Recommendations based on "The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds"

'Robin Stevens is Agatha Christie for children' - Katherine Rundell‘It’s hard to know where to start. There’s so much to say – about the murders, and the codes, and the spy, that I’m getting tangled up in the story already...'It's December 1941, and almost Christmas, when a bomb falls on Deepdean School for Girls. May and Nuala are whisked away from the chaos and sent to stay with May's big sister, Hazel Wong, who is working at Bletchley Park.Within seconds, they're thrown straight into their most dangerous case yet. A codebreaker has been shot in what appears to be a tragic accident - until a suspicious and top-secret message is discovered in his pocket. Was he a spy, working for the other side? Was the message planted on him? Most importantly - was this murder?Worst of all, Daisy's big brother, Bertie Wells, is being blamed. It’s up to May, Nuala and their friend Eric to prove Bertie's innocence and solve the mystery. But Bletchley is a strange and secretive place, full of Britain's most ingenious minds. They'll need to watch, listen, and puzzle out the incredible, unthinkable truth...The thrilling brand-new mystery from the million-copy-bestselling author of Murder Most Unladylike.Praise for Robin Stevens:'Absolutely thrilling' Louie Stowell'Superb' Observer'Funny, clever and warm . . . Such a delight' Louise O'Neill'Jolly gripping stuff' The Times'Spirited and fun . . . A must for young murder mystery fans' Bookseller'Triumphant . . . Deserves to be read for years to come' Guardian

"Crombie’s characters are rich, emotionally textured, fully human. They are the remarkable creations of a remarkable writer."—Louise Penny “Nobody writes the modern English mystery the way Deborah Crombie does—and A Bitter Feast is the latest in a series that is gripping, enthralling, and just plain the best.”   — Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of The Black Ascot and A Cruel Deception New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie returns with a mesmerizing entry in her “excellent” (Miami Herald) series, in which Scotland Yard detectives Duncan Kincaid and Gemma James are pulled into a dangerous web of secrets, lies, and murder that simmers beneath the surface of a tranquil Cotswolds village. Scotland Yard Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid and his wife, Detective Inspector Gemma James, have been invited for a relaxing weekend in the Cotswolds, one of Britain’s most enchanting regions, famous for its rolling hills, golden cottages, and picturesque villages. Duncan, Gemma, and their children are guests at Beck House, the family estate of Melody Talbot, Gemma’s detective sergeant. The Talbot family is wealthy, prominent, and powerful—Melody’s father is the publisher of one of London’s largest and most influential newspapers. The centerpiece of this glorious fall getaway is a posh charity harvest luncheon catered by up-and-coming chef Viv Holland. After fifteen years in London’s cut-throat food scene, Viv has returned to the Gloucestershire valleys of her childhood and quickly made a name for herself with her innovative meals based on traditional cuisine but using fresh local ingredients. Attended by the local well-to-do as well as national press food bloggers and restaurant critics, the event could make Viv a star. But a tragic car accident and a series of mysterious deaths rock the estate and pull Duncan and Gemma into the investigation. It soon becomes clear that the killer has a connection with Viv’s pub—or, perhaps, with Beck House itself. Does the truth lie in the past? Or is it closer to home, tied up in the tangled relationships and bitter resentments between the staff at Beck House and Viv’s new pub? Or is it more personal, entwined with secrets hidden by Viv and those closest to her?

Small town librarian Kathleen Paulson gets plenty of entertainment from her extraordinary cats, Owen and Hercules. But when a theatre troupe stumbles into more tragedy than it bargained for, it’s up to Kathleen to play detective... With her sort-of boyfriend Marcus calling it quits and her ex-boyfriend Andrew showing up out of the blue, Kathleen has more than enough drama to deal with—and that’s before a local theatre festival relocates to Mayville Heights. Now the town is buzzing with theatre folk, and many of them have their own private dramas with the director, Hugh Davis.   When Davis is found shot to death by the marina, he leaves behind evidence of blackmail and fraud, as well as an ensemble of suspects. Now Kathleen, with a little help from her feline friends Owen and Hercules, will have to catch the real killer before another victim takes a final curtain call.

The New York Times bestselling author of the Second Chance Cat Mystery series offers another adventure with secondhand shop owner Sarah Grayson and Elvis the rescue cat.Spring has come to charming North Harbor, Maine, and with the new season comes a new haul for Second Chance, the shop where Sarah Grayson sells lovingly refurbished and repurposed items. Sarah is turning her keen eye to the estate of collector Edison Hall, hoping for fabulous finds for Second Chance—but when her rescue cat Elvis discovers a body in the kitchen, everything goes paws up.The body belongs to an appraiser who had been hired to check out Edison’s wine collection. When Edison’s sister shows up at Second Chance, she hires Sarah’s friends—the kooky and charismatic trio of ladies who call themselves Charlotte’s Angels and work out of the shop—to solve the murder, Sarah knows she and Elvis are only going to get deeper into the case. But as it becomes a cat and mouse game of lies, cons, cheats, and family squabbles, can Elvis and Sarah claw their way to the truth before the killer slinks away forever?

In this novel in the New York Times bestselling Second Chance Cat Mystery series, secondhand shop owner Sarah Grayson and her rescue cat, Elvis, get caught up in a case of she said, she said...   When Sarah Grayson opened a secondhand shop in the quaint town of North Harbor, Maine, she was expecting peace and quiet. Then she was adopted by a rescue cat named Elvis and a kooky trio of senior sleuths known as Charlotte’s Angels. Now she has nine lives worth of excitement...   Sarah’s friend and employee Rose is delivering a customer’s purchase when the quick errand becomes a deadly escapade. Rose arrives just in time to see the customer murdered by his wife, but before she can call the police, she is knocked out cold. When she wakes up, no one believes her, especially after the woman claims her husband is very much alive and has left her for someone else—and has a text message and empty bank account to prove it.   Despite her convincing story, Sarah is sure something is fishy—and it’s not Elvis’s kitty treats. Sarah, Elvis, and the Angels are determined to unravel this mysterious yarn, before the feral killer pounces again...

Book 5 in the award-winning historical Chloe Ellefson Mystery series Curator and occasional sleuth Chloe Ellefson is off to Minneapolis to help her friend Ariel with a monumental task. Ariel must write a proposal for a controversial and expensive restoration project: convert an abandoned flour mill, currently used as shelter by homeless people, into a museum. When a dead body is found stuffed into a grain chute, Chloe's attention turns from milling to murder. Back in Milwaukee, Chloe's love interest Roelke has been slammed with the news that a fellow officer was shot and killed while on duty. Sifting through clues from both past and present, Chloe and Roelke discover dangerous secrets that put their lives--and their trust in each other--at risk. Praise: "Ernst keeps getting better with each entry in this fascinating series."--Library Journal "Everybody has secrets in this action-filled cozy."--Publishers Weekly "All in all, a very enjoyable reading experience."--Mystery Scene "A page-turner with a clever surprise ending."--G.M. Malliet, Agatha Award-winning author of The St. Just and Max Tudor Mystery Series "[A] haunting tale of two murders...This is more than a mystery. It is a plush journey into cultural time and place."--Jill Florence Lackey, PhD, author of Milwaukee's Old South Side and American Ethnic Practices in the Twenty-First Century

Now readers can join China Bayles in ten puzzling cases—and get a taste of her world. This delightful collection features loads of wonderful herbal tidbits on everything from rosemary to feverfew to catnip; recipes for such to-die-for dishes as a Deadly Chocolate Valentine, Ruby's Applesauce Mint Bread, China's Five-Spice Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry, and McQuaid's Tex Mex-and a host of creative ideas for garden and home. It's a one-of-a-kind collection featuring a one-of-a-kind sleuth—who's worth spending some "quality thyme" with!

A brand new Golden Age cosy crime mystery from the multi-million-copy bestseller Faith Martin. 'A masterfully constructed pageturner of a murder mystery. Clever, compelling, and intriguing. An excellent read' TA Williams 'Hugely entertaining with an ingenious solution! I loved it!' Clare Chase 'Suspicious notes, a lethal hat pin and a body in the library ... As far as I'm concerned Faith Martin is the Grand Dame of Country House Crime!' J. M. Hall Yorkshire, 1926. Gentleman ghost-hunter Arbuthnot 'Arbie' Swift and his old friend Val arrive at Cleeves Lea Manor, looking forward to the promise of a lavish weekend party. The lady of the house, an avid reader of Arbie’s books, is eager to show him off to her distinguished guests. Amidst the festivities, Arbie is also tasked with investigating rumours of a ‘ghost train spitting fire’ for the third instalment of the increasingly popular (to Arbie’s great surprise) Gentleman’s Guide to Ghost-hunting. But when the guests start dying, Arbie instead finds himself thrust into the middle of a murder investigation. With time running out, will he and Val be able to uncover the truth? Praise for the Val and Arbie Mysteries: ‘Brilliant characters that leap off the page’The Sun on Murder by Candlelight ‘Amuses and intrigues in equal measure’ Daily Mail ‘A golden-age world with an energy that is totally contemporary’ J.M. Hall ‘A charming and clever take on a locked room murder’ Sarah Yarwood-Lovett ‘A wonderful Wodehousian world of intrigue and suspicion and a tricky puzzle to solve.’ Helena Dixon ‘All the ingredients of a classic mystery – engaging characters and an impossible crime. The story races along like a runaway locomotive... enormous fun.’ Orlando Murrin ‘A beautiful written 1920’s murder mystery series full of fun, wit and red herrings’ Anita Davison 'The perfect "country house" murder mystery. The book is terrific fun.' Jane Bettany 'We devoured this whoddunit in one sitting!' Bella 'With murder, intrigue, and ghostly happenings, this will satisfy cosy crime fans.' Heat

In the latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series, a series of possible attacks on British pilots leads Jacqueline Winspear's beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs into a mystery involving First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Late September, 1942. Jo Hardy, a 22-year-old ferry pilot, is delivering a Spitfire to Biggin Hill Aerodrome when she realizes someone is shooting at her aircraft. When she returns to the location on foot, she finds an American serviceman in a barn, tied up and gagged. Jo hurries away, but can't shake the image of the serviceman from her mind. Several days later, when Jo recounts the story to several other women, she receives the news that Erica, another ferry pilot--flying the same route she had--has been killed in a crash near Kent. Erica's death is attributed to "pilot error," but Jo is convinced there is a link between her own experience and Erica's--and that of Jo's dead fiancé, who was killed over a year earlier under inexplicable circumstances in the same area. At the suggestion of an Australian colleague, Jo takes her suspicions to Maisie Dobbs, along with two pages of coded notes she found in the barn. If someone is trying to take down much-needed pilots, Maisie wants to find out why--and what happened to the bound American serviceman. But before she can even begin to investigate, her new husband, Mark Scott, finds the documents and demands to know how they came to be in her possession: The papers pertain to an upcoming diplomatic mission by Eleanor Roosevelt on behalf of the United States' president--and now the First Lady's safety has been compromised. To protect Eleanor's life--and possibly the safety of all of London--Maisie must quickly uncover the connection between the pilot deaths, the mysterious American soldier, and the top-secret documents.

Meg helps run Caerphilly's summer arts and crafts festival while trying to smoke out a murderer—turn up the heat, because Some Like it Hawk! The hilariously funny Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the award-winning New York Times bestselling series that has captured human and avian hearts alike. Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith's trade at "Caerphilly Days," a festival inspired by her town's sudden notoriety as "The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail." The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly's public buildings, and all employees have evacuated —except one. Phineas Throckmorton, the town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year.Mr. Throckmorton's long siege has only been possible because of a pre-Civil War tunnel leading from the courthouse basement to a crawl space beneath the bandstand. The real reason for Caerphilly Days is to conceal the existence of the tunnel: the tourist crowds camouflage supply deliveries, and the ghastly screeching of the tunnel's rusty trap door is drowned out by as many noisy activities as the locals can arrange. But the lender seems increasingly determined to evict Mr. Throckmorton—and may succeed after one of its executives is found shot, apparently from inside the basement. Meg and her fellow townspeople suspect that someone hopes to end the siege by framing Mr. Throckmorton. Unless the real killer can be found quickly, the town will have to reveal the secret of the tunnel—and the fact that they've been aiding and abetting the basement's inhabitant. Meg soon deduces that the killer isn't just trying to end the siege but to conceal information that would help the town reclaim its buildings--if the townspeople can find it before the lender destroys it in a gut-busting caper that will have giggles and guffaws coming as fast as a four-alarm fire.A gaggle of praise for Donna Andrews and the Meg Langslow Mystery Series:"If you long for more fun mysteries, a la Janet Evanovich, you'll love Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow series." —Charlotte Observer"A long-running series that gets better all the time. A fine blend of academic satire, screwball comedy, and murder." —Booklist "As always, Andrews laces this entertaining whodunit with wit, a fine storyline and characters we've come to know and love." —Richmond Times-Dispatch on The Real Macaw