Showing results by author "Helena Dixon" in All Categories

London, 1942. Miss Jane Treen is at her desk in Whitehall sipping a strong coffee when she receives an urgent message about her colleague, codebreaker Arthur Cilento. He’s in danger in Devon, and Jane needs to get there sharpish. But before her bags are properly unpacked, the local teashop owner in Arthur’s village is found lying amidst the scones and teacakes… and she’s dead.

London, 1941: Miss Jane Treen is at her desk, strong black coffee in hand and fluffy ginger cat by her side, when her top-secret government work is interrupted by an urgent call to Devon. A woman has been found dead in a lake in a place where she shouldn’t have been. Jane needs to gather the clues and find the killer before someone else from the agency gets hurt… Shy and handsome code-breaker Arthur Cilento is bewildered by the arrival of the efficient Miss Treen and her cat Marmaduke.

Winter, 1933. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a restorative break from sleuthing on a visit to her family at Enderley Hall. The only thing marring her peace - aside from the uncomfortable sensation she has of being watched - is the obvious history between her beau, ex-army captain Matthew Bryant and another guest, the beautiful Juliet Vanderstafen. So, when the parish clerk is found dead on her front doorstep, Kitty leaps at the chance of distraction.

Winter 1934. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a night off from wedding planning as she attends a charity ball at the home of Lady Eliza Foxley. She’s excited to see her father, roguish Edgar Underhay, who is also a guest in the house. But the evening of cocktails and waltzing turns into a dance macabre when Edgar finds their lively, fun-loving hostess dead, strangled by her own silk stocking.

England, 1941. When Jane Treen is summoned to her boss’s office at the end of a long day, she smooths down her tweed skirt and makes them both another strong pot of coffee. Brigadier Remmington-Blythe slides a folded copy of the evening newspaper towards her, with one small article circled in red ink. A body has been found on an English beach in the little seaside town where she grew up, and he wants her to investigate. Jane is used to managing secret agents and spies, but she is now part of The Secret Detective Agency, England’s answer to solving the most mysterious murders.

Winter, 1936. Kitty receives an unexpected telegram just before Christmas saying that her father in New York is seriously ill. She and her husband Matt swiftly set out for America and, after a fraught ocean crossing, they arrive to discover he is much improved. Kitty decides to make the most of her visit by taking in the sights and attending a costume party thrown by her father’s friend, Mrs Dangerfield.

Kitty Underhay hopes for plain sailing as she caters a 21st birthday party for the chief constable’s daughter aboard a luxury paddle steamer. So her heart sinks when she learns that the man her fiancé Matthew has been tailing on orders from Whitehall, Gunther Freiburg, is aboard. And she’s even more horrified when she steps below deck to discover Gunther, dead in the engine room. One of the chief constable’s party must be responsible for his demise, but who, and why?

1934. Accidental amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay is being escorted by ex-army captain Matthew Bryant on an errand of mercy, as she takes a basket of grapes to her nemesis Mrs. Craven, who is recuperating from a recent operation. But their arrival at Elm House Nursing Home coincides with the mysterious death of Lady Wellings, a long-term resident.

November 1933. Amateur sleuth-cum-dutiful granddaughter Kitty Underhay stifles a sigh of boredom as she attends the annual Hoteliers' Association Dinner and Dance on behalf of her grandmother, the proprietress of the Dolphin Hotel. She hopes the company of ex-army captain Matthew Bryant will enliven the otherwise dull evening. That is, until bullish and overbearing local councilor Harold Everton drops dead into his bowl of consommé.

June 1933. Independent, young Kitty Underhay has been left in charge of her family’s hotel, The Dolphin, on the tranquil English coast. But when several rooms are broken into and searched, including Kitty’s own, she quickly realizes that something out of the ordinary is afoot at the hotel. Soon, rumors are flying in the cozy town that someone is on the hunt for a stolen ruby. A ruby that Kitty’s mother may well have possessed when she herself went missing during the Great War.

Devon, 1938. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a well-deserved rest when her very upset cousin Hattie suddenly bursts in. She sobs that the gentleman she had been seeing, Richard Westonholme, seems to have vanished, taking all of her jewellery with him. As Hattie describes Richard, he sounds eerily familiar, and Kitty and her husband Matt board a ship in hot pursuit–only to find him lying in a lifeboat…dead.

Lightly dusted with snow and nestled on the edge of a sweeping Scottish loch, Finnglach Castle looks positively magical. Kitty Underhay, her husband, Matt, and their beloved dog, Bertie, are delighted to be celebrating the new year with a Hogmanay party, but just after midnight, a shot rings out across the grounds.

Summer 1935. Enjoying a belated honeymoon visiting her new husband Matt’s family in the rolling Yorkshire hills, Kitty strolls through a village fair. But when Kitty persuades Matt to visit the fortune teller’s tent, the lovebirds are shocked to find the body of Madame Zaza slumped over her crystal ball, pearl necklace askew and a half-drunk cup of tea at her elbow.

Devon, 1937. Kitty Underhay is enjoying a crisp winter morning walk with her best friend, Alice, and her fiancé, Robert, who have recently bought the mysterious Midwinter Farm. The previous owner vanished one night, his dinner still on the table and the front door left wide open. But as work is carried out on the farm, a body is found in the grounds. How was the man murdered—and who is responsible?

Une escapade à la campagne… qui tourne au drame. Été 1933. À la faveur d'une révélation familiale, Kitty Underhay boucle son sac et entraîne avec elle Alice, la fidèle employée du Dolphin — peu coutumière des séjours dans les grandes demeures aristocratiques. Direction le somptueux Enderley Hall, où l'attendent une tante, un oncle, une cousine… et toute une galerie d'invités aussi charmants qu'énigmatiques. Mais lorsque la vieille Nanny Thoms est retrouvée morte au bas de l'escalier, peu après la disparition de documents sensibles, le séjour prend une tournure autrement plus sombre.

The year 1934. Kitty Underhay steps out of the battered Rolls Royce and onto the graveled driveway of Thurscomb Castle in deepest Yorkshire. She’s honored to be a bridesmaid at her cousin Lucy’s wedding to the reluctant Lord Rupert Woodcomb, but as family and friends gather for welcome drinks, Kitty dodges intrusive questions about her own marital status by taking a stroll about the castle grounds. As she passes through the manicured gardens, a fatal shot rings out....

Spring, 1935. Newlywed Kitty Underhay has been enlisted by her old nemesis Mrs. Craven to help organize the Miss Dartmouth Jubilee pageant at the Dolphin Hotel. Being bossed around by her arch enemy is not quite what Kitty had in mind for the start of her married life, but she’s excited to launch the glamorous show. Sparkling smiles are quickly replaced by audible gasps, however, when one of the girls goes missing during the interval....

Late spring, 1936. As Kitty Underhay steps onto the sun-drenched station platform in Nice, on orders from Whitehall to track down a missing man, she hopes there will still be time to lie by the pool, preferably with a cocktail in hand. But when she and her husband Matt take a brief evening stroll, instead of finding a perfect croissant, they stumble across a body. Kitty and Matt quickly realise it is Fred Bennett, the man from Whitehall they were hoping to find. Had he simply drunk too much fabulous French wine, or is something fishy going on in this seaside city?

Cornwall, 1937. Kitty Underhay has been called to investigate some fishy goings-on in the beautiful coastal village of St Mawes. The body of Lady Cordelia Hedges’ beloved father was found floating in the sea, and shortly afterwards Cordelia herself was almost killed… Determined to piece together the puzzle, Kitty spends her first evening in the Cornish bay at one of Cordelia’s lavish parties. But she’s not just soaking up the idyllic surroundings with her husband Matt, she’s at the party to get to know those closest to their host.

Late summer 1933. After a quarrel with too-plucky-for-her-own-good amateur sleuth Kitty Underhay, dashing ex-army captain Matthew Bryant is nursing his wounds, and a tumbler of brandy, when there’s a heavy knock at the door and he finds himself arrested for murder. The body of aspiring actress Pearl Bright has been found, strangled with one of Matt’s own bootlaces, and the evidence seems to be stacked against him. The local constabulary might have locked Matt up, but before they can throw away the key, Kitty hears the news and hies to his aid, determined to prove his innocence.