The Sarah Kelling And Max Bittersohn Mysteries Volume One

The first three novels featuring the sleuthing Boston couple: “The screwball mystery is Charlotte MacLeod’s cup of tea.” —Chicago Tribune Packed with wit, simmering romance, and complicated crimes, the whodunits in this delightfully cozy collection from the two-time Edgar Award finalist include: The Family Vault An aging burlesque star’s fresh corpse turns up in an old family tomb at Boston Common and Sarah Kelling must investigate in this “first-rate suspense whodunit” (The Cincinnati Post). The Withdrawing Room Facing a dwindling inheritance and the loss of her stately Back Bay brownstone, Sarah opens her home to lodgers—deciding she prefers a boardinghouse to the poorhouse. But when the death of one resident is followed by another, she turns to detective Max Bittersohn for help . . . “One of the most gifted mystery authors writing today.” —Sojourner The Palace Guard A museum robbery leaves a guard dead, and art-fraud investigator Max teams up with widowed socialite Sarah to crack the case, even if it ruffles the feathers of the city’s upper crust . . . “If this is your first meeting with Sarah Kelling, oh how I envy you.” —Margaret Maron

Boston’s married art sleuths are about to discover that you can’t fake a murder: “Entertaining . . . good humored . . . Sarah and Max are a winning team” (Baltimore Sun). If she weren’t so fabulous, the Countess Lydia Ouspenska might be considered a gangster’s moll. The last time she met Max Bittersohn, Boston’s famed art-fraud investigator, she was forging minute Byzantine masterpieces to make ends meet. But when Max bumps into her on the Common, the Countess is back on her feet. She has taken up with Bartolo Arbalest, a master forger currently masquerading as an art restorer. And as Bittersohn knows all too well, even the most genteel fraudster cannot be trusted. With the help of his wife, Sarah, Max looks for the secret lair of Bartolo’s supposed restoration guild. But when the guild’s clients begin to die, it becomes clear there is more at stake than a few fabricated icons. The art may be fake, but for Max and Sarah the danger is very real.

An aging stripper’s fresh corpse turns up in an old family tomb at Boston Common in this “first-rate suspense whodunit” (The Cincinnati Post). Like many old New England families, the Kellings live to die. Although their family vault is spacious and comfortable, it will not do for Sarah Kelling’s Great-Uncle Frederick. In his will, he demands to be buried inside the ancient family tomb at Boston Common, which hasn’t admitted a new member in over a century. But when the Kellings crack the old vault’s door, they find a recently built brick wall—and behind it lays a surprisingly fresh corpse, a skeleton with rubies in its teeth. Her name was Ruby Redd, and many years ago she was the toast of Boston’s burlesque scene. Her murder case is ice cold, but when Sarah begins investigating it, she finds that the fiery passions behind Ruby’s death still burn white hot. With the help of art-fraud investigator Max Bittersohn, Sarah will solve the mystery of the stripper’s murder—or take her own place in the family vault.

A museum robbery leaves a guard dead, and two Boston sleuths investigate: “If this is your first meeting with Sarah Kelling, oh how I envy you” (Margaret Maron). It’s only been a few months since Sarah Kelling’s elderly husband passed away, and she’s struggling to adapt to life as a penniless young widow. To make ends meet, she converts her stately Boston home into a boardinghouse, a decision that brings something even better than money: the company of art-fraud investigator Max Bittersohn. The budding couple is standing on a balcony, recovering from a second-rate concert at a third-rate museum, when something plummets past them. The museum has been robbed, and a guard has fallen to his death. Dozens of priceless paintings have been stolen and replaced with forgeries, and recovering these masterworks will mean tearing the lid off the quiet life of the Boston upper crust. But it’s a chance Sarah and Max must take, lest they join the guard on his long trip down.

The first three cozy mysteries in a series featuring a Royal Canadian Mountie and his resourceful wife from an international-bestselling author. The beloved sleuthing couple solves a trio of murder cases in the austere beauty of Canada’s New Brunswick. Originally published under the pseudonym Alisa Craig, these three tales are a witty look at murder in a small town—“the epitome of the ‘cozy’ mystery” (Mostly Murder). A Pint of Murder: When Janet Wadman realizes her friend Agatha was murdered with a jar of tainted green beans, her discovery leads to another untimely death. Height-challenged Mountie Madoc Rhys proves more capable than he looks, and Janet is duly impressed. Murder Goes Mumming: Madoc decides to ask Janet for her hand in marriage. But when the newly engaged couple finds their Christmas plans spoiled by murder, the investigating duo once again finds they have a gift for serving justice. A Dismal Thing to Do: Janet witnesses a terrible accident on the back roads of Canada. But after dashing into a nearby barn to get help, someone thanks her by stealing her car and then trying to kill her. Or were they? Madoc arrives and together they work to stop a deadly crime wave in its tracks.