The Lost Luggage Porter

Sample

Carrie Bebris

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are looking forward to a relaxing stay with dear friends when their carriage is hailed by a damsel-in-distress outside of the village of Highbury. Little do the Darcys realize that gypsies roam these woods, or that both their possessions and the woman are about to vanish into the night. The Darcys seek out the parish magistrate, who is having a difficult evening of his own. Mr. Knightley and his new wife, the former Miss Emma Woodhouse (the heroine of Jane Austen's Emma) are hosting a party to celebrate the marriage of their friends, Mr. Frank Churchill and Miss Jane Fairfax. During dinner, Mr. Edgar Churchill, uncle and adoptive father of the groom, falls suddenly ill and dies. The cause of death: poison. When the Darcys and the Knightleys join forces to investigate the crimes, they discover that the robbery and Edgar Churchill's death may be connected. Together they must work to quickly locate the source of the poison and the murderer's motive--before the killer can strike again.

Sample

Georges Simenon

Madame Maigret telephones to alert her husband that a frightened young man has called at their home and will wait there to see Maigret at his midday meal. When Maigret returns home, he is annoyed to discover that his mysterious guest has left, and more disturbed that one of his prized revolvers has gone with him. Monsieur Maigret is dismayed - but hardly surprised - when a corpse turns up in a railway trunk, shot by his own gun. His search for the elusive and unidentified visitor sends Maigret across the channel to London to investigate one murder... and prevent another.

Sample

Tony Hays

When Merlin is implicated in the brutal murder of a young woman, his charge, Arthur, a young warrior who is favored to become the next king of Britain, finds his reputation at stake; a situation for which he turns for help to a wise man who blames Arthur for the death of his wife.

Sample

Janet Neel

"The death of shady businessman William Price during what seems to be a bizarre sexual experiment in auto-asphyxia begins the unravelling of a web of deceit, fraud, drug abuse, and domestic violence. Detective John McLeish is distracted by having to work with an old flame whilst his usually supremely confident wife Francesca, currently volunteering at a refuge for women escaping violent partners, finds herself attracted to a new flame. The biggest threat posed by the investigation just might be collateral damage to McLeish's marriage."-- cover page [4].