Recommendations based on "Her Lost Bones"

In this delightfully creepy mystery, Ruth Galloway—whom #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny calls “a captivating amateur sleuth”—is haunted by a ghost from her past, just as her future lands on shaky ground. ¶ “Its patented combination of mysterious circumstances, police procedure, and agonizing relationship problems will keep you reading, and feeling, all night.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ¶ Ruth’s partner in crime, DCI Nelson, has been receiving threatening letters. They are anonymous, yet reminiscent of ones he has received in the past, from the person who drew him into a case that’s haunted him for years. At the same time, Ruth receives a letter purporting to be from that very same person—her former mentor, and the reason she first started working with Nelson. But the author of those letters is dead. Or is he? The past is reaching out for Ruth and Nelson, and its grip is deadly.

Can a rookie help a veteran cop catch a diabolical killer? The hunt for the murderer of two women could be the make-or-break case of Drew Taylor's career. The veteran police officer has no time to babysit a newbie cop with something to prove. Thrilled to be partnered with the man she has long admired, Nia Brooks pursues every lead...until her life is threatened. And Drew struggles with being protector and partner to Nia. With the sole clue a bloody fingerprint, Nia and Drew race to apprehend an elusive killer who doesn't fit any criminal profile. But when a hidden agenda starts to become terrifyingly clear...it's Nia and Drew who could become the next victims. From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served. Discover more action-packed stories in the West Coast Crime Story series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order: Book 1: The Heart-Shaped Murders Book 2: Danger in the Nevada Desert Book 3: Homicide at Vincent Vineyard Book 4: Hometown Homicide

In this latest installment in Alexander McCall Smith’s cherished No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, two confounding cases compete for Mma Ramotswe’s attention—and she may need to call in back up. “An escape from life’s woes as well as a suggestion for how to make the whole deal more palatable—fragility, fruit cake, and all.” —The Boston Globe Mma Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni are enjoying a nice meal out at a peri-peri restaurant when an American woman named Julia approaches seeking Mma Ramotswe’s help. Julia’s beloved late grandfather was Botswanan, and he instilled in her an abiding love of his homeland. Now, years after his passing, Julia has come to visit the land he had spoken of so often and to find her relatives. Unfortunately, her grandfather’s stories, while charming and entertaining, were somewhat light on detail; all Julia can remember are a few first names and some descriptions of his village. It’s not a lot to go on, but if anyone is well poised to help, it’s Mma Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier detective. Meanwhile, a second case leads Mma Ramotswe to look for assistance from an unexpected quarter. For the first time, Charlie leads his own investigation at the detective agency, going undercover into a dubious, word-of-mouth get-together known as the Cool Singles Evening Club, where married men are encouraged to pretend to be single and meet women under false pretenses. Who could be behind such a distasteful venture? Getting to the bottom of this will be a tall order, to be sure, but Charlie is eager for the opportunity. As Mma Ramotswe learns more about Julia, she begins to understand that Julia’s heartbreak runs deeper than she had initially realized. Together, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Potokwane must find a way to help their client heal and move forward—from both her past and her present. Julia had originally come to Botswana seeking family and connection, but in the warm embrace of Mma Ramotswe and Mma Potokwane, what she ends up finding is a home.

Clymene O'Riley is in prison for killing her husband-though Diane Fallon is sure she killed another, and suspects she may have left a veritable graveyard of dead men in her wake. Either way, Diane was happy to help put her behind bars. So when Clymene informs her that one of the prison guards may be in danger from a serial killer, Diane is suspicious. And when Clymene escapes from jail, Diane becomes the prime suspect in a bloody murder that puts her in the path of an angry killer who wants her dead...

In a sea-cave on Lovatt Island, just off the west coast of Scotland, a skeleton is found shackled to the rocks. Although the apparent victim of a crime of unparalleled brutality, the skeleton seems to belong firmly in the past. Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming, called in to investigate, anticipates a straightforward case unhampered by the pressures of time. But when a modern watch is discovered on the skeleton's wrist, Fleming realises the crime may be far closer to home than she initially assumed. Meanwhile, in the nearby village of Innellan, mysterious events begin to occur. Matt Lovatt, eponymous owner of the island, is at the centre of a series of escalating crimes - could someone be targeting him? The villagers, members of a small and introverted community, are little help - many seem damaged by their own enigmatic pasts, and all are reluctant to speak out. Fleming, sensing a pattern she cannot clearly make out, becomes increasingly desperate to prevent more violence. Are the skeleton and the current spate of crimes connected? If so, what evil act could have motivated such a deadly, merciless design?

When twelve-year-old Kat Wolfe starts a pet-sitting agency, she soon finds herself unraveling a mystery, in this first book of a new middle-grade series from award-winning author Lauren St John.After a break-in at their London home, Kat Wolfe and her veterinarian mum decide it’s time to move to the country. Dr. Wolfe’s new job on England’s Jurassic Coast comes with a condition: They have to adopt Tiny, a huge Savannah who resists Kat’s best attempts at cat whispering. Kat starts a pet-sitting agency to make pocket money, but then the owner of her first client, an Amazon parrot, vanishes from his gadget-filled mansion. Only one person shares Kat’s conviction that he’s the victim of foul play: Harper Lamb, an American girl laid up with two broken legs thanks to her racehorse. Kat and Harper team up, but what starts out as mystery-solving fun turns deadly for the duo. When all clues point to a nearby army base, can they count on their unruly animal friends to save the day―and their lives?

Critics and fans alike are wild about Rita Mae Brown’s richly imagined and utterly engaging foxhunting mysteries–and this latest novel promises more thrilling hunts, breathtaking vistas, and an all-new sinister scandal. Millions of dollars seem to be missing after a long-overdue audit of the local aluminum plant reveals a major accounting discrepancy. Company president Garvey Stokes finds himself at a loss–in more ways than one. He turns to his sharp-tongued, ornery bookkeeper, Iphigenia “Iffy” Demetrios, for an explanation, but she’s no help. Yet when the fuzzy math suddenly includes a body count, the figures can no longer be ignored. While the town sheriff tries to get to the bottom of the matter, leave it to “Sister” Jane Arnold, venerable master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, to rely on her keen horse-and-hound sense to follow the trail of murder and cover-up. Throwing her off the scent, however, is former hunt club donor and all-around cad Crawford Howard, who thinks he can go toe-to-toe with the beloved septuagenarian and outclass her club by grossly sidestepping hound- and-hunt etiquette. Against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a menagerie of friends, foes, and fresh new faces saddle up for the breakneck ride to unravel the conspiracy. Even the furry denizens in the fields and boroughs have a thing or two to say about these peculiar humans.Incomparable author Rita Mae Brown returns to the glorious hills of Virginia and its genteel foxhunting society, where how much money you have in the bank is not nearly as important as how long your family has lived on the land–and where nearly everyone has something to hide. As Sister muses, “The little secrets leak out. The big ones, well, some escape like evils from Pandora’s box. And others we’ll never know.”

Gladdy Gold may have gone from dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker to South Florida retiree, but she’s loving every minute of it. Between poolside gossip, a hot-to-trot boyfriend, and a booming detective business, life couldn’t be sunnier—until a trip back north with her sister Evvie leads to murder and mayhem starring the usual suspects. Unbeknownst to Gladdy, her fellow detectives are hot on her trail. Sophie, Bella, and Ida no sooner land their tootsies in the Big Apple than trouble promptly finds them. But while the girls go deep undercover, posing as bag ladies to catch a criminal, there’s another surprise awaiting Gladdy. Her boyfriend, Jack, is in town too—and he’s reopening a forty-seven-year-old cold case: the murder of Gladdy’s husband. Can Gladdy and Jack join forces to solve a decades-old crime—and maybe heal some wounded hearts in the process?

The mayor of Duck, North Carolina, Dae O'Donnell, is a woman with a gift for finding lost things. Sometimes it leads her to lost keys or earrings--and sometimes it leads her to murder... DIRTY CAMPAIGNING Two weeks before the mayoral election, Dae gets sidetracked from her political aspirations by a spirit in need of rescuing. An antique amber necklace allows Dae to connect with Maggie Madison, a witch who wants Dae to rebury her bones so she can rest in peace. But digging leads Dae to an even bigger mystery, a forty-year-old murder with ties to Randal "Mad Dog" Wilson, her mayoral opponent. Dae wants to run a clean race, but town sentiment is mixed about whether she's using her abilities to get the election to go her way. And when she learns that her own grandfather--the former sheriff of Dare County--might be mixed up in the long-buried tragedy, Dae will have to uncover the real killer and put Maggie to rest, before her political career ends up six feet under...

Up north, the summers are brief -- and winter, like death, is cold and long . . . Recovering from knee surgery that will cause her to miss the upcoming dogsled racing season, champion "musher" Jessie Arnold feels empty and bored -- so she grabs an opportunity to fill her days manning the Iditarod booth at the Alaska State Fair. But murder becomes an attraction here as well -- an especially brutal one -- when the corpse of a small-time hoodlum slain by a double-blade axe blow to the skull turns up on the fairgrounds. Jessie shouldn't get involved, having already seen too much violent death in her lifetime. But strange connections are linking the killing with a child's kidnapping . . . and with the sudden disappearance of her own beloved lead sled dog. Soon friends old and new will be pulled in as well when the unthinkable occurs: Jessie herself vanishes without a trace.