5 Books with Detective Agencies from All Backgrounds
By Erin Roll
What do you think of when you imagine a detective agency in a mystery novel? A lot of us have the mental image (in black and white, with sinister music in the background) of a scarred, cynical private eye in an office, feet up on the desk, talking about “dames” and telling the client “the usual fee plus expenses”. But detective agencies aren’t solely the domain of pulp fiction and B-movies. Far from it; private eyes from all backgrounds hang out their shingles in mysteries both cozy and chilling.
Birds of a feather solve crime together, that is, if they don’t pull each other’s feathers out first. Lawyer Rhonda Bird makes two very surprising discoveries about her late, estranged father. Not only did he leave his accounting business behind him and become a detective, but he has provided Rhonda with a much younger half-sister: Barbara, also known as “Baby”. The two young women take over their father’s agency. Before long, a young man comes to them claiming that he has been abducted.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around August 23, 2022. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Isaiah Quintabe–IQ to all who know him–knows he leads a dangerous life as a detective. The fact that he is in the hospital recovering from some pretty bad injuries is proof of that. But the worst is yet to come: his beloved girlfriend Grace has been kidnapped by one of IQ’s worst enemies. To rescue Grace, IQ must team up with an ex-partner and a skeptical homicide detective with a low opinion of private eyes, follow a winding trail of clues through the seedier side of Los Angeles, and deal with all manner of people (and forces of nature) that would very much like to see him dead.
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around May 9, 2023. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
The eccentric and unlikely team of detectives from THE POSTSCRIPT MURDERS is back for more murder and mayhem. The octogenarian Edwin is a master at spying and surveillance, the Ukrainian-born Natalka has a genuine talent for mathematics, and Benedict is a former monk who’s found a new vocation as a coffee shop owner. Natalka is tired of the string of fraud and forgery cases, and she wishes that the team would get a murder case to work on for once. She gets her wish when Melody Chambers, a local writer of some renown, is found dead, and her daughters are convinced it was murder. Could Melody’s death be connected to an obituary writer whose subjects are still alive and breathing? Or perhaps to a book group that seems to be hiding a lot of secrets?
Format
Hardcover
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around April 23, 2024. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Detective Antoinette Conway seems to spend as much time battling her colleagues on the Dublin Murder Squad as she does battling criminals in the Irish capital. She’s on the receiving end of a constant stream of threats, harassment, and not-so-harmless pranks, and only her partner Stephen Moran seems to respect her. The tension rises when Antoinette and Stephen find themselves investigating the death of beautiful, seemingly carefree Aislinn Murray. Aislinn’s boyfriend seems to be the most likely suspect, and the pressure is on Antoinette and Stephen to arrest him and close the case, fast. But Antoinette knows the case is far more complicated, and far darker, than it seems.
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around August 8, 2017. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Mma Precious Ramotswe continues as the director of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in the long-running series from Alexander McCall Smith. Mma Ramotswe and her trusted assistant, Grace Makutsi, head to the Okavango Delta to find a safari camp operator who has been left a large sum of money by a former client: a recently deceased woman from the United States. But when the women arrive, they suspect that there could be treachery afoot. As the investigation proceeds, other trials and tribulations arise. Mma Makutsi’s fiance is injured and requires care, and his possessive aunt seems determined to drive a wedge between her nephew and his beloved. A local woman is targeting men with a swindling operation, and two of Mma Ramotswe’s friends–a husband and wife–separately come to her with fears that their spouse is being unfaithful. It is up to Mma Ramotswe to sort things out, with a cup of rooibos tea at hand.
Format
Trade Paperback
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around March 8, 2011. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Erin Roll is a freelance writer, editor, and proofreader. Her favorite genres to read are mystery, science fiction, and fantasy, and her TBR pile is likely to be visible on Google Maps. Before becoming an editor, Erin worked as a journalist and photographer, and she has won far too many awards from the New Jersey Press Association. Erin lives at the top floor of a haunted house in Montclair, NJ. She enjoys reading (of course), writing, hiking, kayaking, music, and video games.
