Joffe Books

Talented actress Diana and young bishop Alistair, her partner in crime-solving and supernatural sleuthing, face the terrifying curse of the Scottish Play in this witty, creeptastic paranormal mystery from New York Times bestselling British fantasy author Simon R. GreenMiles away from town or city, and centuries away from civilization, three witches dance around a great brass cauldron, singing songs of horror and hatred. The Crone raises her voice to ask: ?When shall we three meet again?? . . . only for the cauldron to emit a thick, poisonous smoke, sending her, and her fellow actresses, fleeing for their lives.For the director, it?s the last straw. Macbeth is famously a cursed play, but the incident, not the first in a long line of creepy events, makes him wonder if someone ? or something ? is trying to sabotage the play. The show must go on! But not if the forces of darkness are determined for it not to. Talented actress Diana Hunt, hired to give her Lady Macbeth, knows just the man to turn to for help: her partner in crime-solving, handsome young bishop Alistair Kincaid, whose help investigating a series of seemingly supernatural murders has earned them the nickname the Holy Terrors. But with evil and black magic wrapping the theatre in darkness, this investigation might cost Alistair and Diana far more than they?re expecting.The Holy Terrors novels are funny, scary and thoroughly entertaining ? perfect for fans of Simon R. Green?s urban fantasy novels, Jim Butcher, Terry Pratchett and David Aaronovitch, as well as those who enjoy American Horror Story, The X-Files and murder mysteries with a supernatural twist.

A puzzling mystery pulls the thieving Fitzglen family back to a shocking crime committed in the time of Catherine the Great in this third instalment of the spellbinding Theatre of Thieves gothic mystery series set in Victorian England.London, 1909. The Fitzglens combine running London?s finest theatre with a very profitable side-line in stealing. But while they might be thieves, they still have principles. They never pinch anything their victim couldn?t afford to lose.When a stranger approaches Jack Fitzglen after a performance, claiming that a Fitzglen has committed a grave crime in his village in faraway Russia, Jack knows exactly who?s to blame: the unpleasant Saintly Simeon, who was chucked out of the family for breaking their code.Simeon has stolen three valuable, and oddly frightening, Stone Heads, the likenesses of children who vanished over a century ago. The Heads were locked away from the world in a remote Russian monastery . . . though whether to protect the priceless sculptures, or to protect the villagers from the Heads themselves, no one can say.Jack joins forces with fellow actor Viola Gilfillan to retrieve the stolen goods and put things right. But as they investigate, peeling the layers of history back to the treacherous court of Catherine the Great herself, the ominous power of the Stone Heads begins to draw them down into a darkness from which they may never be able to escape . . .This unsettling gothic historical mystery from acclaimed British author Sarah Rayne will appeal to fans of Daphne du Maurier, Laura Purcell, Rebecca James, Sarah Waters and Stuart Turton.

Masked balls, duels and murder: musician, sleuth and free man of color Benjamin January is caught up in a shocking crime in this gripping nineteenth-century mystery set in New Orleans.February, 1841. It?s Carnival season in New Orleans. Free man of color Benjamin January ? a surgeon turned piano player, with a talent for attracting trouble ? is playing at an opulent masked ball when, little to his surprise, a quarrel breaks out between two guests, and his services are requested at a duel. Young planter Bastien Damoreau has accused a recent arrival to town of passing himself off as white ? an insult not to be borne.The duel results in the stranger?s death. But when January examines the body, he?s disturbed to realise that young Damoreau couldn?t possibly be the killer, as the dead man was shot from behind . . . January knows it?s murder, but this is white people?s business, and calling attention to himself is not a risk he can afford to take. So when Detective Abishag Shaw asks if he?ll investigate, he declines ? a decision he will later come to regret. Murder in the Trembling Lands by NYT-bestselling author Barbara Hambly is the latest instalment of the critically-acclaimed historical mystery series featuring ?winning character? Benjamin January, who ?nimbly mov[es] through parts of history we should all know better? (The New York Times)

Senior citizen Alice Sanders can finally settle into her well-deserved retirement home in New Jersey . . . until her past catches up with her in this enthralling and quirky cozy mystery.When retired septuagenarian Alice settled into her home within the planned community of Timeless Pastures in New Jersey, she expected a quiet life full of book clubs, mellow gatherings and affable friends. What she didn?t expect was her retirement paradise to be disturbed by pigeons!Alice confronts her next-door neighbour, Babs, for feeding a flock of them each day, thus causing her backyard to look like a Jackson Pollock painting, but not knowing how devious Babs can be, and unconsciously unleashing events that could be dangerous or even worse ? deadly!When Babs is found dead days after their dispute, everyone is quick to believe it was Alice who killed her. Panicked, Alice decides to leave, but not without her loyal senior friends and neighbours ? Mia, Sasha and George ? who will not only be on the run and dodge the police with her, but also try to protect her from her mysterious past . . .Fans of RICHARD OSMAN, DEANNA RAYBOURN, LAURIEN BERENSON and JESSE Q. SUTANTO will enjoy this quirky cozy. Clever twists, an intriguing plot and loveable characters make for ?a satisfying cozy? (Booklist on Best Be Prepared).

A life or death decision leads Sergeant Jessica Raker to swap the Metropolitan Police for trouble up north, but old enemies are on her tail . . ."The build-up of tension is ominous and terrifying . . . Oldham has produced a superb first book in his new series. Readers who like their police procedurals gritty, violent, twisty, and tense will love it" Booklist Starred ReviewA split-second decision has life-changing consequences for Metropolitan Police firearms officer Jessica Raker when she fatally wounds the son of a notorious organized crime chief during a robbery in Greenwich - and discovers her husband has been having an affair.With her career, her marriage and her life in danger, Jess is sent back to her home town of Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley to take up a sergeant role in Lancashire police. But as she throws herself into dealing with a hostage situation up on Dead Man''s Stake Farm and a body discovered in a reservoir on her first day, her enemies are plotting their revenge - and they''re closer than she thinks . . .

The first in a brand-new WWII historical thriller series introduces Sergeant Cathy Marsden ? a female police officer working for the Special Investigation Branch ? who risks her life to protect the city of Leeds from an escaped German spy!Leeds, 1941. As the war rages across Europe, Police Sergeant Cathy Marsden?s life since she was seconded to the Special Investigation Branch has remained focused on deserters and home-front crimes. Until now. Things take a chilling turn when Cathy?s civil servant brother, Dan, arrives from London with a dark secret: he is working for the XX Committee ? a special MI5 unit set up to turn German spies into double agents. But one of these agents has escaped and is heading for Leeds, sent to destroy targets key to the war effort. Suddenly Cathy and the squad are plunged into an unfamiliar world of espionage and subterfuge.With the fate of the country and the war in the balance, failure is not an option, and Cathy must risk everything, including her own life, to stop a spy.This fast-paced World War II thriller is perfect for fans of Kate Quinn, Rhys Bowen and Kelly Rimmer!

Ellen Curtis ? professional declutterer, amateur sleuth and woman of a certain age ? investigates the puzzling death of a TV personality who?s past his prime"Brett laces the plot with show-biz details that fans of Brett?s Charles Paris series will relish. This very special series grows more fascinating with each entry" Booklist Starred Review Professional declutterer Ellen Curtis doesn?t need to like her clients to help them sort their homes out. Aging TV personality and curmudgeon Humphrey Carter might have a chip on his shoulder the size of England about the decline of his career, but a job?s a job.But when Ellen arrives the morning after Humph?s eightieth birthday party, primed and ready to tackle his study ? no matter his protests ? she gets the shock of her life. Humph?s dead . . . and all signs point to him having taken his own life.Did the egotistical chat show host really die by suicide? His wife is adamant he?s been murdered, and the more Ellen looks, the more dirt on Humph she digs up . . . and the more suspects she uncovers. Can she track down a killer ? if there even is one? And, just as importantly, can she keep herself from killing not only her own infuriating mother, but also her two grown-up children, who all seem determined to destroy her peace of mind?This thoroughly engaging contemporary mystery is perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janice Hallett and M.C. Beaton.

In a world full of darkness, can love prevail? An emotionally gripping and heartbreaking WW1 novel.May, 1915. Nineteen-year-old Ilse Marie Stahl experiences tragedy travelling on board the RMS Lusitania with her parents from New York to a new life in England, when the ship is sunk by a German U-boat. Ilse survives, but is all alone. She distracts herself from the pain by becoming a nurse tending to the casualties of war on the front line at Ypres.Meanwhile, young Roland Hawkins is nursing his own grief when his father is caught up in the Black Tom explosion in New York Harbour. Full of anger, he quietly sets off for England and straight to a recruiting station. Soon, he is on the front line himself, determined to get his revenge.The Belgian battlefields of the Great War will bring Ilse and Roland together, though there is no love lost between a wounded soldier and his nurse of German descent. But as the storm clouds grow ever darker, can they find love and comfort in one another?An utterly compelling, thought-provoking and unflinching novel of two young people drawn together through war and their incredible bond is full of courage, heartbreak, resilience, love and hope that will stay in the memory long after the final page. Perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Nightingale and The Midwife of Berlin.

Be careful what you wish for . . . Introducing Hollywood script supervisor Evelyn Galloway, who''s drawn into a murder investigation after landing her dream job on the set of Hitchcock''s Rebecca.1939, Los Angeles. Evelyn Galloway can''t believe her luck! On her first day in LA, she lands her dream job of script supervisor, and on the hottest film in town - Hitchcock''s adaptation of Rebecca. But her good fortune quickly changes when a legendary actor cancels their lunch the following day and is found murdered at home.Evelyn realizes she could be a witness to the crime, having passed the bungalow''s grounds on her way home the night before. Who was the man looking upset in a gazebo? And why was movie starlet Madeleine Nabors running wildly away from the scene?When the tabloid reports contradict what Evelyn saw with her own eyes, she soon finds herself pitted against powerful studio bosses and unscrupulous journalists as she races to uncover the truth.A charmingly gripping historical cozy featuring obsession, power and murder, perfect for fans of Verity Bright and Nicola Upson''s SHOT WITH CRIMSON.

The owners of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are back, and more determined than ever to bring love matches to the residents of Post-WWII London . . . so something as trivial as a murder investigation isn''t going to stop them!London, 1947. Spirited Miss Iris Sparks and ever-practical Mrs Gwendolyn Bainbridge are called to action when Gwen''s beau Salvatore ''Sally'' Danielli is accused of murder!Sally has taken a job at the BBC studios at Alexandra Palace, but when the beautiful Miss JeanneMarie Duplessis - one of the Parisian performers over for a new variety show - is found dead in the old theatre, a number of inconvenient coincidences make him Suspect No:1.Just days earlier, Miss Duplessis had arrived at The Right Sort, desperately looking for a husband - any husband - to avoid having to return to Paris. As the plot thickens, Iris is pulled back into the clandestine circles she moved in during the war and it soon becomes apparent that to clear Sally''s name, she and Gwen would need to go on the hunt for a killer once more!Those who enjoy reading Kerry Greenwood''s Phryne Fisher mysteries and Dorothy Sayers will adore this warm and witty historical mystery!

Do you believe in spirits? A series of strange happenings force Valley View guesthouse manager - and sceptic - Bella Jordan to question her beliefs in the new instalment of New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub''s heart-warming cozy mystery series set in Lily Dale, New York''s Spiritualist home.After attending a family wedding in Chicago, young widow Bella Jordan is returning to the guesthouse she runs in Lily Dale - the quirky upstate New York lakeside village famous for its spiritual mediums - when she catches a glimpse of the impossible at the airport: her late husband Sam.A former science teacher, Bella is grounded in facts and logic. She doesn''t believe in ghosts. But even when she''s back home with the competing distractions of her quirky guests, small son Max, resident pet cats and a very unexpected litter of puppies, Bella can''t find a good explanation for what she''s seen. The situation gets even stranger when her psychic friend Odelia tells her that she made contact with Sam''s spirit and he shared a significant name: Kevin . . . Bacon!Bella doesn''t know what to think, but when she glimpses Sam again and things start to vanish around her, she knows she has to get to the bottom of the strange happenings - even if that means letting go for good . . .Readers of the Crystal Cave series by Susan Wittig Albert, the Harper Connelly mysteries by Charlaine Harris and the Bailey Ruth ghost novels by Carolyn Hart will love this charming, characterful cozy mystery series, which invites readers to draw their own conclusions on whether ghosts are real.

Painter and amateur sleuth Georgia O''Keeffe investigates a tragic death when she returns to Taos in the second instalment of this twisty historical mystery set in the 1930s by multi award-winning author Kathryn Lasky."Step aside Miss Marple, Eugenia Potter, and Kinsey Millhone - Georgia O''Keeffe is the new sleuth in town!" Award-winning author Katherine Hall PageNew Mexico, 1935. Painter Georgia O''Keeffe is at her friend Mabel Dodge Luhan''s home, Los Gallos, a house inhabited by a colorful range of artists, authors and society figures, to attend the memorial service of the renowned writer D.H. Lawrence.Georgia has been commissioned to design the stained-glass windows for the small memorial chapel in Lawrence''s honor. But when she checks to see how the light comes through the glass, another much more horrible sight awaits her: beloved Navajo potter Flora Namingha is dead, her face smashed in with a stone . . .With Flora''s fiancé locked up as the obvious suspect and the local police negligent in its investigation, it seems like no one other than Georgia is capable of solving the murder and making sure justice is done.When Georgia''s lover Sheriff Ryan McCaffrey comes to town unannounced, things get more complicated, and Georgia suddenly finds herself in a complex tangle of revenge, international espionage, Nazis and thugs that will require all her artistic sensibilities and amateur sleuthing skills to unravel!Kathryn Lasky brings Georgia O''Keeffe, considered one of the most significant artists of the twentieth century, to vivid life, along with her set of eccentric famous friends. Lovers of twisty historical mysteries with authentic characters, stunning settings and strong female amateur sleuths are in for a treat!

This eerie tale sees a group of men haunted by one traumatic event from their childhood. They thought they''d moved on . . . but someone - or something - won''t let them!1988: Thirteen-year-old Andy Miller and his friends ? Carl, Brian, Johnny and Gavin ? become witnesses to the vicious attack of their classmate, Poppy, and the brutal murder of her sister at a flooded railway line they call the frog ponds. They lead the police to a suspect, a vulnerable older boy whose differences single him out. But when he commits suicide, his guilt is never proven. And the crime goes unpunished, until . . .Now: Carl?s body is found beside the same body of water ? and the lives of the four remaining friends start to unravel. Is the hag-like woman terrorizing their every waking moment really a grown-up Poppy hellbent on revenge? Or something else . . . something steeped in childhood nightmares? Something determined to reveal the truth and punish the wicked.For those who love spooky fairy tales with a twist - this first in a new series will not disappoint!

Henry VIII''s court jester Will Somers turns reluctant inquisitor once again when a grotesque murder within the palace walls is linked to the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion in this gripping Tudor mystery.1536, London. The gruesome murder of a servant in the king''s palace, his throat savagely cut, has brought fear to the court of Henry VIII. When the man''s body is then dug up from the churchyard and disembowelled two weeks later, Will Somers, the king''s jester, is horrified. What terrible mischief is now afoot under the king''s roof? With Henry VIII distracted by The Pilgrimage of Grace, the religious revolt led by Robert Aske in protest at the king turning his back on the Catholic faith, Will becomes reluctant inquisitor once again. As he attempts to unmask a murderous knave, Will uncovers a chilling link between one of Queen Jane Seymour''s precious jewels, the rebellion and the dead man. Is a shocking act of treachery behind a grotesque killing?Perfect for fans of stunning Tudor mysteries and historical dramas featuring witty and tenacious sleuths, and bursting with betrayal, politics and passion from the likes of Paul Doherty Michael Jecks,, C.J. Sansom and Philippa Gregory.