A medieval salesman and amateur sleuth must look past superstition to find an elusive murder suspect in this entry in the beloved mystery series."Another intelligent installment in a superbly crafted series of medieval mysteries that rival the best of Ellis Peters." —BooklistIt is October 1477, and Roger the Chapman, newly married and still enjoying wedded bliss in Bristol, England, is surprised to find his old, familiar feeling of restlessness returning. Within a month he is setting off, once again, on the ancient ridge road that dissects Dartmoor and heads for Plymouth, driven by some instinct that he is needed there.Roger accepts a lift from a carter who is going to visit his daughter, Joanna, in the oldest part of the city. Roger's instinct is soon proven correct when Joanna tells the story of her neighbor, Master Capstick, who was brutally beaten to death. The chief suspect is Capstick's great-nephew, Beric. Master Capstick's housekeeper saw Beric leaving the house that morning, his tunic stained with blood, and many more people saw the young man's wild ride for home on his great black horse. When the King's men arrived at Beric's manor house, though, the horse was already in the stables—and Beric had somehow managed to vanish completely.The local people, quick to fall back on the witchcraft of their ancestors, blame the Saint John's fern, which if eaten can make a man invisible. Roger, already responsible for solving many difficult mysteries, suspects that there is a more obvious answer and begins his own inquiries. Roger notices that he is not the first to approach witnesses, and when an attempt is made on his life, Roger knows he must be close to a truth that is even more extraordinary than the superstition—if only he can live to tell it.The Saint John's Fern is the ninth book in Kate Sedley's popular medieval mystery series featuring Roger the Chapman.

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder"Tired of newspaper headlines that accuse cops of malfeasance or worse? Veteran editor Edwards has the perfect antidote: 15 reprints of stories from 1908 to 1966 showing English police officers at (generally) their most sterling." —Kirkus ReviewsIn classic British crime fiction, dazzling detective work is often the province of a brilliant amateur—whereas the humble police detective cuts a hapless figure. The twelve stories collected here strike a blow for the professionals, with teasing mysteries to challenge a hard-working police officer's persistence and scrupulous attention to detail. As in his previous anthologies for the British Library Crime Classics series, Martin Edwards introduces readers to fascinating neglected gems of British crime writing as well as uncovering lesser-known stories by the great novelists of the golden age. Each of these stories combines realism with entertainment, skilfully blending the conduct of a criminal investigation with a compelling murder-mystery plot.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, now streaming on Netflix, starring Essie Davis as the honourable Phryne FisherDot unfolded the note. "He says that his married couple will look after the divine Miss Fisher...I'll leave out a bit...their name is Johnson and they seem very reliable." Phryne got the door open at last. She stepped into the hall. "I think he was mistaken about that," she commented.Traveling at high speed in her beloved Hispano-Suiza with her maid and trusted companion Dot, her two adoptive daughters Jane and Ruth, and their dog Molly, Phryne Fisher is off to Queenscliff. She'd promised everyone a nice holiday by the sea with absolutely no murders, but when they arrive at their rented accommodation that doesn't seem likely at all.An empty house, a gang of teenage louts, a fisherboy saved, and a missing butler and his wife seem to lead inexorably toward a hunt for buried treasure by the sea. Phryne knows to what depths people will sink for greed, but with a glass of champagne in one hand and a pearl-handled Beretta in the other, no one is getting past her.

Master storyteller David Hewson launches a major new series featuring retired archivist Arnold CloverVenice is a city full of secrets. For hundreds of years it has been the scene of scandal, intrigue and murderous rivalries. And it remains so today.1548, Lorenzino de Medici, himself a murderer and a man few will miss, is assassinated by two hired killers.Today, Marmaduke Godolphin, British TV historian and a man even fewer will miss, is stabbed by a stiletto blade on the exact same spot, his body dropping into the canal.Can the story of the first murder explain the attack on Godolphin? The Carabinieri certainly think so. They recruit retired archivist Arnold Clover to unpick the mystery and to help solve the case. But the conspiracy against Godolphin runs deeper than anyone imagined.

In "a delightful hot toddy of a winter's read," authors Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins hunt for murderer in Victorian London (Los Angeles Times).It was the best of times, it was the worst of crimes in this delightful Dickensian romp, with the canonical author teaming up with a famous upstart to solve a devilish murder.In Victorian London, Charles Dickens and his protege, the renowned author Wilkie Collins, make the acquaintance of the shrewdest mind either would ever encounter: Inspector William Field of the newly formed Metropolitan Protectives. A gentleman's brutal murder brings the three men together in an extraordinary investigation that leads Dickens to the beautiful young actress Ellen Ternan. Almost immediately, she becomes the love of his life. But first, Dickens must protect her from the noose, as she is the main suspect.

A funeral on a remote country estate descends into chaos and murder when the deceased proves unexpectedly and most inconveniently alive in this latest Mr. Quayle mystery.England, 1926. Following the death of the Viscount Featherstone, his closest friends and most hated family descend upon his isolated mansion for the funeral and—more importantly—for the will-reading. Among the guests are Featherstone’s first and second wives with their assorted brood of ne'er-do-well children, along with the love of Featherstone’s life, the woman he jilted almost forty years before—Lady Constance.The only trouble is that Featherstone is very much alive and is not at all pleased to see them, but when someone starts picking the unwanted guests off one by one, Mr. Quayle must race against time not only to save the Unsworth’s reputation but their very lives!A Terribly Savage Killing is the third novel in the Mr. Quayle Mystery series.