A polyglot group of archaeologists, tourists, and journalists gather in the atmospheric Vallée des Prêtres , high up in the Franco-Italian Alps. They are there to witness the authentication by renowned archaeologist, Sir Hilary Compton, of Bronze Age rock drawings recently discovered by up and coming young archaeologist, Oliver Hardcastle.When Sir Hilary deems the new drawings fakes tensions among the academics run high. Then Oliver hardcastle's body is found floating in a treachero...

Private investigator Ulysses F Donaghue has been invited by his lifelong friend, Dr Clothilde Blanche to a three day retreat at an ancient abbey in the village of St Pierre la Croix in the south of France. The abbey has been restored to its medieval glory by renowned Hollywood director, Thelonius Kapp who is attending the inaugural retreat with his young wife, the globally acclaimed pop singer, Salome.When Thelonius Kapp and his wife's beautician are found dead it is believed that t...

11 year old Yohan Finkel is determined to solve some of the mysteries in his life, primary amonst them: What is a lesbian? What is the worst English swearword? and Where is Granddad Charlie?He finds himself with a real life mystery to solve when 12 year old Sabrina Nicketts, who lives in his street, disappears. Three asylum seekers who have recently moved into the street are accused of her abduction. One of them, Du, is a 13 year old former Congolese child soldier. He has become a c...

'With fascinating characters and an intriguing plot, this is a real page turner' KATIE FFORDE praise for the series. An addictive and unputdownable crime mystery novel perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Faith Martin, J.R. Ellis, LJ Ross, Miss Marpleand Midsummer Murders!Lesley Cookman's bestselling series...

Former Inspector Liv Harris, after a series of humiliating demotions, has now moved to a small Midlands town to seek not only a new start in life as a Private Investigator, but also a love life.Unsure of what she wants, Liv meets a potential partner through a dating website, but while this is wholly unfulfilling from the beginning, quite unexpectedly she finds herself emotionally drawn to Karen, her friendly and very athletic neighbour. Very soon the two women become virtually insep...

THE VILLAGE was beautiful. It was enfolded in a hollow of the Downs, and wrapped up snugly— first, in a floral shawl of gardens, and then, in a great green shawl of fields. Lilies and lavender grew in abundance. Bees clustered over sweet-scented herbs with the hum of a myriad spinning-wheels.

In this comedy of social contrasts, set in London during the heady 1920s, rich, bored Ursula Deane falls for a penniless violinist whose sister becomes the object of the attentions of Ursula's brother, Lord Chitterne. The halo of the title is that which Ursula earns when she sets aside her usual selfishness and gives up her interest in the young fiddler in favour of the "good" girl who lives next door.

(First print-published by Five Star/Gale 2005)"The Flowers o' the Forest are a' wede awa'."Death in the Highlands. It came by claymore and cannon fire in 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie's men died at Culloden, and the last Stuart fled back to France, leaving his followers to death by noose and firing squad, and his gold hidden in the heather for others to find. After a thousand years of bloody history, death in the Highlands is nothing new. But it should not be happening n...

“Lady Molly of Scotland Yard” contains a wonderful collection of short stories by Baroness Orczy that centre around Molly Robertson-Kirk, a quick-witted detective who relies on brains rather than brawn to get to the bottom of mysteries that completely elude her male counterparts. Highly recommended for fans of classic detective fiction and other works by this seminal author. Baroness Emma Orczy (1865–1947), more commonly known as Baroness Orczy, was a Hungarian-born British playwright and ...

'A Quest for Clemency' is the fourth in a series of mystery / thriller novels by Cecilia Peartree. It is set in 1950s Britain, mostly in Cambridge.Clemency, Oliver Quest's younger sister, gets her own story after playing a supporting rôle in the previous novels in the series. After Clemency has an unsettling encounter with a stranger on a train on her way back to Cambridge, a series of unexpected events begins. Clemency and her colleague Dr Andrew Neville, a mathematician specialisi...

This is a shorter story linked to the Pitkirtly Mystery series. Because it isn't novel length and is something of a meta-story, I haven't given it a series number, but if it did have one it might be either 9.5 or 10.5. It's best to have read at least 'A Reformed Character' and preferably also 'A Tasteful Crime' before reading this.A coach party arrives unexpectedly in Pitkirtly, and causes consternation among some of the residents. Charlie would like to have had the chance to sell t...

Can anyone ever really change? Christopher and Amaryllis ask themselves this question when a young man comes to the door of their holiday caravan one wet evening.The attempt to answer it takes them and their friends on a dangerous journey from a Pitkirtly ice-cream shop to a knitting club and then to a cattery before they reach a dangerous conclusion in an old railway yard.A Pitkirtly mystery