Showing results for "Mary" in Amateur Sleuth

When the beloved Reverend Playfair is found stabbed in his study, along with his housekeeper, the polite residents of Brighton do what they do best: pretend that nothing is wrong and return to their tea. But not Miss Lavinia Rathbone. She may be a lady of leisure, but the razor-sharp spinster has no patience for sloppy conclusions, or for Inspector Chubb, who seems more interested in pork pies than motive. With her loyal companion Miss Rose Vale, Lavinia sets out to discover what really took place.

Elizabeth Bell runs a quiet household, with no family and no more than the usual number of servants. She passes her time thinking about crime and working on her biography of a relative. When a young cousin comes to stay, life in the house becomes uncharacteristically lively. First, cousin Judy burns a hole in Miss Bell's desk. Next, they spy a burglar on the staircase—a shadowy figure who vanishes without a trace. And finally, Sarah, the nurse, takes the dogs for a walk and never returns. She is found savagely murdered, and she will not be the last to die.

Major Robert Kurland has returned to the quiet vistas of Kurland St. Mary to recuperate from the horrors of Waterloo. However injured his body may be, his mind is as active as ever. Too active, perhaps. When he glimpses a shadowy figure from his bedroom window struggling with a heavy load, the tranquil façade of the village begins to loom sinister....

Susan has always taken comfort in the peaceful rhythm of life on the Isle of Wight. But when her daughter Zoe invites her to a Halloween ghost walk at a remote castle, Susan has a sense of foreboding she can’t quite shake. It’s meant to be a bit of fun for the group of old school friends, the thrill of an overnight stay behind the castle’s ancient gates. But when one of them is found dead, the weekend away takes a sinister turn. With the castle locked down and the group trapped inside, it soon becomes clear the killer would have been amongst them.

“Clark has perfected the suspense novel.” —Booklist New York Times bestselling author and mystery writer par excellence, Mary Jane Clark kicks off her delicious new Wedding Cake mystery series with To Have and To Kill. A tasty departure from her thrillers featuring KEY News television...

It's the dead of winter and struggling actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan is thrilled to be in warm and romantic Sarasota, Florida, enjoying the powdery white beaches, soothing seas, and golden sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. She and her family are there to celebrate her beloved...

“One of the most talented story tellers around.” —Associated Press “Clark has perfected the suspense novel…in classic Christie fashion.” —Booklist New York Times bestseller Mary Jane Clark introduced readers to professional wedding cake decorator and amateur sleuth Piper Donavan in...

Maeve Conlon's life is coming apart at the seams. Her bakery is barely making ends meet, and one of her daughters spends as much time grounded as the other does studying. Her ex-husband has a new wife, a new baby, and a look of pity for Maeve that's absolutely infuriating. Her father insists he's still independent, but he's slowly and obviously succumbing to Alzheimer's. And now, her cousin Sean Donovan has been found dead, sitting in his car in a public park, shot through the head.

Countess by day, secret advice columnist by night, Amelia Amesbury has life happily balanced on a quill's edge . . . until her sister Margaret shows up in London under a blanket of scandal and Amelia is catapulted out of mourning and into the ton's unforgiving Season. However Madge's Season debut is marred by a rather inconvenient death at the dining table as the infamous Mr Radcliffe takes ill and is later confirmed dead by poisoning. With Madge being the last person to have cross words with the soon-to-be baron, the ton's gossip mill—and the police—are looking to pin the murder on her.

Upon the death of her father, Mary Bennet’s life is thrown into turmoil. With no fortune or marriage prospects, she must rely on the kindness of her relatives. When a mysterious late-night visit by an unknown relative - a Lady Trafford from Castle Durrington - leads to an extended stay and the chance for an education, Mary gratefully accepts the opportunity. But even as she arrives at the castle, she’s faced with one mystery after another.

A village in Cornwall is thrown into turmoil after a young girl falls from a train to her death. Was this an accident? Or murder? The mystery deepens when clues link the girl to a double homicide committed ten years earlier. Braddon's sensational novel takes us to the estates of aristocrats, the haunts of tabloid writers, the homes of Bohemian artists, and the dark alleyways of Paris. Braddon, one of Victorian England's best-selling novelists, is at the height of her powers in Wyllard's Weird.

Our nameless post-modern amateur sleuth is still recovering from her first dangerous foray into detective work when her old friend Priscilla Jane Gill breezes back into her life and begs for help. Pris, now a famous travel writer, fears she’s being stalked again after a nearly fatal attack by a deranged fan a year earlier. In Pris’s dizzying world of wealth and privilege, nameless meets dreamy but sinister tech billionaire Nathan and his equally unnerving sidekick Chiles.

edding Planner Kate Ludlow is back with her fun circle of small-town New England friends. Life is clipping along well for Kate. Her wedding season is off to a great start; she has reconnected with her former high school boyfriend, and her teen daughter is happy and looking forward to a fun summer. At the town's traditional kick-off to summer party, "Strawberry Moon," Jack Malone, the town's parodical son, surprises the population with his appearance. He's the best baseball player the whole of New England has ever produced, and he now plays professional baseball in Los Angeles.

Baseball may be America’s official favorite pastime, but for Martha Rose and her friends, quilting is far more fun… and a lot less dangerous. A diamond brocade pattern is more quilter Martha Rose’s style than a baseball diamond - especially when it comes to the new eyesore of a stadium ruining her lovely San Fernando Valley neighborhood. Martha doesn’t know a bunt from a bundt cake, but when she stumbles upon the battered body of baseball coach Dax Martin, she doesn’t need a scorecard to know it’s foul play.

At the intimate house-warming party for her glorious ‘grand design’, Kathleen confides in her best friend, Beth, that she is terrified of one of their close friends but daren’t reveal which one. The guests are a tight-knit group, but Kathleen is convinced one of them is dangerous. The next day Kathleen’s body is found at the foot of a cliff, and Beth must face the sickening truth that she may have been killed by one of their trusted friends. With little help from the police, Beth’s decides to seek answers.

Travel writer Jill Curtis loves her job, but she desperately needs a break if she's to achieve her dream of becoming an investigative reporter. Sent to Kentucky by her boss to find out why thousands of tourists flock to Bourbon Country every year, Jill's dream seems to be slipping further away. After all, nothing interesting ever happens in small-town America...does it? Staying at an estranged relative's B&B, Jill's plan to uncover what makes the state's bourbon tours so popular goes awry when she trips over a body at one of the distilleries.

The South Dakota Gold Rush might be long over, but Zo Jones feels like she's hit the mother lode when she and her friends browse an estate sale, where a rare old book about the history of Spirit Canyon is causing quite a commotion. In addition to local stories and secrets, the book may even contain the location of a famous stash of gold-a treasure worth killing for.

Spirit Canyon's annual Spirit Spooktacular weekend is on, and for local amateur sleuth Zo Jones, it's boomtime for business at her Happy Camper gift shop...until a murderer drops in for a browse.

It's Memorial Day weekend in Spirit Canyon, and for Zo, that means the return of summer shoppers. It also means the return of her good friend Beth, who's moved back to the area to reopen her family's hotel, Spirit Canyon Lodge. Beth and Zo spent many childhood summers there, and Zo can't wait to reconnect and celebrate the Grand Opening. But the festivities go from bad to worse when a power outage knocks out the lights-and morning reveals a competitor's dead body found on the premises.

The Isle of Wight has always felt like a safe place to live for keen dog-walker and reluctant sleuth Susan. But after being involved in the investigation of a troubling crime near her old home, Susan decides to move to the peaceful village of Bishopstone. Susan loves the sense of community and immediately throws herself into village life, volunteering at the local primary school and joining the choir of St Jude’s. So, when there is an altercation at the meeting of the choir committee, followed by a shocking accident, Susan is dismayed to realise her powers of deduction may be needed again.