and now I think they’ve taken my baby. But who would do this to me and why? I know the answer. Or least I think I do…The police want to know why I have fled my home and husband. How do I tell them that I had a breakdown after my first baby died? That today is the anniversary of his death? That my husband is planning on having me sectioned? Despite what my husband says, I’m not ill. Am I?

Jeanie’s getting married, and – despite her completely impossible four sisters – her best friends Clio and Amber are determined to give her a bachelorette weekend to remember. They’re in matching pink T-shirts and the drinks are flowing... But the night turns out to be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons when a girl turns up dead on the dancefloor. And – even though she’s a stranger – she is wearing one of Jeanie’s hen T-shirts.

Jude Gray has worked hard to bring a steady equilibrium to life on Malvern Farm and things are going well. The only fly in the ointment is the foul addition of a new face in the village: staunch townie and chauvinistic sleaze, Des Smith. Jude has nothing but sympathy for his caring, patient wife, Loretta, who has become a regular visitor to the farm for a cup of tea and a chat. But things take a turn for the worse when a hit and run outside The Lamb brings death once again to the village. Is it an accident or is something more sinister afoot?