Showing results by publisher "Avon" in Amateur Sleuths

Every Thursday, three retired school teachers have their ‘coffee o’clock’ sessions at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But one fateful week, as they are catching up with a slice of cake, they bump into their ex-colleague, Topsy. By the next Thursday, Topsy’s dead. The last thing Liz, Thelma and Pat imagined was that they would become involved in a murder. But they know there’s more to Topsy’s death than meets the eye—and it’s down to them to prove it.

Retired teachers Pat, Liz and Thelma are happiest whiling away their hours over coffee, cake and chat at the Thirsk Garden Centre café. But when their good friend tells them about unsettling experience she had in a sinister-feeling charity shop, they simply can’t resist investigating. Because the entire shop has vanished into thin air. Before long, our trio of unlikely sleuths find themselves embroiled in a race against the clock to get to the bottom of this mystery – but who has a secret to hide and how far will they go to keep it concealed?

t’s the first anniversary of the mysterious death of Edward Luddenham, found dead at his home on the Yorkshire moors one frosty Christmas Eve. Now nine people gather at his manor house for the reading of the Will. Each has their own motivations for coming: curiosity, duty, unrequited love, desperation, greed. They have been instructed to bring a “festive mystery story” to share.

Retired schoolteachers Liz, Pat and Thelma never expected they would be caught up in a crime even once in their lives, let alone twice. But when poison pen letters start landing on the doorsteps of friends and neighbours in their Yorkshire village, old secrets come to light. With the potential for deadly consequences. It won’t be long until the three friends are out on a case yet again.

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.

Retired schoolteachers Pat, Liz and Thelma don’t know what to think. The death of Neville Hilton is not a crime. Just your standard, if tragic, heart attack. At least that’s what the autopsy shows. But his ex-wife isn’t convinced. She’s sure his current wife was involved – maybe she wasn’t at some horse event, as she told police. And so the three friends step away from the Melmbury slice to investigate.

Meet Jen Dawson, mystery writer, coffee lover, and amateur detective? Crime writer Jen returns to her small hometown with a bestselling book behind her and a bad case of writer’s block. Finding sanctuary in the local bookstore, with an endless supply of coffee, Jen waits impatiently for inspiration to strike. But when the owner of the bookstore dies suddenly in mysterious circumstances, Jen has a real-life murder to solve. The stakes are suddenly higher when evidence places Jen at the scene of the crime and the reading of the will names her as the new owner of the bookstore.

Watching sunrises together should have been romantic. But you were always inside with your wife, and I sat in your garden, in the shadows. I thought you’d never know how I felt about you. Until one night, I witnessed a terrible crime. I wanted it to bring us closer together. But now the secrets are tumbling out. And they could tear everything apart....

It’s Christmas in Riddleton and crime-novelist-turned-amateur-sleuth Jen is in desperate need of a cozy festive season running the town's local bookstore. But, between trying to drum up business for Ravenous Readers and attempting to finish her latest novel, Jen is totally run off her feet. Matters get worse, however, when a man's body is found outside the bookstore, along with a scrap of paper in his pocket with none other than Jen's address on it!

Crime-writer-turned-amateur-sleuth Jen has taken over the running of the local bookstore in her hometown of Riddleton. But balancing the books at Ravenous Readers is nothing compared to meeting the deadline for her new novel. Dodging phone calls from her editor takes a back seat, however, when the local police chief is poisoned. To solve the murder, Jen must dust off her detective hat once more. With everyone in town seemingly a suspect, and evidence planted to incriminate local police officer and close friend Eric, Jen is working against the clock.

What happened while they were sleeping? A school for the deaf takes an overnight trip to the snowy woods. Five teenagers go to sleep, but only four wake up. Leon is missing, and a teacher’s body is found in the forest. Sign-Language Interpreter Paige Northwood is brought in to help with interrogations. Everyone at the school has a motive for murder - but they all have an alibi. As Paige becomes increasingly involved, she suspects there’s something sinister going on.

The Luftwaffe has been bombing London continuously since September 1940. During a bombing raid, Madeline Fairfax is caught in her kitchen whilst cooking for her husband and children. She becomes trapped in the rear of her home, but regains consciousness just in time to see a familiar face, offering hope of rescue. But instead, Madeline is tragically strangled to death. As a dangerous murderer uses the Blitz to cover their crime, local detective Jamie Barton enlists the help of Madeline’s sister and volunteer firefighter, Penny Fairfax to help.

My father was Mr Bones - the notorious serial killer of 25 years ago. As a child I witnessed his crimes. Everything is different now. I have a new identity. I’m a mother. I am finally free. Until that podcast. I should never have listened. They’re linking a recent kidnapping to the crimes of the past. They know who I am. They’re calling me Little Bones again. They say I’m a villain, but I’m not. I’m a victim. You believe me, don’t you?

Just as Jen sits down to write her next murder mystery novel, a killer strikes again in the tiny town of Riddleton. Will Jen be able to solve this murderous plot, or will the killer, and her new book, get the better of her?

Margo hasn’t been back to Lake Moss since her friend went missing. But as she returns, the news breaks. Her hometown’s swimming hole has been Jessie’s grave for fifteen years. Digging out her old diary, and steeling herself to face unfriendly ghosts from her past, Margo sets out to help a documentary crew as they return to investigate the infamous case the police bungled.

Just as Jen gets to work on her next book, the owner of the town’s rival bookstore is found murdered and suspicions turn to Jen. Time is ticking for Jen to both clear her name and write her new book before the store closes forever. But what will strike Jen first? Inspiration…or the killer?

Just as Jen sits down to start writing her next murder mystery novel, she stumbles across a chilling real-life case: a man who claims he’s been wrongly convicted for murder. Time is running out for Jaylon as he needs a kidney transplant to save his life, something he’ll never receive while he’s in prison for murder. Jen’s amateur sleuthing skills are pushed to their very limit as time is ticking to solve Jaylon’s case and save his life. Can she save him before his sentence to murder becomes a sentence to death?

Liz Catalano is shocked when a DNA ancestry test reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined trying to connect with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer. The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for 40 years, evading all police efforts and leaving barely a trace behind. Can Liz figure out who in her new family is the cold-blooded killer? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?

It’s six in the morning during the hottest summer on record when Elizabeth O’Loughlin, out walking her dog, comes across Clare, a victim of a horrific knife attack, clinging onto life at the side of the road. Clare dies minutes later, but not before whispering her haunting last words to Elizabeth. When it becomes clear that Clare’s killer has more than one murder on his mind, Elizabeth has to take drastic action or face losing everything.

Margo hasn’t been back to Lake Moss since her friend went missing. But as she returns, the news breaks. Her hometown’s swimming hole has been Jessie’s grave for 15 years. Digging out her old diary, and steeling herself to face unfriendly ghosts from her past, Margo sets out to help a documentary crew as they return to investigate the infamous case the police bungled.