Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother, who is in charge of the case. But Kenzo has a secret: he was Kinue’s lover, and soon his involvement in the investigation becomes as twisted and complex as the writhing snakes that once adorned Kinue’s torso.The Tattoo Murder Case was originally published in 1948; this is the first English translation.

    Domestic service had never been an intended career for Dory, but a plea from family could never be ignored, even, as it turns out, when her predecessor had been murdered in the very house Dory now worked. A stranger was blamed for the death, and Lord and Lady Wallisford and their grown children were not giving Detective Inspector Ridley from the Met an easy time to investigate alternative theories. No strangers had been seen in the district and Dory, with her position in the house, is increasingly drawn in the help.

    

    Here, genteel dinner parties hide murderers; sparkling balls harbour dastardly villains; and every light society conversation hints at a darker scandal.The Earl of Calaway and his wife, Adelia, have raised and married off seven daughters. Now free of domestic duties, they are building an enterprise as private detectives of a very personal nature, guaranteeing to keep aristocratic reputations intact.In this short story, which can be read at any point in the series of full-length novels, Adelia and Theodore are invited to the trouble-ridden parish of Peverham where the local vicar is convinced that the death of Sir Phileas Hinge was no accident.After all, so many people wanted him dead. Sir Phileas’s ancestral home of Pever House is now occupied by the bombastic Vice Admiral Frankhaus, and both men hated each other. Then there are the Smiths – the oldest and most established family in the area – who look down on everyone else as being merely shabby new money. All three families – the Hinges, the Frankhauses and the Smiths – are vying for control of the parish, and this comes to a head when the vicar asks for money for a new bell in the church. Each family wants to be the one who contributes the most and to have the bell inscribed with their name for all time.The death of Hinge removes one of the players – but who will be next? Theodore and Adelia race to discover the murderer before death strikes again.This book is written in British English by an actual Brit who used to have to curtsey to the local aristocrat from “the big house” when she visited the village school at Christmas. The spelling and grammar is British English throughout. Splendid!

    Dottie Manderson stumbles upon the body of a dying man in a deserted night-time street. As she waits for help to arrive, she holds the man’s hand and tries to get him to tell her what happened. But with his last breaths he sings to her some lines from a popular stage show. But why, Dottie wonders? Why would he sing to her instead of sending a final message to his loved ones? Why didn’t he name his attacker? Dottie needs to know the answers to these questions and so, even though a particular, very annoying, young policeman is investigating the case officially, she feels compelled to carry out her own investigation into the mysterious death. Introducing a new 1930s female sleuth in a traditional, cozy mystery series set in London between the two world wars, from Caron Allan, the writer of Criss Cross, Cross Check and Check Mate, a diary-based murder not-so-mysterious trilogy set in contemporary Britain. Extract from Night and Day: a Dottie Manderson mystery: If she hurried, she shouldn’t get too wet. She had been hopelessly optimistic when she told the cabby the rain had stopped. It hadn’t. Dottie drew her fur coat more tightly around her and held onto her hat, now not much more than a bit of limp lace and ribbon. But almost her first step took her an inch deep into a puddle and she couldn’t help but give a little yelp at how cold the water was, and the shock of it. ‘Blast it,’ she grumbled, and leaning against a nearby gate-post, she shook the worst of the water from her silver sandals. Almost new, too, she thought ruefully, and almost certainly ruined. At least her dress hadn’t seemed to suffer too badly. She hitched the skirt of it up a little higher and continued her short but eventful journey. A sound came to her ears. A soft shushing sort of sound but almost melodic. She paused a moment. Listened. Her eyes, growing accustomed to the darkness, made out a shape on the pavement not ten yards ahead. Her heart gave an odd lurch, as if a cold hand gripped it. ‘Idiot,’ she muttered, and forced herself to keep going. She really shouldn’t read gothic novels late at night, it made her jumpy. No doubt all she would find were the pages of a newspaper all spread about by the wind, and made to look odd by the streetlamp behind her creating shadows. The sound came again. A little louder, a little more insistent. It sounded almost like… There was someone—a man—lying on the pavement. She felt a little shimmer of fear. Could it be a drunk? Perhaps she ought to step into the road, walk round him very carefully, keeping her distance… The head moved very slightly. His face was a pale oval in the dim lamplight. And she saw that the lips moved too. It was him making that odd noise. So it was a drunk, after all. He was singing to himself in a soft sibilant whisper. Her ear caught the rough melody of it, and even then, just as she saw the blood on his shirt-front, one part of her mind was saying, I know that song. She forgot her fears and ran to his side. ‘What happened? Are you all right?’ she asked, then berated herself for asking such a stupid question. Because it was all too obvious he was not all right. She knelt beside him and put out a hand to take his groping one. He was quite young, though older than her own nineteen years of age. But no more than perhaps his early thirties. Fairish hair, slightly receding, and dark from the rain. One of those moustaches that were all the rage at the moment. Blue eyes, very blue like a child’s, wide and astonished-looking. From his smart evening dress, he was clearly well-to-do, although she didn’t recognise him. But the blood—oh the blood.

    Struggling to support herself after her father's disappearance, Katherine has neither time nor money to solve the mystery alone. She has no choice but to seek help from a woman she has only just met; awkward socialite Connie Swift.As the letters become increasingly frantic, this unlikely team of amateur detectives must learn to work together, while struggling to navigate the rigid rules of Victorian propriety, their families’ expectations, and the complicating interference of men.Confronting danger as they venture into new and frightening territory, Katherine and Connie risk arrest, exposure, and even their reputations to solve the Case of the Black Tulips. Can they solve the mystery before someone gets killed....or they kill each other?The Case of the Black Tulips is the first book in the Caster & Fleet mystery series, set in 1890s London.

    Lucius Marius Nola, a retired veteran of the Roman Army, inherits a farm in the Alban Hills on the outskirts of Rome. Nola is looking forward to a new life in the countryside, living off the land, and more importantly, escaping his violent and disturbingly troubled past. However, no sooner has Nola begun to enjoy life once again when, against his will, a strange turn of events draws him into a web of murder and intrigue. 'Twelve Miles From Rome' is the first of a thrilling series of ancient world mysteries featuring Lucius Marius Nola.

    When the festivities are interrupted by an urgent call from her employer, she heads straight to London with Tippy in tow only to discover that her great-great-aunt Euphegenia has left her a final bequest—and a mysterious mission. Christmas is a time for magic and miracles and Sugar will need both if she’s to succeed in her quest. This charming Christmas cozy mystery is the third book in the Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries set in post-WW2 England.

    

     THE CORONER’S TALE In the remote Devonshire town of Crediton, a young girl is found dead in an alleyway, raped and murdered. As the local Bailiff and a visiting knight investigate the crime, it comes to light that the bailiff holds an incriminating secret – one that has the potential to place this agent of the government on the wrong side of the law. FOR THE LOVE OF OLD BONES A group of monks journeying from Launceston Abbey across the wild wastelands of Dartmoor are waylaid by brigands. During the brawl, their abbot is put to death at the blade of a knife, but the murderer neglected to steal his money filled purse. When the local bailiff discovers that the group are conducting a holy relic overseas to France, he begins to suspect that there are murkier motivations at play. THE AMOROUS ARMOURER A blacksmith is found dead in his lodgings, the door locked from the inside. As the town’s meticulously minded bailiff goes about his investigation, a veritable rogue’s gallery of culprits drift in and out of focus - but the guilty party is the least suspect of all. A CLERICAL ERROR One of the king’s forresters lies dead in a gully on the moor, his head smashed in with a rock, and the only witness to the murder being the forrester’s loyal mastiff, who stands vigil over his master’s body. As the list of suspects increases with every local rivalry which comes to light, the outcome of the case will surprise all involved. DANCE OF DEATH 1348, the year of the Great Death. Refugees flood into the city of Exeter from the plague-ravaged countryside surrounding the city. A man and a young boy from the village of Rookford arrive separately, yet both share knowledge of a horrifying secret and come to the realisation that even in these times of turmoil, the past is inescapable. Praise for Michael Jecks: "An instant classic British spy novel - mature, thoughtful, and intelligent ... but also raw enough for our modern times. Highly recommended." Lee Child, author of the Reacher series "More magic by the master of the medieval” - Quintin Jardine "Michael Jecks is a national treasure" - Scotland on Sunday “A textbook example of how to blend action and detection in a historical” - Publishers Weekly Michael Jecks is the author of the bestselling Knights Templar series, comprising thirty-two novels starring Baldwin de Furnshill. Fields of Glory is the first novel in a new trilogy, set around the Hundred Years' War. A regular speaker at library and literary events, he is a past Chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund at Exeter University. He was shortlisted for the Harrogate/Theakston’s Old Peculier prize for the best crime novel of the year 2007, the year Allan Guthrie won. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor. To find out more visit his website http://www.michaeljecks.com, follow him on twitter @michaeljecks, or find him on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Michael.Jecks... Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com.

    In order to fulfill his vow, all he has to do is fight a horde of demons and monsters, bargain with a few ghosts, outwit the sinister schemers of the emperor's court, find a way to defeat an assassin who cannot be seen, heard, or touched -- and change the course of history. Fortunately, Yamada specializes in achieving the seemingly impossible, so he is sure in some way to succeed...if he doesn't drink himself into oblivion first.

    Unfortunately, as a man, he is forbidden from entering the Inner Court. How is he supposed to solve a murder when he cannot visit the scene of the crime or talk to the women in the victim’s life? He won’t be able to solve this crime alone. The widowed Lady Li is devastated when she finds out about the murder of her sister-in-law, who was serving as the Empress’s lady-in-waiting. She is determined to discover who killed her, even if it means assisting the rude and obnoxious Inspector Gong and going undercover in the Forbidden City. Together, will Lady Li and Inspector Gong be able to find the murderer before he – or she – strikes again? Amanda Roberts is the successful author of historical novel Threads of Silk and the fun cookbook series Crazy Dumplings. She has lived in China since 2010. She is a full-time writer and editor and writes about her life at TwoAmericansinChina.com.

    Three years later, Riot returns to San Francisco to put his ghosts to rest, but the abduction of an heiress snags his attention. Two ransom demands are delivered, and the husband of the abducted Isobel Kingston is hiding the truth.The clock is ticking. Can Riot find Mrs Kingston in time, or will she become one more regret among many?A thrilling historical mystery for fans of Laurie R. King, Louise Penny, and Jacqueline Windspear.

     Confronted with class prejudice and the indifference of the authorities, the keen, young detective embarks on a frantic race against time to gather evidence to convict the killers. But when help is offered from an unlikely source, Lavender must make a decision between justice or truth that carries serious consequences for both his career and his friendship with Ned. 'The Death of Irish Nell' is a prequel to the full-length novel, ‘The Willow Marsh Murder’ (publication: February 1st, 2020). Both of them can be read as standalone works of fiction.

    With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim's throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York's richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?