Love A Case of Duplicity in Dorset? Readers share 76 books like A Case of Duplicity in Dorset...

By Clara Benson,

Here are 76 books that A Case of Duplicity in Dorset fans have personally recommended if you like A Case of Duplicity in Dorset. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Death Beside the Seaside

Lynn Ferguson Author Of Notes From The Valley

From my list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers.

Why am I passionate about this?

The greatest mystery I face in life is, how is it that when I've just packed the dishwasher, I have to pack it yet again? But I love stories. There’s nothing more healing than a well-told story with characters and jokes and twists and turns. Each of these books contains some form of fictionalized domestic world where murders happen, but marriages and babies and falling in love do, too. We live in a time when the world is hard to navigate. All of these writers bring a mystery, the best of company, and the idea that even in the darkest of times, everything can turn out quite spiffingly.

Lynn's book list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers

Lynn Ferguson Why did Lynn love this book?

As anyone who has ever grown up in Glasgow will tell you, don't mess with short people. A short, angry Scottish woman can have your proverbial eye out when riled. Especially if they’re meant to be enjoying themselves at the seaside. And that's exactly the case with Lady Hardcastle’s loyal sidekick, Flo. Granted, Flo is Welsh, and the duo lives in Edwardian England rather than 20th-century Scotland, but this pair can sort matters out faster than my mother and her wee pal, Margaret. 

Elizabeth Knowelden brilliantly reads this rollicking romp about disappearances, espionage, ice cream, and donkey rides. I like any story with a fearsome female sidekick. Fearsome sidekicks have for too long been dominated by scary blokes with muscles.

By T E Kinsey,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Death Beside the Seaside as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

July 1910. Lady Hardcastle and her tireless sidekick Flo have finally embarked on a long-overdue seaside break. But just as they're wavering between ice creams and donkey rides, their fellow guests start to go missing-and the duo find themselves with a hysterical hotel manager and a case to solve.

The first to disappear is Dr Goddard, a scientist doing something terribly top-secret for the government. Gone too are his strongbox and its mysterious contents. By the time Lady Hardcastle has questioned the horde of international guests, her number-one suspect has been dispatched in grisly circumstances-and then the others start vanishing…


Book cover of Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders

Lynn Ferguson Author Of Notes From The Valley

From my list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers.

Why am I passionate about this?

The greatest mystery I face in life is, how is it that when I've just packed the dishwasher, I have to pack it yet again? But I love stories. There’s nothing more healing than a well-told story with characters and jokes and twists and turns. Each of these books contains some form of fictionalized domestic world where murders happen, but marriages and babies and falling in love do, too. We live in a time when the world is hard to navigate. All of these writers bring a mystery, the best of company, and the idea that even in the darkest of times, everything can turn out quite spiffingly.

Lynn's book list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers

Lynn Ferguson Why did Lynn love this book?

When I was a kid, my Mum loved Upstairs Downstairs—a TV show about a household in Victorian England and the lives of the gentry upstairs and the servants downstairs. Nobody was allowed to even whisper when it was on. 

Well, the Mrs Jeffries Mysteries would have blown her mind. Because the servants in Detective Witherspoon’s household not only do regular servanting but also solve murders on the fly. 

There are loads of great characters: Mrs Goodge, the surly cook, Smythe, the fierce-looking coachman with a heart of gold, and of course Mrs Jeffries herself, who’s like a sherry-guzzling Sherlock Holmes who can tidy.

By Emily Brightwell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mrs. Jeffries and Inspector Witherspoon should be checking off their Christmas present lists but instead they’re listing murder suspects in this latest entry of the beloved Victorian Mystery series.

TIS THE SEASON FOR MURDER
 
Harriet Andover was a smart businesswoman who did not suffer fools gladly, yet somehow her house was full of them. With a husband who has no head for money and two grown stepchildren who would rather do anything than an honest day’s work, Harriet had every intention of righting the ship and putting her family back on the path to respectability. But she soon discovers that…


Book cover of Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery

Lynn Ferguson Author Of Notes From The Valley

From my list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers.

Why am I passionate about this?

The greatest mystery I face in life is, how is it that when I've just packed the dishwasher, I have to pack it yet again? But I love stories. There’s nothing more healing than a well-told story with characters and jokes and twists and turns. Each of these books contains some form of fictionalized domestic world where murders happen, but marriages and babies and falling in love do, too. We live in a time when the world is hard to navigate. All of these writers bring a mystery, the best of company, and the idea that even in the darkest of times, everything can turn out quite spiffingly.

Lynn's book list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers

Lynn Ferguson Why did Lynn love this book?

When Agatha Christie died, so did Miss Marple. It also meant the demise of the best wee-mustached Belgian detective ever. Except it didn't. The delectably smart Sophie Hannah has written a series of Poirot books from the point of view of Poirot’s sidekick, Edward Catchpoolbest pronounced with a strong Belgian accentand they’re so brilliant even Agatha herself would be impressed. 

Lady Athelinda Playford has invited Poirot to a party at her mansion, where she’s planning to announce changes to her will. So obviously, there’s going to be a murder, and Poirot and his little gray cells will solve it. It's a delicious book, read magnificently by Julian Rhind-Tutt. The only real mystery to be answered is when is Sophie Hannah writing more? 

By Sophie Hannah,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Closed Casket as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hercule Poirot returns in another brilliant murder mystery that can only be solved by the eponymous Belgian detective and his 'little grey cells'.

'What I intend to say to you will come as a shock . . .'

Lady Athelinda Playford has planned a house party at her mansion in Clonakilty, County Cork, but it is no ordinary gathering. As guests arrive, Lady Playford summons her lawyer to make an urgent change to her will - one she intends to announce at dinner that night. She has decided to cut off her two children without a penny and leave her…


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Book cover of The Ballad of Falling Rock

The Ballad of Falling Rock by Jordan Dotson,

Truth told, folks still ask if Saul Crabtree sold his soul for the perfect voice. If he sold it to angels or devils. A Bristol newspaper once asked: “Are his love songs closer to heaven than dying?” Others wonder how he wrote a song so sad, everyone who heard it…

Book cover of Murder on the Night Train to Paris

Lynn Ferguson Author Of Notes From The Valley

From my list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers.

Why am I passionate about this?

The greatest mystery I face in life is, how is it that when I've just packed the dishwasher, I have to pack it yet again? But I love stories. There’s nothing more healing than a well-told story with characters and jokes and twists and turns. Each of these books contains some form of fictionalized domestic world where murders happen, but marriages and babies and falling in love do, too. We live in a time when the world is hard to navigate. All of these writers bring a mystery, the best of company, and the idea that even in the darkest of times, everything can turn out quite spiffingly.

Lynn's book list on cozy mystery audiobooks with serial killers

Lynn Ferguson Why did Lynn love this book?

Who doesn't want to be Posey Parker? She’s smart, she eats loads, and never gets tubby. She’s always gorgeous, though she’s not at all arrogant about it. Give Posey a compliment or a sandwich; she’ll take the sandwich every time.

On the negative side, she lives in the 1920s with the world still reeling from the first world war, and women’s rights decidedly sketchy. Also, she’s trapped on the Night Train to Paris with a sense of impending doom. (I totally identify with that, having traveled on the Glasgow to London sleeper.)

L.B. Hatheway has crafted a book that offers the best kind of mystery and a great understanding of the time's history, and Clare Wille voices it flawlessly. 

By L.B. Hathaway,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Murder on the Night Train to Paris as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What if the City of Light holds nothing but darkness?

January, 1926

Invited aboard the glamourous Night Train to Paris, and tasked with investigating the disappearance of her best friend, Dolly Cardigeon, Posie Parker suddenly finds herself right in the middle of a murder!

Controversial society beauty, Lady Caroline Greenlow, is on her way to Paris Fashion Week. She always has a habit of rubbing people up the wrong way, but things take a dreadful turn when she is poisoned at dinner, and then another murder occurs soon after.

Just who exactly are their fellow passengers? Why is the Night…


Book cover of From Hell

Bill Nash Author Of Secret London: An Unusual Guide

From my list on a deeper look at London.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been obsessed with London since childhood. The English side of my family lived and worked throughout the city, and a day out with my father walking its streets was my greatest treat. He was a doctor, so a London trip could involve shopping for medical equipment, trawling bookshops, an afternoon at his tailor, or pub crawls where he seemed to know everyone. I’ve always been aware of the eccentricity of the place, which still thrills me. I really struggled to choose these books because there’s just so much material that I had to leave out. But I hope what I’ve chosen might be of interest. 

Bill's book list on a deeper look at London

Bill Nash Why did Bill love this book?

I love comics, and here is the Master at the top of his game.

Ostensibly, it’s a reimagination of the Whitechapel Murders, how this narrative has been handed down to us, and a final dissection of and dismissal of its meaning. But like all his stuff, it’s brimful of ideas, notably an exploration of psychogeography, the effect of geography and architecture on behaviour.

Plenty of other London writers, like Iain Sinclair and Peter Ackroyd, also explore this, in greater depth, but Moore made me see it most clearly. Maybe because of the visual medium of the work? Perhaps. But the idea of a city that echoes and re-echoes with emotional triggers is really exciting. 

By Alan Moore, Eddie Campbell (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked From Hell as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Eddie Campbell (Bacchus), grandmasters of the comics medium, present a book often ranked among the greatest graphic novels of all time: From Hell.

From the squalid alleys of the East End to the Houses of Parliament, from church naves to dens of the occult, all of London feels the uniquely irresistable blend of fascination, revulsion, and panic that the Ripper offers. The city teeters on the brink of the twentieth century, and only the slightest prodding is necessary to plunge it into a modern age of terror.

Moore and Campbell have created a gripping, hallucinatory piece…


Book cover of Moon

Simon Cluett Author Of Minotaur

From my list on thrillers with serial killers that get under your skin.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been lucky enough to have a happy childhood and enjoy a fulfilling life. Nevertheless, I’ve always been drawn to the darkness… the macabre, the sinister, and the bizarre. My selection of books has, in one way or another, helped to shape me as a writer. I’m constantly fascinated by the process of creating truly disturbed, twisted, or hideous characters. I enjoy the process of working out what makes them tick; shedding my own moral compass and experiencing the world through their eyes… wherever that ends up taking me. 

Simon's book list on thrillers with serial killers that get under your skin

Simon Cluett Why did Simon love this book?

James Herbert is another of my favourite authors who we lost far too soon. He was, primarily, a horror writer and this is his masterful take on the serial killer genre. He creates a deeply flawed main character – a clairvoyant who is afraid of his own abilities. But he can no longer ignore his gift/curse when he starts glimpsing horrific acts through the eyes of a monster that are seemingly triggered by a full moon. I read this when I was far too young (I nicked it from my Dad’s bookshelf), and the memory of its twists and turns chill me to this day.    

By James Herbert,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Moon as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

He had fled from the terrors of his past, finding refuge in the quietness of the island. And for a time he lived in peace. Until the 'sightings' began, visions of horror seeping into his mind like poisonous tendrils, violent acts that were hideously macabre, the thoughts becoming intense.

He witnessed the grotesque acts of another thing, a thing that glorified in murder and mutilation, a monster that soon became aware of the observer within its own mind. And relished contact. A creature that would eventually come to the island to seek him out....

'Guaranteed to give you nightmares' Daily…


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Book cover of The Bangalore Detectives Club

The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra,

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year. The first in a charming, joyful crime series set in 1920s Bangalore, featuring sari-wearing detective Kaveri and her husband Ramu.

When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry handsome young doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life. But…

Book cover of Into the Storm

Dee S. Knight Author Of Naval Maneuvers

From my list on erotic romance with a military theme.

Why am I passionate about this?

Passionate military members are my jam, and I feel pretty confident writing about them. First, I write erotic romance myself, giving me something of an inside view of what makes a good erotic romance with a military vibe. Second, I read a lot of them. Even if the story is a mite slow, you’ve got that alpha military guy who’s going to pull the story out. Or at least, that’s the way it’s worked in every military erotic romance I’ve read. Last, as I mentioned earlier, I was raised in the Navy. I’ve seen lots of men in uniform and the sight never fails to give me a thrill. I think I recognize that passion when I see it.

Dee's book list on erotic romance with a military theme

Dee S. Knight Why did Dee love this book?

Okay, I admit it. I could have chosen any of Suzanne Brockmann’s books with her SEALs. I started reading her books many years ago and stayed with her SEALS until the original team started getting out of the Navy. I’m not sure I’d say her books are erotic, but they are plenty steamy. In this book, the SEALs are playing war games in New Hampshire. What could go wrong? Well, they could lose their pretend hostage… Love, lots of fighting, and plenty of sexy action in this book!

By Suzanne Brockmann,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Into the Storm as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann blends high adventure, harrowing drama, and heart-racing passion into thrilling novels of suspense. Whether tackling danger or wrestling with desire, her elite heroes and heroines never fail to give their all, in stories that soar above and beyond expectations. Now, in this electrifying novel, Brockmann takes us Into the Storm.

In a remote, frozen corner of New Hampshire, a Navy SEAL team and the elite security experts of Troubleshooters, Incorporated are going head-to-head as fierce but friendly rivals in a raid-and-rescue training exercise. Despite the frigid winter temperatures, tension smolders between veteran SEAL Petty Officer Mark…


Book cover of Hannibal

Christopher Gorham Calvin Author Of Pendant of God

From my list on that were adapted into worse movies.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up a child of the movies, open to watching anything at least once and countlessly rewatching the movies I loved. When not in front of a television, I was instead in front of a book, playing the words of the page out in my imagination. Now I write thrillers of multiple varieties (action, techno, paranormal, etc.), still visualizing words as movies playing out in my mind. Over the years, I’ve seen the quality of novel adaptations grow (e.g., Harry Potter, The Martian, etc.), and yet these staples of my youth have always stuck with me as lost opportunities to deliver a superior work to the general movie-watching audience.

Christopher's book list on that were adapted into worse movies

Christopher Gorham Calvin Why did Christopher love this book?

On one hand, this sequel to the amazing The Silence of the Lambs might have been doomed from the start, given the pedigree it was expected to live up to. On the other hand, taken as its own work, Hannibal is an interesting, disturbing, and highly engrossing horror thriller.

The ending was extremely controversial, so much so that it was changed for the 2001 movie adaptation. Regardless of how one feels about each ending, however, one thing is certain: the book was the superior version of the tale.

Ridley Scott is an amazing director, but he was the wrong choice for this story, and it led to the overall feel of the movie, as well as the altered ending, not living up to the feel of other entries in the series. Keep an open mind, and the book will please.

By Thomas Harris,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Hannibal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

_________________________
HANNIBAL LECTER HAS BEEN ON THE RUN FOR SEVEN YEARS.

And seven years after he helped FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling bring down Buffalo Bill, her career is collapsing after a disastrous drug bust.

Meanwhile, seven years after violently escaping from custody, Hannibal Lecter is hunted by Mason Verger, a psychopathic former client obsessed with feeding him to wild boars.

With the one-time partners at a low ebb, Hannibal is the one to reach out to Clarice, who has been plagued by dreams of his rasping voice.

It has been seven years since they both came to realise they…


Book cover of The Last

Melissa Caribou Annen Author Of The Midwest Madman: An Agent Raines Casefile

From my list on murderous serial killers that keep you up at night.

Why am I passionate about this?

I believe my love of horror and mystery started young. My first favorite book was The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree. I started writing my first mystery novel when I was in high school. It wasn’t very good, but I still have it. I have so many stories in my head that it’s hard to keep them straight. I also co-host a True Crime podcast, Nothing Happens in A Small Town

Melissa's book list on murderous serial killers that keep you up at night

Melissa Caribou Annen Why did Melissa love this book?

This is a mystery within a mystery—an end-of-the-world survival story that slowly unfolds how the world's end happened. The mystery of a little girl found dead, but not from anything happening in the world. This book made me think about how I’d react in a similar situation. We all hope we’d be level-headed and survive. But as this book tells, you never know.

By Hanna Jameson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Last as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This propulsive post-apocalyptic thriller “in which Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None collides with Stephen King’s The Shining” (NPR) follows a group of survivors stranded at a hotel as the world descends into nuclear war and the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks.

Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic…


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Book cover of Death on a Shetland Longship: The Shetland Sailing Mysteries

Death on a Shetland Longship by Marsali Taylor,

Liveaboard sailor Cass Lynch thinks her big break has finally arrived when she blags her way into skippering a Viking longship for a Hollywood film. However, this means returning to the Shetland Islands, the place she fled as a teenager. When a corpse unexpectedly appears onboard the longship, she can…

Book cover of Nice

B.G. Harlen Author Of Break Her

From my list on featuring villains you can’t stop thinking about.

Why am I passionate about this?

If only they made good guys as complicated and fascinating as the baddies, maybe I wouldn’t be so drawn to the dark side. I mean, I liked Luke, and Leia, and Han, and I even wanted them to win, but Darth Vader—now, that was an interesting dude. Perhaps because they do and are what most of us can’t and aren’t, these antagonists benefit from writers who, consciously or not, do their best work when they create singular villains. What makes the “bad guy” tick? Is it circumstances, or choices? Are they someone you cannot even imagine being, or someone you can? And what does that say about us?

B.G.'s book list on featuring villains you can’t stop thinking about

B.G. Harlen Why did B.G. love this book?

Now these two main characters, both “villains,” are refreshingly human. When the evil archeologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark tells Indy that it would only take a small push to move him out of the light, this is the kind of thing he meant. For the woman in the story, being bad is an almost understandable way to cope with the particular situation she faces (that we’ve all faced). For the man, he’s been in the dark for a long time, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t need love. A serial killer/black comedy/love story about a hired killer and an inspired killer. Is it a match made in Heaven, or Hell?

By Jen Sacks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Nice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Grace is a nice girl. She can't stand the thought of hurting anyone's feelings. The problem is she usually wants out of her relationships first. So rather than break up with her boyfriend, she murders them. But one man is just like Grace. What happens when two murderers fall in love?


Book cover of Death Beside the Seaside
Book cover of Mrs. Jeffries and the Midwinter Murders
Book cover of Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery

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