The magnificent Dungeon House and gardens overlook Cumbria's remote western coast with its mix of beaches, dunes, and fells, Roman ruins, and nuclear plant. Twenty years ago the wealthy Whiteleys called it home. But not a happy one. Malcolm Whiteley had begun to disintegrate under financial and emotional pressures. He suspected various men in their social circle of being his wife's lover. After a disastrous party for the neighbours, Lysette told Malcolm their marriage was over. Sadly an old Winchester rifle he had been hiding was at hand....Fast forward to today. Hannah Scarlett's cold case team is looking into the three-year old disappearance of Lily Elstone whose father Gray had been Malcolm's accountant. The investigation coincides with yet another disappearance of a teenage girl: Shona Whiteley, daughter of Malcolm's nephew Nigel, who now lives in the Dungeon House despite its tragic history. As Hannah's team digs down into the past, doubts arise about what really happened...

Following the great success of our Gothic Fantasy deluxe edition short story compilations, including Agents & Spies, Murder Mayhem and Lost Worlds, this latest in the series is packed with armchair detectives, murders in the vicarage, family secrets unravelling in gossipy ears, and the ingredients of a genteel bloodbath in an otherwise delightful village. Contains a fabulous mix of classic and brand new writing, with contemporary authors from the US, Canada, and the UK.Classic authors include: Arnold Bennett, Ernest Bramah, Anton Chekhov, Arthur Conan Doyle, Andrew Forrester, R. Austin Freeman, Anna Katherine Green, Maurice Leblanc, Arthur Morrison, Baroness Orczy, Catherine Louisa Pirkis, Edgar Wallace, Israel Zangwill, G.K. Chesterton.

Best Eaten Cold and Other Stories showcases a group of highly regarded, award-winning crime writers who all share a special passion for crime, which is reflected in this superb new volume. Funny and sad, atmospheric and dark, ingenious and frightening, each of the thirteen stories in this collection will thrill lovers of crime fiction.

From picturesque canals and quiet lakes to the swirling currents of the ocean, a world of secrets lies beneath the surface of the water. 
The stories in this collection will dredge up delight in crime fiction fans, as watery graves claim unsuspecting victims on the sands of an estuary and disembodied whispers penetrate the sleeping quarters of a ship’s captain. How might a thief plot their escape from a floating crime scene? And what is to follow when murder victims, lost to the ocean floor, inevitably resurface? 
This British Library anthology collects the best mysteries set on choppy seas, along snaking rivers and even in the supposed safety of a swimming pool, including stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, C. S. Forester, Phyllis Bentley and R. Austin Freeman.

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Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of MurderA Christmas party is punctuated by a gunshot under a policeman's watchful eye. A jewel heist is planned amidst the glitz and glamour of Oxford Street's Christmas shopping. Lost in a snowstorm, a man finds a motive for murder. This collection of mysteries explores the darker side of the festive season—from unexplained disturbances in the fresh snow, to the darkness that lurks beneath the sparkling decorations. With neglected stories by John Bude and E.C.R. Lorac, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, Martin Edwards blends the cosy atmosphere of the fireside story with a chill to match the temperature outside. This is a gripping seasonal collection sure to delight mystery fans

CWA Dagger and Edgar award-winning author Martin Edwards takes readers back to The Lake District after seven years with a cunningly layered mystery that Publishers Weekly calls a "skillful combination of procedural and whodunnit." "Life is certainly nasty, brutish, and short?at least for most of the characters in Edwards's much-awaited new installment, set on the edge of England's Lake District."? First ClueWhat happened to Ramona Smith?History always repeats itself. After a father and son commit suicide on the same day, twenty years apart, DCI Hannah Scarlet, and her Cold Cases Division reopen the investigation of Ramona Smith, a woman who disappeared twenty-one years ago. Desperate to finally find answers, Hannah and her team chase leads as meandering as the shoreline. As the body count rises, the Cold Cases Division must unravel the loves of those on The Crooked Shore before another murder plot unfolds.

Vintage Crimes will be a CWA anthology with a difference, celebrating members' work over the years. The book will gather stories from the mid-1950s until the twenty-first century by great names of the past, great names of the present together with a few hidden treasures by less familiar writers. The first CWA anthology, Butcher's Dozen, appeared in 1956, and was co-edited by Julian Symons, Michael Gilbert, and Josephine Bell. The anthology has been edited by Martin Edwards since 1996, and has yielded many award-winning and nominated stories in the UK and overseas. This new edition includes an array of incredible and award-winning authors: Robert Barnard, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Mat Coward, John Dickson Carr, Marjorie Eccles, Martin Edwards, Kate Ellis, Anthea Fraser, Celia Fremlin, Frances Fyfield, Michael Gilbert, Paula Gosling, Lesley Grant-Adamson, HRF Keating, Bill Knox, Peter Lovesey, Mick Herron, Michael Z. Lewin, Susan Moody, Julian Symons and ...

Many mystery authors have launched their careers with notable first novels, and Martin Edwards is no exception. His first book introduced his series character, lawyer Harry Devlin and the city and characters he lives with every day in Liverpool, England. Appearing for the first time in the U.S., All the Lonely People introduces Harry Devlin stumbling on a murder case that strikes a bit too close to home. When Harry's wife is found dead and he's the lead suspect, Harry takes it upon himself to investigate who would have wanted her dead, and why. His queries will take him beyond his relatively safe world into sordid city streets that contain more than one danger, and change the illusions that he had clung to regarding his life and his wife -- forever. Martin Edwards lives in Lynn, England.

Lawyer-turned-writer Nic Gabriel is stunned when womanising Dylan Rees, his host at a champagne reception at the Houses of Parliament, is knifed by an ex-girlfriend and bleeds to death in front of him. It's not just the horrific murder, but the fact that the ex, Ella, had apparently committed suicide over five years ago. Before the party Dylan had made cryptic mention of strange and sudden deaths and now, with his friend's death, Nic is determined to discover his meaning. His research takes him to Creed, the country's leading human rights law firm, where Nic meets Roxanne, a young lawyer starting out in her dream job with a secret to hide...

They halted close to the water's edge. This was their destination. This was the Serpent Pool. And here, six years ago, Bethany Friend's body had been found.The Lake District's cold case specialist, DCI Hannah Scarlett, is determined to uncover the truth behind an apparent suicide in the Serpent Pool some years ago. Why would Bethany, so afraid of water, drown herself? Hannah fears that her partner, bookseller Marc Amos, is keeping dark secrets. Does he hold the key to Bethany's past – and why was his best customer burnt to death in an Ullswater boathouse?Hannah still carries a torch for Daniel Kind, who is researching Thomas De Quincey and the history of murder. Once Daniel and Hannah suspect connections between Bethany's drowning and a current sequence of killings, death comes dangerously close to home.

When Orla Payne was seven years old, her brother Callum mysteriously vanished. Shrouded in complicated family matters, namely their parents' divorce and the suicide of their uncle, there were no clear leads about his disappearance. The case was eventually dismissed, as the police concluded their uncle killed himself out of guilt over murdering Callum, despite the fact that the boy's body was never found.Twenty years later, Orla is still haunted by the tragedy and remains convinced of her uncle's innocence. Through working at the residential library, a position she took in order to be near the Hanging Wood where the terrible events took place, Orla gets to know historian Daniel Kind. It is he who recommends she contact DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the local Cold Case Review Team, to see if she'll be able to help in finding out the truth.But Orla's drunken, incoherent phone call leaves Hannah confused and she's left doubting if there is anything to be done on such a long-dead...

Martin Edward's Acknowledgments is the winning story of the Crime Writers' Association Margery Allingham Short Story Competition, 2014. Julia Jones, one of the founders and judges of the competition, called it a 'worthy first winner' and said that Allingham 'would have loved it'.Bloomsbury Reader is delighted to be publishing this deserving winner alongside two additional short crime stories from Martin Edwards: 'Are You Sitting Comfortably?' and 'Neighbours', as well as his essay on Margery Allingham's short story writing and a foreword by Julia Jones.

With its fascinating mix of people – rich and poor, British and foreign, worthy and suspicious – London is a city where anything can happen. The possibilities for criminals and for the crime writer are endless. London has been home to many of fiction's finest detectives, and the setting for mystery novels and short stories of the highest quality.Capital Crimes is an eclectic collection of London-based crime stories, blending the familiar with the unexpected in a way that reflects the personality of the city. Alongside classics by Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley and Thomas Burke are excellent and unusual stories by authors who are far less well known. The stories give a flavour of how writers have tackled crime in London over the span of more than half a century. Their contributions range from an early serial-killer thriller set on the London Underground and horrific vignettes to cerebral whodunits. What they have in common is an atmospheric London setting, and...

The English country house is an iconic setting for some of the greatest British crime fiction. This new collection gathers together stories written over a span of about 65 years, during which British society, and life in country houses, was transformed out of all recognition. It includes fascinating and unfamiliar twists on the classic 'closed circle' plot, in which the assorted guests at a country house party become suspects when a crime is committed. In the more sinister tales featured here, a gloomy mansion set in lonely grounds offers an eerie backdrop for dark deeds. Many distinguished writers are represented in this collection, including such great names of the genre as Anthony Berkeley, Nicholas Blake and G.K. Chesterton. Martin Edwards has also unearthed hidden gems and forgotten masterpieces: among them are a fine send-up of the country house murder; a suspenseful tale by the unaccountably neglected Ethel Lina White; and a story by the little-known Scottish writer J.J....