A Haunt Of Murder

As night sets in, Chaucer’s weary pilgrims find themselves in a Kent copse, rumored to be haunted. Huddling around the fire, they persuade the Clerk of Oxford to tell a ghostly tale of love and death that will further chill their blood...

Falling leaves, chill winds, shorter days . . . and spooky houses. Halloween in Maine transports part-time reporter Lucy Stone into cozy heaven. Until someone goes missing . . . A woman with many hats, Lucy Stone is rarely on time, but she’s never too late to catch the important news in the Maine coastal town of Tinker’s Cove. Sometimes it might even make the front page of the Pennysaver, the town’s weekly paper. For example, the latest out of the basement town hall meeting is that the dilapidated house across the street from the elementary school will not be condemned. In fact, a local inspection has proved it’s structurally sound. Even more surprising, newcomers to Tinker’s Cove are about to close on their soon-to-be new home. Despite rumors that the house is a haven for ghosts, Ty and Heather Moon soon take residence. But strangely, they’re not exactly receptive to the town’s welcoming committee. Odder still are the noises and flickering lights erupting from the house at all hours. And when a local boy goes missing near the house, it’s up to Lucy Stone to unravel the mystery of the eccentric couple and their increasingly frightful behavior.

A murderer lurks among a group of friends... Paul Doherty relates the Clerk of Oxford's tale in A Haunt of Murder - a tale of mystery and murder as he goes on pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters and Susanna Gregory. As the sun sets, Chaucer's pilgrims find themselves lost in a Kent forest rumoured to be haunted. Huddled around the fire, trying to ignore the cries of screech owls and other, more frightening sounds of the night, the Clerk of Oxford agrees to tell a ghostly tale of love and death that will chill the blood. It's 1381 and Beatrice Arrowner is on her way to Ravenscroft Castle on the outskirts of Maldon. Beatrice is meeting clerk Ralph Mortimer for a feast on the green. Nothing can dampen Beatrice's mood as she and Ralph gather with their friends. But the sinister events of the last few days soon cast a cloud over the festivities. Phoebe, a castle maid, has been horribly murdered. Soon there is another death and it seems that the evil spirits which haunt the Midnight Tower are doing their worst. Certain there is a connection between these events and his own search for the legendary Brythnoth's jewelled cross, Ralph knows that this own life is in danger and that the murderer must be one of his close friends. But he can only hunt down the killer with the help of Beatrice - who learns that death is not necessarily the end of existence... What readers are saying about the Canterbury Tales Mysteries: 'An intriguing tale which keeps one entertained up to the last page' 'Spellbinding' 'I found it a brilliant, mystifying tale and was hooked from beginning to end'

A study of the impact of crime on a rural town profiles the case of Esther Steele, who was killed after returning home from her local parish one evening, becoming the first murder victim in the long history of the town of Granite.

Winner of the both the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime and the CWA Non-Fiction Dagger from the author of City of Devils Chronicling an incredible unsolved murder, Midnight in Peking captures the aftermath of the brutal killing of a British schoolgirl in January 1937. The mutilated body of Pamela Werner was found at the base of the Fox Tower, which, according to local superstition, is home to the maliciously seductive fox spirits. As British detective Dennis and Chinese detective Han investigate, the mystery only deepens and, in a city on the verge of invasion, rumor and superstition run rampant. Based on seven years of research by historian and China expert Paul French, this true-crime thriller presents readers with a rare and unique portrait of the last days of colonial Peking.

Certain criminal cases have a life of their own. Despite the passage of years they continue their hold on the public imagination, either because of the personalities involved, the depravity of the crime, doubts over whether justice was done, or the tantalizing fact that no one was ever caught... Now John Douglas, the foremost investigative analyst and criminal profiler of our time, turns his attention to eight of the greatest mysteries in the history of crime, including those of Jack the Ripper, The Boston Strangler and JonBenet Ramsey. Taking a fresh look at the established facts, Douglas and Olshaker dismantle the conventional wisdom regarding these most notorious of crimes and rebuild them - with astonishing results.

In Flesh and Blood, Sunday World Investigations Editor, Nicola Tallant looks at the rising phenomenon of murder-suicide in Ireland, at events which, while shocking in the extreme, happen in tight-knit communities, behind the closed doors of apparently loving homes. She takes us inside these houses of horror and pieces together what happened in seventeen prominent cases, including the horrific murder of four-year-old Deirdre Crowley, whose abductor father shot her dead so that her mother would never see her again; the case of Caitlin Innes, murdered after her Communion Day; the tragic McElhill children, torched to death by their own father; and the case of mother Sharon Grace who, in a state of extreme desperation, drove off a pier with her children in the car. It examines what warning signs, if any, were there before loving fathers and mothers turned killer in their own homes, and looks at the roles of the HSE, the Gardai and families and friends in the build up to these tragic events. Is it too easy to whitewash these crimes as those of the mentally ill? Or can jealousy tip the scales in an otherwise balanced mind? Are there common factors that link these cases? And what steps can be taken to ensure that warning signs are heeded in the future before tragedy strikes again?

“A haunted, haunting examination of mental illness and murder in a more or less ordinary American city…Mature and thoughtful…A Helter Skelter for our time, though without a hint of sensationalism—unsettling in the extreme but written with confidence and deep empathy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). On March 11, 2003, in Brownsville, Texas—one of America’s poorest cities—John Allen Rubio and Angela Camacho murdered their three young children. The apartment building in which the brutal crimes took place was already run down, and in their aftermath a consensus developed in the community that it should be destroyed. In 2008, journalist Laura Tillman covered the story for The Brownsville Herald. The questions it raised haunted her and set her on a six-year inquiry into the larger significance of such acts, ones so difficult to imagine or explain that their perpetrators are often dismissed as monsters alien to humanity. Tillman spoke with the lawyers who tried the case, the family’s neighbors and relatives and teachers, even one of the murderers: John Allen Rubio himself, whom she corresponded with for years and ultimately met in person. Her investigation is “a dogged attempt to understand what happened, a review of the psychological, sociological and spiritual explanations for the crime…a meditation on the death penalty and on the city of Brownsville” Star Tribune (Minneapolis). The result is a brilliant exploration of some of our age’s most important social issues and a beautiful, profound meditation on the truly human forces that drive them. “This thought-provoking…book exemplifies provocative long-form journalism that does not settle for easy answers” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Finalist for the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction Book of the Year, a Classic Cozy Big-House Mystery Haunted by the Specters of World War One—For Readers of Agatha Christie and Simone St. James Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives. At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, armaments manufacturer Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons, both of whom died at the front. Among the guests, two have been secretly dispatched from the intelligence service: Kate Cartwright, a friend of the family who lost her beloved brother at the Somme and who, in the realm of the spiritual, has her own special gift; and the mysterious Captain Donovan, recently returned from Europe. Top secret plans for weapons developed by Lord Highmount’s company have turned up in Berlin, and there is reason to believe enemy spies will be in attendance. As the guests arrive, it becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends, they find themselves trapped on the island. Soon one of their number will die. For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . . . An unrelenting, gripping mystery, packed with twists and turns and a kindling of romance, A House of Ghosts is the perfect cold-weather read.

Montana’s favorite fly fisherman detective is back on the case in the second installment of the Sean Stranahan Mystery Series When the graves of two men are discovered on Sphinx Mountain, Sheriff Martha Ettinger suspects murder. But with the only evidence a hole in a skull that might or might not have been caused by a bullet, she once more finds herself turning to private investigator Sean Stranahan for help. Stranahan already has a case, having been hired by a group of eccentric fly fishermen called The Madison River Liars and Fly Tiers Club to find a valuable fly that they suspect has been stolen. Could the disappearance of a vintage Gray Ghost from a riverside cabin in the Madison Valley be connected to the gray ghosts who haunt Sphinx Mountain? Stranahan will cross paths, and arms, with some of the most powerful people in the valley to find out, in a novel that is sure to capture new fans for one of the mystery genre’s rising stars.