Murder At The Manor Hotel

As the stage is set for a local village play in a beautiful countryside manor, Melissa Craig plays the role of detective once again when one of the cast is mysteriously murdered... Melissa is delighted when she's asked to help put on a play at her favourite local Cotswolds hotel. There's nothing she loves more than getting to know the cast, who are just as colourful behind the scenes as they are on stage. Rehearsals are running smoothly until the perpetually grumpy supporting actor is found spread-eagled at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs leading to a cellar. As Melissa tries in vain to save his life, she is sure she can hear voices nearby and suspects there is more to this accident than meets the eye. Why on earth was he trying to get down to the hotel's private cellar? And why does the hotel manager seem so angry about it? When the hotel floor plans deliver some unexpected revelations, Melissa is convinced that she's dealing with a murder. But when all of your suspects are actors, how can you tell the good liars from the bad? Can Melissa find the killer before the final curtain falls? If you've devoured books by Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and P.D. James, you won't be able to resist this page-turning murder mystery! This book was previously published as Exhaustive Enquiries. What readers are saying about Betty Rowlands: 'Hooked from the first pages... wonderful... fascinating, full of twists and turns... kept me guessing till the end.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Brilliant... I read this book in one sitting and could not put it down. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.' NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars 'An absolutely addictive, wonderful story. Loved it from start to finish. Great pace and a delightful setting, colourful characters and thrilling mystery. This was a brilliant story and I cannot wait for more!' Renita D'Silva, author of The Forgotten Daughter, 5 stars

A gifted and knowledgeable writer . . . engaging and readable' Financial Times Melissa Craig has taken time away from writing bestselling mysteries to script a murder play for an amateur drama group. 'Murder with a giggle' is how she thinks of it. But no one is laughing when a cast member dies in the cellar of the old Cotswold Heyshill Manor Hotel where the play is to be produced. Persuaded by the manager to investigate, Melissa finds . . . nothing. No well-ordered clues, no sure suspects, just lots of tension. Then she chances upon a vital discovery in the hotel's parking lot, and everything begins to fall into place. This isn't a matter of "murderous plots and murky deeds, all in rhyming couplets" but a death-defying journey along a trail of crime on an international scale.

For fans of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries comes Jane Wunderly—a thoroughly modern young American widow—traveling abroad in post-World War I England and enjoying the hospitality of a dashing lord and a perfectly proper manor house, until murder makes an unwelcome appearance . . . England, 1926: Wedgefield Manor, deep in the tranquil Essex countryside, provides a welcome rest stop for Jane and her matchmaking Aunt Millie before their return to America. While Millie spends time with her long-lost daughter, Lillian, and their host, Lord Hughes, Jane fills the hours devouring mystery novels and taking flying lessons—much to Millie’s disapproval. But any danger in the air is eclipsed by tragedy on the ground when one of the estate’s mechanics, Air Force veteran Simon Marshall, is killed in a motorcar collision. The sliced brake cables prove this was no accident, yet was the intended victim someone other than Simon? The house is full of suspects—visiting relations, secretive servants, strangers prowling the grounds at night—and also full of targets. The enigmatic Mr. Redvers, who helped Jane solve a murder in Egypt, arrives on the scene to once more offer his assistance. It seems that everyone at Wedgefield wants Jane to help protect the Hughes family. But while she searches for answers, is she overlooking a killer hiding in plain sight? “The country house intrigue and an unconventional chase reap rewards. Readers will look forward to further cases of the intrepid Jane and the mysterious Mr. Redvers.” —Publishers Weekly

Well-heeled travelers from around the world flock to the Mena House Hotel—an exotic gem in the heart of Cairo where cocktails flow, adventure dispels the aftershocks of World War I, and deadly dangers wait in the shadows . . . WINNER OF THE 2021 AGATHA AWARD Egypt, 1926.Fiercely independent American Jane Wunderly has made up her mind: she won’t be swept off her feet on a trip abroad. Despite her Aunt Millie’s best efforts, the young widow would rather gaze at the Great Pyramids of Giza than into the eyes of a dashing stranger. Yet Jane’s plans to remain cool and indifferent become ancient history in the company of Mr. Redvers, a roguish banker she can’t quite figure out . . . While the Mena House has its share of charming guests, Anna Stainton isn’t one of them. The beautiful socialite makes it clear that she won’t share the spotlight with anyone—especially Jane. But Jane soon becomes the center of attention when she’s the one standing over her unintentional rival’s dead body. Now, with her innocence at stake in a foreign country, Jane must excavate an elusive killer before her future falls to ruin in Cairo, and the body count rises like the desert heat . . . “Stunning revelations, romance, adventure, and intrigue abound in this multilayered, delightfully entertaining whodunit. Neubauer’s debut dazzles, with a smart plot, remarkable scenery, and skilled execution.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)

The controversial chronicle of a motel owner who secretly studied the sex lives of his guests by the renowned journalist and author of Thy Neighbor’s Wife. On January 7, 1980, in the run-up to the publication of his landmark bestseller Thy Neighbor’s Wife, Gay Talese received an anonymous letter from a man in Colorado. “Since learning of your long-awaited study of coast-to-coast sex in America,” the letter began, “I feel I have important information that I could contribute to its contents or to contents of a future book.” The man—Gerald Foos—hen divulged an astonishing secret: he had bought a motel outside Denver for the express purpose of satisfying his voyeuristic desires. Underneath its peaked roof, he had built an “observation platform” through which he could peer down on his unwitting guests. Over the years, Foos sent Talese hundreds of pages of notes on his guests, work that Foos believed made him a pioneering researcher into American society and sexuality. Through his Voyeur’s motel, he witnessed and recorded the harsh effects of the war in Vietnam, the upheaval in gender roles, the decline of segregation, and much more. In The Voyeur’s Motel. “the reader observes Talese observing Foos observing his guests.” An extraordinary work of narrative journalism, it is at once an examination of one unsettling man and a portrait of the secret life of the American heartland over the latter half of the twentieth century (Daily Mail, UK). “This is a weird book about weird people doing weird things, and I wouldn’t have put it down if the house were on fire.” —John Greenya, Washington Times

In a grand Chicago hotel, a mysterious death sets a puzzling whodunnit in motion When a New York banker is discovered dead from an apparent morphine overdose in a Chicago hotel, the circumstances surrounding his untimely end are suspicious to say the least. The dead man had switched rooms the night before with a stranger he met and drank with in the hotel bar. And before that, he’d registered under a fake name at the hotel, told his drinking companion a fake story about his visit to the Windy City, and seemingly made no effort to contact the actress, performing in a local show, to whom he was married. All of which is more than enough to raise eyebrows among those who discovered the body. Enter theatre critic and amateur sleuth Riley Blackwood, a friend of the hotel’s owner, who endeavors to untangle this puzzling tale as discreetly as possible. But when another detective working the case, whose patron is unknown, is thrown from a yacht deck during a party by an equally unknown assailant, the investigation makes a splash among Chicago society. And then several of the possible suspects skip town, leaving Blackwood struggling to determine their guilt or innocence—and their whereabouts. Reissued for the first time in over eighty years, The Great Hotel Murder is a devilishly complex whodunnit with a classical aristocratic setting, sure to please Golden Age mystery fans of all stripes. In 1935, the story was adapted for a film of the same name.

"Very entertaining. I highly recommend this book to the permanent library of any reader that appreciates a very well written mystery, with some twists and an intelligent plot. You will not be disappointed. Excellent way to spend a cold weekend!" --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (regarding Murder in the Manor) MURDER IN THE MANOR (A LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 1) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace. Lacey Doyle, 39 years old and freshly divorced, needs a drastic change. She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the fast life. Making good on her childhood promise to herself, she decides to walk away from it all, and to relive a beloved childhood vacation in the quaint English seaside town of Wilfordshire. Wilfordshire is exactly as Lacey remembers it, with its ageless architecture, cobblestone streets, and with nature at its doorstep. Lacey doesn’t want to go back home—and spontaneously, she decides to stay, and to give her childhood dream a try: she will open her own antique shop. Lacey finally feels that her life is taking a step in the right direction—until her new star customer turns up dead. As the newcomer in town, all eyes are on Lacey, and it’s up to her to clear her own name. With a business to run, a next-door neighbor turned nemesis, a flirty baker across the street, and a crime to solve – is this new life all that Lacey thought it would be? Books #2-#9 are also available!

Hotelier Trevor Lambert is about to fulfill his ultimate fantasy—managing his own bed and breakfast, a Victorian mansion in Vancouver called Graverly Manor. But there's one caveat: the elderly owner, Lady Graverly, won't sell until Trevor lives and works there for one month. Screams in the night, foul odors, and the sudden disappearance of a chambermaid have Trevor looking over his shoulder. Grim rumors surrounding Lady Graverly's tragic and suspicious past hint at possible murder. Now Trevor must piece together the whole story before these dark family secrets turn his dream into a nightmare. First-class praise for the Five-Star Mystery series: "This fast-paced puzzler shines with droll wit and hotel-savvy details." —Publishers Weekly "Craig has kicked off his series with a bang, a big bang of a book. Wonderfully clever and well executed." —Crimespree Magazine