The fourth instalment in a gripping and atmospheric crime series set on a small island where there is no escape . . .
'Gripping, clever and impossible to put down' ERIN KELLY
AN ISLAND ON LOCKDOWN. A KILLER ON THE LOOSE . . .
As the scorching summer sun covers the small Scilly island of St Mary's, DI Ben Kitto and his team are training for the annual Swimathon. But their morning session comes to a climactic end when they discover a body hanging from Pulpit Rock. The victim has been dressed up in a bridal gown, and Ben quickly realises that a dark and sinister killer is at large on the island.
To prevent the killer from escaping, Ben has no choice but to lock down St Mary's, yet in doing so he is unwillingly trapping the killer's next victim. When another woman is attacked, Ben gathers the island's at-risk residents inside the local hotel for safety, but the killer is already watching and remains one step ahead . . .
Everyone is a suspect. No one is safe.
PRAISE FOR KATE RHODES:
'Gripping, clever and impossible to put down. I've been a Kate Rhodes fan for years and in Ben Kitto she has created a detective who is just as complex and compelling as Kate's elegant plotting and stunning prose. The claustrophobia and paranoia of the island are so brilliant evoked, I could almost feel the tide encroaching as time ran out to find the killer' ERIN KELLY
'Absorbing and complex, Hell Bay kept me guessing until the final pages' RACHEL ABBOTT
'A vividly realised protagonist whose complex and harrowing history rivals the central crime storyline' SOPHIE HANNAH
'Beautifully written and expertly plotted; this is a masterclass' GUARDIAN
'Expertly weaves a sense of place and character into a tense and intriguing story' METRO
'Rhodes does a superb job of balancing a portrayal of a tiny community oppressed by secrets with an uplifting evocation of setting' Jake Kerridge, SUNDAY EXPRESS
'The whole book tingles with tension. I hope it does for the Scilly Isles what Ann Cleeves did for Shetland' MEL MCGRATH
'I love reading Kate's books in the way I love reading Sophie Hannah - a poet writing crime fiction is a great thing . . . It is at once a locked-room mystery, a story of the returning hero, and an examination of fear and abuse. It has the air of a twenty-first century Agatha Christie' JULIA CROUCH
Nothing's sweeter than a fruitful family business, and for Winona Mae Montgomery and her Granny Smythe, that means Smythe Orchards in Blossom Valley, Virginia. But this year's apple crop is especially juicy-with scandal . . .
SEEDS OF DANGER
Thanks to Winnie's new cider shop, Smythe Orchards is out of the red and folks can get their fix of the produce and other delectable products they love all year round. The locals are even booking the shop for events, including a June wedding! Winnie couldn't be happier to see the barn filled to the rafters for the big bash-until her doting ex, Hank, is caught in a heated argument with the groom. Winnie plans to scold Hank after the party, but spots him running off instead. And when the groom turns up dead, apparently hit by the honeymoon getaway car, Hank is the main suspect. Now Hank is on the lam, and it's up to Winnie to get to the core of the truth-before the real killer puts the squeeze on her . . .
After my last assignment almost killed me, I thought I was done with the Paranormal Temp Agency. Turns out we were just getting started…
The board of paranormal liaisons is down a member, leaving Beech Grove vulnerable to outside magical influence. Worse still, the stray cats who work as our field agents are disappearing from the streets—and they’re not winding up in shelters.
Now my boss, a black cat named Mr. Fluffikins, has ordered me to go undercover as a phony psychic and find out what’s happening to the missing feline agents.
Last week I didn’t even know magic existed; this week it’s up to me to help save it.
Yup, all in a day’s work for this part-time psychic.
Can this witch keep her nose out of trouble from beyond the grave before it becomes the death of her?
Is it too much for psychic medium Nora Ashcroft to ask for to run her business, study her new powers, and spend a little alone time with her boyfriend in peace?
Looks like it.
Because after she's first on scene at a series of seemingly unrelated crimes around Eastwind, she must dig deeper to find the connection if she wants to save the people she loves . . .
With hundreds flocking to her inaugural garden party, meticulous Lilly Jayne hasnÄôt left a single petal out of place. But the picture-perfect gathering turns unruly upon the arrival of Merilee Frank, LilyÄôs ex-husbandÄôs catty third wife. Merilee lives for trouble, so no one is surprised after she drinks too much, shoves a guest into the koi pond, and gets escorted off the property. The real surprise comes days laterÄîwhen Merilee is found dead in a pile of mulch. Lilly wishes she could stick to pruning roses and forget about MerileeÄôs murderÄîuntil her best friend and ex become suspects in the overgrown homicide case. Now, aided by the Garden Squad, an unlikely group of amateur crime solvers with a knack for planting, Lilly knows she has limited time to identify the true culprit and restore order to GoosebushÄîbecause if the murdererÄôs plot isnÄôt nipped in the bud, another victim could be pushing up daisies!
It's been nine months since widowed mom Bella Jordan and her young son Max moved to Lily Dale, the quirky, close-knit New York community populated by people who can speak to the dead... if one believes in that kind of thing. Now she counts Valley View, the guesthouse she runs, as home and her psychic medium neighbours as friends-even haughty British Pandora, who used to own Valley View before her difficult divorce. So when Pandora sweeps in, requesting an urgent tête-à-tête, Bella expects it to be another complaint about book club. It isn't. Pandora airily reveals her elderly Auntie Eudora is taking a last-minute cruise from London to New York with her gentleman friend Nigel-and minutes later Bella is bemused to find she's agreed to host them at Valley View free of charge. Bella has enough on her plate: her son Max, their two kitties, a budding relationship with local vet Drew... not to mention this month's book-club pick to read. But when she begins to have suspicions about one of her new guests, she's determined to uncover the truth for Pandora's sake-even if it kills her first.
Morrie's been arrested on suspicion of murder. Mina knows the Napoleon of Crime is innocent, but how can she prove her favorite con-artist is being stitched-up?
Being the spider in the center of a vast criminal web has left Morrie in hot water. His list of enemies is long . . . too long for Mina and her men to unravel. Mina doesn't have a clue to stand on when a shadow from Morrie's past shows up and threatens to destroy everything she's fought for.
If Morrie's ex solves the murder before them, it could mean the end of Nevermore Bookshop. But is Mina ready to pit her sleuthing skills against literature's foremost consulting detective?
Add a rambunctious puppy, a meddling mother, a cockroach cookery lesson, and their ultimate enemy closing in, and Mina's on her toughest case yet. There's only one way to get the answers they need, but are Heathcliff and Quoth prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to save their friend?
Contains mature themes.
Love can be a very dangerous thing.
At least it seems that way to Adri Pyper, the premier wedding planner in Sun Valley, Idaho. When one of her clients dies mysteriously, Adri takes the advice of the local detective and swears she will stay out of the investigation ... this time.
Luke Stetson's involvement in the case, along with the possibility of a kiss between the two, should be enough incentive to keep Adri out of trouble. But when a dog-themed wedding is almost ruined by a suspect, Adri and her assistant, Lorea, are thrust into private-eye mode. When poison enters the picture, even a reluctant sleuth can't steer clear of danger.
But, a simple leaky faucet is oft proven much more troublesome than an unwieldy water hose. A modest consistent execution, unnoticed by most, fosters success or disaster. ~~Charles TenningAfter 25 years of estrangement from his father, Joe Tenning is unexpectedly summoned to the bedside of Charles Tenning. Suddenly, he is pulled into unraveling the disturbingly bizarre and ethically questionable work in which his father has been covertly engaged. Uncertain who to trust in the small town, Joe accepts the help of Dr. Lillian Kent who has her own unique brand of patient care. Despite the desire to return to his quiet life running his winery, he now must wrestle with the effects of his father's work on himself, his loved ones and the lives of many others.
Nell Pratt, president of the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, has something to smile about thanks to a generous donation from a major Philadelphia developer who's willing to help update their museum. But renovations have barely begun when a man is struck by a car in front of the building and killed. The victim is a construction worker who found a curious metal object while excavating an old privy in the museum's basement. Nell thinks the death is somehow connected to the Society, and her suspicions are confirmed when an antiques expert reveals a link between the objects from the cellar and a fellow staff member's family. Now Nell must unearth a mystery with ties to the past and the present. Because when someone is willing to kill over scrap metal, there's no telling what they'll do next . . .
Perfect for fans of Laura Levine and Stephanie Barron, Elizabeth Blake's Jane Austen Society mystery debut is a mirthfully morbid merger of manners and murder.
In this Austen-tatious debut, antiquarian bookstore proprietor Erin Coleridge uses her sense and sensibility to deduce who killed the president of the local Jane Austen Society.
Erin Coleridge's used bookstore in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, England, is a meeting place for the villagers and, in particular, for the local Jane Austen Society. At the Society's monthly meeting, matters come to a head between the old guard and its young turks. After the meeting breaks for tea, persuasion gives way to murder?with extreme prejudice?when president Sylvia Pemberthy falls dead to the floor. Poisoned? Presumably ... but by whom? And was Sylvia the only target?
Handsome?but shy?Detective Inspector Peter Hemming and charismatic Sergeant Rashid Jarral arrive at the scene. The long suspect list includes Sylvia's lover Kurt Becker and his tightly wound wife Suzanne. Or, perhaps, the killer was Sylvia's own cuckolded husband, Jerome. Among the many Society members who may have had her in their sights is dashing Jonathan Alder, who was heard having a royal battle of words with the late president the night before.
Then, when Jonathan Alder narrowly avoids becoming the next victim, Farnsworth (the town's "cat lady") persuades a seriously time-crunched Erin to help DI Hemming. But the killer is more devious than anyone imagines.
'Like a modern-day Agatha Christie bestowed with a hefty dollop of Jane Austen.'-Laura Childs, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Jane Austen meets reality TV and murder in this quirky cozy mystery-the first in a new series!
Phaedra Brighton is perfectly content with her life of lecturing college students, gossiping with her best friends, and dreaming of Mr. Darcy. As a young, respected (if somewhat peculiar) English professor, her expertise lies in all things Jane Austen-but she knows that the closest she'll ever get to being a real-life Elizabeth Bennet is in her dreams.
When Who Wants to Marry Mr. Darcy, a new reality TV show, starts filming at her best friend Charlene's estate, Phaedra is intrigued. And when the producer asks her to lend her Austenian knowledge as a consultant on the show, she's over the moon. But on the first day of filming, when Charlene's new husband is found electrocuted and Charlene herself is accused of the crime, Phaedra comes crashing back to reality.
With murder on the syllabus and her best friend in dire straits, there's no Mr. Darcy around to help Phaedra-she'll have to get to the bottom of this mystery herself.
