Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage

This “fast-paced, thoughtful true-crime” examines the cultural shifts of Jazz Age America through a beautiful dancer’s mysterious and scandalous death (Kirkus, starred review). In January 1923, twenty-year-old Fritzie Mann left home for a remote cottage by the sea to meet a man whose identity she had revealed to no one. The next morning, the dancer’s barely clad body washed up on Torrey Pines beach, her party dress and possessions strewn about the sand. The scene baffled investigators, and abotched autopsy created more questions than it answered. However, the investigation revealed a scandalous secret. When a Hollywood A-lister was arrested for Fritzie’s murder, it led to the most sensational trial in San Diego’s history. Set against the backdrop of yellow journalism, Prohibition Era corruption, and a lively culture war, Mystery At The Blue Sea Cottage tells the intriguing story of a beautiful dancer, a playboy actor, a debonair doctor, and a tragic mystery that remains unsolved to this day.

The eleventh cozy mystery featuring everyone’s favorite phantom-detective. Watch out for Nancy Atherton's latest, Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, coming in July 2018 from Viking! Nancy Atherton ’s Aunt Dimity novels have enchanted thousands of readers, and this new addition to the series is likely to broaden the spell. A series of death threats sends Lori Shepard to a remote island off the Scottish coast and to a fabulous castle restored by an eccentric friend of her husband’s. But she finds herself drawn into an elaborate whodunit that may involve smuggling—or worse. Why has a human skull washed up on the beach? Is a desolate island really the best place to hide from a murderer? As Lori draws once more on Aunt Dimity’s supernatural aid, Atherton whips equal measures of whimsy and suspense into an irresistible confection.

The true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a Missouri teen and her family’s journey to justice. In the early hours of March 22, 1989, two friends—career criminals with violent felony convictions—drove around the eastern Kansas City area in a stolen car committing a series of crimes. The weather was mild for late March in Kansas City; the sky was clear, and there was the pale remnant of a Full Moon that bore the dubious name of Death Moon, the last full moon of winter. A little before 7 a.m., fifteen-year-old Ann Harrison walked to the end of her driveway on Kansas City’s east side to wait for the bus to take her to Raytown South High School. Ten minutes later, she disappeared but no one saw what happened. As if waiting for her return, her belongings were still stacked carefully by the side of the road. By the Side of the Road is the true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Ann Harrison and the long journey forced upon her family who had to wait nearly three decades to see her killers brought to final justice.

Amy an extraordinary Persian cat stays with her friend Olly and Granny Huggles. They live in a cosy cottage on Puddleton High Street. Amy gets in and out of scrapes, as she solves mysteries with her friend Olly and the colourful local characters of Puddleton. This story starts one evening in early January, when Amy witnesses a strange event in the town museum's library. Curious, she sets off to unravel the mystery, and in the process, witnesses a crime in action. This book is designed to be read to children in the age range: 5-7 years.

One January day in 1923, a young boy came across the dead body of a twenty-year-old woman on a San Diego beach. When the police arrived on the scene, they found the woman’s calling card, which read simply, “I am Fritzie Mann.” Yet Fritzie’s identity, as revealed in this compelling history, was anything but simple, and her death—eventually ruled a homicide—captured public attention for months. In Fritzie, historian Amy Absher reveals how broader cultural forces, including gendered violence, sexual liberation, and evolving urban conditions in the American West, shaped the course of Mann’s life and contributed to her tragic death. Frieda “Fritizie” Mann had several identities during her brief life, and the mysterious circumstances of her death raise as many questions as they do answers. She was born in 1903 near the present border between Poland and Ukraine. She and her family were Jewish immigrants who traveled to San Diego to find security and prosperity. In the last year of her life, Mann became locally famous. She had reinvented herself as a flapper and “Oriental” dancer. She claimed to have friends in Hollywood and a movie contract. On the night of her murder, she said she was going to a party to meet her Hollywood friends; instead she traveled to an isolated roadside hotel where she met her death. An autopsy revealed that she was four and a half months pregnant. Absher guides the reader through the intricacies of this true crime story as it unfolded, from the initial flawed investigation to the sensationalized press coverage and the ultimate failure of the legal system to ensure justice on Mann’s behalf. Like other “new women” of her era, Fritzie Mann adopted roles that promised liberation from the control of men. In the end, her life and early death suggest the opposite: she became the victim of a culture that consumed women even as it purported to celebrate them.

When widow Frances Lacey was murdered in July 1960 on Mackinac Island, only a few meager clues were found by police, and the case soon turned cold. But more than sixty years later, will those same clues finally solve the mystery? On July 24, 1960, the quaint charm and serenity of Mackinac, nestled between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas, was shattered by Lacey’s brutal death. Despite a massive manhunt and thousands of pages of police reports, her killer was never caught. Now, in GRIM PARADISE, true crime author Rod Sadler (Killing Women) delves into the secrets of one of Michigan's most perplexing murder cases. Offering an in-depth and suspenseful account of the long-standing mystery, he poses the question: Could advanced DNA technology lead to the identity of the Mackinac Island murderer as it did recently in the case of the Golden State Killer?

Trouble follows Lori wherever she goes... Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity mysteries have enchanted thousands of readers and Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea, the eleventh addition to the series, is likely to broaden her appeal. Perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton and Ann Granger. 'Atherton's series is for those who like the puzzle of a mystery minus the corpses... This is the way life really ought to be if only we were all better behaved. Put on the teakettle and enjoy' - Rocky Mountain News Lori Shepherd is no stranger to trouble and intrigue. But when Bill, her high-profile attorney husband, starts receiving death threats aimed at his family, danger hits closer to home. With Scotland Yard on the case, Bill sends Lori and their five-year-old twins to the safety of an island off the coast of Scotland. But nowhere, it seems, is safe. For another mystery is unfolding on the island, and Lori suspects the locals are running a smuggling operation. When she finds a human skull washed up on the beach, her fears are fuelled further. With her otherworldly Aunt Dimity's help, Lori begins to piece together the clues, unaware of the danger growing around her. Can she escape the murderous threats before it's too late? What readers are saying about Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea: '[Nancy Atherton] has a magical touch' 'This little book was a breath of fresh air' 'This book makes you feel good all over. A must read'