(Thorndike Press Large Print Mystery Series)

Book no. 4 in the must-have Lily Bard Mystery series, from the bestselling author behind TRUE BLOOD Shakespeare, Arkansas, is home to endless back roads, historic buildings, colourful residents - and the occasional murder. It's also home to Lily Bard, karate expert and cleaning lady, who has a particular knack for finding skeletons in closets. When Deedra Dean - a local woman of ill repute - is murdered, there are more than a few suspects. And being familiar with Deedra's dirty laundry could make Lily the next Shakespeare resident to die ..1674

Justice Hall (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #6) by Laurie R. King Hours after Holmes and Russell return from solving the murky riddle of The Moor, a bloodied but oddly familiar stranger pounds desperately on their front door, pleading for their help. When he recovers, he lays before them the story of the enigmatic Marsh Hughenfort, younger brother of the Duke of Beauville, returned to England upon his brother's death, determined to learn the truth about the untimely death of the hall's expected heir - a puzzle he is convinced only Holmes and Russell can solve. It's a mystery that begins during the Great War of 1918, when young Gabriel Hughenfort, the late Duke's only son, died amidst scandalous rumors that have haunted the family ever since. While Holmes heads to London to uncover the truth of Gabriel's war record, Russell joins an ill-fated shooting party. A missing diary, a purloined bundle of letters, and a trail of ominous clues comprise a mystery that will call for Holmes's cleverest disguises and Russell's most daring journeys into the unknown! from an English hamlet to the city of Paris to the wild prairie of the New World. The trap is set, the game is afoot, but can they catch an elusive villain in the act of murder before they become his next victims?

In the summer of 1923, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple makes what should an uneventful research trip to the Museum of Natural History with her nephew Derek and her soon-to-be step-daughter Belinda in tow. But as she interviews the various curators for her article on the museums of London, she soon discovers that the Museum of Natural History is a hothouse of professional rivalry and jealousy, particularly between Dr. Smith Woodward, the Keeper of Geology - responsible for the fossil collection, and Dr. Pettigrew, the Keeper of Minerology -- responsible for the Museum's fabulous gem collection. On a later trip, as closing time nears, Daisy hears two voices followed by a tremendous crash and rushes into the next hall to discover Dr. Pettigrew dead - murdered amidst a pile of dinosaur bones. Daisy's fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, is assigned to investigate and together they must unravel a most baffling case of missing gems, dispossessed European royalty, professional rivalry and murder most foul.

In late 1923, the newly married Daisy Dalrymple and her husband Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, come to America for a honeymoon visit. In the midst of a pleasure trip, however, both work in a bit of business -- Alec travels to Washington, D. C. to consult with the U.S. government, Daisy to New York to meet with her American magazine editor. While in New York, Daisy stays at the famed Chelsea Hotel, which is not only close to the Flatiron Building offices of Abroad magazine, where she'll be meeting with her editor, but home to many of New York's artists and writers. After her late morning meeting, Daisy agrees to accompany her editor, Mr. Thorwald, to lunch but as they are leaving the offices, they hear a gun shot and see a man plummeting down an elevator shaft. The man killed was one of her fellow residents at the Chelsea Hotel, Otis Carmody, who was a journalist with no end of enemies -- personal and professional -- who would delight in his death. Again in the midst of a murder investigation, Daisy's search for the killer takes her to all levels of society, and even a mad dash across the country itself, as she attempts to solve a puzzle that would baffle even Philo Vance himself.

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One drowned bride is unfortunate - but two of them... Abandoned by new husband James, Agatha Raisin hops on a plane to the South Pacific in the hope that an idyllic holiday will bring some consolation. There, she befriends a honeymooning couple but, tragically, the young bride is accidentally drowned. -- back cover.

Drawn from her personal crime files, the author dissects the convoluted love affairs that all too often end in violence.

"Duncan Kincaid has settled into his life as part-time father to Kit, the twelve-year-old son he only recently discovered. But life has more changes in store: Gemma has pursued a promotion that ends their partnership on the job and places their personal relationship on a new, more tentative footing. So when Duncan's cousin and childhood friend calls from Glastonbury to ask his help on a rather unusual matter, he welcomes the opportunity to get out of London--and to spend a relaxing weekend with Gemma. But relaxation isn't on the agenda ..."--Jacket.

HE'D PUT HER BEHIND BARS When aristocratic Julian Westfield learned that the "Swallow" had caused his brother's disgrace and death, the vengeful young lord swore the conniving colonial wench would pay for her tricks. Determined to snare her in her own trap, Julian let it be known he had valuable information for the elusive female spy, the bloodthirsty Briton fully intended to hear the "Swallow's" last song -- and see her dance at the end of a rope. But when the golden-haired beauty with lavender eyes appeared for their rendezvous, Julian was enchanted...and could think only of locking her in the cage of his embrace! SHE'D PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE Patriotic Lavender Daymond knew the raven-haired Englishman would endanger her mission from the moment she saw him. His intense brown gaze followed her swaying hips with too much hunger. His finely chiselled lips smiled too familiarly as she glanced his way. And his powerful muscled body was too much a temptation to resist! Still the spirited American agent felt she had to conquer him to prove her commitment to the Colonies. But when Julian tasted her trembling lips and traced her slender form, the "Swallow" took flight leaving only a woman who craved the sweet fulfillment of her lavender lies.

Television scriptwriter Sidney Bartleby, who specialises in murder mysteries, daydreams about killing his wife, Alicia, as a way of drawing inspiration for his stories. However, when she unexpectedly takes a long holiday away from him, he begins wondering whether he could ever put his plan into action. Also published as Suspension of Mercy.

With a plot that defies the most inspired second-guessing and with menace ticking quietly away on every page, Jill McGown's Death in the Family firmly establishes her as a master of mystery and psychological suspense. This gritty, sophisticated novel is the twelfth in the author's internationally acclaimed series starring Chief Detective Inspector Lloyd and his colleague and lover, Chief Detective Inspector Judy Hill.Dean Fletcher had spent virtually all his twenty-four years doing things practically guaranteed to land him in trouble. But not until he fell for a blonde nymphet named Kayleigh Scott did he manage to totally ruin his life. Kayleigh had told him she was eighteen. In truth, she was not quite thirteen, and poor Dean was soon off to prison, a convicted sex offender, still smitten with his adolescent lover.Now he's finally free again, only to be ensnared by two crimes that have Lloyd pulling out what's left of his hair. One is an infant kidnapping (the child was born within hours of Lloyd's and Judy's own baby, Charlotte); the other is the murder of Kayleigh's mother, Lesley, on the very eve of the family's sudden move to Australia.Fortunately, Lloyd thinks he hears the ring of truth in Dean's protestations of innocence. He is extremely curious about Lesley's new lover, Ian, who has jumped headfirst into another relationship, and her old lover, Phil, whose world she had destroyed. And for all her air of placid innocence, Kayleigh herself isn't above suspicion.With Judy out on maternity leave, Lloyd is obliged to pick his way alone through the minefield of birth, death, murder, and domestic evil. Death in the Family is a novel of uncanny power and chilling credibility.

While blacksmith Meg and her finacé move into their new house in Caerphilly, Virginia, Meg's father discovers a corpse in the basement while digging a pool for penguins fostered from the bankrupt local zoo, whose keeper is missing.

Even though her family can't believe it, everyone knows Chloe was the killer who suddenly, shockingly, for some unknown reason, stabbed her twin sister to death in the garden. With Chloe's trial coming up, maybe there will finally be an explanation as to why.

Between the herb shop, the catering business, and a weekend paper- making class, China Bayles has her work cut out for her. And now China's half- brother is opening up old wounds, trying to investigate their father's supposedly accidental death, and her husband is taking on the case-meaning she's just bound to get involved.To put the unsavory business out of her mind, she's gathering supplies for making paper. But in a patch of yucca plants, she finds a body-cause of death unknown. Many residents of Pecan Springs live seemingly simple lives that hide complex and dangerous pasts, and it appears the victim was one of them. Now, while unraveling secrets that hit close to home, China must set the record straight-and find a killer.

A hated judge is found dead in suspicious circumstances in a town in Minnesota with an Indian casino and a young Ojibwa Indian leaves home in a hurry. Former sheriff Cork O'Connor investigates if there is a connection.

She had been dead for thirteen years, ever since she had crashed through the ice on the lonely little pond. Now her foster-sister, Katherine Meredith, was receiving anonymous letters which red, "YOU PUSHED HER!" To quiet the voice that whispered of a child's brutal murder, Katy returned to the Connecticut town where it had happened. But death was there again. It lingered in the shadows of a steep, dark staircase, rode on the howl of a New England blizzard, and, ugliest of all, deather walked in the form of a friend!

"With the arrival of warm weather and good fishing, life should be great for J.W. Jackson and his wife, Zee. Martha's Vineyard may be no Eden, but J.W. wouldn't trade it for any other place on earth. Something's wrong, though. The morning newspaper brings an update on the case of the Headless Horseman, a headless and handless corpse found on a local bridle path six months ago."--Jacket.

Lawyer-turned-herbalist China Bayles returns to the Deep South, where her family's legacy of silence is at last broken-and the past finally, unforgettably, speaks the truth...A frantic phone call from her mother brings China back to her family's Mississippi plantation-a place she'd forsaken long ago. But the late-spring air is thick with fear-and from the moment of her arrival, China knows that something has gone desperately wrong at Jordan's Crossing. An ancient property deed has surfaced-and the man who uncovered it has mysteriously vanished. And as the fates and fortunes of two very different families collide in frightening, unpredictable ways, China must face disturbing new questions about her family's past-and her own future...

Ex-lawyer turned herbalist and amateur sleuth China Bayles attends a chili cookoff where a womanizing judge dies of an allergic reaction to peanuts. And since everyone knows peanuts don't belong in a bowl of Texas chili, China knows something suspicious is afoot...

A young woman hired to keep the books at a down-at-the-heels nightclub is taken under the wing of the infamous Gloria Denton, a mob luminary who reigned during the Golden Era of Bugsy Siegel and Lucky Luciano. Notoriously cunning and ruthless, Gloria shows her eager young protégée the ropes, ushering her into a glittering demimonde of late-night casinos, racetracks, betting parlours, inside heists, and big, big money. Suddenly, the world is at her feet -- as long as she doesn't take any chances, like falling for the wrong guy. As the roulette wheel turns, both mentor and protégée scramble to stay one step ahead of their bosses and each other.

When a powerful government official scheduled to speak to a group of millionaires turns up dead, the business world clamors for a solution, and Nero Wolfe takes the case. (NYT) Very Satisfactory.

It starts out as a fun excursion for four divers off the Florida coast. Two days later only one is found alive-naked atop a light tower in the Gulf of Mexico. What happened during those 48 hours? Doc Ford thinks he's prepared for the truth. He isn't.

When she left Scumble River years ago, school psychologist Skye Denison thought she'd never be back. But after a run of bad luck in the big city, she has a new appreciation for the down-home charm of small-town life--and decides to start over in the town where she started out…When Skye's beloved grandmother is found dead in her bed, the family consensus is natural causes. Still, Skye insists on an autopsy--an examination that proves the sweet old lady was, in fact, murdered! But who could have done the deadly deed? Skye is determined to find out, though her snooping doesn't sit well with the relatives. Family tensions can mean only one thing: family secrets. And when a series of hooligan attacks on Skye's property leads to an outright physical assault, Skye has to wonder if by exposing the rotten roots of her family tree, she's one step closer to exposing the killer…

Advance praise for Murder of a Small Town Honey:"A delightful mystery that bounces along with gently wry humor and jaunty twists and turns." --Earlene FowlerWhen Skye Denison left Scumble River years ago, she swore she'd never return. But after a bout with her boyfriend and credit card rejection, she's back to home sweet--homicide....

Lizzi Mast was a cook in the quiet town of Hernia, Pennsylvania. Now someone has killed her with a bad batch of crepes. Local police chief, the brother-in-law of Magdalena, asks her to help him solve the murder of Lizzi Mast.

When Lori and her family return from a three-month visit to the States, she finds the town atwitter over the death of Prunella "Pruneface" Hooper. Prunella sowed the seeds of discord at every turn, and Lori is intrigued enough --and upset enough by the ugliness directed at several of her closest friends--to try to solve the murder.

New York Times-bestselling author Max Allan Collins has been called "mystery's renaissance man." A master of crime fiction who "effortlessly weaves historical material into a fast-moving narrative" (Booklist), Collins has time and again created gripping plots, unforgettable characters, and gritty period color. Now, in the powerful prose sequel to the Academy Award-winning Road to Perdition, Collins breaks bold new ground in an epic tale of family secrets and heartbreaking betrayal -- a story of love, loss, and family worthy of The Godfather.It's 1942, and -- from the Atlantic to the Pacific -- the world is torn apart. Ten years earlier Michael O'Sullivan accompanied his gangster father on the road, fleeing from the mobsters who killed his mother and young brother. After an idyllic upbringing by loving adoptive parents in a small Midwestern town, Michael is now deep in the jungles of Bataan, carrying a tommy gun like his father's, fighting the Japanese. When brutal combat unearths deep-buried feelings of violence and revenge, Michael returns to the homefront a battle-scarred veteran of twenty-two, ready to pick up his old war against the Chicago Mob.Suddenly, Michael "Satariano" must become one of the enemy, working his way quickly up to the trusted side of Frank Nitti, Al Capone's heir, putting himself -- and his soul -- in harm's way. Leaving behind his heartbroken childhood sweetheart, the war hero enters a limbo of crime and corruption -- his only allies: Eliot Ness, seeking one last hurrah as a gangbuster, and a lovely nightclub singer playing her own dangerous game. Even as Michael embraces his father's memory to battle the Mob from within -- leaving bodies and broken lives in his wake -- he finds himself sucked into the very way of life he abhors.In a parallel tale set in 1922, Michael O'Sullivan, Sr., chief enforcer for Irish godfather John Looney, is about to become a father. The bidding of Looney -- and the misdeeds of the ganglord's crazed son Connor -- put the happy O'Sullivan home at risk. Both Michaels reach a crossroads of violence and compromise as two tales converge into the purgatory of good men trapped in bad lives.

When young women begin mysteriously disappearing in Oregon, Police Lieutenant James Stovall leads a relentless search for a killer. With little evidence available, and the public screaming for answers, he must find a remorseless, brutal killer whose identity will shock them all....