Archives: Books

Operation Nassau

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1KJW, 1KJWB, 4.1.0.0.0.0.0, 4.1.8.0.0.0.0, FA, FF, FFC, FFJ, FFK, FFS, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC022030, FIC022040, FIC022060, FIC022070, FIC022100, FIC022140, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 06/07/2023
  • Paperback ISBN: 9781788424158
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424165
A Dolly Mystery 4

Operation Nassau

Dorothy Dunnett

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Dr B. MacRannoch is in the Bahamas with her father who has moved there from Scotland because of asthma. She is a savvy and tough young woman who shows much independence of mind and spirit.

However, when Sir Bart Edgecome, a British agent who has been poisoned with arsenic, falls ill on his way back from New York, she becomes involved in a series of events beyond her wildest imagination.

Drawn into an espionage plot with multiple suspects, it is only the presence of enigmatic portrait painter Johnson Johnson on his yacht, Dolly, that saves the day. But nothing is quite as straightforward as it at first seems.

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Roman Nights

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1.5.3.0.0.1.0, 1DST, 1DST-IT-TZR, FA, FF, FFC, FFJ, FFK, FFS, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC022030, FIC022040, FIC022060, FIC022070, FIC022080, FIC022100, FIC022140, FIC031010, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 03/08/2023
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788424174
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424189
A Dolly Mystery 5

Roman Nights

Dorothy Dunnett

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If Ruth had stayed on leave, none of it might have happened. An astronomer working at the Maurice Frazer Observatory, Ruth Russell is enjoying her time in Rome.

That is until Charles Digham, top fashion photographer and Ruth’s lover, has his camera stolen and the thief ends up a headless corpse in the zoo park toletta. The enigmatic Johnson Johnson, in Rome to paint a portrait of the Pope, is on hand to unravel the mystery.

But as Johnson and Ruth begin the search for clues it soon becomes clear that more is at stake than the secrets of a couture house… something far more deadly.

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Split Code

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1DVWY, 1KBC, 1KBCM, 4.0.2.0.0.0.0, FA, FF, FFC, FFJ, FFK, FFS, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC022030, FIC022040, FIC022060, FIC022070, FIC022080, FIC022100, FIC022140, FIC031010, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 31/08/2023
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788424190
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424202
A Dolly Mystery 6

Split Code

Dorothy Dunnett

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To all appearances Joanna Emerson is a fully qualified, gold-medalled graduate of the world’s finest college of Nursery Nurses…

Engaged as a nanny to Benedict, newly born heir to a vast cosmetic fortune, she becomes caught up in a complex kidnap plot. But the enigmatic portrait painter, yachtsman and former spy, Johnson Johnson is never far away – and he knows the dangerous game she’s playing.

Before long, bullets are flying, and most of them in Joanna’s direction.

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Me Too

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - FIC032000, FJM, Social comedy, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 20/04/2017
  • Paperback ISBN: 1911440497
  • eBook ISBN: 9781911440635
  • Audiobook ISBN: 9781788420433
The Bandy Papers 5

Me Too

Donald Jack, Robin Gabrielli (narrator)

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Despite designing his own amphibious aircraft, the Gander – a machine almost as alarming looking as its horse-faced maker – ex-WWI ace Bartholomew Bandy is failing to make a fortune in his hometown of Gallop.

The only work he finds is flying bootleg liquor into the USA. In desperation (what else?) he stands as a local MP and in desperation (why else?) they vote him in. But after spilling the beans on a bunch of government members indulging in Prohibition corruption, Bart’s soon cordially hated by everyone up to the Prime Minister – can he really be naïve enough to believe party propaganda that the people must be told the truth?

So Bart’s goose – or gander – is cooked, and the resulting mess can be summed up as whisky galore!

With the blackest of black comedy and seat-of-the pants escapades, Donald Jack’s series about a young pilot is uniquely funny and compelling.

What people are saying about The Bandy Papers:

“Reading can lead to involuntary bursts of loud laughter.”

“Very descriptive, full of air combats and written with a fine eye for period detail . . . there is quite simply no finer book of its kind. Highly recommended.”

“It is clear that Bandy likely should’ve been killed several times, but very likely the Grim Reaper was laughing too hard to hold his scythe straight . . .”

“Hysterically funny! . . . each book is another installment in the continuing saga of a Canadian and his adventures in war, the world, and women.”

“I have yet to find another author with the wit and humor of Donald Jack.”

Editorial reviews:

“I enjoyed every word . . . terrifically funny.”  P.G. Wodehouse

“Jack does more than play it for laughs . . . The mingling of humor and horror is like a clown tap-dancing on a coffin, but Jack is skillful enough to get away with it.” Time Magazine

“Funny. Very. Donald Jack has as light a touch with this fragile art as his hero has on throttle of a Sopwith Camel. Excessive corn is avoided in favour of wit and a delight in life.” New York Times

“Bartholomew Bandy is the most remarkable hero (or anti-hero) since Harold Lloyd impersonated the Freshman.” Chicago Tribune

“To know Bandy is to love him . . . you tend to gallop through and come hurtling out at the end panting for more.” The Sunday Sun

“For those to whom Bandy is a newcomer, what a treat is in store.” Toronto Star

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The Prize Racket

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - AVGC, AVLA, AVRN, FA, FBA, FF, FFK, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC027020, FIC050000, FRD, FU, HUM000000, Humorous Mystery and Crime, MUS006000, MUS023050, Romantic Comedy, Social comedy, WH

  • Publication date: 28/01/2022
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788423992
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424004
The Stockwell Park Orchestra Series 4

The Prize Racket

Isabel Rogers

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After a brief and disastrous Resident Poet episode, Stockwell Park Orchestra is invited to take part in a TV competition for classical music. For a £50,000 prize some competitors are tempted to stretch the genre to ‘crossover’ and beyond.

Can a full concert orchestra compete with jazz bands, horn quartets, harp ensembles, and Mrs Ford-Hughes singing in Portuguese with nine cellos? Or will the competition be derailed by the poet’s return, this time sporting live Ambient Sounds? The TV producers aren’t worried: they know a good fight means great ratings.

What was supposed to be a quirky diversion threatens to take over the orchestra’s rehearsals for their own concert, but discovering a voting scam means they must fix things in the TV studio first. 

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Mermaid Confidential

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1KBB-US-SEF, 1KBBFL, DNXC3, FA, FF, FFK, FH, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC030000, FIC031000, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, Social comedy, TRU000000, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 24/02/2022
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788424018
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424028
A Serge Storms Adventure 24

Mermaid Confidential

Tim Dorsey

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If you like your humour dark and twisty, then you’ll love Tim Dorsey’s outrageous Serge Storms series of crime novels.

In this latest crime caper, Serge Storms and his permanently baked sidekick, Coleman, decide to pump the brakes and live on island time.

After years of manic road tripping across their beloved Sunshine State, the irrepressible anti-heroes drop anchor in the Florida Keys. They settle down in Pelican Bay, a thriving condo complex with scenic views and friendly neighbours. But the community is at war with investors who are buying up units and leasing them to young vacationers who party at all hours. With their little slice of heaven on the line, Serge takes it upon himself to convince the tourists to move on and quickly becomes a local favourite.

Meanwhile, the island chain’s long and rich smuggling heritage is causing mayhem—a gang war erupts when a local drug lord passes the family business to his young, enterprising son, and the sun-loving residents are suddenly dodging bullets.

Luckily, Florida’s most lovable serial killer is there to help!

 

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Tropical Issue

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1.5.5.2.0.0.0, 1MTANM, FA, FF, FFC, FFJ, FFK, FFS, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC022030, FIC022040, FIC022060, FIC022070, FIC022080, FIC022100, FIC022140, FIC031010, FIC031020, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 13/04/2023
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788424093
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424103
A Dolly Mystery 1

Tropical Issue

Dorothy Dunnett

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Rita, a small, tough Scottish make-up artist, is on Madeira investigating who killed Kim-Jim, an American make-up supremo. Also anchored off the island is Dolly, the yacht of Johnson Johnson with whom Rita teams up to get to the bottom of this foul deed.

Rita’s fighting spirits are aroused despite the danger. She is not one for quitting, even when she learns she is caught up in an international drug-smuggling ring.

But she also discovers that dealing with the maddeningly enigmatic Johnson Johnson is, by no stretch of the imagination, plain sailing.

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Rum Affair

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1.1.2.5.0.1.0, 1DBKS, 1DDU-GB-SCE, FA, FF, FFC, FFJ, FFK, FFS, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC022030, FIC022040, FIC022070, FIC022080, FIC022100, FIC022140, FIC031010, FIC031020, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 11/05/2023
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788424115
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788424127
A Dolly Mystery 2

Rum Affair

Dorothy Dunnett

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Tina Rossi, the world’s leading coloratura soprano, has travelled to Edinburgh, ostensibly to sing in the Festival,  in reality to meet her lover, top scientist Kenneth Holmes. But instead of finding Kenneth at their rendezvous, she discovers an unknown corpse.

Enter Johnson Johnson, a famous but enigmatic portrait painter whose yacht Dolly is about to sail in a race to the Hebrides where Holmes was conducting his top-secret research.

Soon Tina and Johnson are sailing the high seas  to investigate Holmes’ disappearance, but as Dolly nears Rum, the race has become one for life rather than prize money…

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Pel and the Picture of Innocence

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1DDF, 1DDF-FR-E, 1DDF-FR-EAA, FA, FBA, FF, FFC, FFP, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 09/09/2021
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788423666
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788423656
An Inspector Pel Mystery 13

Pel and the Picture of Innocence

Mark Hebden

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An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy.

Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.

Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly witty French mysteries.

 

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Pel and the Party Spirit

Posted on March 29, 2026 by - 1DDF, 1DDF-FR-E, 1DDF-FR-EAA, FA, FBA, FF, FFC, FFP, FIC000000, FIC022000, FIC050000, FU, Humorous Mystery and Crime, WEBFICTION

  • Publication date: 07/10/2021
  • Paperback ISBN: 1788423682
  • eBook ISBN: 9781788423670
An Inspector Pel Mystery 14

Pel and the Party Spirit

Mark Hebden

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Brigade Criminelle is mobilised when a fatal stabbing, an anticipated delivery of lethal drugs from Marseilles, and the discovery of a thirty-year-old corpse in an ancient turreted tower in the town of Puyceldome coincide with a frantic search for two murderous hitchhikers – all on Chief Inspector Pel’s patch.

As folk-dancers, stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, and jugglers lurch through a night of carnival, Pel stalks his prey.

Moody, sharp-tongued and worrying constantly about his health, Inspector Pel ensures that no case goes unsolved, in these mordantly witty French mysteries.

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