Dorothy Cannell Mystery Novels

Dorothy Cannell Books

The Trouble With Harriet by Dorothy Cannell

Ellie Haskell and her husband, Ben, haven't had a vacation in years. Now their bags are packed, and they're ready to set off for a romantic getaway to France. But things go awry when a chain-smoking gypsy approaches Ellie with a dire prediction: "Take that trip at your peril!" Those ominous words ring true when her prodigal father Morley suddenly appears with an urn containing the remains of his ladylove, Harriet, whose untimely death in a car accident has left him bereft.

When Morley loses the urn in a bizarre series of events, Harriet's family is furious, and a bewildered Ellie asks some probing questions: What exactly is in that urn? Is her father a pawn in a deadly game? Is this what the gypsy had foreseen? The answers are hilariously revealed in a caper so charming it could only have come from Dorothy Cannell.

The Family Jewels and Other Stories by Dorothy Cannell

Femmes Fatal by Dorothy Cannell

Desperate to save her floundering marriage, new mother Ellie Haskell signs up for a course in the sensual arts and finds herself involved in a case of murder when a classmate dies in a fatally frothy bubble bath.

The Thin Woman by Dorothy Cannell

Reluctant to show up at her family reunion carrying so many extra pounds, unmarried, overweight Ellie Simons hires Bentley T. Haskell to pose as her fiance, thus beginning a weekend of romance, jealousy, and murder.

How to Murder Your Mother-In-Law by Dorothy Cannell

The formerly rotund lead in The Thin Woman , Ellie Haskell, fears that her friends have taken their homicidal fantasies too seriously when their step-mothers end up in some dangerous situations.

Bridesmaids Revisited by Dorohty Cannell

"Rosemary, Thora, and Jane lived at the end of the lane, one was thin, one was fat, and one was very plain." This is how Ellie Haskell remembers her grandmother's three friends, known collectively as "the bridesmaids." She had once asked her mother where the nickname came from and her mother replied, "It's a long story, best forgotten." Every family has its secrets.
Now, thirty years later, a letter from the bridesmaids arrives informing Ellie that her grandmother, Sophia, wishes to make contact. This might have been heartwarming news but for one small detail: Sophia is dead. Ellie sets out to visit the bridesmaids on what becomes a life-changing journey that includes a seance, a hidden diary, and a murder that took place more than fifty years ago.

How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams by Dorothy Cannell

When Ellie Haskell arrives at the Chitteron Fells Library meeting, she discovers the librarian's corpse sprawled next to an open copy of The Dream Lover and must unmask the killer before she meets her own untimely--an unromantic--fate.

The Widows Club by Dorothy Cannell

Stylish, amusing, and deliciously wicked, the Misses Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell are hired to investigate a woman's organization whose members choose widowhood over divorce. With the help of a newlywed friend, the spinster sleuths stalk the mastermind of matrimonial murder.

The Spring Cleaning Murders (Ellie Haskell Mystery Series) by Dorothy Cannell

For thirteen years, Dorothy Cannell, the award-winning author of The Thin Woman and The widows' Club, has enchanted readers who relish Nancy Atherton, Carolyn Hart, and Diane Mott Davidson. Now she brings us her inimitable Ellie Haskell--heroine of the weight-loss wars and busy mother of twins--in a mystery that fizzes with deadly wit.
Spring cleaning fever has Ellie nearly scrubbing the Merlin's Court chandeliers with a toothbrush. But when yet another member of the Chitteron Fells Charwomen's Association bites the dust, Ellie swaps scrubbing for sleuthing to find out who has more than dust bunnies and dirty dishes to hide. With Ellie and a madcap cast that includes her handsome husband Bentley, her feckless cousin Freddy, and caustic home helper Mrs. Malloy, The Spring Cleaning Murders is Cannell at her best.
"If there's anybody funnier than Dorothy Cannell, I don't want to meet her until my sides stop aching." --Nancy Pickard
Summary
The doyenne of malice domestic offers a brand-new Ellie Haskell mystery--"wickedly witty . . . outrageous plotting" ("Chicago Sun Times")--as the sleuth seeks to find out who has more than dust bunnies and dirty dishes to hide.

God Save the Queen! by Dorothy Cannell

Amazon.com
Imagine Remains of the Day rewritten by an Agatha Christie with a nasty sense of humor, and you'll get some idea of why Dorothy Cannell's new mystery is such great fun. When Sir Henry Gossinger announces that he intends to leave his stately home to the man who has been his butler for 50 years, all sorts of upper-class stuff begins to hit a variety of fans. The elderly butler is drowned in a toilet, his sharp-witted granddaughter is exiled to London, and greed is only one of the seven deadly sins that go for a romp over the glorious grounds.
Book Description
At gloomy Gossinger Hall, where the chill of centuries calls for three sweaters, Sir Henry Gossinger has just dropped a bombshell. After hours of unexplained penance on his knees in the chapel, he has announced to his unwitting relatives that he has announced to his unwitting relatives that he has written a new will...bequeathing everything to his devoted butler, Hutchins. Not since the days of George III, when roguish Sir Rowland Gossinger was accused of stealing the queen's silver tea strainer, has such a scandal threatened the family honor. But worse is yet to come.
For Hutchins is missing, and it soon becomes apparent that the only thing the distinguished butler will inherit is a place in the cemetery. Found head down in the principle fixture of the twelfth-century privy, he may have been the victim of foul play. And what could Hutchins have meant by his dying words, "God save the Queen"?
To Flora, the deceased's sweet young granddaughter, Hutchins' death is a tragic loss. Raised by him in Gossinger Hall, she remembers her grandfather's dedication to the noble Gossingers--including Sir Henry's social climbing wife--and all the stately legends he told her over the silver polish. Only a new life in London, and the kindness of Vivian Gossinger, nephew and former heir to Sir Henry, can ease her pain.
Yet soon Gossinger Hall's history of treachery and intrigue--topped by the ongoing rift with the Royal Family regarding the long-lost tea strainer--casts its shadow over Flora. And suddenly she finds herself caught in a murderously tangled web, where even a familiar face could hide the heart of a cold-blooded killer.

Down the Garden Path by Dorothy Cannell

One of the most beloved names in the cozy mystery market, Dorothy Cannell has been credited with originating the genre. In this classic display of her talents she tells the story of Tessa Fields, a young orphan determined to uncover her true origins. With the help of the Misses Tramwells, two endearing elderly ladies, and the reluctant assistance of her secret love, Harry Harkness, Tessa hits upon a scheme that finds her feigning amnesia and recovering in the Tramwells's ancestral home. But it isn't long before Tessa smells a rat. Why does the butler creep around in his socks, and what was he doing in her closet? How does the coquettish maid know all about Tessa--and even more about Harry? And why are these little old ladies so fiendishly good at cards? It soon becomes apparent that the game being played out in this proper English town isn't poker or whist--it's murder. And with the deck stacked against her, Tessa must unmask the perpetrator before she's dealt a fatal hand.

OxfordBooks.com / Oxford, MS

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