Murder in the Museum


Book Description

'A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans' P. D. JAMES 'Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories' JILLY COOPER 'King of the witty village mystery' Telegraph Bracketts, an Elizabethan house near the town of Fethering, is about to be turned into a museum, but the transition is proving nightmarish. Carole regrets her decision to be on the museum’s Board when she witnesses bitter antagonism and rivalry amongst the other members. The tensions climax when a human skeleton is found in the kitchen garden and then another body is discovered, not yet cold. These murders in the museum quickly turn into a case that tests the sleuthing powers of Carole, and her neighbour Jude, as never before . . .




The Secret Key (Agatha Oddly, Book 1)


Book Description

Meet thirteen-year-old Agatha Oddly – a bold, determined heroine, and the star of a stylish new detective series.




Murder in the Museum


Book Description

When Professor Julius Arnell breathes his last in the hushed atmosphere of the British Museum Reading Room, it looks like death from natural causes. Who, after all, would murder a retired academic whose life was devoted to Elizabethan literature? Inspector Shelley's suspicions are aroused when he finds a packet of poisoned sugared almonds in the dead man's pocket; and a motive becomes clearer when he discovers Arnell's connection to a Texan oil millionaire. Soon another man plunges hundreds of feet into a reservoir on a Yorkshire moor. Could there be a connection? Mild-mannered museum visitor Henry Fairhurst assists Shelley in one of the most baffling cases he has ever encountered.




Museum of Murder


Book Description

From USA Today bestselling author Leslie Langtry comes an epic murder mystery, ten years in the making... Welcome to the Museum of Murder! Who knew that the town of Who’s There was the murder capital of Iowa? And its new Museum of Murder is a hit, though Ex-CIA spy turned Girl Scout leader, Merry Wrath is less than happy that she’s featured in the exhibits. Besides its quirky and somewhat disturbing charm (and a gift shop with questionable practices), everyone wants to know who’s behind Who’s There’s hottest attraction? Some speculate it’s hometown boy Sheldon McBride—a reclusive, ultra-wealthy inventor of ethanol-fueled cars, drones (and, rumor has it, a flock of robot turkeys). Be careful, or you might become the next exhibit! This weird new museum should be nothing but harmless fun... that is until a killer recreates copycat murders among the exhibits! As usual, chaos follows as Merry's troop wants to hand out rotting shark snacks for their Thinking Day booth on Iceland, the dreaded annual cookie sales are coming up, Future Spy of America Betty has a boyfriend, and Merry becomes an aunt for the first time when her twin sisters-in-law finally have their baby boys. Unfortunately, the addition of the new infant citizens isn’t enough to save Who’s There from a population drop as the killer goes on a spree. Merry has no time to lose to catch a killer before she becomes an exhibit of her own…permanently! What critics are saying about Leslie Langtry's books: "I laughed so hard I cried on multiple occasions! Girl Scouts, the CIA, and the Yakuza... what could possibly go wrong?" ~ Fresh Fiction "Darkly funny and wildly over the top, this mystery answers the burning question, 'Do assassin skills and Girl Scout merit badges mix…?'" ~ RT BOOKreviews "Mixing a deadly sense of humor and plenty of sexy sizzle, Leslie Langtry creates a brilliantly original, laughter-rich mix of contemporary romance and suspense." ~ Chicago Tribune "Langtry gets the fun started from page one." ~ Publisher's Weekly




Anatomy Museum


Book Description

The wild success of the traveling Body Worlds exhibition is testimony to the powerful allure that human bodies can have when opened up for display in gallery spaces. But while anatomy museums have shown their visitors much about bodies, they themselves are something of an obscure phenomenon, with their incredible technological developments and complex uses of visual images and the flesh itself remaining largely under researched. This book investigates anatomy museums in Western settings, revealing how they have operated in the often passionate pursuit of knowledge that inspires both fascination and fear. Elizabeth Hallam explores these museums, past and present, showing how they display the human body—whether naked, stripped of skin, completely dissected, or rendered in the form of drawings, three-dimensional models, x-rays, or films. She identifies within anatomy museums a diverse array of related issues—from the representation of deceased bodies in art to the aesthetics of science, from body donation to techniques for preserving corpses and ritualized practices for disposing of the dead. Probing these matters through in-depth study, Anatomy Museum unearths a strange and compelling cultural history of the spaces human bodies are made to occupy when displayed after death.




The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death


Book Description

The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the mind of a master criminal investigator. Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully. Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.




Insinuendo


Book Description

A murder mystery set within the complex world of an anthropological museum. Berry Cates has undergone a "radical lifectomy," remaking her life at fifty-three, newly single and in a new career at a museum. However, she soon becomes the target of serious accusations at the museum. Determined to prove these as false, Berry gets into deeper trouble. Her sleuthing uncovers museum staff casting illicit bronzes and blackmail being delivered via a Roman curse tablet. Curatorial fraud and accusations by aboriginal people of poisoning their heritage regalia with toxic pesticides come to light as well. Only when Berry realizes she has been asking the wrong questions does she stop her slide into a web of deceit.




Murder at the Fitzwilliam


Book Description

After rising to prominence for his role investigating the case of Jack the Ripper, former Detective Inspector Daniel Wilson is now retired. Known for his intelligence, investigative skills, and most of all his discretion, he's often consulted when a case must be solved quickly and quietly. So when a body is found in the Egyptian Collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, Wilson is called in. As he tries to uncover the identity of the dead man and the circumstances surrounding his demise, Wilson must contend with an unhelpful police Inspector, and more alarmingly, Abigail McKenzie, the archaeologist who discovered the body and is determined to protect the Egyptian collection. Can they find a way to work together to solve the mystery?




Murder at the Natural History Museum


Book Description

1895. When the newly dubbed 'Museum Detectives' are asked to investigate deliberate damage to a dinosaur skeleton at the Natural History Museum, there is evidence that the fossil-hunting mania of the notorious Bone Wars in America may have reached their shores. But for Daniel Wilson, famed for his involvement in the Jack the Ripper case, and renowned archaeologist Abigail Fenton, events soon take a sinister turn. A museum attendant is found dead in an anteroom by none other than the infamous theatre manager Bram Stoker, who it seems may have had a personal connection with the deceased. Facing pressure both from an overseas business and local celebrity, Wilson and Fenton must rely on their talents and instincts to solve their most puzzling case yet.




Murder at the Ashmolean


Book Description

1895. A senior executive at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is found in his office with a bullet hole between his eyes, a pistol discarded close by. The death has officially been ruled as suicide by local police, but with an apparent lack of motive for such action, the museum's administrator, Gladstone Marriott, suspects foul play. With his cast-iron reputation for shrewdness, formed during his time investigating the case of Jack the Ripper alongside Inspector Abberline, private enquiry agent Daniel Wilson is a natural choice to discreetly explore the situation, ably assisted by his partner, archaeologist-cum-detective Abigail Fenton. Yet their enquiries are hindered from the start by an interfering lone agent from Special Branch, ever secretive and intimidating in his methods. With rumours of political ructions from South Africa, mislaid artefacts and a lost Shakespeare play, Wilson and Fenton soon find themselves tangled in bureaucracy. Making unlikely alliances, the pair face players who live by a different set of rules and will need their intellect and ingenuity to reveal the secrets of the aristocracy.