Witty Crime

Woman Brutally Murdered on Cruise The luxury cruise ship Grand Voyager is headed full speed to Dubai after stops in Sri Lanka and India. Meg has just attended a big fat royal wedding and is looking forward to some relaxing sea days. Her hot dinner date is interrupted by the announcement of a passenger's death. Rushing to the spot, Meg is sad to learn it is her new friend who was celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary. Further investigation reveals the old woman was stabbed in her suite. Meg can't believe the bashful mother of two that security apprehended is capable of such a heinous ...

You are cordially invited to a murder… Judith Spears was expecting a quiet retirement. Instead, she’s investigating a killing at a country estate. When a loud-mouthed media celebrity is accused of murder, he insists he’s been framed—and for reasons Judith would rather keep to herself, she’s inclined to believe him. So she agrees to help. As Judith begins to dig, it quickly becomes clear that nothing about the case is straightforward. Secrets lurk behind polite smiles. Alibis don’t quite hold. And someone is determined to keep the truth buried. Unfortunately for them— Judith ...

Improv(e) Your Conversations teaches the ingenious rules of improv comedy that allow performers to turn boring prompts into memorable interactions worthy of standing ovations. This means there are real frameworks and templates to escape interview mode small talk – and start connecting and building rapport from the moment you say “Hello”. This book goes through over 15 of the most helpful and insightful improv comedy techniques with countless real-life examples to make you a great talker.

A brand-new library. A quiet village. One very inconvenient murder. Judith Spears expected the opening of Little Pickton’s new library to be blissfully uneventful. She was wrong. When a body turns up among the bookshelves, Judith finds herself pulled into yet another tangled mystery—this time with an enthusiastic (and thoroughly nosy) librarian determined to turn the case into her next true-crime obsession. As secrets begin to surface, it becomes clear that beneath the village’s polite smiles lies something far darker—something with roots deep enough to shake the town to its core. ...

Someone has added murder to the menu… Judith Spears never expected a humble burger van to serve up anything more dangerous than questionable ketchup. She was wrong. When a local fast-food entrepreneur is found dead, Judith is drawn into a surprisingly cutthroat world of rival traders, simmering grudges, and secrets best left buried. With the ever-hungry DS Raymond Collins and the sharp-eyed DC Sarah Eastly on the case, it quickly becomes clear that country lay-bys hide more than passing trade. Because someone is willing to kill to protect their patch. And this time… the danger is closer...

Meg Butler sets sail on the Grand Voyager on a luxury world cruise, eager to visit 30 countries before she's 30. But she hasn't planned on running into murder! The ship is hosting a Bingo tournament for the length of the cruise. Several passengers are competing for the grand prize which is rumored to be in six figures. Meg runs into a friendly older man who boasts of being a skilled player. He has developed a fool proof strategy that is guaranteed to win him big money. Meg is warmed by his affectionate manner toward her and feels he is the father figure she has always yearned for. Disaster ...

Murder has arrived on the rails… When a body is discovered on a picturesque heritage steam railway, Judith Spears finds herself drawn into another deadly mystery. Alongside DS Raymond Collins and DC Sarah Eastly, she must navigate a tight-knit world of rivalries, secrets, and simmering grudges—where every enthusiast has something to hide. Because behind the charm of polished engines and nostalgic journeys lies something far more dangerous. Someone is willing to kill. And when an attempt is made on Judith’s life, the stakes become all too real. As suspicion falls on everyone involved, ...

Someone has captured the perfect shot… of a murder. In the sleepy village of Little Pickton, where the biggest scandal is usually an overbaked Victoria sponge at the church fête, death is most dreadfully inconvenient. When a local photographer is found dead, DS Raymond Collins and DC Sarah Eastly are called in to investigate—but as ever, nothing is quite as it seems. Because behind every photograph lies a story. And some stories are better left hidden. As secrets begin to surface, Judith Spears is drawn into the case, using her unconventional instincts to uncover what others have ...

I broke into the wrong apartment. He locked every door. And then he kept me. I’ve been surviving on my own since I aged out of foster care at eighteen. Quick hands, quick feet, quicker instincts. The DUMBO loft looked like an easy score… guy barely leaves, insane tech, a laptop worth enough to get me through winter. Forty minutes on the lock. Slipped inside. Found the laptop. Every door locked simultaneously. A face appeared on the central monitor… pale, dark-haired, dark circles under his eyes. Blinking at me through a camera I never saw. “That laptop’s encrypted,” Ronan ...

Adapted from the major television series created by Mark Gatiss - new season coming soon! London, 1946. Much of the capital, and indeed the country, remains beset by rationing and bomb damage. But for some there are other, more immediate concerns: crimes of a serious and sometimes deadly nature...

The bone-shaking new trilogy continues – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series Vengeance is a killer. A killer is stalking and murdering sorcerers, and Valkyrie Cain is next on his list. While hunting down a cult of magical terrorists intent on taking their...

Someone has died in the doctor’s surgery—and no one knows how they got there. When an unidentified body is discovered behind a locked door in Little Pickton, Judith Spears finds herself once again at the centre of a baffling mystery. With DS Raymond Collins and DC Sarah Eastly struggling to untangle a web of feuding colleagues, bitter family rivalries, and long-buried secrets, Judith does what she does best—asks questions no one else dares to. But this time, the stakes are higher. As tensions rise and another murder looms, Judith must navigate not only a dangerous killer—but an am-...

Adapted from the major television series created by Mark Gatiss - out now! 'A delicious read' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ READER REVIEW London, 1946. Gabriel Book is an erudite and unconventional London bookseller married to Trottie, the owner of the wallpaper shop next door. He is also a sleuth who uses...

The bone-shaking new trilogy concludes – the latest adventure in the bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series Skulduggery Pleasant has many enemies – many, many enemies – and people try to kill him multiple times a day. But when someone puts a price on his head, he finds himself going up...

AN ELLE BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR "I was immediately besotted . . . Brilliant." —Janice Hallett, internationally bestselling author of The Appeal All is calm, all is bright . . . until reluctant sleuth barrister Gabriel Ward is tasked with finding the culprit of yet another grisly crime in the...

When a stormy evening leads Harper Finch to the Maplewood Historical Archives, she expects nothing more than a routine delivery. Instead, she finds a respected town historian dead—and Maplewood’s carefully curated past suddenly feels anything but settled. As whispers ripple through the square and long-buried records begin to surface, Harper finds herself caught between quiet loyalties and uncomfortable truths. The town she loves thrives on tradition, but someone has been manipulating that tradition for years—and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep it intact. With the help of her ...

The trials of Gabriel Ward continue in A Case of Life and Limb, available now. Bloomsbury presents A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith, read by Matthew Lloyd Davies. SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2026 BRITISH BOOK AWARD, CRIME & THRILLER Named a Best Book of the Year by The Wall Street Journal...

Jess, a spirited woman at a crossroads in life, returns to her roots after a stormy divorce and bidding farewell to big city life. With her loyal collie Jigsaw at her side, she reinvents herself as the owner of a dog daycare center. In the midst of their new beginnings, tragedy strikes when a pet enrolled at Happy Pooch is left unclaimed. When Jess takes the abandoned dog home, she finds the owner’s lifeless body sprawled across the floor. Refusing to accept the official ruling of suicide, she begins a quest for the truth in a town where everyone knows everyone and untangling fact from ...

Another paranormal "gift" reveals itself. Nana warns me it is too dangerous to use. I can't stop the powerful magic from happening randomly. I'm afraid I will be lost forever... How do you justify the indefensible action of firebombing your neighbor's trailer? You don't. Still, I'm assigned the unenviable task of defending a hotheaded Molotov cocktail throwing lover. I run into an old flame who is going through a divorce. He wants to hire me as his attorney. I'm flattered, and his offer is tempting. Yet there's something "off" about him. I can't believe what I find once I snoop into his ...

Three years ago, we burned so hot we almost started a war. Now our fathers are forcing us to marry. Sullivan O’Connor was my secret. Two months of stolen nights when I was twenty and reckless enough to fall for the youngest son of my father’s rivals. My father found out. It nearly destroyed both families. I ran. Built a life in Manhattan that had nothing to do with crime families and blood oaths and men who think they own you. Then my father called. And when Don Salvatore Marinelli calls, you don’t get to say no. The deal: marry Sullivan O’Connor. Unite the families. Prevent a war. ...