Showing results by narrator "Becket Royce" in All Categories

Virtually no one in the village of Castillac holds out any hope. It has been seven years, after all. Seven years since the popular, mischievous Valerie Boutillier disappeared without a trace. The exertions of the gendarmes, led by Chief Dufort, yielded almost no clues, and his failure to solve the case had been one of the main reasons he quit the force.

Boston girl Molly Sutton moves to a small village in France to lick her wounds after a divorce. Castillac is charming, the croissants amazing, the wine delectable. Molly's new life is full of contentment, if a bit short on excitement. But then a girl goes missing...and Molly's world gets turned upside down. Truth be told, no one in the village feels safe. They struggle to believe such darkness could exist in a friendly village, where people spend most of their time thinking about nothing more frightening than what to have for lunch.

Things have started to look up for Molly Sutton. Her new life in the French village of Castillac isn't as peaceful as she expected it to be, but maybe that could be a good thing. Turns out a little mystery, a little excitement - it gives a girl with imagination something to do besides obsess about croissants. After Molly stumbles on another dead body, our amateur detective wastes no time before eavesdropping and butting into conversations all over town, gathering as much information as she can on everyone.

The year is 1896, and college professor Concordia Wells has her hands full: teaching classes, acting as live-in chaperone to a cottage of lively female students, and directing the student play, Macbeth. But mystery and murder are not confined to the stage, especially when the death of Concordia's sister, Mary, appears to be foul play. To make matters worse, the women's college is plagued by malicious pranks, arson, money troubles, and the apparent suicide of a college official.

A man so despised, everyone who met him wanted to kick him downstairs. Or worse. News of Bernard's murder brings cheers throughout the Dordogne. A dysfunctional family, feuding neighbors, disgruntled business associates: Molly and Ben are up to their eyeballs with potential perpetrators. With a wedding to plan, Molly's up against a tight deadline, yet the list of suspects keeps getting longer. And then there's the shadowy figure, stalking her through the streets of Castillac.

When another native of the French village is found dead, Molly and the gendarmes are stumped. Complicating matters, Ben is hired to defend Molly's prime suspect. Uh oh, mixing romance with detective work can be a dangerous business...or at least, it can lead to some unsteady conclusions.

Ripley's a tomboy at heart who has never met a stranger. Her plans were to finish her veterinary studies and take her family to the country, where life wouldn't be such a struggle. She thought the worst she'd have to deal with at the University of Maryland were the unwelcome advances and attitudes of affluent students, and the occasional East Coast hurricane. She never expected the sun to fall down.

Molly Sutton's B&B is jam-packed for Valentine's Day, but whatever romance is in the air is quickly snuffed out when somebody turns up dead. In addition to worrying that one of her remaining guests is a killer, Molly's not feeling tip-top and spends more time napping than sleuthing. That's no way to catch a murderer!

Ripley and her friends have escaped the University's lockdown and started their journey home on foot. They've found an opportunity to get supplies they sorely need, but the risk is high. Marco insists that the world is already far more dangerous than it seems, while Ripley's not yet convinced. She's about to get a very bloody wake-up call.

It is the fall of 1896, and Miss Concordia Wells is hip-deep in the usual tumult of a lady professor's life: classes, clubs, student pranks, and the unending drama generated by the girls she lives with on campus. Events take a grave turn, however, when an ancient Egyptian amulet donated to the college mysteriously disappears, the donor is found murdered, and his daughter - Concordia's best friend - confesses to killing him.

Amateur sleuth Molly Sutton has her hands full this time! Shut out of Castillac's latest murder case and running out of money, she's praying for a brilliant scheme, or at least some dumb luck to strike. Believing good food can be the solution to almost any problem, she comes up with a culinary idea designed to stave off financial disaster - and finds that even a perfect meal can end up a flop. As for the poor late Baron, once Molly manages to get inside the château, she quickly pokes her nose where it doesn't belong.

Simon Valette, a cultured and successful Parisian, moves his family to Castillac looking for peace and quiet. But before they've had a chance to settle in, someone is found murdered in the library. Molly and Ben work double-time to disentangle all the lies - including those told by their own friends. Will they manage to trap the killer before another victim trusts the wrong person and winds up dead?

It's just a relaxed visit to Provence to see old friends. A joyful reunion...until a murder spree breaks out in the neighborhood—and you know Molly's not going to rest until the killer is caught. But so many bodies, so many suspects, so many red herrings. How in the world will Molly do it?

Castillac appears calm, even serene. But a dark corruption is spreading underneath the surface. Unbeknownst to anyone but those involved, the village has been infiltrated. And Molly Sutton, the best detective in town, has her eye off the ball as she juggles her gîte business along with planning her best friend’s wedding. A shocking murder shatters the illusion of peace, and Molly and Ben jump into action. This time around, the more they investigate, the longer the list of suspects grows. Will Sutton/Dufort Investigations find the killer before he or she finds them?

It is 1898, and Professor Concordia Wells has come to expect the hectic routine of classes, clubs, teas, and the inevitable student pranks at the women's college. If only she could avoid the cantankerous dean, Randolph Maynard, who has learned about her past experiences as a "lady sleuth." To Concordia’s dismay, he scrutinizes her every move for evidence of unseemly conduct. Then a mysterious woman claims that Concordia's young friend, the eleven-year-old Eli, is her long-lost child. Soon after, they find the woman murdered and the boy gone.

Our intrepid detective, Molly Sutton, is giddy at being back home in her beloved Castillac. Yet giddy as she is, she’s skeptical about the latest Castillac death. Did the poor man die of natural causes? Has Molly finally gone too far with her suspicions?

When Angela Ellis returns to her childhood home on St. Nabor Island, South Carolina, her junior year of college interrupted indefinitely by her mother's death, she doesn't know how she'll ever be able to function in the world without her mother's love, support, and guidance. Soon after her mother's funeral, strange sounds begin to trouble her in the night, sounds she swears are her mother's angry voice. In an effort to find peace for herself and for her mother's restless spirit, Angela begins a ghost hunt that makes her friends fear for her sanity.

Renowned inventor Peter Sanbourne - working on Project Blue Arrow for the navy - heads the school's new engineering program, and literature professor Concordia Wells prepares to leave to marry David Bradley. The new routine soon goes awry when a bludgeoned body - clutching a torn scrap of the only blueprint for Blue Arrow - is discovered on the property Concordia and David were planning to call home.

One cool April day, Mike Pritcher visits the home of his estranged wife, Lael, and takes their son, Ace, for an overnight outing. "She pushed her son's black-rimmed glasses up the slope of his thin nose. He jerked away like a puppy slipping its leash. A giggle, a crunch of gravel, a single wave of a grimy hand, and her only child was gone."

When a killer crashes the honeymoon, three’s a crowd...It’s the summer of 1899, and Professor Concordia Wells - now Mrs. David Bradley - eagerly anticipates their honeymoon in the Hamptons. She has one errand along the way, to visit a former student seeking advice. About a love interest, no doubt. If only it were that benign. The young lady, now employed as a switchboard operator, inadvertently eavesdropped on a murder plot involving the high finance world of the Stock Exchange Luncheon Club. How to notify the police without losing her position?