Julia Blake runs her own cleaning business. She also has the unfortunate knack of finding murdered bodies. Virtually Scared To Death – Short Story The first time she sees a dead body is when she discovers one of her clients, Mark Castle, lying dead on the floor of his luxury apartment. Julia soon suspects that Mark was murdered. He was a good friend and she is determined to find out who killed him. A Deadly Restoration – Short Story Julia’s neighbour, Leo Kennedy, is having restoration work done to his house. One night, Julia hears the sound of something breaking next door. She goes to investigate and finds Leo dead in his front room. A Party To Die For – Short Story Julia Blake has been working for Fiona Doyle for a few years. Fiona is in a bad mood as she tries to organise a party. Julia suggest that Fiona has a lie down. An hour later Julia discovers that Fiona has been suffocated in her bed. A Secret Killer In this story Julia visits one of her clients, a genealogist called Hugo Barnes. Hugo has uncovered a family secret during the course of his work. It’s a secret that gets Hugo killed. Death Takes A Trip When one of Julia’s elderly clients, Douglas Pedley, is found dead at the bottom of his stairs, it is soon obvious that he was murdered. A Fair Murder Julia helps out at the local school fair. The new head teacher, Deborah Paignton has made herself unpopular by implementing changes to the school and continually upsetting members of staff. Julia discovers Deborah’s dead body after the fair has finished. Death Shows Up Julia provides moral support for her friend, Louisa, as they go to a slimming club meeting. They are shocked to discover that the slimming club venue has been taken over by the local amateur dramatics group. The am-dram group are performing a play written by the enigmatic Brandon Briggs. Julia soon suspects that Louisa and Brandon have a secret past. At the next meeting, Julia finds Brandon’s murdered body hidden in a costume room. Murder Makes A Claim Julia agrees to cover some cleaning work for a friend. The cleaning work takes her and her colleague, Cain, to the offices of Inkwell’s Insurance in Leeds. It isn’t long before Julia and Cain discover the dead body of Karl Rayburn, the manager at Inkwell’s Insurance. They find out that everyone has a secret when it comes to their relationship with Karl. Julia is reluctant to get herself involved. But she soon realises she has no option but to make her own enquiries to find out who the killer is.

    During and after dinner he had nothing to excite him save the receipt of a letter which somewhat annoyed him, and that his wife consumed rather more wine than he considered to be good for her health. Immediately after retiring to his room he was seized with symptoms of irritant poisoning, and despite every effort made on his behalf, he succumbed to its effects. An inquest was held, which vexed the minds of the Coroner’s jury to a degree without precedent in Coroners’ Inquest Law, and an open verdict was returned. However, the matter will not rest there, for after questions in Parliament, a second inquest has been called under suspicion that Mr Charles Petrie was murdered. * * * Who poisoned Charles Petrie? Dr James Collymore, a man familiar with poisons, a man harbouring a dark secret that, if exposed, would ruin his career; Florrie, the maid who supplied Charles with his bedtime drink; Bert Kemp, a disgruntled groom, who used poisons in his work, who four months previously had predicted Charles’ dying day; Mrs Jennet Quinn, a lady’s companion with a deep knowledge of poisons, and a deep fear of dismissal; or Grace Petrie, Charles’ wife of four months, a woman with a scandalous past, a woman shunned by polite society. With crowds flocking to the courtroom and the shadow of suspicion falling upon Grace in the shape of the hangman’s noose, could dashing young advocate, Daniel Morgan, save her?

    But when she arrives in Etherton, Ohio, she discovers that her grandmother, who she hasn't talked to in years, has passed away and "home" is an empty mansion 150 years old. Not exactly the comfort Camden was looking for. What happened to the house she played in as a child, the bedtime stories that told of secret passageways and runaway slaves, and all those family memories? When antiques start disappearing and footsteps are heard, some of those memories start to creep back and Camden wonders if her grandmother's bedtime stories might actually be true. What really happened here . . . at Crescent Hill? How was her grandmother involved? Who still has access to the house? And for what purpose? As she works to uncover the past and present mysteries harbored in her home, Camden also uncovers secrets about her family that could change the town--and her life--forever.

    Not only to stop the killing but also to prove her skills at detection to her father and win her dowry and independence. There’s only one catch—she has to take one last matchmaking job to do it. Never mind that the match is impossible, all the better because if she fails, then no one will seek her services again. The job provides the perfect cover especially when her peculiar investigatory techniques are mistaken for unconventional matchmaking attempts. Things would go a lot smoother if she weren’t knee-deep in suspects and thwarted at every turn by a rival matchmaker. But when the killer strikes again, Katherine’s investigation leads down a dangerous path. Too late, she discovers that she has a lot more to lose than her dowry…

    While Sheriff Owen Sarkisian and the crime team track mud through the house, the Service Club of Upper River Gulch Environs (the SCOURGEs) sticks Annike with organizing the town's Thanksgiving weekend activities, which gives her the opportunity to investigate the murder on her own to clear the chief suspect-her beloved aunt. She's soon up to her neck in pancake breakfasts, pie-eating contests, community dinners-and a raffle prize that threatens to take over her life. After ordering Annike to stop interfering, Sarkisian is forced to beg the aid of her accounting skills to help unravel the case. She keeps a tight rein on her growing enjoyment of his company, though, for as the widow of a former sheriff of the county she is determined not to get romantically involved with another law officer. Then one of the suspects is found dead, stripped to his boxers and socks in a vat of apricot brandy. Before the murderer is captured, both Annike and Sarkisian narrowly avoid adding to the body count.

    She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the fast life. Making good on her childhood promise to herself, she decides to walk away from it all, and to relive a beloved childhood vacation in the quaint English seaside town of Wilfordshire.Wilfordshire is exactly as Lacey remembers it, with its ageless architecture, cobblestone streets, and with nature at its doorstep. Lacey doesn’t want to go back home—and spontaneously, she decides to stay, and to give her childhood dream a try: she will open her own antique shop.Lacey finally feels that her life is taking a step in the right direction—until her new star customer turns up dead.As the newcomer in town, all eyes are on Lacey, and it’s up to her to clear her own name.With a business to run, a next-door neighbor turned nemesis, a flirty baker across the street, and a crime to solve – is this new life all that Lacey thought it would be?

    But then a bungled hostage scene destroyed his career. Now all London wants is to be left alone to lick his wounds. He thought he left his past far behind him when he fled New York City for the backwaters of Louisiana. But eight years later a young girl from a nearby parish is kidnapped, and London steps out from the shadows. Recruited to help find the missing girl by a down-on-her-luck FBI agent, London quickly finds himself thrust into the starring role of a daring rescue attempt. But before London can rescue the child from her kidnappers, he first must find a way to forgive himself for a past misstep, a blunder that forever altered his once promising life.Her partner killed, and cut off from her superiors by a Category 5 hurricane, FBI Special Agent Annie Crawford is at the end of her rope. She has only hours left to find a little girl before the unthinkable happens. And the only person she can find to help her is a mysterious stranger who paints murals inside his plantation house by candlelight. Worse, in order to rescue the child, Annie must revisit a place that terrifies her, a dilapidated fishing shack with a morbid history of crime and violence. The clock is ticking for Annie, Matthew London, and most importantly…the kidnapped child.

     Moving through streets where people line up at soup kitchens, Maggie draws information from sources others overlook: The waitress at the dime store lunch counter where she has breakfast; a ragged newsboy; the other career girls at her rooming house. Her digging gets her chloroformed and left in a ditch behind the wheel of her DeSoto. She makes her way to an upscale bordello and gets tea – and information – from the madam herself. A gunman puts a bullet through Maggie’s hat. Her shutterbug pal on the evening paper warns her off. A new cop whose presence unsettles her thinks she’s crooked. Before she finds all the answers she needs, she faces a half-crazed man with a gun, and a far more lethal point-blank killer. If you like Robert B. Parker's hard boiled Spencer series and strong women sleuths, don't miss this one-of-a-kind Ohio detective from a time in United States history when dames wore hats -- but seldom a Smith & Wesson.

    There she will become nursery maid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy - an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories.But then a nurse - Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake - is killed on a train in broad daylight, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the crimes of a murderer who will do anything to hide their secret . . .'A glorious indulgence. Dazzling' - Daisy Goodwin'Inventive, glittering, clever, ingenious' - Susan Hill'Fascinating, I loved it' - Julian Fellowes'An enthralling mystery' - Juliet Nicolson'Audacious, breathtaking' - Alex Gray

    When Sally Nimitz discovers the body of her charming eighty-year-old neighbor she is devastated by how close violence has come to the quiet life she leads as mother, grandmother, and nurse. Though still recovering from the death of her own husband, Sally can’t put the trauma of the murder behind her until she knows who could have done it and why. With the help of a close male friend and a quirky older lady, Sally begins looking into the life and past of her neighbor and soon discovers there was much more to Amelia Marsh’s life than anyone had ever guessed.

    An elderly woman is found poisoned in the upstairs bedroom of her home whose front door stands 52 steps above the street in an old-fashioned whodunit that blends clues, red herrings, suspects, and humor.

    Visit London for a series of Christmas dates, experience New Year’s Eve in Edinburgh, fall in love all over again in lake-side Idaho, and discover home and healing in small-town Oregon, all within the pages of these complete and standalone romances. If you love Hallmark movies, Love Inspired Books, and happy-ever-afters, chances are the Together for Christmas collection will encourage, uplift, and inspire you! Book 1: Believe in Me (Love in Store series) When Nick Gallagher, the Hollywood actor playing the store's celebrity Santa challenges accountant Cara to a series of dates as a Christmas dare, can the Christmas-hating accountant overcome her painful past and rediscover love, joy and faith? A heartwarming reminder of the importance of believing in God's promises. Novel-length. Book 2: A Model Bride (The Macleans series) Christmas in London, New Year's Eve in Edinburgh, where next? Nothing in her Europe trip goes as Tiffany Gallagher planned, but when she meets wounded Scottish photo-journalist Mac while volunteering at a homeless shelter, she discovers God's purpose for her life is far more than she imagined! Novel length. Book 3: Calm & Bright (Huckleberry Lake series) Will Brad and Maddie let God use a Christmas together for the sake of their son to help them rediscover the love that led to their whirlwind romance, and overcome the issues that caused their divorce? Even Maddie's matchmaking grandmother and their adorable four year old might not be enough to help them reunite! Longer novella length. Book 4: His Healing Touch (Sweetapple Falls) Are some wounds too deep for love to heal? When grieving nurse Lainie Sullivan encounters Adam, a wounded warrior and her ex-patient, in a small Oregon town at Christmas, only trusting in God's goodness can heal both their wounds and free them to love. Short novel length - a revised and significantly extended version of the story previously published as Love's Healing Touch in the First Street Church Kindle Worlds. The new edition is available for the first time in this set. My prayer is that these four inspiring stories touch your heart, remind you of the power of love and faith, and bring you joy!

    To make matters worse, he's evaded capture numerous times, and this might be the last chance to catch him before he retires altogether from the high stakes game.Newly single and thoroughly confused, the last thing Lexi wants to do is date a string of men whose photos are optimistic, to say the least. But one on her short list is the thief and a rogue. Faux-dating a string of Not The Ones could help her discover not only which one he is, but also help her decide whom and what she wants in her personal life. Will it be her sexy, mysterious, boss, Solomon? Or handsome cop, Maddox? Posing as a wealthy, glamorous, eligible bachelorette, complete with walk-in closet of designer clothes, sports car, and mansion, can be fun and games, but Lexi may have met her match when she becomes the next target in the thief’s sights. After all, he’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Along with her cash and borrowed jewels, this master thief might also want to steal her heart in the ultimate sting. But as the case comes together, tragedy strikes, causing Lexi to question what is more important to her: racing to the aid of her best friend, or solving the case, no matter the cost.Weapons of Mass Distraction (Book 5)When a client drops dead during Lexi’s spin class, she’s not too surprised. After all, it’s a tough class. But within days, another death occurs, this time, on the treadmill. Then, when her running partner bites the dust, it becomes personal.Sent undercover, Lexi takes a job as Montgomery’s newest gym instructor in a bid to find the killer. With her professional and personal lives headed on a collision course, Lexi is glad to take the case. Now she only has to convince her boss, and new boyfriend, Solomon, that she’s ready to solve her own case after she learns a disturbing connection between the victims. Faced with complex and dangerous circumstances, Lexi needs all of her past experience in order to catch the killer before another person falls victim.To make matters even more challenging, Lexi’s best friend, Lily, is planning for better or worse with Lexi's brother. Just one problem: all the local wedding boutiques have been repeatedly targeted by a highly organized gang of thieves. Roped into surveillance, rather than taking any chances and losing her best friend’s dress, which would ruin the wedding, Lexi risks having too much to handle. The only thing she has to do is put a killer behind bars, save the dress, and save the day… Piece of cake! Laugh or Death (Book 6)When a broken man arrives in town, desperate to locate his missing girlfriend, loved-up PI Lexi Graves can hardly wait to reunite the lost lovers. However, the further Lexi delves into the case, the more she begins to sense the missing woman doesn’t want to be found.To make matters worse, just as Lexi and her boss slash boyfriend are enjoying a romantic date, their restaurant is robbed by a pair of thieves. Her best friend, Lily, owns a bar that also falls prey to the gang. Following Lily’s hunch about who’s behind it, Lexi eagerly rushes to help her friend solve the case.Between stakeouts, shootouts, and the determination to prove true love wins all, Lexi redoubles her efforts. She enlists her friends and family network to bring the lost lovers together once more, while doling out to the thieves their rightful comeuppance.

    At one of these, Kait is outted by the most popular guy in school, Ethan Ripley. Yet, instead of humiliating her for all the world to see, he asks for her help, and Kait finds herself entangled in a murder mystery. Not only is the thrill of the mystery exciting, but more importantly Ethan knows her name! A little sleuthing is well worth that!

    Sure, her patients might smell like mold and have spines made of leather, but no ailing book is going to die on her watch. The same can’t be said of Abraham Karastovsky, Brooklyn’s friend and former employer. On the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration, Brooklyn finds her mentor lying in a pool of his own blood. With his final breath Abraham leaves Brooklyn with a cryptic message, “Remember the Devil,” and gives her a priceless—and supposedly cursed—copy of Goethe’s Faust for safe-keeping. Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to Derek Stone, the humorless—and annoyingly attractive—British security officer who found her kneeling over the body. Now she has to read the clues left behind by her mentor if she is going to restore justice…