Elizabeth Ferrars

A milk bottle opened, but not by hands; ashes in a fireplace that had issued no smoke; fresh flowers that should have been wilted, and wilted flowers that should have been fresh--these clues to the mysterious absence of Margot Dalziel, friend, neighbor, and business associate of many people, only serve to increase the confusion and apprehension surrounding the police investigation. And still more confusing is the complex tapestry of time and timing which confronts the police as they interrogate each party concerned.

Andrew Basnett series #8 (final book in the Andrew Basnett series) Expecting nothing more than a quiet holiday in the sleepy seaside town of Gallmouth, England, Andrew Basnett is first surprised to meet his nephew, Peter Dilly, quite by chance, and then pleased and annoyed to find himself drawn into the activities of the town's first arts festival. It's pleasant to be invited for dinner at the home of successful novelist Simon Amory, but not so pleasant when Amory's sister-in-law is found shot to death in Amory's summer house, and Basnett's nephew is both the last person to have seen her alive and the first to see her dead. When a second woman of Amory's acquaintance is also found dead, the rather prickly writer would seem to be a prime suspect--but Basnett has other ideas.

Andrew Basnett series #7 When seven friends gather to welcome retired professor Andrew Basnett to their village in the English country-side, conviviality soon turns to crime as guests suddenly start dying - and Basnett finds himself seeking a clever killer who's sure to strike again.

Toby Dyke and the cherubic George just happened to be in the neighbourhood when Edgar Prees committed suicide by jumping from a cliff. And they were still on hand when the same Edgar Prees was found the following morning ...shot to death with his own revolver. Thus Toby and George, masters ofcriminal investigation, are thrust headlong into their oddest case - of a suicide that isn't. (from the cover)

Renowned psychobiologist Dr Paul Virag has been dragged from his experimental station in Tobago at the whim of an heiress who requested that he chaperon her two prize monkeys, Irma and Leofric, across the Atlantic. But what has been an incovenience to his calm life takes an unexpected turn into a sinister mystery.

Sara Marriott looks forward to a pleasantly productive stay in the small town where she has come to ghostwrite the memoirs of a well-known general. Recently divorced, she is pleased to find lodging in the home of Althea Cannon, a local widow and longtime friend of General Schofield. Then Sara's attention is abruptly and terribly refocused from past to present by the sudden death of her elderly landlady. When poison is found to be the cause, suicide is the most comfortable assumption, but circumstances suggest otherwise. Disclosures about the dead woman's plans to change her will cast suspicion on her intriguing family. Becoming embroiled in the problems of Mrs. Cannon's almost disinherited son, her unhappily married sculptress niece, and a pair of precocious children, Sara is haunted by an inexplicable message left on her answerphone only shortly before the violent death. Before she can make sense of the connection between the message and the murder, a second death strikes unnervingly close. Sara can no longer trust any of her new acquaintances, not even the appealing young man who teaches school and writes mystery novels. But it takes yet another murder before Sara fully understands just how much danger can be stored in an answering machine.

Murder is very much a family matter when Nigel Cleaver, vacationing in the guest cottage on the property of his brother, Gavin, discovers the bodies of Gavin's wife Annabel and her half sister Caroline in two different rooms of Gavin's house. Annabel, who had suffered a stroke two years before, has apparently died of natural causes, with the gun used to shoot Caroline close to her hand. But why would Annabel shoot Caroline? Nigel can ony guess, but it soon becomes apparent that relationships among occupants of the main house had been far more complicated than they appeared. And to make matters even more confusing, the Cleavers' neighbors, the Jays, seem to be unusually involved in their friends' personal affairs. The family circle is completed when, much to the brothers' dismay, Nigel and Gavin's two sisters converge on the scene, offering still further speculation. Matters are finally resolved, and Annabel vindicated, during one stormy night--but not before the murderer strikes again.

Virginia and Felix Freer series #7 When Virginia Freer arrives at the Appleyard home to attend their niece Sonia's wedding, she find not only a house filled with presents and guests, but her mischievous estranged husband Felix as well. What is supposed to be a quiet affair begins to unravel into a troubling and baffling mystery. It seems there is no love lost between certain members of the Appleyard family. When Hollywood movie actor Andrew Appleyard appears unexpectedly, the family is in turmoil, especially when Andrew is found dead. Apparently, he has taken his own life, but why would he leave two separate suicide notes, one claiming he was dying of terminal cancer, plus a third in a strange handwriting? The Freers become increasingly suspicious, especially when Andrew's doctor says his patient was in perfect health. Soon, a mysterious woman in pink arrives at the house and steals one of the wedding presents. When a second body is discovered, Felix and Virginia join forces to unravel the clues of this deadly mystery.

Andrew Basnett series #5 Retired botany professor Andrew Basnett returns to Knotlington, where he'd taught at the university years before, and finds that although it has been two years since the death of artist Carl Judd, his murder is still a subject of hot dispute. Giles Farmoor, Andrew's friend and former student, insists that Andrew can ferret out the truth from the tangle of people and events surrounding the murder and its sordid aftermath. Stephen Sharland has been convicted of the murder, but his wife and Judd's widow maintain his innocence. And now more people are being murdered, the rumor of blackmail has surfaced, and the ugliness of two years past has been exhumed. What event could have precipitated a renewal of violence? Andrew has little hope of discovering the answers, but he will do his best to help his friends unravel the mystery.

Andrew Basnett series #6 Andrew Basnett, retired Professor of Botany, does not care for Christmas. Not for him the holly and the ivy, the turkey and trimmings. He prefers to spend it with his like-minded friends the Cahills in the peace of their country home. But peace and goodwill are not to be: the day before Christmas Eve their neighbor, Sir Lucas Dearden, Queen's Counsel (retired), is blown up by a bomb. Many had it in for him--one suspicious character had even inquired for him at the Cahills'. But Sir Lucas had intended spending Christmas with his married daughter in London and had changed his plans at the last minute only because she had been involved in an accident. No one knew he was returning to Berkshire. Had the bomb been meant for someone else? Andrew finds himself caught up in the complex relationships of the Dearden family. When another one of them is murdered, it poses a number of questions: whose account of their relationships and their Christmas activities is to be believed? And why had Sir Lucas so carefully destroyed one page of his memoirs? By the time Andrew returns thankfully to London, he has the answers to all his questions--and rather wishes he hadn't.

Virginia and Felix Freer series #6

Review from Amazon dot com: "Sixty-year-old Constance Lawley takes on temp housekeeping jobs as a way of keeping busy. She likes people and enjoys helping them. Her job involves running households in which someone is recovering from injury or illness. Her latest assignment is working for a charming old couple with a grandson who’s not quite normal. It looks like one of her easiest and most pleasant job — until she walks into the living room after grocery shopping and finds four dead bodies. It’s a massacre — and another person will soon be murdered too."

When Rachel Gairdner takes off for Australia to visit her brother Ian, she expects to enjoy a well-deserved holiday in that exotic land down under. But things don't appear to be going as planned. First, her brother fails to meet her at the airport as promised, and shortly after arriving at his house, Rachel discovers that Ian has disappeared. Then, later that weekend, she awakens to find a doctor hovering over her. It seems Rachel has attempted suicide--there's even a note in what looks like her handwriting at her bedside. Realizing that she was drugged, Rachel now fears that someone is trying to kill her. But who would want to murder a twenty-nine-year-old schoolteacher from Edinburgh? Could Ian, her only living relative, somehow be involved now that Rachel has recently received a surprisingly large inheritance from their aunt? And what of the hasty departure of the Constoupolises, the seemingly friendly Greek couple from whom Ian rented a room? And the sinister-looking character named Slattery, who's been snooping around ever since Rachel arrived--is he the key to brother Ian's disappearance or the attempt on her life? All Rachel knows is that her dream vacation has suddenly turned into a terrifying nightmare...and it's only a matter of time before her mystery assassin strikes again.

Andrew Basnett series #4