Harold Gaynor offers Anita Blake a million dollars to raise a 300-year-old zombie. Knowing it means a human sacrifice will be necessary, Anita turns him down. But when dead bodies start turning up, she realizes that someone else has raised Harold's zombie--and that the zombie is a killer. Anita pits her power against the zombie and the voodoo priestess who controls it. In *The Laughing Corpse* Anita will learn that there are some secrets better left buried-and some people better off dead...

Food blogging is turning Hope Early into a household name. But the dead body down the block makes her a #1 suspect . . . It seems everyone loves Hope's blog these days, and she's busier than ever volunteering to help other women create their own paths to success. So she's shocked when a neighbor petitions to run Hope right out of her small Connecticut town! Set in her ways, apparently Birdie Donovan doesn't like the chaos Hope's sleuthing creates, the police activity and crime scenes, and it's happening way too often lately. Eager to make amends, Hope bakes Birdie a batch of her best muffins. The delicious treats might have smoothed things over—until Hope discovers Birdie dead in her gazebo the very next day . . . Now instead of worrying about holding on to her beloved home, Hope is trying to stay out of jail. Because suddenly she's the lead suspect in the case. Not even her boyfriend, Police Chief Ethan Cahill, is promising he can...

"Fun and fresh, with a twisty, clever plot that will have you turning pages right to the end." -Cheryl Bradshaw, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Sloane Monroe mysteries.Sassy, snarky Viola Roberts quit her boring accountant job to pursue her dream of writing novels, even if it meant eating ramen noodles every day. Now that her career has taken off, she's headed to a writers' conference at an exotic Florida resort complete with white sand beaches and swaying palm trees where she plans to lounge in the shade drinking frosty beverages with little umbrellas. And, of course, no sojourn to tropical climes would be complete without her boozy, wise-cracking best friend, Cheryl. When Viola discovers the diva of the author world dead (as a doornail) of unnatural causes, the police immediately consider Viola their prime suspect. But when the head detective turns a gimlet eye on Viola's best friend, the author has had enough! Along with help from hunky fellow writer, Lucas Salvatore, Viola is determined to ascertain who killed the corpse in the cabana before she, or Cheryl, wind up in jail. Or worse.

"Roll over Maigret. Commissaire Dupin has arrived." —M.C. Beaton on Death in Brittany "Very satisfying...along the lines of Martin Walker's novels set in Dordogne, or M.L. Longworth's Aix-en-Provence mysteries." —Booklist on Murder on Brittany ShoresBreton Pride is internationally bestselling author, Jean-Luc Bannalec's fourth novel in the Commissaire Dupin series. It's picturesque, suspenseful, and the next best thing to a trip to Brittany.Along the picturesque Belon River, home of the world famous oyster beds, between steep cliffs, ominous forests and the Atlantic Ocean, a stubborn elderly film actress discovers a corpse. By the time Commissaire Dupin arrives at the scene, the body has disappeared. A little while later, he receives a phone call from the mystical hills of Monts d'Arree, where legends of fairies and the devil abound: another unidentified body has turned up. Dupin quickly...

A dinosaur detective in the land of unwanted ideas battles trauma, anxiety, and the first serial killer of imaginary friends.Most ideas fade away when we're done with them. Some we love enough to become Real. But what about the ones we love, and walk away from? Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl's imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they're too Real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas – until Tippy runs into the Teatime Man, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there's nothing left but imaginary corpses. File Unders: Fantasy [ Fuzzy Fiends | Death to Imagination | Hardboiled but Sweet | Not Barney ]

Sixty years before the events of ELEGY: Book One of the Arbiter Codex, a young Arbiter named D'Arden Tal and his mentor, Havox Khaine, venture into a strange kingdom on the edge of nowhere. Within the borders of this nameless land lie horrors beyond imagining, and a monarch named THE CORPSE KING.For fans of Robert E. Howard, Karl Edward Wagner and Andrzej Sapkowski.After years of nothing but grueling training and the desperate dance of death that is the life of an acolyte Arbiter, D’Arden Tal has been named an apprentice. He has been assigned to learn from Havox Khaine, one of the greatest Masters in living memory.For two years they have traveled across the known world, and now they enter a tiny kingdom on the edge of nowhere. Rumors abound that the monarch of this kingdom is insane, and has created a demented puppet court… of the dead.D’Arden must learn what it truly means to be an Arbiter, as he makes his first real confrontation with the horrors of corruption. Something much worse lurks within the shadows of the king’s mind than simple madness, and D’Arden will find reason to call him…The Corpse King.With this novelette, welcome to the world of Eisengoth: a dark fantasy realm ruled by insane gods, and the setting for ELEGY: Book One of the Arbiter Codex. Heroic fantasy for fans of Conan (Robert E. Howard), Kane (Karl Edward Wagner) or Geralt of Rivia, The Witcher (Andrzej Sapkowski) with a Lovecraftian-horror flair.Now including a 2,000-word sample of ELEGY: Book One of the Arbiter Codex!

In the Summer of 1138, war between King Stephen and the Empress Maud takes Brother Cadfael from the quiet world of his garden to the bloody battlefield.

BUBBLES MEETS SIX FEET UNDER IN THE SECOND CALLIE PARRISH MYSTERY. Mortuary cosmetologist Callie Parrish and her friend take off for a bluegrass festival on Surcie Island. But when a fiddler turns up dead, Callie has no choice but to take center stage in the investigation.Review"Callie Parrish is a hoot! This mystery had me laughing so hard that I dropped the book in my bathtub." -GWEN HUNTER, AUTHOR OF SLEEP SOFTLY

It started with a pair of boots sticking out of the bushes. We called 911. They didn't believe us. What the heck? My mom had "waterworks." BUT then there was a cop who'd be just perfect dad material...Plus, my dog got stuck up in a tree. And Stinky Weston saw us drive by in the back of a patrol car, which was cool. Good day all around.Then, the bad guys came...It started with a pair of boots sticking out of the bushes. We called 911. They didn't believe us. What the heck? My mom had "waterworks" at the police station. BUT, aside from the cop with bad breath, there was a cop who'd be just perfect dad material...I'd been looking for a dad for a while.Plus, my dog got stuck up in a tree. And Stinky Weston saw us drive by in the back of a patrol car, which was cool. "Whaja do NOW, jerk?" he yelled at me.Good day all around.Then, the bad guys came...

The perfect quirky nostalgic crime read – a tale of steam trains, giant squid, missing screenplays, missing mothers and a quest for the truth, from the inimitable Malcolm PryceIt's the winter of 1948. The four great railway companies have just been nationalised and Jack Wenlock – the last of a fabled cadre of railway detectives – is thrown out onto the street. Penniless, with new bride Jenny to support, and hiding from a murderous organisation called Room 42, Jack's prospects look bleak.But then a letter arrives from a mysterious Cornish Countess revealing that Jack's mother – long believed to be dead – may have survived a shipwreck off the coast of Java. Seizing the opportunity to track down his only remaining family member, Jack and Jenny board a boat heading East. The trail takes them to a run-down Siamese hotel where a motley assortment of drifters has washed up. Here a spy, an assassin, a deserter, an...

Dai Morgan has the body of a man and the mind of a child. He lived with his mother in the Mid Wales village of Llan, next door to bright, beautiful 19 year old Anna Harris. The vicar found Anna's naked, battered body in the churchyard one morning. The police discovered Anna's bloodstained earring in Dai's pocket. The judge gave Dai life. After ten years in gaol Dai appealed against his sentence and was freed. Sergeants Trevor Joseph and Peter Collins are sent to Llan to reopen the case. But the villagers refuse to believe Dai innocent. The Llan police do not make mistakes or allow murderers to walk free. Do they?

For eighteen years, Pulitzer Prize-winner Edna Buchanan had one of the most exciting, frightening, and heartbreaking jobs a newspaperwoman could have — working the police beat for the Miami Herald. Having covered more crimes than most cops, Buchanan garnered a reputation as a savvy, gritty writer with a unique point of view and inimitable style. Now, back in print after many years, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face is her classic collection of true stories, as witnessed and reported by Buchanan herself. From cold-blooded murder, to violence in the heat of passion, to the everyday insanity of the city streets, Edna Buchanan reveals it all in her own trademark blend of compassionate reporting, hard-nosed investigation, and wry humor that has made her a legend in the world of journalism.

Mermaid Brooke is settling into her small town life pretty well when her sister shows up with all of Brooke's possessions from their mother's home and a plan to snag a man while in town. But Brooke is distracted by the fact that the host whose party she attended with Aiden ends up dead and one of his four widows asks for help, mermaid to mermaid. But when it turns out that everyone involved with the dead polygamist was hiding secrets and her own sister has set her eyes on Aiden, Brooke is pulled in every direction. With everyone around Brooke talking about what love means, the biggest mystery might be the question of what her heart really wants.

Man dies and is taken to the Morgue to be made ready for his family.Steven Moore’s body was brought into the county morgue after he was found in the woods by a couple of hikers. Although the cold had delayed the decomposition of his body, what was left of it was in really bad shape. Wild animals made a feast of him.The county coroner and his tech for the county morgue, will soon begin the autopsy to find out the cause of death. It was a normal day for them and like a lot of people they are under the assumption that when a person dies their spirit leaves their body. That was not so in this case as Steven had been aware of what was happening and had felt the pain as the animals had ripped into his flesh. He also knew what was going to happen next.

A handsome movie star in her kitchen, and a corpse in the swimming pool. Just your typical Monday morning. Maggie McJasper is starting over in a little California beach town. She has a craft shop, a nice circle of friends, and a handsome movie star who keeps flirting with her. Life would be pretty great if she could just stop stumbling over dead bodies.... The Carita Cove romantic mysteries are fun and heartwarming reads, with no swearing or love scenes, and no gruesome violence to keep you up at night. Collect them all: 1. Maggie and the Black-Tie Affair (short intro story) 2. Maggie and the Inconvenient Corpse 3. Maggie and the Mourning Beads 4. Maggie and the Empty Noose 5. Maggie and the Hidden Homicide 6. Maggie and the Whiskered Witness 7. Maggie and the Serpentine Script 8. Maggie and the Rattled Rake

What should have been a nice, relaxing weekend to celebrate the grand opening of a spa in the middle of the remote Oklahoma backwoods ends up with Deena Rodriguez awakening next to a dead man with her designing scissors protruding from his chest. Once again the Garcia girls, including the ghost of their dead sister Tessa, must band together to prove her innocence. But their job is cut out for them this time as the only suspect other than Deena is a stone clad monster from Cherokee folklore.  

Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist Cait Morgan, and her retired-cop husband Bud Anderson, are in London, England, to meet their friend John Silver's freshly minted fiancée, the daughter of a recently deceased Shakespeare aficionado, and captain of industry. The trip is supposed to be filled with art galleries, good food, and Christmas spirit. However, an untimely death at a posh dinner party threatens to send shock waves through the upper strata of London society. Cait and Bud's desire to seek out the truth is blocked by a shadowy figure who's been tasked with keeping the incident hush-hush, but – as the body-count rises – the investigation develops a dreadful momentum. This is the eleventh Cait Morgan Mystery, and it finds our usually unstoppable duo running up against the immoveable machinery of power...with tragic consequences.

Welcome to the world of Allie Nighthawk, corpse whisperer and badass zombie hunter."If you raise deadheads, you'd better be able to put 'em down. Nobody said it was pretty. But in this day, when vampires aren't just for breakfast anymore, and the dead are disposable pawns for necromancers, someone has to ante up. Looks like I won the lotto. Imagine my delight. You should thank me, really, because the world is batshit crazy."When the zombie population spikes and no one knows why, it's up to Allie to solve the mystery. But there's a hitch. She's stuck babysitting Leo Abruzzi, a zombie-bitten gangster who's turning state's evidence. But the mob and a powerful necromancer will stop at nothing to take Leo and Allie down.Allie Nighthawk is Anita Blake on steroids, with a fondness for leather and Jack on the rocks. She has a healthy dose of Stephanie Plum and Rachel Morgan in her, too, though she'd never admit it.The battle between good and evil just got...

In the second Camilla MacPhee mystery, it's now forty below in Canada's capital, but victims' advocate Camilla is feeling the heat. When a savage serial batterer goes on the rampage looking for revenge against his former girlfriend, the terrified woman turns to Camilla and Justice for Victims for help. But a sudden change of fortune causes her client to really feel the chill. Camilla wades into the investigation, now one of murder, and gets a frosty reception from the police. Soon everyone connected with the case is either cooling their heels behind bars or trying to avoid cold storage in the morgue. Camilla's really skating on thin ice looking for this killer - literally.

A casual outing to the Crystal Palace in London takes a mysterious and murderous turn in the latest mystery in Carola Dunn's beloved Daisy Dalrymple series.April 1928: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is visited in London by her young cousins. On the list of must-see sites is the Crystal Palace. Discovering that her children's nanny, Nanny Gilpin, has never seen the Palace, Daisy decides to make a day of it—bringing her cousins, her 3-year-old twins, her step-daughter Belinda, the nurserymaid, and Nanny Gilpin. Yet this ordinary outing goes wrong when Mrs. Gilpin goes off to the ladies' room and fails to return. When Daisy goes to look for her, she doesn't find her nanny but instead the body of another woman dressed in a nanny's uniform.Meanwhile, Belinda and the cousins spot Mrs. Gilpin chasing after yet another nanny. Intrigued, they trail the two through the vast Crystal Palace and into the park. After briefly losing sight of their quarry, they stumble...

A chronicle of survival in a world of the living dead.There is no Heaven or Hell; there is only blood and the dust of flesh. The Eyes of the Dead Roaming the ruined earth like insects feasting on a corpse, the living dead inch inexorably toward their ultimate purpose. Can anyone stop them and the Red Man, the strange prophet who leads them? Only a few stand a chance...Cornell, the criminal.Delia, the nurse. Burke, the traumatized scientist.Vale, the sharpshooter who found new life in the world of the dead.Only they, among the ragtag community of the living too engaged with fighting each other to defend themselves, may hold the line between life and death. But how can they hope to live surrounded by the walking corpses of a world overwhelmed by death and madness and the angry souls responsible for it? How can they hope to escape the gaze of a billion dead and rage-filled eyes...

Vacations are supposed to be fun, but when veterinarian Ginny Reese combines a trip to a coastal island to check out an inherited property with patching up her relationship with her sister, things quickly get out of control. First there's a corpse in the condo. Then a fortune in artwork goes missing. The lead investigator is a publicity hound, and there's a hurricane bearing down. To top it off, Ginny's former boyfriend, Joe Donegan, believes the police are looking at her for insurance fraud and murder. With the help of her friends and her trusty dog, Remington, it's up to Ginny to find the paintings and the killer before the storm wipes everything away.

Corpse in the Carnations: Lovely Lethal Gardens, Book 3

Chicago area high school teacher Tom Mason and his lover, professional baseball player Scott Carpenter have had a taxing year. After publicly coming out, Scott and Tom have had to deal with a firestorm of publicity, a major loss of privacy, a great outpouring of support and an equal number of cranks. Now, finally, they are going to do something that they've always wanted - get married in a service before their family and close friends. Despite the potential problems of such of an event, the ceremony comes off with nary a hitch. With the reception in full swing - with a guest list ranging from long-time family friends and co-workers to the cream of the social elite - a small problem emerges. Tom happens to stumble over an ex-boyfriend from many years ago in the bathroom. Unfortunately, what he stumbles across is actually the corpse of the murdered ex-boyfriend and in addition to casting something of a pall across the proceedings, it puts Tom in the awkward position of being the prime suspect in the murder. If he's ever going to get to go on his long-planned honeymoon, Tom is going to have to uncover the truth behind the murder of this unwanted guest. From Publishers WeeklyTeacher Tom Mason and baseball pro Scott Carpenter's blow-out wedding ceremony is going beautifully that is, until Tom finds his mortally wounded ex-boyfriend bleeding in a bathroom stall in Here Comes the Corpse. Add in a troubled teenager, a secret sports pornography business, the dead man's mystery lover and a few more deaths, and there's a lot for the dynamic duo to figure out in Lambda Literary Award-winner Mark Richard Zubro's ninth appealing Tom and Scott mystery. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From BooklistWhat's the world coming to? It's getting so a couple of decent guys can't even tie the knot in peace any more, what with murder victims popping up in bathroom stalls and runaway nephews skulking around the crime scene. Schoolteacher Tom Mason and major-league pitcher Scott Carpenter finally decide to marry, in style in a Chicago hotel's 20-story atrium ballroom, all done up with orchids, rainbow-flag bunting, Godiva chocolate centerpieces, and an ice sculpture nearly as long as most housefronts. The occasion is marred by the sudden, uninvited appearance of Ethan, Tom's high-school flame, who has treated him badly in the past but now urgently needs to talk with him. But Ethan winds up dead in the john before Tom has the slightest idea what he might have wanted. Old flames die hard, though, and Tom cannot decline Ethan's parents' plea that he look into the homicide. Zubro's fans will cheer just about everything in the new Tom and Scott mystery--even Scott's sulky adolescent nephew. Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Food blogger Hope Early takes on a cold case that's heating up fast . . . Building on her recipe for success with her food blog, Hope at Home, Hope is teaching her first blogging class at the local library in Jefferson, Connecticut. She's also learning about podcasts, including a true-crime one called Search for the Missing, hosted by Hope's childhood friend, Devon Markham. Twenty years ago on Valentine's Day, right here in Jefferson, Devon's mom disappeared and was never found. Finally Devon has returned to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother—and she asks Hope to help. The next day Hope discovers Devon's apartment has been ransacked. Her laptop with the research on her mother's cold case is missing, and Devon is nowhere to be found. When her friend's body is later discovered in a car wreck, Hope is convinced it's no accident. Clearly, Devon was too close to the truth, and the cold-blooded killer is still at large in...

Murder! the letter says, Come at once. Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3. How can Flavia de Luce resist such an urgent plea? After all, examining a dead body sounds like a perfectly splendid way to spend a Sunday. So Flavia hops upon her trusted bicycle, Gladys, whose rubber tires hiss happily along the rainy road, and arrives at her father’s mist-shrouded old school. There, a terrified boy leads her to the loo where, sitting in a bathtub, is what appears to be a statue. But, no: To Flavia’s surprise, the thing is in fact a naked dead man. Save his face, he seems to have been carved out of copper. Never one to shy away from the macabre, Flavia gets to work—only to find that when an investigation begins with a metallic cadaver, ever more curious twists are to be expected.

Guests of honor at the opening of a swish new restaurant in Arizona, Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist sleuth Cait Morgan, and her retired-cop husband Bud Anderson, are looking forward to living in the lap of luxury for a week. But an unexpected death at the desert retreat puts more than a wrinkle in their plans. Is the Faceting for Life movement, of which their host is a devotee, just a harmless framework for life-affirming activities, or a façade for a cult where no one is quite who they appear to be? In the twelfth Cait Morgan Mystery, Cait and Bud arrive at their remote destination keen to relax and indulge, only to discover that Cait might have – for the first time in her life – truly met her match. And her adversary's agenda? Well, it's anything but restful...indeed, it's both wicked, and deadly.

Hope Early has to contend with ghosts, a fatal curse, and a decades-old family secret to catch a killer in the new Food Blogger Mystery . . . When her best friend's Aunt Issy falls ill, food blogger Hope Early agrees to help him hand out Halloween candy at his aunt's house, which is rumored to be cursed. A murder-suicide took place there a century ago, and legend has it that a woman has died there every twenty years since—on Halloween. Hope doesn't really believe in curses or ghosts, but when all the trick-or-treaters are gone and she discovers a woman's dead body on the front lawn, she wonders if the curse might be real after all. Then Hope and her friend discover a cache of love letters linking the dead woman to Aunt Issy's husband years ago, and Hope is certain they've uncovered the motive for murder—and the police are certain Aunt Issy is their main suspect. Determined to prove Issy's innocence and nab the real...

Successful author Viola Roberts is headed to a writers' conference at an exotic Florida resort complete with white sand beaches and swaying palm trees. She plans to lounge in the shade drinking frosty beverages with little umbrellas while catching up on her never ending to-be-read pile. And, of course, no sojourn to tropical climes would be complete without her boozy, wise-cracking best friend and fellow author, Cheryl.When Viola discovers the diva of the author world dead (as a doornail) of unnatural causes, the police immediately consider her their prime suspect. But when the head detective turns a gimlet eye on Viola's best friend, the author has had enough! Along with help from hunky fellow writer, Lucas Salvatore, Viola is determined to ascertain who killed the corpse in the cabana before she, or Cheryl, wind up in jail. Or worse.The Corpse in the Cabana is the first in the bookish cozy mystery series, Viola Roberts Cozy Mysteries set (mostly) in the quaint seaside...

'All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players...'When an undercover assignment for the Bow Street magistrate sees prostitute Lizzie Hardwicke trade Ma Farley's Bawdy House in Soho for life as a seamstress the theatre on Drury Lane, it becomes clear quite quickly - what goes on in the wings is much more intriguing than the theatrics being played out on stage... Soon Lizzie is once again thrown together with the handsome Inspector Will Davenport when a high profile investor is brutally hanged at centre stage and Lizzie discovers the body. With the suspect list rivalling any casting call, Lizzie will have to use every trick she's hidden up her sleeves to unravel the tangled threads and bring the culprit into the spotlight.

SHE WORE A DONNA KARAN MARKED FOR REPOSSESSIONSince Kat Waters's father took a trip to the slammer on what she's sure are trumped-up racketeering charges, life's been tough. All their assets are frozen, and she's down to the last few pairs of Jimmy Choos she can swap for rent. To keep her family out of the homeless shelter, the former socialite took a job at the local morgue—a job she's about to lose when the body of a murder victim goes missing on her watch.HE WORE A CAPTIVATING SMILEWhile Kat's processing the latest victim in the prostitute serial killings, ex-Special Forces soldier Burns McPhee strolls in with an air of confidence, expecting access to the Jane Doe. While Burns tries to flirt his way into examining the latest victim, whom he thinks is connected to the death of his best friend, someone else steals the body right out from under them.THE CORPSE WORE STILETTOSDodging...

Introducing an engaging new amateur sleuth, declutterer Ellen Curtis, in the first of a brilliant new mystery series. Ellen Curtis runs her own business helping people who are running out of space. As a declutterer, she is used to encountering all sorts of weird and wonderful objects in the course of her work. What she has never before encountered is a dead body. When Ellen stumbles across the body of a young woman in an over-cluttered flat, suspicion immediately falls on the deceased homeowner's son, who has recently absconded from prison. No doubt Nate Ogden is guilty of many things – but is he really the killer? Discovering a link between the victim and her own past, Ellen sets out to uncover the truth. But where has her best friend disappeared to? And is Ellen really prepared for the shocking revelations to follow?

It's two years since her fiance's death. Amy Abel needs to start over. And what better way for a shy, risk-averse woman to start than to sink all her savings into a travel agency specializing in adventure. Her first project? A mystery road rally through the European countryside. At the starting line in Monte Carlo, Amy finds herself attracted to Marcus Alvarez, the most mysterious of her two dozen game-loving clients. But the rally gets off to a rocky start when an eccentric writer, the only person who knows the game's solution, is himself murdered back in New York. So who would kill a harmless mystery geek? And why are weird accidents beginning to happen along the way? To her horror, Amy discovers that this fictional mystery was based on a real, unsolved case, one that Marcus knows too much about. Now she has no choice but to join forces with Fanny, her domineering mother, and solve this on her own, before the killer strikes again.Review"An absolutely wonderful mystery, served just the way I like it--with heart and humor." --Tony Shalhoub, actor from TV's MONKAbout the AuthorHY CONRAD has made a career of mystery, developing a horde of popular games and interactive films over a span of 30 years, plus hundreds of stories, a dozen books of short mysteries and three Edgar nominations. In the world of TV, he is best known for his eight seasons as a writer / producer for the ground-breaking series "Monk" as well as his work on "White Collar" and the web-based series Little Monk." His non-mystery work includes the upcoming humor book, "Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know."

All Hailey Hart wants is a fresh start in a new town where no one knows she doesn't have a clue what to do with her life or a dollar to her name. What she gets is a dead body on her first day of work at the candy shop.Now, everyone wants to talk to Hailey and find out if she killed the biggest player in Rockland. Who knew working with a temp agency could be so traumatic? The only good part is her new boss happens to be both attractive and interested in clearing Hailey of murder.Can she find the real killer and earn a paycheck before her rent is due?

"Roll over Maigret. Commissaire Dupin has arrived." --M.C. Beaton on Death in Brittany"Very satisfying …along the lines of Martin Walker's novels set in Dordogne, or M.L. Longworth's Aix-en-Provence mysteries." --Booklist on Murder on Brittany ShoresThe Missing Corpse is internationally bestselling author, Jean-Luc Bannalec 's fourth novel in the Commissaire Dupin series. It's picturesque, suspenseful, and the next best thing to a trip to Brittany.Along the picturesque Belon River, home of the world famous oyster beds, between steep cliffs, ominous forests and the Atlantic Ocean, a stubborn elderly film actress discovers a corpse. By the time Commissaire Dupin arrives at the scene, the body has disappeared. A little while later, he receives a phone call from the mystical hills of Monts d'Arree, where legends of fairies and the devil abound: another unidentified body has turned up. Dupin quickly realizes this may be his most difficult and confounding case yet, with links to celtic myths, a sand theft operation, and mysterious ancient druid cults.__Review"The usual food obsessions and Parisian fish-out-of-water tropes become more amusing with each installment, making Dupin something of a contemporary provincial Poirot."― Publishers WeeklyPraise for the series:"Bannelec's Breton adventures are some of the best French local color going, with a deft blend of puzzle, personality, and description of the indescribable."― Kirkus Reviews on The Fleur de Sel Murders"Well-drawn, complex characters, the lovingly described countryside, and the area 's culinary bounty make this a winner. Some fans will be inspired to take their next vacation in Brittany."― Publishers Weekl y on The Fleur de Sel Murders__"Jean-Luc Bannalec... has channeled his affection for the westernmost region of France into a charming first mystery." ― New York Times Book Review on Death in Brittany"A setting to die for... The star of the mystery, though, is Brittany." ― Booklist (starred review) on Death in BrittanyAbout the AuthorInternational bestselling author JEAN-LUC BANNALEC divides his time between Germany and coastal Brittany, France. He is also the author of Death in Brittany, Murder on Brittany Shores, and The Fleur de Sel Murders.

Headless corpses roam London! The dead are rising and walking away from mortuaries...before returning without their heads.Tasked with investigating, dogged detectives Elspeth Heyward and Lars Andersen must uncover the sinister culprit reanimating the newly deceased and locate the still missing bodies.Tracking suspects throughout the city, they encounter trouble and shenanigans with each clue, until the trail brings them worryingly close to their own doorstep.To solve the mystery and protect the city, Heyward and Anderson must go toe to toe against a rogue sorcerer with the final confrontation promising an explosive showdown...Will this be Heyward and Andersen's last case? Set in a world of airships, mysteries, and monsters, The Headless Corpse is the third story in the Heyward and Andersen, Consulting Detectives series.Buy today and don't miss this exciting paranormal...

College librarian Doro Banyon discovers the body of her nemesis, Professor Hemet Corlon, near the card catalogues when she arrives for work. Evidence points to a terrible accident, but the new school security officer disagrees. Because Doro and Corlon have been at odds over the status of women at the formerly all-male school, she falls under suspicion—and she isn't alone. Most professors and students supported women's suffrage and welcomed coeducation, so they stand steadfast against the old-fashioned ideas of Corlon and his handful of powerful cronies. More than one person wanted to see an end to the professor and his ilk. But who made his departure permanent? In seeking answers, Doro joins forces with her best friend to solve the mystery of the catalogued corpse. Go back in time to 1920s small town Ohio and join amateur sleuth Doro Banyon, along with her team of intriguing individuals, to crack cases and bring justice.

"My guiltiest pleasure is Harry Stephen Keeler. He may been the greatest bad writer America has ever produced. Or perhaps the worst great writer. I do not know. There are few faults you can accuse him of that he is not guilty of. But I love him." — Neil GaimanHo hum. Another day; another corpse dredged up from the depths of Lake Michigan. This time it's a body having the bottom half of a negro man and the top half of a Chinese woman joined together at the waist by some kind of greenish glue. But we don't linger long at this unpleasant scene because Angus MacWhorter and his Mammoth Motorized Show are in another pickle. If Angus can't pay back $3000 — in $100 bills whose serial numbers must be evenly divisible by 13! — he'll lose the circus to the dastardly Geispitz Gmohling. But the needed bills are on the other side of Old Twistibus, the windingest road in the world, and Giff O'Dell, who has the bills, is obsessed with solving the Crazy Corpse murder. Now...

Tea and sympathy have never been so deadly.Schoolteacher Adam Matthews just wants to help select a new headteacher and go home. The governors at Lindenshaw St Crispin’s have already failed miserably at finding the right candidate, so it’s make or break this second time round. But when one of the applicants is found strangled in the school, what should have been a straightforward decision turns tempestuous as a flash flood in their small English village.Inspector Robin Bright isn’t thrilled to be back at St. Crispin’s. Memories of his days there are foul enough without tossing in a complicated murder case. And that handsome young teacher has him reminding himself not to fraternize with a witness. But it’s not long before Robin is relying on Adam for more than just his testimony.As secrets amongst the governors emerge and a second person turns up dead, Robin needs to focus less on Adam and more on his investigation. But there are too many suspects, too many lies, and too many loose ends. Before they know it, Robin and Adam are fighting for their lives and their hearts.

Two weeks after Father Giles de Twet disappeared, his rotting corpse is found in the River Thames beneath the bridge at medieval Windsor, weighed down by a block of stone. Stephen Attebrook, a one-time coroner now at loose ends, finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time after he agrees to escort a herd of cattle from Ludlow to Windsor to feed King Henry's army, which is preparing for civil war. Edward orders Stephen to find Father Giles' killer.Meanwhile, Stephen's arch enemy, Percival FitzAllan, the earl of Arundel, has brought Stephen's niece Ida to Windsor as his captive to petition the king to make the beautiful young woman his ward. FitzAllan's ultimate plan -- marry Ida to a retainer to gain control of Hafton Manor, Stephen and Ida's home.Stephen struggles to solve the murder while risking his life and his fortune to shield Ida from a loathsome marriage.

A naked corpse in her bed is only the first surprise for our heroine in Jackie King’s charming bed-and-breakfast mystery. Cozy readers will be happy guests among these lively characters. —Marcia Preston, winner of the 2004 Mary Higgins Clark Award If you like bed and breakfast settings, friendly cats, delightful, quirky characters and a little tea thrown in with your murder, you’ll love The Inconvenient Corpse. —Bob Avey, author of Beneath a Buried House and Twisted Perception **

Former reality TV baking show contestant and recent divorcée Hope Early is trying to find her recipe for success as a food blogger—but murder keeps getting in the mix . . . When Hope's elderly neighbor perishes in a home fire, she can't help but feel somewhat responsible. Only the day before, Peggy Olson had called her over, having burned a pot on the stove while she was sleeping and filling the house with smoke. In fact, she couldn't even remember cooking. Clearly, it was dangerous for the woman to live alone. But it turns out she wasn't alone. When a second body is discovered in the basement of the burned house, suddenly what appeared to be a tragic accident is beginning to look like premeditated murder. As rumors spread like wildfire, Hope is determined to sort out the facts and smoke out a killer, but she might be jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire . . . Includes Recipes from Hope's Kitchen!

Welsh Canadian globetrotting sleuth, and professor of criminal psychology, Cait Morgan, is supposed to be "celebrating" her fiftieth birthday in Jamaica with her ex-cop husband Bud Anderson. But when the body of the luxury estate's owner is discovered locked inside an inaccessible tower, Cait and her fellow guests must work out who might have killed him – even if his murder seems impossible. Could the death of the man who hosted parties in the 1960s attended by Ian Fleming and Noël Coward be somehow linked to treasure the legendary Captain Henry Morgan might have buried at the estate? Or to the mission Bud and his secret service colleagues have been sent to the island to undertake? PRAISE FOR THE CAIT MORGAN MYSTERIES "...touches of Christie or Marsh but with a bouquet of Kinsey Millhone." —The Globe and Mail "A sparkling, well-plotted, and quite devious mystery..." —The Hamilton Spectator "...a sympathetic...

For young detective Aggie Morton and her friend Hector, an opportunity to dig up fossils becomes even more thrilling when a corpse washes ashore in this fourth book in the Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen series, inspired by the life of Agatha Christie as a child and her most popular creation, Hercule Poirot. For fans of Enola Holmes.After an invigorating but not exactly restful trip to a Yorkshire spa during which she survived a near brush with death and foiled a murderer, aspiring writer Aggie Morton and her friend Hector are thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at a camp by the sea and watch real paleontologists at work. The famed husband and wife team of the Blenningham-Crewes are about to become even more famous with the recovery of the fossilized bones of an ichthyosaur from the sea by Lyme Regis. This news has already caught the attention of an American millionaire, a British museum and a travelling circus owner, who each want the bones for their...

For eighteen years, Pulitzer Prize-winner Edna Buchanan had one of the most exciting, frightening, and heartbreaking jobs a newspaperwoman could have -- working the police beat for the Miami Herald. Having covered more crimes than most cops, Buchanan garnered a reputation as a savvy, gritty writer with a unique point of view and inimitable style. Now, back in print after many years, The Corpse Had a Familiar Face is her classic collection of true stories, as witnessed and reported by Buchanan herself. From cold-blooded murder, to violence in the heat of passion, to the everyday insanity of the city streets, Edna Buchanan reveals it all in her own trademark blend of compassionate reporting, hard-nosed investigation, and wry humor that has made her a legend in the world of journalism.From Publishers WeeklyBuchanan, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1986, has been the police reporter for the Miami Herald for 16 years and has covered some 5000 murder cases. Born and raised in New Jersey (which she hated), she got to Miami (which she loves) by accident and almost as casually got into the newspaper business. She tends to be hard-nosed about crime and criminals: her stories here range from a case which set off three days of rioting in Miami's black community, to a father who shot his comatose daughter in a hospital. Buchanan writes in pure journalese, with short sentences and short paragraphs,and she does it superbly. Literary Guild alternate. Author tour. Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalFor 15 years, this Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter for the Miami Herald has covered murder and rape, drug deals and robbery, Miami and vice, and she tells her story here. Her prose is spare but somehow crammed with detail and description. "If a man is shot for playing the same song on the jukebox too many times, I've got to name that tune," she says. She is outspoken, matter-of-fact, funny, frequently tough. Her best day "is the one where I can write a lead that will cause a reader at his breakfast table to spit up his coffee, clutch at his heart, and shout, `My God, Martha, did you read this?' " Her book will make you do just that. Jo Cates, Poynter Inst. for Media Studies Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Case of the Runaway Corpse (1954) – Mason defends a woman accused of poisoning her husband--even though witnesses saw the corpse climb out the motel window.Her husband was stealing her money, while accusing her of a plot to poison him -- or so claims the frightened young Mrs. Myrna Davenport. She wants Perry Mason to find the incriminating note her husband left for the authorities accusing her of murder -- especially now that Davenport is dying.Perry finds the envelope, but it's filled with blank paper. Then Davenport does die, or so everyone thinks until his alleged corpse climbs out a window and drives away -- straight into a prepared open grave in another county.With Davenport finally dead, Perry could become a possible accessory to murder. And though the victim died twice, Perry gets only one clear shot at saving his client -- and himself.From the Inside FlapHer husband was stealing her money, while accusing her of a plot to poison him -- or so claims the frightened young Mrs. Myrna Davenport. She wants Perry Mason to find the incriminating note her husband left for the authorities accusing her of murder -- especially now that Davenport is dying.Perry finds the envelope, but it's filled with blank paper. Then Davenport does die, or so everyone thinks until his alleged corpse climbs out a window and drives away -- straight into a prepared open grave in another county.With Davenport finally dead, Perry could become a possible accessory to murder. And though the victim died twice, Perry gets only one clear shot at saving his client -- and himself.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo meets Sharp Objects in this internationally bestselling psychological thriller, for fans of Jo Nesbø and Henning Mankell, now for the first time in English. Danish journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. Then she receives the first in a series of cryptic and unsettling letters from a woman named Anna Kiel. Wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young lawyer three years earlier, Anna hasn't been seen by anyone since she left the crime scene covered in blood. The police think she's fled the country until homicide detective Erik Scháfer comes up with a lead after the reporter who originally wrote about the case is found murdered in his apartment. Has Anna Kiel struck again, or is there more than one killer at large? And why does every clue point directly to Heloise Kaldan? ...

Several years ago, Gil Petty, the world's number one wine critic, went missing during a tasting tour of the little-known wine region of Gaillac. Three years ago, his body was discovered, dressed in the ceremonial robes of the Brotherhood of the Order of the Divine Bottle and preserved in red wine before being planted like a scarecrow in a vineyard in southwest France. His murderer was never found. Possible clues to Petty's murder lie in his reviews, but they are locked behind the seemingly unbreakable code he invented to keep them secure from prying eyes prior to publication. A leak to the public would have allowed wine speculators to reap rich rewards. Scots exile and former forensics expert Enzo Macleod reopens this well-chilled case to discover that the genteel world of winemakers hides a business driven by greed, envy, and desperation. Fortified by copious quantities of wine, Enzo hunts an elusive murderer who is quite prepared to kill again. Peter May won the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year Award at 21, and had his first novel published at 26. He then left journalism and became one of Scotland's most successful and prolific television dramatists. The Critic is the sequel to Extraordinary People and second in the Enzo MacLeod series. Peter May is married to writer Janice Hally and lives in France. www.enzomacleod.com

From the author of Crowner's Quest and The Poisoned Chalice, The Tinner's Corpse continues the adventures of Sir John de Wolfe, Devon's first county coroner. When Crowner John is summoned to the bleak Devonshire moors to investigate the murder of a tin miner, he has little idea how difficult this new investigation will prove to be. The victim worked for Devon's most powerful and successful mine owner, Walter Knapman. There seems to be only one possible motive -- to sabotage Walter's business.But the tinners have their own laws, and they are none too pleased at Crowner John's interference. And then Walter Knapman disappears.  A decapitated body, a missing tinner, a disgruntled band of miners and a mad Saxon intent on destroying all things Norman. How on earth can Crowner John sort all this out when his wife hates him, his mistress has spurned him for a younger man, and his clerk is in the grip of a suicidal depression? Only Gwyn, Crowner John's indispensable right-hand man seems to be of any help at all -- until he is arrested for murder and put on trial for his life.

The first dazzling book in an exciting new adventure mystery series about the rich world of fragrance, starring a young Nose named Batthew Aromascent, whose parents disappeared under mysterious circumstances. When the world's largest and most pungent flower goes missing right before its grand unveiling, the smell-mad city of Candlenut is in uproar. Luckily, Batthew Aromascent, 11-year-old heir to the famed Olfactory Fragrance House, and his best friend, Lavender, are on the case. It isn't just any missing flower, either. It's a legendary Titan Arum, grown from a seed that was sent by Batthew's parents – renowned noses, Roger and Joy Aromascent – before they vanished on an expedition deep in the jungle. Batthew and Lavender have just three days to track it down before the flower wilts and dies, along with any clues as to his parents' whereabouts. But are they prepared for what they'll find in the darker corners of the...

By day, a drab pole barn used as general store, post office and meeting place all-in-one by the people of Runde, Minnesota, a fishing village on the North Shore of Lake Superior. By night, a Viking-style long house filled with tales and singing, roasting meat and flowing beer, and of course mead. Ingrid Torfa can imagine no better place for a much-needed night of R&R. The mead hall run by her grandmother lies where modern small town life brushes up against the old world lifestyle of the people of Villmark, proud descendants of a lost tribe of Northmen. All of her friends mingle there from the server who works in the restaurant on the side of the highway to the guardians charged with protecting the sacred flame of their ancestors. The spells that her grandmother casts over her mead hall nightly keep everyone within safe and harmonious. Or so everyone always believed. But when a murder interrupts Ingrid's night off, she finds herself questioning...

Susan’s vision comes true when Palmetto’s flotilla recovers the remains of a missing resident. A witness and the victim’s prior employment point to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where the Annual Pirates’ Festival is in full swing. When a swank Biloxi casino contacts the Purple Pickle to supply costumes, Susan and A. K. jump at the chance. But even the best costumes can’t hide the real evil, and before the weekend is over, no one is safe. A. K. wants only a weekend of fun. Susan, on the other hand, can’t wait to question employees and maybe discover a motive for the murder. Spurred on by her visions, she ignores warning signs and soon finds herself in the clutches of a killer. When the local authorities attempt to execute an arrest warrant, the investigation turns upside down, and suspects become victims.

The Corpses are up something: U.S. Senator Lindsay Micha has been kidnapped and replaced with a "dead" ringer—the sister to Lilith Cavanaugh, the Queen of the Dead. Now Will Ritter must go undercover in our nation's capital to ferret out the truth and try to stop this ambitious deader. But his mission becomes even more dangerous when he learns of a mysterious 10-legged monster that prowls the halls of the Capitol Building—a lethal monster with a taste for Corpse flesh. Focusing more on scares and suspense than gore, the latest installment in this unforgettable zombie series will satisfy cravings in the hungriest of horror-minded young readers.

Kristan "Stan" Connor is thrilled to be invited to the Groundhog Day festivities in quirky Frog Ledge, Connecticut. Her organic, home-baked pet treats are a big hit at the annual celebration, though an important guest is curiously absent . . . When Helga Oliver, the town's elderly historian, is found crumpled in the basement of the Historical Museum, the close-knit town is devastated. But after some tenacious digging, Stan discovers Helga was pushed down the stairs--and that this picture-perfect New England town may hide some dark secrets . . . Stan's dogged determination reveals Helga's ties to an unsolved death in 1948 . . . but how does that connect to Adrian Fox, who's just arrived in town to shoot an episode of Celebrity Ghost Hunters? Stan is going to have to be very careful in chasing down the killer--if she wants to live to see another winter . . . Includes Gourmet Pet Food Recipes!

Tea and sympathy have never been so deadly.Schoolteacher Adam Matthews just wants to help select a new headteacher and go home. The governors at Lindenshaw St Crispin's have already failed miserably at finding the right candidate, so it's make or break this second time round. But when one of the applicants is found strangled in the school, what should have been a straightforward decision turns tempestuous as a flash flood in their small English village.Inspector Robin Bright isn't thrilled to be back at St. Crispin's. Memories of his days there are foul enough without tossing in a complicated murder case. And that handsome young teacher has him reminding himself not to fraternize with a witness. But it's not long before Robin is relying on Adam for more than just his testimony.As secrets amongst the governors emerge and a second person turns up dead, Robin needs to focus less on Adam and more on his investigation.

"Duncan and Szanto bring their A-game to this daring and complex novel."—Lou Allin, Crime Writers of Canada Sandro Vasiliadis, a nurse at the Whidbey Island General Hospital, has died of an apparent heroin overdose. When his grieving mother bends over to kiss her son’s corpse at the viewing, she shrieks, “That’s not Sandro!” Convinced that her son must still be alive, Maria Vasiliadis hires Kyra Rachel and Noel Franklin to solve the mystery. With questions of foul play continuing to swirl around the death, the detectives’ inquiries lead them deeper into Sandro’s life and eventually to a medical clinic that specializes in transgendering. The second in the Islands Investigations International Mystery series, Always Kiss the Corpse takes Kyra and Noel’s investigation from the rush of Seattle to the seeming peace of the San Juan Islands in this thrilling page-turner. It’s only once the detectives come to understand Sandro in life that they unlock the secret to his death.