Recommendations based on "Coffin's Dark Number"

A wildly charming and fast-paced mystery written with all the panache of the hardboiled classics, Fortune Favors the Dead introduces Pentecost and Parker, an audacious new detective duo for the ages.“Razor-sharp style, tons of flair, a snappy sense of humor, and all the most satisfying elements of a really good noir novel, plus plenty of original twists of its own.”—Tana French, bestselling author of The SearcherIt's 1942 and Willowjean "Will" Parker is a scrappy circus runaway whose knife-throwing skills have just saved the life of New York's best, and most unorthodox, private investigator, Lillian Pentecost. When the dapper detective summons Will a few days later, she doesn't expect to be offered a life-changing proposition: Lillian's multiple sclerosis means she can't keep up with her old case load alone, so she wants to hire Will to be her right-hand woman. In return, Will is to receive a salary, room and board, and training in Lillian's very particular art of investigation.Three years later, Will and Lillian are on the Collins case: Abigail Collins was found bludgeoned to death with a crystal ball following a big, boozy Halloween party at her home—her body slumped in the same chair where her steel magnate husband shot himself the year before. With rumors flying that Abigail was bumped off by the vengeful spirit of her husband (who else could have gotten inside the locked room?), the family has tasked the detectives with finding answers where the police have failed.But that's easier said than done in a case that involves messages from the dead, a seductive spiritualist, and Becca Collins—the beautiful daughter of the deceased, who Will quickly starts falling for. When Will and Becca's relationship dances beyond the professional, Will finds herself in dangerous territory, and discovers she may have become the murderer's next target.

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are spending the Christmas hols in snowy Cambridge. Hazel has high hopes of its beautiful spires, cosy libraries and inviting tea-rooms - but there is danger lurking in the dark stairwells of ancient Maudlin College.Two days before Christmas, there is a terrible accident. At least, it appears to be an accident - until the Detective Society look a little closer, and realise a murder has taken place. Faced with several irritating grown-ups and fierce competition from a rival agency, they must use all their cunning and courage to find the killer (in time for Christmas Day, of course).The fabulously festive fifth mystery from the bestselling, award-winning author of Murder Most Unladylike.

A thrilling new short story collection in the number-one bestselling, award-winning Murder Most Unladylike series.Featuring six marvellous mini-mysteries, including four original, brand-new and never-seen-beforeThe Case of the Second Scream : set aboard the ship carrying Daisy and Hazel back from Hong KongThe Case of the Uninvited Guest : Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy's wedding is the target for an unlikely threatThe Hound of Weston the Junior Pinkertons investigate a mysterious arrivalThe Case of the Deadly introducing Hazel's little sister May, who's determined to be the greatest spy everThe Case of the Missing the detectives crack fiendish codes to catch a daring thief who is targeting London's famous museumsThe Case of the Drowned murder follows the Detective Society wherever they go, even on holiday...The perfect book for all Detective Society fans and avid readers of the Murder Most Unladylike series.Praise for Murder Most Unladylike'Ripping good fun' The Times'Plotting is what sets this book apart' Telegraph'Enormous fun' Irish Times'A skilful blend of golden era crime novel and boarding school romp . . . Top class' Financial Times'I absolutely loved it' Susie Day

The book that topped the international online poll held in Agatha Christie’s 125th birthday year to discover which of her 80 crime books was the world’s favourite.1939. Europe teeters on the brink of war. Ten strangers are invited to Soldier Island, an isolated rock near the Devon coast. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous hosts Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime. When one of the party dies suddenly they realise they may be harbouring a murderer among their number.The 10 strangers include a reckless playboy, a troubled Harley Street doctor, a formidable judge, an uncouth detective, an unscrupulous mercenary, a God-fearing spinster, two restless servants, a highly decorated general and an anxious secretary. One by one they are picked off. Who will survive? And who is the killer? Copies of an ominous nursery rhyme hang in each room, the murders mimicking the awful fates of its ‘Ten Little Soldier Boys’.The clear winner in an international online poll held to discover the world’s favourite Agatha Christie book, this new paperback also coincides with a new 3-part BBC TV adaptation featuring a stellar ensemble cast: Douglas Booth, Charles Dance, Maeve Dermody, Burn Gorman, Anna Maxwell Martin, Sam Neill, Miranda Richardson, Toby Stephens, Noah Taylor and Aidan Turner.

A New Mystery Is Afoot In The Third Book In The Thursday Murder Club Series From Million-copy Bestselling Author Richard Osman. Coming Autumn 2022! Pre-order Your Copy Now. Readers Can't Get Enough Of The Thursday Murder Club Series! ---------- What People Are Saying About The Man Who Died Twice 'a Thing Of Joy . . . Richard Has A Natural Sense Of Humour' Kate Atkinson 'i Absolutely Loved It. He'd Not Only Done It Again, But He's Done It Even Better' Phillipa Perry 'the Tonic We All Need' Shari Lapena 'this Slick Sequel Will Leave You Buzzing With 'the Gentle Hum Of Contentment'' The Times 'full Of Humour And Heart, Osman Delivers Another Must-read. I Loved It' Harlan Coben 'superbly Entertaining' Guardian 'it's Like Reading Ice Cream... A Pure Pleasure' Linwood Barclay 'he's Back And He's Better Than Ever!' Jeffery Deaver What People Are Saying About The Thursday Murder Club: 'a Warm, Wise And Witty Warning Never To Underestimate The Elderly' Val Mcdermid 'so Smart And Funny. Deplorably Good' Ian Rankin 'smart, Compassionate, Warm, Moving And So Very Funny' Marian Keyes 'thrilling, Moving, Laugh-out-loud Funny' Mark Billingham 'pure Escapism' Guardian 'funny, Clever And Achingly British' Adam Kay 'as Gripping As It Is Funny' Evening Standard

Detectives Byrne and Balzano return to the streets of Philadelphia to put an end to a macabre succession of murdered children.A quiet Philadelphia suburb. A woman cycles past a train depot with her young daughter. There she finds a murdered girl posed on a newly painted bench. Beside her is a formal invitation to a tea dance in a week's time.Seven days later, two more young victims are discovered in an abandoned house, posed on painted swings. At the scene is an identical invitation. This time, though, there is something extra waiting for Detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano: a delicate porcelain doll.It's a message. And a threat. With the killers at large, Detectives Byrne and Balzano have just seven more days to find the link between the murders before another innocent child is snatched from the streets.

Val McDermid, creator of TV's Wire in the Blood, mixes fact with fiction, dealing with one of the most important and symbolic moments in recent history. Twenty-five years ago, the daughter of the richest man in Scotland and her baby son were kidnapped and held to ransom. But Catriona Grant ended up dead and little Adam's fate has remained a mystery ever since. When a new clue is discovered in a deserted Tuscan villa - along with grisly evidence of a recent murder - cold case expert DI Karen Pirie is assigned to follow the trail. She's already working a case from the same year. During the Miners' Strike of 1984, pit worker Mick Prentice vanished. He was presumed to have broken ranks and fled south with other 'scabs'... but Karen finds that the reported events of that night don't add up. Where did he really go? And is there a link to the Grant mystery? The truth is stranger - and far darker - than fiction.

A body in the back of a taxi begins an elegantly constructed mystery, perhaps the finest of Marsh's 1930s novels. The season had begun. Débutantes and chaperones were planning their luncheons, teas, dinners, balls. And the blackmailer was planning his strategies, stalking his next victim. But Chief Detective Inspector Roderick Alleyn knew that something was up. He had already planted his friend Lord Robert Gospell at the scene. But someone else got there first...

Sometimes perfection is worth killing for... The second gripping crime novel in an exciting new series. Ex-priest DI Frank Farrell finds himself on the trail of a vicious killer in rural Scotland. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, James Oswald and Val McDermid. Each murder brings him one step closer to the perfect death. Ex-priest DI Farrell is called on to investigate a gruesome death in rural Scotland. All evidence points to suicide, except for one loose end: every light in the cottage was switched off. Why would he kill himself in the dark? The question sparks a murder investigation that leads to the mysterious Ivy House, home of 'The Collective', a sinister commune of artists who will do anything to keep their twisted secrets hidden. And when the remains of a young girl are uncovered on a barren stretch of coastline, Farrell realises that there is something rotten in this tight-knit community. Now he must track down a ruthless killer before another person dies, this time much closer to home...

The eighth outing for Rhona MacLeod, forensic scientistthink CSI Glasgow"""She began to scrape at the mortar. A few minutes later she was able to prise the edge of the brick loose. The resulting rush of foetid air made her gag, but she focussed her torch beam on the enlarged hole and peered inside. Her eyes widened in horror."When art student Jude Evans disappears on a photographic visit to a derelict Glasgow cinema, her friend Liam he enlists the help of his birth mother, forensic scientist Dr. Rhona MacLeod, in his search for Jude. Visiting other derelict cinemas on her list, they find clues to her disappearance and to the horrifying secret she may have discovered behind those walls. Throughout the investigation, Rhona must deal with the news that a face from her past is literally back from the deadbut for how long?"