Book picks similar to
The Malvern Mystery by Helen Susan Swift
mystery-suspense
historical
crime
mystery
101 People to Kill Before I Die
Anthony O'Connor - 2017
With a few comical moments and an array of colorful characters all as determined as they are deadly.Brian Samuals is a former soldier, a former police officer and an ex-convict, recently bankrupt, divorced and now diagnosed with terminal cancer. He has an epiphany. He has nothing to lose and a lot of people have offended against him. Therefore, before he goes they go. All of them. As he embarks on his killing spree he hooks up with a beautiful stripper, Natasha Brown, but is unsure how that's going to work.Be careful who you kill. Before long he has the Russian Mob, a Chinese Triad, the CIA, Interpol, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian SAS anti-terrorist squads and every cop in the state of Victoria hunting him down, screaming for his head. Things aren’t looking good for Brian and Natasha.
The Summerland
T.L. Schaefer - 2001
Sheriff Bill Ashton's life is good, quiet, until the bodies of five women are discovered in the remote foothills and all hell breaks loose. Then another woman disappears, leaving her estranged sister's stolen car and half a million in cash behind as their only clues. Air Force Captain Arden Jones hasn't spoken to her sister in years, but Samantha's disappearance galvanizes her, sending her to small-town America in search of the black sheep of the family. Thrown together by circumstance, Bill and Arden explore Samantha's disappearance and her probable connection to the murdered women. Neither expects, nor welcomes, the attraction that surges between them, or the fact that setting aside long-held beliefs may be the only way to stop a madman bent on creating the perfect woman, the one true goddess central to the Wiccan religion, Diana.
A Study in Scarlet Women
Sherry Thomas - 2016
But even she never thought that she would become a social pariah, an outcast fending for herself on the mean streets of London. When the city is struck by a trio of unexpected deaths and suspicion falls on her sister and her father, Charlotte is desperate to find the true culprits and clear the family name. She’ll have help from friends new and old—a kind-hearted widow, a police inspector, and a man who has long loved her.But in the end, it will be up to Charlotte, under the assumed name Sherlock Holmes, to challenge society’s expectations and match wits against an unseen mastermind.
The Mangle Street Murders
M.R.C. Kasasian - 2013
He drains his fifth pot of morning tea, and glances outside, where a young, plain woman picks her way between the piles of horse-dung towards his front door.March Middleton is Sidney Grice's ward, and she is determined to help him on his next case. Her guardian thinks women are too feeble for detective work, but when a grisly murder in the slums proves too puzzling for even Sidney Grice's encyclopaedic brain, March Middleton turns out to be rather useful after all...Set in a London still haunted by the spectre of the infamous Spring-heeled Jack, THE MANGLE STREET MURDERS is for those who like their crime original, atmospheric, and very, very funny.
The Devil's Priest
Kate Ellis - 2006
And the ripples of this seismic change are felt even in the small northern port of Liverpool.When novice nun, Agnes Moore, ejected from her convent and staying with resentful relatives, claims to have been attacked in the ancient chapel of St Mary del Quay on Liverpool’s waterfront by Satan himself, her former abbess, Lady Katheryn Bulkeley, comes to her aid. Then a young priest is found dead in the River Mersey, his right hand hacked off, and Katheryn suspects that Liverpool harbours some disturbing secrets. The pregnant Agnes refuses to reveal her lover’s identity and when she is brutally murdered, Katheryn must seek her killer amongst Liverpool’s highest and lowest citizens. Then corpses are mutilated in a local churchyard and it seems that this evil may be linked to Agnes’s death. As Katheryn uncovers more of Liverpool’s dark side and draws closer to the truth, she must find the answer to the most urgent questions of all. Why has such evil come to the town? And who is the devil’s priest?
The Apothecary's Daughter
Jane A. Adams - 2000
No one can tell him who did it. Or why.Anchorless and alone, he moves to his aunt’s country cottage. What he needs is perspective.BUT THE PAST ISN’T DONE WITH HIM YET.Instead, he is tormented by visions of Kitty Hallam, a troubled young woman accused of witchcraft. Back in 1643.Is she a figment of Flowers’ imagination or something more?Whatever the truth, Flowers can’t help but be drawn into Kitty’s world, sensing their stories are intertwined somehow.BUT WILL THEIR UNLIKELY CONNECTION PROVE TO BE KITTY’S UNDOING?With this hauntingly evocative tale of two lost souls, Jane Adams has crafted a police procedural like no other. Her unique blend of intrigue, romance and history will captivate fans of Kate Mosse, Barbara Erskine, Alex North and Stephen King.
The House on Vesper Sands
Paraic O'Donnell - 2018
So begins the swirling, serpentine world of Paraic O’Donnell’s Victorian-inspired mystery, the story of a city cloaked in shadow, but burning with questions: why does the seamstress jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin? And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to have disappeared under similar circumstances?On the case is Inspector Cutter, a detective as sharp and committed to his work as he is wryly hilarious. Gideon Bliss, a Cambridge dropout in love with one of the missing girls, stumbles into a role as Cutter’s sidekick. And clever young journalist Octavia Hillingdon sees the case as a chance to tell a story that matters—despite her employer’s preference that she stick to a women’s society column. As Inspector Cutter peels back the mystery layer by layer, he leads them all, at last, to the secrets that lie hidden at the house on Vesper Sands.By turns smart, surprising, and impossible to put down, The House on Vesper Sands offers a glimpse into the strange undertow of late nineteenth-century London and the secrets we all hold inside us.
The Ice Maiden (Detective Inspector Jack Gilbert)
Michael Saunders - 2018
Simply waiting for a bus why should Anne ever dream of dying? He was an opportunist driven by lust, needing to climax while looking into her eyes as she died. Found two months later she will be like all the others - frozen in time. Hunting the killer down is Detective Inspector Jack Gilbert, a dinosaur of the old school, a fish out of water in the swinging sixties, but with a reputation second to none. What is Jack’s sad secret? What does the future hold for him? Read the ICE MAIDEN and there’s a link at the end allowing you to download for FREE, number one in the Jack Gilbert Series – THE CHOCOLATE KILLER. For you, chocolate will never taste the same again!
Caribbean Moon
Rick Murcer - 2011
The couple’s exotic getaway begins in sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico, by attending the June wedding of a fellow Lansing police officer, followed with an incredible week-long Southern Caribbean cruise on the glamorous Ocean Duchess. Tropical paradise appears to be a perfect recipe for desperately needed R and R...until the first dead body. A bizarre, seemingly random murder in their posh San Juan Hotel, and the heinous cruise ship deaths of two of Lansing’s law enforcement family, brings Manny, and his unique skills, out of cruise mode and head-long into the FBI-led investigation. Manny soon discovers that in this killer’s twisted perception nothing is off limits, prompting a race against time that could cost him everything. If you like edge-of-your-seat thrillers laced with humor, you'll love this!Caribbean Moon: "A new standard has been set for thrillers. In Rick Murcer's debut novel, Caribbean Moon, he's mixed the perfect ingredients to lock in readers, starting with the opening witty banter between Manny and Sophie. From there, the book takes off like a run-away roller coaster. Murcer knows just when to slow the pace and when to hit the gas. He's created a twisted mystery, with infectious characters and an unfathomable ending. Manny Williams might be the new Jedi of investigators, and Murcer is a Spielberg-like creative powerhouse. Caribbean Moon is absolutely magnetic!" John W. Mefford, Best-selling suspense author of COMMITTED
Harm None
Will North - 2014
When an American archaeological team stumbles upon the skeletal remains of a missing child beneath a Stone Age burial quoit, irascible CID Detective Sergeant Morgan Davies and her Scene of Crimes partner, Calum West, unearth a growing list of suspects. Within days, another body is discovered. Is the killer the mind-reading village witch—who has long been a suspect in the child’s disappearance? Is it the drug-dealing partner of the child’s heroin-addicted mother? Or is it someone even closer to the investigation? Just as Davies and West close in on their prime suspect, another child disappears.
The Dead Key
D.M. Pulley - 2015
In the confusion that followed, the keys to the vault’s safe-deposit boxes were lost.In the years since, Cleveland’s wealthy businessmen kept the truth buried in the abandoned high-rise. The ransacked offices and forgotten safe-deposit boxes remain locked in time, until young engineer Iris Latch stumbles upon them during a renovation survey. What begins as a welcome break from her cubicle becomes an obsession as Iris unravels the bank’s sordid past. With each haunting revelation, Iris follows the looming shadow of the past deeper into the vault—and soon realizes that the key to the mystery comes at an astonishing price.
Things in Jars
Jess Kidd - 2019
Luckily, her search is aided by an enchanting cast of characters, including a seven-foot tall housemaid; a melancholic, tattoo-covered ghost; and an avuncular apothecary. But secrets abound in this foggy underworld where spectacle is king and nothing is quite what it seems.Blending darkness and light, history and folklore, Things in Jars is a spellbinding Gothic mystery that collapses the boundary between fact and fairy tale to stunning effect and explores what it means to be human in inhumane times.
Death Turns a Trick
Julie Smith - 1982
That dirty job done, a lovely evening turns even more delightful when she’s picked up by the cops and spends the next two hours at the Hall of Justice. Could this day get any worse? Of Course! Guess who arrives home to find a dead hooker on her living room floor?Handsome Parker Phillips, Rebecca’s new beau and the most attractive man she’s met in ages, is arrested for the murder. (Worse, she suspects he might actually have done it.)On the plus side, another very attractive man is following the case--reporter Rob Burns of the San Francisco Chronicle, a possible ally. And there are other possibilities.Fans of Janet Evanovich, Joan Hess, and Elizabeth Peters will get a kick out of this one.
Vanished in Bitterroot Mountains
James Kipling - 2017
The story takes place in northwestern Montana, Big Sky country. This part of America is renowned for its wide open spaces and modest way of life. Most people live close to the land. Some of the key characters of this story are cattle ranchers. Modern cattle ranching is tough and demanding work, and knowledge of finance and modern methods is a key component. This difficult work creates tough individuals. Most of the people in this part of the country have libertarian leanings. Many on the left call that conservative, as if conservative thought is something evil. It is not. It is about respect for themselves and caring about the people around them. The basic ideas of conservative or libertarian thought is that of individual freedom, rights, responsibilities, and desires. Each to live their own life however they choose. From that toughness comes a failing, and an unwillingness to accept defeat. That’s what happens to the Kimble Ranch when financial failures and mismanagement drive the ranch close to financial disaster, and to one brother it seems like there is only one way out. When two FBI field agents go missing in this area, Agent Asa Clark is assigned to the case. Circumstances force her to resort to the most basic levels of investigation in order to get any help in solving this case. Does her strategy result in success?
Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman
E.W. Hornung - 1898
In these eight stories, the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: stealing jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, pilfering from the nouveau riche, and, of course, bowling like a demon-all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick, Bunny. Encouraged by his brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, to write a series about a public school villain, and influenced by his own experiences at Uppingham, E. W. Hornung created a unique form of crime story, where, in stealing as in sport, it is playing the game that counts, and there is always honor among thieves.