Diana Xarissa

Aunt Bessie zeroes in on the perfect house for her friends, Elizabeth Quayle and Andy Caine.Actually, the Looney mansion isn't anyone's idea of a perfect house. Decades of neglect have left the house in need of a complete renovation, but Andy and Elizabeth have the funds needed to restore the house to its former glory.Aunt Bessie zeroes in on the body on the bed.Finding another murder victim isn't all that surprising for Bessie, but the dead man's identity is a shock to everyone. Aunt Bessie zeroes in on the suspects.Doing what she does best, Bessie talks to everyone she knows about the victim, why he was on the island, and who wanted him dead. No doubt, before long, Bessie will be zeroing in on a killer.

Fenella Woods isn't certain that following a traveling orchestra around England with police inspector Daniel Robinson is the sort of romantic vacation for which she was hoping. The tour is being led by one of Daniel's former teachers, and apparently he couldn't say no when she asked him to come along.The tour doesn't turn out to be quite what either of them were expecting, but they're making the best of it, until they stumble across a dead body. There is no shortage of suspects as the police begin to investigate the entire orchestra as well as the tour group following it.Will the local police inspector be interested in help from Daniel and Fenella? Can they work together to narrow down the list of suspects? With everyone from the orchestra and the tour stuck in Chester, can their vacation get any worse? If the police can find the killer, can Fenella talk Daniel into giving up on the orchestra tour and doing something, anything, else?

Aunt Bessie yearns for a typical walk on the beach.It's been exactly two years since Elizabeth Cubbon, Aunt Bessie to nearly everyone, found a dead body on Laxey Beach. Since then, finding murder victims has been something of an unfortunate habit for her.Aunt Bessie yearns for a quiet life where she never finds dead bodies.Unfortunately for Bessie, she once again stumbles over a murdered man on her morning walk. Harrison Parker was a newspaper reporter for a London paper, but he used to work on the Isle of Man.Aunt Bessie yearns to understand why the police are so certain that Harrison's death is tied to someone at Thie yn Traie, the beachfront mansion near Bessie's cottage.Thie yn Traie's owner, George Quayle, has four guests staying with him at the moment. They all seem to have secrets, but are any of them worth killing for? With the mansion's regular butler off the island, Bessie is missing one of her best sources of inside information. Can the temporary butler, Geoffrey Scott, be persuaded to tell Bessie everything he knows? Which of the four men has a secret he's prepared to kill to keep? Can Bessie help the police solve the case, and finally get the peaceful life for which she yearns?

Fenella Woods has been having nightmares for the past two weeks. She and Daniel Robinson, her police inspector boyfriend, have been getting along really well, even starting to plan a vacation together. That was before he announced that the woman he'd met while taking classes in Milton Keynes was coming to visit the Isle of Man.Daniel and Nancy Weston had become friends while they were in Milton Keynes, but according to Daniel, they'd agreed not to pursue a relationship, as neither was prepared to move in order for them to be together. That's not the way Nancy tells the story, though. When she and her friends arrive on the island, she announces that she's given up her job and is ready to make big changes in her life, changes that seem to include Daniel.When Nancy turns up dead on the beach where she and her friends are staying, Daniel and Fenella are both suspects. Inspector Mark Hammersmith is in charge and Daniel finds himself suspended from his duties while the case is under investigation.Can Fenella and Daniel work out what happened to Nancy? Her friends seem to be the most likely suspects, but they're a tight-knit group who don't want to confide in anyone. It becomes increasingly clear that the group has a number of secrets, but surely they wouldn't work together to cover up a murder, would they?

Welcome to Ramsey, New York - a small town full of characters. Some are looking for love, some most definitely are not. Sooner or later, everyone finds his or her happily ever after.Camille Quinn has had her heart broken twice and she isn't interested in finding love again. She's busy raising her two children, Brandon and Molly. When Maxwell Steward, the first man who broke her heart, thirty years earlier, comes back to Ramsey, all she wants to do is avoid him.When Brandon manages to crash into Maxwell's expensive sports car during a driving lesson, avoiding the man becomes impossible. The Ramsey Summer Fair throws Camille and Maxwell together and brings back memories for Camille. Maxwell seems more than happy to rekindle their friendship, seemingly not realizing how badly he hurt her in the past.Camille isn't interested in being friends with her former boyfriend. She's much more concerned with guarding her heart.

Fenella Woods has been living on the Isle of Man for a year, and it now seems as if every charity there feels it's appropriate to start soliciting her. Most of the letters get turned over to Fenella's advocate to deal with, but one request catches Fenella's eye. Darrell Higgins wants her help monitoring the wild wallaby population in the Curraghs wetlands area of the island. When she agrees to spend an hour in the wetlands one morning, the man in her life, Daniel Robinson, offers to join her. After a boring hour in the cold and rain, they both can't wait to get indoors, but on the walk back to Daniel's car, they find Darrell under a bush, dead.There isn't any shortage of suspects, from volunteers with the charity to business colleagues of the dead man, not to mention a quartet of ex-wives and one current girlfriend, but motive is harder to determine. Can Daniel and Fenella work out who killed the island's main marsupial supporter before the killer chooses another victim?

Aunt Bessie wonders if a holiday is a good idea. Thomas and Amy Rockwell have had something of a shock. When Doona suggests a holiday to Lakeview Holiday Park, their father, John, isn't sure whether to agree or not. In the end, Bessie, Doona, John, and the children make the journey during the February half-term break.Aunt Bessie wonders why Doona's solicitor, Stuart Stanley, happens to be at the park at the same time.Stuart fills Doona in quickly enough. He's there because another solicitor is about to challenge Doona's right to the estate of her former husband, Charles Adams. Carl Dietrich is working for Lawrence Jenkins, the man who was a business partner to Charles, but who is currently in prison for fraud and other crimes.Aunt Bessie wonders what it would be like to have a holiday where no one is murdered.When Carl turns up dead, Doona, John, and even Bessie seem to top the list of suspects. Can Bessie help the local police inspector, Margaret Hopkins, work out what really happened to Carl? Was it murder, or is too much to hope that Carl simply had a heart attack? When a second man dies, Bessie can't help but wonder why she keeps finding herself tangled up in murder investigations.

Along with everything that she left to her, Fenella's aunt Mona left instructions for her own birthday party. Doncan Quayle, Fenella's advocate, is in charge of arranging the party, following Mona's detailed plans. He gets a little sidetracked, however, when a woman turns up on the island claiming to be Maxwell Martin's daughter.Max had been Mona's benefactor for most of her life. He'd showered Mona with gifts, and now Rosemary Ballard is demanding a share of Mona's estate. She claims to have letters that prove that Mona had blackmailed Max for years. When Rosemary turns up dead, Fenella is the number-one suspect.Inspector Daniel Robinson has to keep Fenella at arm's length, no matter how he feels about her. As Rosemary's family threaten to continue with the planned lawsuit, Fenella finds herself trying to prove her innocence in the murder investigation, and to find evidence that Rosemary was lying about her parentage.Mona, Fenella's ghostly roommate in her luxury apartment, is insistent that the letters are fake. As she reveals more to Fenella about her relationship with Max, Fenella works to find a way to protect her fortune and find a killer.Is it possible that Mona badly misjudged Max? Who else besides Fenella had a motive for wanting Rosemary dead? Mona is sure that Max's sister is behind the whole thing, but proving that might be an impossible task. As Mona's birthday party gets closer, Fenella begins to wonder if there is actually going to be anything to celebrate.

Aunt Bessie volunteers to help Manx National Heritage clear out years of accumulated rubbish at Peel Castle.Elizabeth Cubbon has been known as Aunt Bessie for most her life. She's acted as an honourary aunt to most of the children who've grown up in Laxey over the past fifty years or more. She's also well known for being a helpful volunteer with Manx National Heritage, the group charged with preserving and publicising the island's rich history.Aunt Bessie volunteers to take a quick look.When Mark finds what looks like a skeleton in one of small towers in the castle walls, Bessie reluctantly takes a peek. A quick call to the police has Inspector Anna Lambert on the scene a short while later.Aunt Bessie volunteers to help the police work out the identity of the skeleton.Bessie knows people all over the island. It doesn't take her long to compile a list of women who left the island at the right time and never returned. Now the police just have to work out which woman never got any farther than St. Patrick's Isle, the tiny island where Peel Castle sits.Bessie and the police need to work out the identity of their skeleton, but that isn't all. They also want to know how she died and how her body ended up at Peel Castle. Equally puzzling is how it managed to remain undiscovered for over thirty years.

Police inspector Daniel Robinson wants help with another cold case, and Fenella Woods is always happy to assist. This time, it's a fifty-year-old murder case that has captured Daniel's attention. With witnesses and suspects well into their seventies, working out what happened to Mabel Gross all those years ago is going to be a real challenge. When Winston, the neighbor's dog, starts barking at a storage shed on the promenade, Fenella can't help but fear that he's uncovered a more modern murder mystery. Instead, she finds herself looking after an injured mother cat and a foursome of extremely active kittens.Things are still somewhat awkward between Fenella and Daniel, but helping him with the case seems a good way to work toward a new beginning. Between looking after kittens and taking a class in reading old records, Fenella doesn't have much time for investigating the murder.Can Fenella help Daniel solve such an old case? It feels as if nearly everyone is keeping secrets. How can she persuade Mabel's family and friends that now is the time to reveal all? And can she find good homes for the kittens and their mother before their antics drive her crazy?

Aunt Bessie understands why Hugh is so worried about his wife, Grace. She's about to have their first child, and Hugh doesn't want her left alone in case she goes into labour. Bessie is happy to agree to spend an afternoon with the woman.Aunt Bessie understands when Hugh, exhausted from a long day that culminated in the arrival of his child, forgets to drop Bessie off at her cottage before driving back to his own home. Knowing that he's not in any condition to drive anywhere, she insists that they walk to her cottage, Treoghe Bwaane. Aunt Bessie understands that the holiday cottages they walk past are all unoccupied during the winter months. With Christmas just a few weeks away, there shouldn't be lights on inside any of them. When she and Hugh stumble across a dead body in one of them, Bessie understands that she's right in the middle of yet another murder investigation.

The Moody Case: Janet and Joan Markham are on a routine trip to the supermarket when their car gets hit from behind. When the man who hit them doesn't want to provide his name or insurance details, Janet rings her friend, Constable Robert Parsons. Robert fills out an accident report, and that should be the end of that.Meanwhile, the sisters have two single men as guests at their bed and breakfast. The guests don't appear to know one another, but they share a few peculiarities. The one that bothers Joan is that neither of them ever wants any breakfast.While their car is being repaired, Janet borrows a sporty red coupe from the local garage. She loves driving it, but when she gets stuck in heavy traffic as the result of an accident, she's shocked to discover that one of their guests is involved. A few days later a second accident, this time involving their other guest, leaves Janet wondering if there might be something criminal going on.Can Janet work out what's really going on? More importantly, can Janet find a way to convince Joan to let her buy the little red car?The Norman Case: Summer in Derbyshire brings a never ending stream of guests to Doveby House. Janet and Joan Markham find themselves working harder than they'd ever expected when they bought the bed and breakfast. While most of the guests have been pleasant, there have been enough difficult guests to make Janet wary whenever they are expecting new arrivals.She and Joan are both relieved when their latest guests seem nearly perfect. The quick arrival and departure of another couple who are considerably less amiable makes them feel as if they're being quite lucky at the moment.However, when a few small objects disappear from the local antique shop, they find themselves wondering whether their guests are as nice as they seem. As more items go missing all around Doveby Dale, Janet and Joan find themselves caught up in yet another criminal investigation.The Osborne Case: Janet Markham has been trying to track down Gretchen Falkirk for months. She's eager to learn more about Alberta Montgomery, one of the previous residents of the bed and breakfast she now owns with her sister, Joan. When her friends from the Isle of Man, Bessie Cubbon and Doona Moore, come for a short stay, it seems the perfect time to try visiting the elusive woman.Unfortunately for Janet, instead of finding Gretchen, she finds herself and her friends caught up in the hunt for a missing person. She and Joan want to show Bessie and Doona the sights around Derbyshire, but Janet wants to find Gretchen at least as much.What does Gretchen's downstairs neighbour really know? Can Janet help Robert Parsons, the local police constable, work out what happened to the missing woman? Will she and Joan get to take Bessie and Doona to some of their favourite historical sites or is this case going to turn into a murder investigation? The Patrone Case: Janet is happy to help William Chalmers, the owner of Doveby Dale's antique shop, interview a few potential employees. She and William are friends, although William often hints that he has romantic intentions. Regardless, it makes a nice change for Janet from the day-to-day running of the bed and breakfast that she shares with her sister, Joan.The three candidates for the part-time job are less than stellar, though. When a brick gets thrown through William's window the day after the interviews, Janet can't help but wonder if one of the three was involved.Robert Parsons, Doveby Dale's police constable, begins an investigation. Meanwhile, Janet and Joan are dealing with fighting couples in both guest rooms; Edward Bennett, the handsome man who may or may not be a spy, rings to ask for a favour; and more windows get broken.Can Janet help Robert work out who is behind the vandalism? Can she help William find a suitable new employee? And can she help their guests get along, at least until they leave Doveby House?

Fenella Woods is excited to be celebrating her first Christmas on the Isle of Man. She's less enthusiastic that her former boyfriend, Jack, is coming for a long visit. While they split up months ago, before Fenella relocated to the island, Jack seems to be having trouble accepting that the relationship is over. Jack managed to get himself an invitation to stay with Dr. Peter Grady, a university professor who has a second home on the island. Dr. Grady isn't home when he and Fenella arrive, but a string of beautiful women looking for the man turn up almost immediately. When one of the women discovers Dr. Grady's body in the master bedroom, Fenella finds herself in the middle of another murder investigation.Letting Jack stay in her house on Poppy Drive is necessary, but that puts him right across the road from CID Inspector Daniel Robinson's house. Daniel and Fenella are still trying to work out where their personal relationship is going. Now he's investigating a murder where Jack could be considered a suspect and might be the killer's next target.Can Fenella help Daniel solve the case and keep Jack safe? Can she incorporate American traditions into her first Manx Christmas? And what do you get a ghost for Christmas?