detective and mystery fiction

"Forty years ago, Steven Smith found a copy of a famous children's book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. Severely dyslexic and wanting to know more, he took it to his remedial English teacher Miss Iles, not realising the chain of events that he was setting in motion. Miss Iles became convinced that the book was the key to solving a puzzle, and that a message in secret code ran through all Twyford's novels. Then Miss Iles disappeared on a class field trip, and Steven has no memory of what happened to her. Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Steven decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. Was Miss Iles murdered? Was she deluded? Or was she right about the code? And is it still in use today? Desperate to recover his memories and find out what really happened to Miss Iles, Steven revisits the people and places of his childhood. And as he does so, he records the story of his life in the form of voicemails and voice memos for his estranged and long unknown son, a professor of mathematics. But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn't just a writer of forgotten children's stories. The Twyford Code is valuable, and he isn't the only one trying to solve it"--Provided by publisher.

When a murder mystery game is announced in the personal column of the village newspaper, all the residents of Little Paddocks plan to attend, but the parlor game quickly goes terribly wrong, prompting a visit from Miss Marple.

Miss Jane Marple, a deceptively demure spinster, investigates when an unpopular magistrate and church warden is discovered shot through the head.

"The beautifully ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is completely silent one weekday morning, until a woman's terrified scream echoes through the room. Security guards immediately appear and instruct everyone inside to stay put until they determine there is no threat. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers who had been sitting in the reading room get to chatting and quickly become friendly. Harriet, Marigold, Whit, and Caine each have their own reasons for being in the reading room that morning--and it just happens that one of them may turn out to be a murderer"--Provided by publisher.

"In 1930s London, celebrity psychiatrist Anselm Rees is discovered dead in his locked study, and there seems to be no way that a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, the Scotland Yard detective on the case calls on retired stage magician-turned-part-time sleuth Joseph Spector. For who better to make sense of the impossible than one who traffics in illusions?"--Provided by publisher.

"After a tragic accident that forever changed the lives of the Murder Crew--killing one of their own--the students at Blackbrook Academy are just trying to get by. As relationships evolve, strain, and break, Orchid, Green, Scarlett, Mustard, Plum, and Peacock find themselves lost. When the dark secret at the heart of Blackbrook forces its way into their lives, and another suspicious death drives the school into chaos, differences will have to be put aside if anyone expects to survive until the most dramatic prom of all time"--Provided by publisher.

"Aspiring writer Aggie Morton is ready to enjoy an invigorating trip to a Yorkshire spa, where her widowed mother can take the waters and recover from a long mourning period. Having solved yet another murder--not to mention rescuing her best friend Hector from certain death--over Christmas, Aggie is looking forward to more splendid adventures with Hector, who has joined Aggie, her mother and Grannie Jane on this trip. There is even a potential new friend in George, a young patient at the spa. But rumors abound about the spa's recently deceased former patient, and then another body appears under mysterious circumstances. Has there been a murder--or even two murders? Aggie's Morbid Preoccupation kicks in and once again she and Hector will have to put their deductive skills and imaginations to work, as their restful trip takes a sudden, dangerous turn"--Provided by publisher.

Aggie Morton and her friend Hector discover a dead body on the floor of the Mermaid Dance Room. They work together to solve the case before Aggie's beloved dance instructor is charged with a crime she didn't commit.

"Aspiring writer Aggie Morton is looking forward to Christmas. Having just solved a murder and survived her own brush with death in her small town of Torquay on the coast of England, Aggie can't wait to spend the holidays with her sister, Marjorie, the new Lady Greyson of Owl Park, an enormous manor house the country; Grannie Jane, and her fellow sleuth and partner in crime, Hector Perot. Owl Park holds many delights, including Aggie's cousin Lucy, exciting and glamorous visitors from Ceylon, and disguises aplenty in the form of a group of travelling actors, not to mention a secret passageway and an enormous, cursed emerald. Not even glowering old Lady Greyson (the Senior) can interfere with Aggie's festive cheer"--Amazon.

Contains more than twenty short stories that chronicle the adventures of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, Dr. Watson.