Recommendations based on "The Prime Minister's Secret Agent A Maggie Hope Mystery"

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.

Don't miss the British mystery series "Karen Pirie" on BritBox! Season 2 based on A Darker Domain airs this fall! A New York Times Notable Crime Book of the Year • A Finalist for the Los Angeles Book Prize “A thrilling story with heartbreaking questions of social justice and history.” —Seattle Times The New York Times calls Val McDermid, “As smooth a practitioner of crime fiction as anyone out there. . . the best we’ve got.” Time spent with her extraordinary thriller, A Darker Domain, will prove that it’s true. Set in Scotland, McDermid’s brilliant exploration of loyalty and greed intertwines the past and present. Fife, Scotland, 1984. Mick Prentice abandons his family at the height of a politically charged national miners' strike to join the strikebreakers down south. Despised and disowned by friends and relatives, he is not reported missing until twenty-three years later. Fife, Scotland, 1985. Kidnapped heiress Catriona Maclennan Grant is killed and her baby son vanishes when the ransom payoff goes horribly wrong. In 2008, a tourist in Tuscany stumbles upon dramatic new evidence that reopens the investigation. Already immersed in the Prentice affair, Detective Karen Pirie, newly appointed head of the Cold Case Review Team, wants to make her mark with this second unsolved 1980s mystery. But two decades' worth of secrets are leading Pirie into a dark domain of violence and betrayal—a place darker than any she has previously entered.

‘Tis the season in Briar Creek, and this year festivities become fatalities in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Fatal First Edition. During the most wonderful time of the year, famous author Helen Monroe arrives in Briar Creek to be the writer in residence, but her “bah humbug” attitude excludes her from the many local holiday celebrations. To try to spread some Christmas cheer, library director Lindsey Norris invites the new writer in town to join her crafternoon club. Helen politely refuses and when an altercation happens between Helen and another patron, Lindsey begins to suspect the author has been keeping to herself for a reason. Another newcomer, Jackie Lewis, reveals she’s visiting Briar Creek to be near Helen because she believes they are destined to meet. Having dealt with a stalker in the past, Lindsey feels compelled to tell Helen about Jackie, as she suspects that Helen is unaware her “number one” fan is in town. When Jackie’s body is later discovered in the town park beneath the holiday-light display with a copy of Helen’s latest manuscript in her hand, the reclusive novelist becomes the prime suspect in the murder of her self-proclaimed mega-fan. Helen’s frosty demeanor melts when Lindsey offers her help, and now the librarian and her crafternoon pals must prove the author innocent before "The End" becomes Helen's final sentence.

 The Blackbird sisters are back--and as witty and wonderful as ever! For richer, for poorer...                                                               Nora Blackbird, the Bucks County ex-debutante with a haute couture wardrobe, a hot job as a glamorous society columnist and a stone cold bank account, might finally have her own life just right, but everyone around her is going down in flames. Her sister Libby seems destined to be the lead character in a tabloid sex scandal.  Her sister Emma is expecting a mysterious love child.  Her best friend, Lexie Paine, is serving time in the slammer.  And now her mobbed-up boyfriend, Mick Abruzzo--who might actually be her husband--is conducting clandestine capers from Blackbird Farm while under house arrest. What's a good girl to do?  Find a killer, that's what!  Word arrives that the sisters' great aunt, Madeleine Blackbird, has died in a volcanic eruption on an Indonesian island and left her fabulous country estate, worth millions, to the three of them.  But when the Blackbird sisters show up to claim their windfall, they find the house in a state of disheartening decay and all of Madeleine's to-die-for treasures gone. Worse, the mansion has been hiding a grisly secret: the body of a woman who died there many years ago.  All the evidence points to a high society murder... Nora's special bond with flamboyant Aunt Madeleine compels her to seek out the truth.  With her aunt's amorous stepson dogging her footsteps, her unscrupulous lawyer acting like a skunk, and her devoted housekeeper not to be found, Nora's investigation is going nowhere.  Good thing Mick's close by to offer Nora distractions both dark and delightful.  And, as ever, her irrepressible sisters provide some unexpected... and highly unorthodox... assistance when she most needs it.

The fourth mystery in the New York Times bestselling series about two extraordinary cats whose owner can't keep her nose out of trouble...   Kathleen Paulson enjoys her life as a small town librarian, but sometimes even small towns can have big problems. The local businesses of Mayville Heights hope to convince Chicago-based company Legacy Tours to sell a vacation package for their town. Legacy Tours partner Mike Glazer grew up in Mayville Heights, but he’s no longer the small town boy people once knew. Even the local bootlegger has an issue with the bossy loudmouth Mike has become—until someone shuts him up for good.   When Kathleen discovers Mike’s body on the boardwalk, she can’t help but get involved in the investigation—even if her beau, Detective Marcus Gordon, would rather she didn’t. Now, with a little help from her cats Owen and Hercules, it’s up to Kathleen to make sure the killer is booked for an extended stay in prison before some else takes a permanent vacation.

Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival. When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice—Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death. As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend—and the possibility that she might be falling in love again.

Pantomime season has arrived in the brand new hilarious murder mystery from Fiona Leitch. Available to pre-order now! 'Murder and mayhem are rarely this enjoyable. Another fantastic entry in this brilliant series that solidifies Leitch as one of the very best and funniest writers around’ Jonathan Whitelaw ‘A wonderful seasonal romp’ Ian Moore It’s Christmas in Penstowan, and local amateur dramatics group the Penstowan Players are putting on their annual pantomime. This year it’s ‘Aladdin’, and half the town have been drafted in to help, including Shirley Parker, who only has a small part in the chorus but will no doubt upstage everybody, and Tony Penhaligon, who’s treading the boards as the baddie, Abanazar. Ex-Metropolitan police officer turned caterer Jodie Parker has managed to get away with not appearing, but only if she agrees to cater the opening night party. But it’s not just terrible jokes, quick costume changes and backstage chaos that wait in the wings... When the Widow Twankey (otherwise known as Tim, the mayor’s husband) trips over a corpse lying next to Aladdin’s bloodstained magic lamp, it’s time for Jodie and her partner, DCI Nathan Withers, to find the killer. Was it the genie of the lamp or an overly harsh theatre critic? Or does someone in the Penstowan Players have a dark secret they will do anything to protect? ‘Funnier than panto, more warming than a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie and completely gripping. Fun, festive and full of red herrings and clever clues, it's the perfect Christmas treat’ Andreina Cordani, author of The Twelve Days of Murder ‘A fun read to curl up with by the fireside this Christmas’ Debbie Young, author of Death at the Village Christmas Fair Praise for Fiona Leitch ‘An absolute joy to read... I read it in a day and highly recommend’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I really love this cozy mystery series’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Love the humour in this... this whole series is a pleasure to read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Leitch crafts a Cornwall that I want to live in – vibrant, funny and dripping with mystery and mayhem. Brilliant’ Jonathan Whitelaw, author of The Bingo Hall Detectives ‘A terrific summer read... a thumping good whodunnit; this is a murder mystery that wears a flower in its hair and invites us to kick off our shoes’ J.M. Hall ‘The book equivalent of catching up with your favourite old friends over a glass of wine or three... the observational humour is spot on’ Jo Middleton ‘[A] fun, feel-good factor and an intriguing mystery to be solved. And pies. I loved it’ Stephanie Austin, author of the Devon Mysteries series

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 own collections. Tensions are running high throughout the camp, from the cook, to the collectors, to the Blenningham-Crewes themselves, and become downright dangerous after Aggie and Hector make a discovery of their own: a body on the beach. Not a fossil, but a human body.

The assignment is a snap: Mrs. Pollifax just has to shoot some pictures at a quiet funeral outside Washington and take them to Sicily, where her old friend Farrell -- a former CIA agent turned art dealer -- anxiously awaits them.But like all Mrs. P's assignments, so ostensibly suitable for the CIA's favorite garden club member, this one quickly turns lethal. Her welcoming committee in Palermo includes a most unlikely CIA agent and several unseen enemies. Unfriendly eyes also observe Mrs. P's rendezvous with Farrell in a secluded mountain village and weapons are soon displayed. With mysterious forces hot after them, she and Farrell scurry for safety to a fortified country villa, where the bizarre chatelaine, once a star on Madison Avenue, is almost as unnerving as the dangers she's protecting them from.So, though the sun shines brightly, the food is delicious, and romance is in the air, Mrs. Pollifax is too busy handing out karate chops and playing catch-me-if-you-can with an assassin to enjoy the amenities . . . ."Mrs. Pollifax gives Agatha Christie's Miss Marple a rival to reckon with." -- The Toronto Star

Books 4–6 in the Ryder and Loveday series from million-copy bestseller Faith Martin in one volume! A Fatal SecretA young boy is found dead at the bottom of a well. It looks like a tragic accident – but Ryder and Loveday suspect otherwise... A Fatal TruthWhen a garden shed goes up in flames with someone trapped inside, WPC Trudy Loveday and the coroner are sent to investigate... A Fatal AffairRyder and Loveday must crack the case when a young girl is found brutally strangled on a village green... Readers LOVE the Ryder and Loveday series! ‘You can’t beat Faith Martin for a bit of highly enjoyable light relief... First class and a joy to read.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Ryder and Loveday are a fab crime fighting odd couple... More please.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Martin’s books never disappoint. This is another very good simple mystery “whodunnit” that will keep you guessing until the very end.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘An explosive read... Characters, dialogues and plot were superb.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I loved this... The best one to date... Reminiscent of Agatha Christie's gentle style and incisive detection... I look forward to more in this series!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Fresh and different... Will get you hooked!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Yet again Faith Martin delivers... A proper whodunit mystery... A very good book... I’m looking forward to the next.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐