Crime and mystery: women sleuths / detectives

Book SynopsisCharlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, is back solving new cases in the Victorian-set mystery series from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hollow of Fear.As Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork—or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas.   But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old friend recover those secrets and Charlotte finds herself involved in a fever-paced scheme to infiltrate a glamorous Yuletide ball where the painting is one handshake away from being sold and the secrets a bare breath from exposure.   Her dear friend Lord Ingram, her sister Livia, Livia's admirer Stephen Marbleton—everyone pitches in to help and everyone has a grand time. But nothing about this adventure is what it seems and disaster is biding time on the grounds of a glittering French chateau, wai

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisWinter blizzards bring a flurry of cases to solve in this riveting new foxhunting mystery featuring “Sister” Jane Arnold and her incorrigible hounds from New York Times bestselling author Rita Mae Brown. Frigid February air has settled into the bones of the Blue Ridge Mountains, making for a slow foxhunting season, though “Sister” Jane Arnold’s enthusiasm is not so easily deterred. With the winter chill come tweed coats, blazing fireplaces—and perhaps another to share the warmth with, as the bold hunting scarlets worn by the men in Sister Jane’s hunting club make the hearts of women flutter—until someone’s stops entirely. Harry Dunbar, a member of the Jefferson Hunt club with a penchant for antique furniture, is found with his skull cracked at the bottom of the stairs to a local store. There are no telltale signs of foul play—save for the priceless (and stolen) Erté fox ring in his pocket.

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Book SynopsisCharlotte Holmes''s life is in peril when her brilliant deductive skills are put to the test in her most dangerous investigation yet, locked aboard a ship at sea. After feigning her own death in Cornwall to escape from Moriarty’s perilous attention, Charlotte Holmes goes into hiding. But then she receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.   Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder takes place on the ship.   Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive.

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Book Review Editor?s Choice ? Rex Stout meets Agatha Christie with a fresh twist in the new Pentecost and Parker Mystery, a delightfully hardboiled high-wire act starring two daring women sleuths dead set on justice as they set out to solve a murder at a traveling circus?A delight.... It?s a pleasure to watch [Pentecost and Parker] sifting through red herrings and peeling secrets back like layers of an onion.? The New York Times Book ReviewSomeone?s put a blade in the back of the Amazing Tattooed Woman, and Willowjean ?Will? Parker?s former knife-throwing mentor has been stitched up for the crime. To uncover the truth, Will and her boss, world-famous detective Lillian Pentecost, travel to the circus, where they find a snake pit of old grudges, small-town crime, and secrets worth killing for.Will called Hart & Halloway?s Traveling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus?s tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse, the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go.To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren?t playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets beneath all that ink.

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Book SynopsisHip hip beret! Hatmakers Scarlett Parker and Vivian Tremont return and must collar a killer when a castle wedding goes awry in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay’s new Hat Shop Mystery. It’s wedding season and Viv’s longtime frenemy Piper May is getting married. She convinces Viv and Scarlett to take on the job of designing the headpieces for her “wedding of the year.” The well-to-do bride and her entourage are delighted to have Viv and Scarlett as their famous hat designer guests, but the hat-making pair are really just looking forward to a getaway at a castle in Sussex. It is to be a weekend full of events, culminating in the big ceremony.     Unfortunately, on the first night of the festivities, the groom is found murdered, and the joyous holiday becomes the stuff of nightmares as no one is allowed to leave the castle until the investigation is complete. Although Scarlett assures Harrison Wentwor

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Book SynopsisThe nineteenth installment of the beloved and New York Times bestselling Miss Julia seriesWith her husband Sam off on a trip to Europe, Miss Julia reckons it's about time to roll up her sleeves and be of some use to her community. It's then that she hears that the nosy do-gooder Madge Taylor and the new pastor Rucker are embarking on a mission to buy up the vacant house next door to Hazel Marie and establish a group home for wayward teenagers. No stranger to taking in the down-and-out herself, Miss Julia is shocked to learn Madge and the pastor are keeping the project a secret. When Miss Julia and Hazel Marie start investigating, though, they uncover a far less philanthropic plot for the house that even Madge doesn't know about--one that could change the quiet, peaceful neighborhood forever. Miss Julia must band together with friends and neighbors to take on nosy Madge and her steamrolling plans, while still being helpful to those in need in Miss Julia

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Book SynopsisAnnie Pederson’s happily ever after is finally within sight . . . if she can stay alive long enough to grasp it. Return to the beloved town of Rock Harbor in the final installment of the Annie Pederson trilogy by bestselling suspense author Colleen Coble.

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Book SynopsisKate Standish has been on the forest-world of Huginn less than a week and she’s already pretty sure her new company murdered her boss. But the little town of mill workers and farmers is more worried about eco-terrorism and a series of attacks by the bizarre, sentient dogs of this planet, than a death most people would like to believe is an accident. That is, until Kate’s investigation uncovers a conspiracy which threatens them all.File Under: Science Fiction [ Colony World  Into the Woods  Leader of the Pack  Woman’s Best Friend ]Trade Review“All of Wendy Wagner's stories feature a rare and precious element: tremendous heart. An Oath of Dogs is an excellent example of this - with an expansive SFF universe, exploration of philosophy, theology, and issues right at the heart of what it means to colonize a strange world. Wagner's characters are compelling and true. An Oath of Dogs combines echoes of Vernor Vinge and Sherri S Tepper with Wagner's own unique vision for the planet of Huginn and those who are trying to survive the planet, and each other.” – Fran Wilde, Andre Norton & Compton Crook-award winning, Nebula Nominated author of Updraft and Cloudbound“A compelling tale of corporate intrigue and biology, set on a thoroughly imagined world. Perfect for any fan of eco-science fiction and world building. A really great read.” – Pat Murphy, author of The City, Not Long After and The Falling Woman“Wagner's exquisite world-building takes Manifest Destiny to the stars. There's a dark Romanticism here, and it asks big questions about humanity and the cosmos. An Oath of Dogs is smart, dangerous, and impossible to put down.” – Darin Bradley, author of Totem, Chimpanzee, and Noise“An Oath of Dogs nails the rough-hewn feel of a frontier town, then mixes it up with intergalactic corporate intrigue and alien biology. It’s like Lake Wobegon mashed up with a Michael Crichton thriller, as unlikely a melding of cultures as the world of Huginn itself, creating a story that mashes massive questions of religion and ethics together with the joy of science and discovery.” – Ferrett Steinmetz, author of the 'Mancer series“An Oath of Dogs is a welcome exoplanetary colony sci-fi trip riddled with mystery and conspiracy. Wagner paints an immersive world packed with history and an ecosystem that is simultaneously wondrous and terrifying, and fills it with real, deep characters and a haunting yet engaging atmosphere. I didn't want to leave!” – Jason LaPier, author of the Dome Trilogy“A swell science fiction mystery, on a strange new world, along with a wonderful heroine to solve it – a heroine who has a therapy dog. This is another way Wagner's work sings. Her work has heart, and maybe that's what we need most right now.” – E Catherine Tobler, author of The Kraken Sea“An Oath of Dogs is an entertaining and enjoyable read.” – Locus“Wagner’s mystery-in-space is a fast-moving pager-turner, but Hattie’s star turn brings something new to sci-fi.” – Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog“An Oath of Dogs is a riveting story, the kind one might tell around a campfire, if it were a short story instead of a novel. The blue butterflies, the caterpillars, the comparison to Earth's ants, and the theme of what humans do in extreme situations: it may seem a lot of disparate elements are piled into one story, but Wendy Wagner knows exactly what she's doing with each piece.” – Perihelion Science Fiction Magazine“Fast-paced and exciting, An Oath of Dogs is an inventive sci-fi novel about nature, science, corporations, and the drive for survival in us all.” – Bustle“I really enjoyed this science fiction mystery! I am a sucker for stories set on alien planets, especially when the flora and fauna are part of the story. Add in a questionably ethical mega-corporation, a religious sect that helped colonize the planet, mysterious and scary feral dogs and MURDER – and you’ve got yourself a good story.” – Leveled Up Reading“An Oath of Dogs is a good, solid sci-fi thriller, set in an interesting world and peopled with sympathetic characters.” – Strange Bookfellows“An entertaining book.” – Purple Owl Reviews“I liked a lot of things about this book. The focus on therapy animals, the neo-Mennonite community and their impact in Canaan Lake, the talk about the biology of the planet and the hints at the way it changed the people. In fact I think the book might be entirely worth a read just for the therapy dog and the unique neo-Mennonite community. Those are things I don’t think that I’ve ever read about in a SF book. They bright a splash of depth and color.” – All Booked Up“An enjoyable eco-sci-fi read I’d recommend to any one who enjoys sci-fi, biology and thrillers.” – The Dreamland Bookshelf“This novel, it’s exactly the kind of Sci-Fi that I adore with strange alien biology, stories of settlers trying to make a living and it has an adorable dog in it.” – Brenhines Books“Wagner's prose cuts deepest when dealing with horror, and one can't help but paw the dirt, hoping her next novel smells even more strongly of disaster.” – Willamette Week“At its heart, it's a murder mystery with canine monsters. It's an interesting, entertaining novel worth reading.” – Bastian's Book Reviews“Loved it, a really fascinating world with a lot of science in it.” – Warp Drives Podcast"Wagner has written a book that is not only a good read but also one which will make you think." – Wolf's Books“A perfectly paced, beautifully spooky mystery, with all the trappings of the best whodunits and the best planetary science fiction... Wendy N Wagner is one of the authors bringing the genre to the next level, and I can’t wait to read more from her.” – First Sight Second Thoughts“What I liked best in the book was the treatment of alien ecology; I wish the story had focused even more on biology than on corporate plotting. There’s no point to setting stories on other worlds that are just carbon copies of Earth. Wagner seems to understand that.” – James Nicoll Reviews“Great worldbuilding and an interesting main idea.” – SF Bluestocking

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Book SynopsisIt''s a cold, snowy December in the upstate New York town of Millers Kill, and newly ordained Clare Fergusson is on thin ice as the first female priest of its small Episcopal church. The ancient regime running the parish covertly demands that she prove herself as a leader. However, her blunt manner, honed by years as an army pilot, is meeting with a chilly reception from some members of her congregation and Chief of Police Russ Van Alystyne, in particular, doesn''t know what to make of her, or how to address a lady priest for that matter. The last thing she needs is trouble, but that is exactly what she finds. When a newborn baby is abandoned on the church stairs and a young mother is brutally murdered, Clare has to pick her way through the secrets and silence that shadow that town like the ever-present Adirondack mountains. As the days dwindle down and the attraction between the avowed priest and the married police chief grows, Clare will need all her faith, tenacity, and c

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Book SynopsisIn In the Bleak Midwinter, Julia Spencer-Fleming''s Malice Domesticwinning first mystery, Reverend Clare Fergusson was quickly introduced to a more eventful life than she had expected after moving to the small town of Millers Kill in upstate New York. But the Episcopal priest and former Army Air Force chopper pilot proved to her flock and to police chief Russ Van Alstyne that she could cope with the unexpected, even when it was as dire as murder. In A Fountain Filled With Blood, this new adventure for the two ill-matched friends (who are gamely resisting something beyond friendship) shows that a small town can hold just as much evil as the Wicked City.

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Book SynopsisCasey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: when she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey''s best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana''s husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it''s time for the two of them to disappear again.Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives. You must apply to live in Rockton and if you''re accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council''s approval. As a murderer, Casey isn''t a good candidate, but she has something they want: She''s a homicide detective, and Rockton has ju

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton''s cranky, crafty Agatha Raisinnow the star of a hit T.V. showis back on the case again in The Dead Ringer. The idyllic Cotswolds village of Thirk Magna is best known for the medieval church of St. Ethelred and its bells, which are the pride and glory of the whole community.As the bell-ringers get ready for the visit of the dashing Bishop Peter Salver-Hinkley, the whole village is thrown into a frenzy. Meanwhile, Agatha convinces one of the bell-ringers, the charming lawyer Julian Brody, to hire her to investigate the mystery of the Bishop's ex-fiancée: a local heiress, Jennifer Toynby, who went missing years ago and whose body was never found...Meanwhile, the bodies in the village just keep on piling up: the corpse of Larry Jensen, a local policeman, is discovered in the crypt. Millicent Dupin, one of a pair of bell-ringing identical twins, is murdered near the church. And Terry Fletcher, a journali

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestseller M. C. Beaton's cranky, crafty Agatha Raisin-now the star of a hit T.V. show-is back on the case again in Beating About the Bush. She won't let any moss grow under her feet...When private detective Agatha Raisin comes across a severed leg in a roadside hedge, it looks like she is about to become involved in a particularly gruesome murder. Looks, however, can be deceiving, as Agatha discovers when she is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems.The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. Then, as a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril. Will Agatha get her ma

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Book SynopsisTrue and glorious indulgence. A dazzling example of a golden age mystery. Daisy Goodwin, author of Victoria and The American Heiress on The Mitford MurdersSet amid the legendary Mitford household, Bright Young Dead is the second in the thrilling, Golden Age-style Mitford Murders series by Jessica Fellowes, author of the New York Times bestselling Downton Abbey books.Meet the Bright Young Things, the rabble-rousing hedonists of the 1920s whose treasure hunts were a media obsession. One such game takes place at the 18th birthday party of Pamela Mitford, but ends in tragedy as cruel, charismatic Adrian Curtis is pushed to his death from the church neighbouring the Mitford home.The police quickly identify the killer as a maid, Dulcie. But Louisa Cannon, chaperone to the Mitford girls and a former criminal herself, believes Dulcie to be innocent, and sets out to clear the girl''s name . . . all while the real

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Book SynopsisIn this thrilling new addition to the New York Times bestselling series, Lady Emily travels to Paris where she struggles to unmask a murderer amid a case of assumed identities and shadowy figuresIn Tasha Alexander''s novel The Counterfeit Heiress, after an odd encounter at a grand masquerade ball, Lady Emily becomes embroiled in the murder investigation of one of the guests, a sometime actress trying to pass herself off as the mysterious heiress and world traveler Estella Lamar. Each small discovery, however, leads to more questions. Was the intended victim Miss Lamar or the imposter? And who would want either of them dead? As Emily and Colin try to make sense of all this, a larger puzzle begins to emerge: No one has actually seen Estella Lamar in years, since her only contact has been through letters and the occasional blurry news photograph. Is she even alive? Emily and Colin''s investigation of this double mystery takes them from London

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