Death Comes to Main Street

Death Comes to Main Street
Author: Felice Stevens
Publisher: Felice Stevens
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2020-09-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

An LGBTQ Mystery In the sleepy town of Thornwood Park, something dark and ugly is brewing…. Detective Paul Monroe is investigating a routine string of break-ins when the case takes an unexpected turn. Merchants are receiving threats, and things might be more sinister than he originally suspected. Paul’s been on the receiving end of those warnings as well, but he brushes them off, not bothering to mention them to his partner, Cliff until Cliff himself is threatened. In fact, Cliff discovers he’s been shut out of quite a few things and confronts Paul, who doesn’t understand the problem. The situation escalates quickly, leaving them at a crossroads, with Cliff conflicted and wondering if he’s an equal partner. Now Paul finds himself not only fighting for the people he’s sworn to protect, but for his relationship and the man who means everything to him. When an unthinkable tragedy occurs, it’s a race against time to catch a killer who thinks he’s untouchable and has committed the perfect crime. Only…nobody’s perfect.

The Death and Life of Main Street

The Death and Life of Main Street
Author: Miles Orvell
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 315
Release: 2012-10-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0807837563

For more than a century, the term "Main Street" has conjured up nostalgic images of American small-town life. Representations exist all around us, from fiction and film to the architecture of shopping malls and Disneyland. All the while, the nation has become increasingly diverse, exposing tensions within this ideal. In The Death and Life of Main Street, Miles Orvell wrestles with the mythic allure of the small town in all its forms, illustrating how Americans continue to reinscribe these images on real places in order to forge consensus about inclusion and civic identity, especially in times of crisis. Orvell underscores the fact that Main Street was never what it seemed; it has always been much more complex than it appears, as he shows in his discussions of figures like Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, Frank Capra, Thornton Wilder, Margaret Bourke-White, and Walker Evans. He argues that translating the overly tidy cultural metaphor into real spaces--as has been done in recent decades, especially in the new urbanist planned communities of Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany--actually diminishes the communitarian ideals at the center of this nostalgic construct. Orvell investigates the way these tensions play out in a variety of cultural realms and explores the rise of literary and artistic traditions that deliberately challenge the tropes and assumptions of small-town ideology and life.

Death Comes to the Nursery

Death Comes to the Nursery
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2020-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496723244

Delighted by the quiet uproar of raising their newborn, Lady Lucy and Major Sir Robert Kurland could not be more pleased at the prospect of welcoming another into their home. But their preparations are soon overshadowed by a baffling case of murder . . . Once known to all in her village as the rector’s daughter, Lucy is now a mother herself—to a wonderful eighteen-month-old son, Ned. Upon discovering that she is expecting a second child, Lucy and Robert are delighted. In anticipation of the new arrival, Lucy is set on expanding her nursery staff. When Agnes, her current nurse, recommends her cousin, it seems like the perfect solution. But trouble arrives along with the new nursery maid from London. Polly’s flirtations provoke fisticuffs in the servants’ hall and tumult in the village tavern, and on her afternoon off, she fails to return to the Kurland Estate. When a farmer finds her lifeless body in a drainage ditch, Lucy and Robert fear foul play. To their consternation, they learn their new nursery maid was not who they thought. As Lucy’s sister Anna leaves the rectory and moves in to watch over Ned, the couple’s search for the truth leads them to the London theater world, where aristocrats purchase their mistresses, and into danger. But the real threat strikes all too close to home . . .

Couldn't Cheat Death

Couldn't Cheat Death
Author: Felice Stevens
Publisher: Felice Stevens
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2020-08-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Detective Paul Monroe has little room in his life for anything but work. Maintaining order and solving cases in the town of Thornwood Park keeps him busy. When Jerry Gregoria, a popular bartender and personal trainer is found murdered, there’s no shortage of suspects. It seems Jerry was busy shaking more than cocktails all over town, leaving Paul and his partner with an ever-growing list of men and women who have reasons to want Jerry dead. The deeper Paul delves into the case, the more he finds himself drawn to hotel manager Cliff Baxter, whom he hasn’t seen in years. Cliff Baxter’s childhood crush on Paul Monroe hasn’t waned since high school. In fact, with the sexy detective conducting the investigation at the hotel, Cliff is more than happy to help. Ever since his last relationship went up in flames, Cliff has made it a rule to never get involved with a closeted man. But after Paul is threatened and things between the two heat up, Cliff decides to make an exception. With new twists in the case popping up every day and the mayor breathing down the police department’s neck, Paul needs to solve the case yesterday. It takes a crisis for Paul and Cliff to realize what started out as something casual could be everything they’ve both been looking for but never thought to find. But if the killer strikes again, they might never get that chance.

Death Comes to London

Death Comes to London
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-11-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758287356

A season in London promises a welcome change of pace for two friends from the village of Kurland St. Mary--until murder makes a debut. . . With the reluctant blessings of their father, the rector of Kurland St. Mary, Lucy Harrington and her sister Anna leave home for a social season in London. At the same time, Lucy's special friend Major Robert Kurland is summoned to the city to accept a baronetcy for his wartime heroism. Amidst the dizzying whirl of balls and formal dinners, the focus shifts from mixing and matchmaking to murder when the dowager Countess of Broughton, the mother of an old army friend of Robert, drops dead. When it's revealed she's been poisoned, Robert's former betrothed, Miss Chingford, is accused, and she in turn points a finger at Anna. To protect her sister, Lucy enlists Robert's aid in drawing out the true culprit. But with suspects ranging from resentful rivals and embittered family members to the toast of the ton, it will take all their sleuthing skills to unmask the poisoner before more trouble is stirred up. . . Praise for Death Comes to the Village "[A] delightful debut. . .Readers will hope death returns soon to Kurland St. Mary." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Lloyd combines a satisfying mystery with plenty of wit and character development." --Booklist

Death Comes to Bath

Death Comes to Bath
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496702131

An English spa town is not beneficial to everyone’s health in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to the School. After Major Sir Robert Kurland’s injury from the battle of Waterloo begins troubling him again, his wife Lady Lucy insists they relocate from the village of Kurland St. Mary to Bath, along with her sister Anna, so that Robert can take the waters and recover. At the Roman baths, Robert befriends an elderly and pugnacious businessman, Sir William Benson, ennobled by the Crown for his service to industry. Their acquaintance is short-lived, however, when the man is found drowned in the baths. Robert vows to find his killer, with Lucy’s aid. The members of Sir William’s family seem the most obvious suspects to benefit from the wealthy man’s death, but his will has gone missing. To deduce who sent Sir William to a watery grave, Robert and Lucy must investigate with the utmost discretion—before they too find themselves in over their heads… Praise for Death Comes to Bath “Well-crafted…. The couple’s complementary investigative skills shine in a plot that balances colorful characters and lively action.”—Publishers Weekly “An amusing combination of Regency mores, romantic aspirations, and a clever mystery makes this one of Lloyd’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews

Death Comes to the School

Death Comes to the School
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2017-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496702093

A trail of poison-pen letters lead to a dead teacher in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to the Fair. Three years have passed since Major Sir Robert Kurland and Lucy Harrington, the rector’s daughter, became husband and wife. Having established a measure of contentment among the local gentry, the couple lately have found an unsettling distance grown between them. But when the small-village peace is disrupted by an anonymous letter accusing Lucy of witchcraft, her as yet unfulfilled desire to be a mother becomes the least of her worries, especially after she learns she is not the only one to have received such a malicious letter. Speculation only escalates when the village schoolteacher, Miss Broomfield, is discovered murdered at her classroom desk. Was the unlikeable teacher the letter writer, and if so, who killed her and why? Despite her husband’s objections, Lucy offers to help out at the school until a replacement can be found, hoping the children might inadvertently reveal a clue, but by doing so she may be putting her own life at risk . . . Praise for Death Comes to the School “A romance of married life intertwined with a murder puzzle featuring a heroine suitable for a Jane Austen novel.”—Kirkus Reviews “The liveliness of Lloyd’s many secondary characters and the marital tensions arising from Lucy’s fertility woes add richness to the well-plotted puzzle.”—Publishers Weekly

Death Comes to the Rectory

Death Comes to the Rectory
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2021-01-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496723279

Murder casts a dark shadow over the christening of Lady Lucy and Major Sir Robert Kurland's daughter Elizabeth—even more so when Lucy's own father, the rector, falls under suspicion for the crime . . . Lucy and Robert’s joy in christening their new daughter, surrounded by extended family and loved ones who have gathered in the village of Kurland St. Mary, is only enhanced when Robert’s aunt Rose—now the second wife of Lucy’s father Ambrose—announces that she is with child. However, not everyone is happy about the news, in particular Rose's adult daughter Henrietta and her husband, who fear for their inheritance. Following the christening, Rose’s disagreeable son-in-law Basil Northam threatens to turn afternoon tea in the rectory into an unsightly brawl. The next morning, he is found in the rector’s study, stabbed through the heart with an antique letter opener, clutching a note that appears to implicate the rector himself. As the local justice of the peace, Robert has an obligation to remain unbiased in his investigation of the ghastly crime, even though his prime suspect is a man of the cloth and his wife’s father. But Lucy is under no such obligation. As snow traps the members of the christening party in Kurland St. Mary, she vows to clear her father’s name and bring the cold-blooded culprit to justice. Someone had better start saying their prayers . . .

Death Comes to Pemberley

Death Comes to Pemberley
Author: P. D. James
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2011-11-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0571284175

The world is classic Jane Austen. The mystery is vintage P.D. James. This enhanced ebook of Death Comes to Pemberley contains video and audio that can be viewed and heard on a tablet device such as the iPad. There is a video interview with P. D. James, a longer audio interview, and an audio author reading. The year is 1803, and Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet have been married for six years. There are now two handsome and healthy sons in the nursery, Elizabeth's beloved sister Jane and her husband Bingley live nearby and the orderly world of Pemberley seems unassailable. But all this is threatened when, on the eve of the annual autumn ball, the guests are preparing to retire for the night when a chaise appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland. As it pulls up, Lydia Wickham - Elizabeth Bennet's younger, unreliable sister - stumbles out screaming that her husband has been murdered. Two great literary minds - master of suspense P.D. James and literary icon Jane Austen - come together in Death Comes to Pemberley, a bestselling historical crime fiction tribute to Pride and Prejudice. Conjuring the world of Elizabeth Bennet and Mark Darcy and combining the trappings of Regency British society with a classic murder mystery, James creates a delightful mash-up that will intrigue any Janeite. From the bestselling author of The Murder Room, Children of Men and A Certain Justice, comes a wonderful mixture of the nation's greatest romance and best-loved crime fiction. In 2013, this novel was adapted as a miniseries by the BBC, starring Matthew Rhys as Darcy, Anna Maxwell Martin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jenna Coleman as Lydia Wickham.