<p>Champagne, caviar… and a corpse. This high-society party wasn’t meant to end in murder. When my brother calls me to investigate the brutal stabbing of a female ogre at the charity ball of the season, the glittering magical elite quickly become a sea of suspects.</p> <p>Everyone who’s anyone was there, but glamour has given way to something far darker. Someone’s playing a deadly game, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s my job to cut through the beauty and lies to find a killer hiding among the rich and powerful.</p> <p>As a police inspector with the Connection, I’ve seen plenty of strange things, but this case reeks of entitlement, secrets, and old money with something to hide. Then the King of the Ogres storms in. Furious and formidable, he demands justice. Stopping him from tearing through the guest list is almost as hard as keeping my mind on the case, because rage and power look annoyingly good on him.</p> <p>But when a dryad turns up dead at another elite event, I realise I’m chasing a serial killer who thinks they’re too rich to face consequences… and they’re setting my brother up to take the fall.</p> <p>With a rookie partner finding his feet and my talking-bird sidekick offering sharp advice (and sharper insults), I’m racing against the clock to solve the case before my brother faces the lethal justice of the Other realm…</p> <p><strong><em>Immerse yourself in </em></strong><strong>The Other Detective Series<em> – perfect for fans of supernatural crime, complete with a fierce heroine, gritty murder investigations, and a slow-burn romance.</em></strong></p> <p><em>Written in British English.</em></p>

Welcome to Middleberry, Pennsylvania—where the muffins are enchanted, the sheriff wears flannel, and murder never sticks to the script. When a magician's assistant dies during a show at the county fair, retired FBI profiler and baker Bell Ringer stirs up more than batter to uncover the truth. With her mischievous cat Marmalade, goth sidekick Star Sparks, and high school sweetheart Sheriff Rodney Halloway by her side, Bell peels back layers of illusion, jealousy, and deception to unmask a killer hiding behind smoke and mirrors. Cozy charm, a dash of magical realism, and red herrings abound in this twisty tale of secrets, sleight of hand, and second chances.

Duncan's back and the mysteries are piling up faster than empty bags of Dragon Delights!It's the Annual Unusual Circus Conference, and Duncan and the rest of Zin's troupe are in attendance. On the outskirts, of course, because Zin says it's cheaper that way.Duncan - dragon detective and omelet aficionado - is thrilled to be there, not only because it's his first time attending the overly commercial event but also because he's getting a chance to spend time with the lovely Viola.Only trouble is, Viola appears to prefer spending her time with a rather handsome dragon Duncan's never seen before. A situation that becomes even more worrisome when Viola turns up missing.But before Duncan (along with his fellow amateur sleuths Boris and Cordelia) can sift through the clues and rescue Viola from the dragon-napping clutches of Mr Handsome, they find themselves contending with...A satyr who's become obsessed with styling...

Here are the best short fiction stories, short non-fiction pieces and poetry from the Pikihuia Awards for Māori writers 2023 as judged by Emma Espiner, Carol Hirschfeld, Maiki Sherman, Mike Ross, Hēmi Kelly and Robert Sullivan. This competition, run by the Māori Literature Trust and Huia Publishers, is held every two years to promote Māori writers and their work. This year, the awards sought short non-fiction and poetry, along with short fiction, from writers in te reo Māori and English. The competition attracts entries each year from writers of all ages and those who are starting out to seasoned authors. This collection of finalists' work celebrates Māori writing, introduces new talent and gives an opportunity for Māori writers to shine.

A murder in the science lab shatters a woman’s quiet and ordered life when she decides she must solve the crime herself in this entertaining and uplifting mystery.Plenty of people consider Margaret Finch odd. Six-feet-tall and big-boned, she lives alone in a small cabin in the woods, drives a 20-year-old truck, and schedules her life so precisely you can tell the time and day of the week by the chore she is doing and what she is wearing.  But the same attributes that cause her to be labeled eccentric—an obsessive attention to detail and the ability to organize almost anything—make her invaluable in her job as Research Assistant II to a talented and charismatic botanist.It's those very same qualities, however, that also turn Margaret into a target after a surprising death shakes the small university where she works. Even as authorities claim the death appears to be from natural causes, Margaret fears it might be something more: a murder born of...

In the shadowed corners of West Sound, a lethal concoction of drugs claims its victims with ruthless efficiency—four lives extinguished in as many days.Detective Jefferson Hughes follows the deadly trail. What starts as a seemingly routine case tied to the city's homeless population takes an ominous turn when a lifeless body surfaces in a wealthy golf course community.Meanwhile, middle school teacher MJ Brooks senses a troubling change in one of her students. When the girl vanishes without a trace, MJ embarks on a personal crusade to uncover the truth. Soon her investigation intertwines with Hughes' pursuit, revealing a web of deception and danger.In a reluctant alliance, Hughes and MJ find their paths converging once more. However, as the urgency to solve the mystery escalates, so does the magnetic pull between them, binding their fates in ways neither anticipated.As the stakes rise in Book Two of the...