Maureen Jennings

“A grave injustice.” Those are the words in the letter sent to Charlotte Frayne, P.I., on a cold March morning. The newspapers have reported on the arrest of two Black teenagers in a burglary, but did the pair actually commit the crime? Not according to the letter’s sender, Mrs. Olivia Brodie. A resident of the Toronto House of Industry — “the poor house” — Mrs. Brodie was running an early morning errand when she witnessed, on the morning of the crime, two men behaving in a suspicious manner near the burgled home: two white men. Meanwhile, Charlotte is investigating another theft — this one at the home of a woman on the opposite end of the social hierarchy. As she juggles her investigations, Charlotte finds unexpected links between people and personal histories, along with more than one “grave injustice.”

Nominated for the 2023 Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada November’s rain in Toronto 1936 has turned into December’s cold snap. Charlotte Frayne escapes being hit by a mud-splattered car racing round the corner at Queen and Spadina. The stranger who saves her turns out to be the man her boss, Mr. Gilmore, has helped to escape Germany and is now a refugee in need of shelter. In a world still recovering from the War to End All Wars and the Spanish Influenza pandemic that killed fifty million people worldwide, and still in the throes of the Great Depression, Stephen Lucas is not just any refugee from the Nazi regime; he is in possession of information that could alter the course of history — but only if seen by persons in power and if acted upon. In a surprising twist of fate, Charlotte’s estranged mother reappears, wanting assistance in locating the son she gave up at birth twenty years before. Despite her turbulent feelings about her mother, Charlotte agrees to investigate, having no idea that the two cases will connect in surprising ways. Back at the Paradise Café, Christmas draws near and Charlotte’s beau, Hilliard Taylor, and his partners are in disagreement about the holiday concert. With her beloved grandfather in the mix, there’s no telling whether the show will end in good tidings or anarchy.

November's rain in Toronto 1936 has turned into December's cold snap. Charlotte Frayne escapes being hit by a mud-splattered car racing round the corner at Queen and Spadina. The stranger who saves her turns out to be the man her boss, Mr. Gilmore, has helped to escape Germany and is now a refugee in need of shelter.In a world still recovering from the War to End All Wars and the Spanish Influenza pandemic that killed fifty million people worldwide, and still in the throes of the Great Depression, Stephen Lucas is not just any refugee from the Nazi regime; he is in possession of information that could alter the course of history - but only if seen by persons in power and if acted upon. In a surprising twist of fate, Charlotte's estranged mother reappears, wanting assistance in locating the son she gave up at birth twenty years before. Despite her turbulent feelings about her mother, Charlotte agrees to investigate, having no idea that the two cases will connect in surprising ways.Back at the Paradise Caf , Christmas draws near and Charlotte's beau, Hilliard Taylor, and his partners are in disagreement about the holiday concert. With her beloved grandfather in the mix, there's no telling whether the show will end in good tidings or anarchy.

November's rain in Toronto 1936 has turned into December's cold snap. Charlotte Frayne escapes being hit by a mud-splattered car racing round the corner at Queen and Spadina. The stranger who saves her turns out to be the man her boss, Mr. Gilmore, has helped to escape Germany and is now a refugee in need of shelter.In a world still recovering from the War to End All Wars and the Spanish Influenza pandemic that killed fifty million people worldwide, and still in the throes of the Great Depression, Stephen Lucas is not just any refugee from the Nazi regime; he is in possession of information that could alter the course of history - but only if seen by persons in power and if acted upon. In a surprising twist of fate, Charlotte's estranged mother reappears, wanting assistance in locating the son she gave up at birth twenty years before. Despite her turbulent feelings about her mother, Charlotte agrees to investigate, having no idea that the two cases will connect in surprising ways. Back at the Paradise Caf , Christmas draws near and Charlotte's beau, Hilliard Taylor, and his partners are in disagreement about the holiday concert. With her beloved grandfather in the mix, there's no telling whether the show will end in good tidings or anarchy.

The novel that sparked the hugely popular Murdoch Mysteries television series celebrates its 25th anniversary. Includes a new introduction and a previously unpublished short story featuring the young Detective Murdoch. In the cold Toronto winter of 1895, the unclad body of a young woman is found naked and frozen in a quiet laneway. Acting Detective William Murdoch, driven by pity for the girl and the desire to secure his promotion, is determined to pursue every lead and reveal the truth. Although influential people pressure the police to solve the mystery quickly, when the girl is eventually identified, it becomes clear that those connected with her life have secrets to hide. Murdoch must use every detective skill he possesses as well as his understanding of human nature as he pursues the mystery through both brothels and drawing rooms, desperate to untangle the case before more lives are lost.

“This is the second book in the Paradise Café series featuring private investigator Charlotte Frayne and it’s even better than the first. Jennings has made the jump from Victorian Toronto to the Depression era with ease and, once again, proves that Canadian history is far from dull.” — The Globe and Mail Charlotte’s boss at T. Gilmore and Associates takes off on a mysterious trip to Europe, leaving Charlotte in charge of the detective agency. Mrs. Jessop hires the newly promoted Private Investigator to inquire into the untimely death of her son, a veteran injured in the Great War. The police ruled it a suicide, but Mrs. Jessop doesn’t agree and wants Charlotte to find out what really happened. Then Charlotte is hired to infiltrate a small women’s wear manufacturer to uncover communist agitators. When the factory supervisor is murdered on the job just as Charlotte starts to look into it, she gets seconded to the police to help find out what happened. The November clouds darken and Charlotte is left to struggle to solve two mysteries at the same time — until they intersect. Add an aging grandfather, an absent boyfriend, and a mad scheme to mount a controversial play at the Paradise Café and Charlotte has her hands full.

Charlotte Frayne's boss, Mr. Gilmore, travels to Europe in the fall of 1936 on a mysterious trip, leaving her in charge of the detective agency. The redoubtable Mrs. Jessop hires Charlotte to investigate the untimely death of her son, a disfigured and injured veteran of the Great War. The police ruled it a suicide, but Mrs. Jessop doesn't agree and wants Charlotte to find out what really happened. On the same day, Charlotte is hired to infiltrate a small women's wear manufacturer to uncover communist agitators the owner believes are responsible for the labour unrest in his company. When the factory supervisor is discovered murdered on the job the same day Charlotte turns up for her first shift at Ladies' Superior Clothing, she finds herself seconded by the police in their investigations. The November clouds darken and Charlotte is left to struggle to solve two mysteries at the same time-until they intersect.

Charlotte Frayne's boss, Mr. Gilmore, travels to Europe in the fall of 1936 on a mysterious trip, leaving her in charge of the detective agency. The redoubtable Mrs. Jessop hires Charlotte to investigate the untimely death of her son, a disfigured and injured veteran of the Great War. The police ruled it a suicide, but Mrs. Jessop doesn't agree and wants Charlotte to find out what really happened. On the same day, Charlotte is hired to infiltrate a small women's wear manufacturer to uncover communist agitators the owner believes are responsible for the labour unrest in his company. When the factory supervisor is discovered murdered on the job the same day Charlotte turns up for her first shift at Ladies' Superior Clothing, she finds herself seconded by the police in their investigations. The November clouds darken and Charlotte is left to struggle to solve two mysteries at the same time-until they intersect.

July 1936. Toronto is in the grip of a deadly heat wave. Horses are dropping in the street. Charlotte Frayne is the junior associate in a two-person private-investigation firm owned by T. Gilmore.Anti-Semitism and murder in "Toronto the Good" in the depths of the Great Depression provide the historical background for this satisfying mystery. The fabric of the City of Toronto is as fully realized in Heat Wave as it is in all the Detective Murdoch books.A hate-letter is delivered to Charlotte's boss, who leaves the matter in Charlotte's hands to investigate. On the same day, Hilliard Taylor, a First World War veteran who, together with three other former prisoners-of-war, operates the Paradise Caf , seeks the firm's assistance in uncovering what he believes is the systematic embezzlement of the Caf . These two events, seemingly unrelated, come together and bring to life characters as real to the reader as those of the Detective Murdoch series.The first book in the Paradise Caf series, featuring Charlotte Frayne, Heat Wave promises fans of Maureen Jennings's mysteries the beginning of a long and enjoyable relationship.

It's July 1936 and Toronto is under a record-breaking heat wave. Charlotte Frayne is the junior associate in a two-person private investigation firm, owned by T. Gilmore. Two events set the book’s plot in motion: an anti-Semitic hate letter is delivered to Gilmore, who up to now has not acknowledged his religion, and Hilliard Taylor, a veteran of the First World War requests the firm’s assistance in uncovering what he believes is systematic embezzlement of the Paradise Café, which he owns and operates with three other men, all of whom were prisoners of war. The two events, although seemingly completely unrelated, come together in this wonderful novel that brings to life characters who are as real to the reader as those of the Murdoch series.

Set in 1917 during the home front of WWl Toronto, starring an older William Murdoch.

Canada's premier author of historical mystery fiction returns with a brand new and highly anticipated Murdoch Mystery, with an older and wiser Detective Murdoch. It is November 1917. The Great War is grinding on, chewing up young men by the thousands. Initially, in the loyal Dominion of Canada, people are mostly eager to support the Motherland and fight for the Empire. Men perceived as slackers or cowards are shunned. But the carnage is horrendous and with enforced conscription, the enthusiasm for war is dimming. William Murdoch is a widower, a senior detective who, thanks to the new temperance laws, spends his time tracking down bootleggers and tipplers; most unsatisfying. His wife, Amy, died giving birth to their second child, a girl who lived only a few hours more. Murdoch, racked by grief, withdrew from four-year-old, Jack. This he regrets and would dearly love to make up for his negligence. As we enter the story, Jack, now twenty-one, has returned from France after being wounded and gassed at the Battle of Passchendaele. It is soon apparent that he is deeply troubled but he's not confiding in his father. He does, however, seem to be bound by shared secrets to another wounded former soldier, Percy McKinnon. Murdoch suddenly has much more serious crimes than rum-running on his hands. The night after Jack and McKinnon arrive home, a young man is found stabbed to death in the impoverished area of Toronto known as the Ward. Soon after, Murdoch has to deal with a tragic suicide, also a young man. Two more murders follow in quick succession. The only common denominator is that all of the men were exempted from conscription. Increasingly worried that Jack knows more than he is letting on, Murdoch must solve these crimes before more innocents lose their lives. It is a solution that will give him only sorrow.

It is late 1942, and Detective Inspector Tom Tyler is settling into his placement in Ludlow, Shropshire, which is crowded with evacuees and others fleeing the German bombs. On the town's outskirts is an Italian PoW camp, whose inmates work on local farms. Fraternizing is forbidden but, as Tyler knows only too well, the human heart has a way of crossing boundaries.Tyler is kept busy enforcing wartime regulations, until an old man goes missing, and his body is later discovered in a secret hideout supposedly known to very few. What's more, the two evacuee children who found the body are clearly not telling the whole truth, but when Tyler tries to question them further, they vanish from their foster home. A crime has clearly been committed, but there is no shortage of suspects...

Based on Maureen Jennings' award-winning novels, 1890s Toronto-based police detective William Murdoch uses radical forensic and scientific techniques to solve some of the city's most intriguing murders. This companion looks at every aspect of all 8 seasons of Murdoch Mysteries, from the regular characters and their relationships, to the history of the period, and goes behind the scenes to examine every aspect of the production.

It is the summer of 1942, and after two difficult years, Tom Tyler is making a fresh start in Ludlow, Shropshire. On the outskirts of town, St. Anne's Convalescent Hospital, staffed by nursing sisters who are also Anglican nuns, has been established in an old manor house to help victims of the war. But their peace is shattered when a horrifying double murder is discovered on the grounds. Tyler must discover how the crime was committed in such a secluded place, where many of the patients are unable to walk or see and most are deeply traumatized. When he begins to receive mysterious letters recounting terrible crimes, he realises that he is not only seeking a murderer, but that the horrors of the war are closing in on a place of refuge.

This second book in Maureen Jennings' terrific new mystery series brings England during World War II vividly alive: a must for fans of the author's own beloved Murdoch Mysteries and of Foyle's War. The summer of 1940 had been a dark one for England, and even darker for DI Tom Tyler's personal life. When several young women doing dangerous war work are killed in an explosion in a Birmingham munitions factory, Tyler is quick to help out. But as he talks to the remaining employees, the owner, and others connected with the factory, divisions begin to appear, and Tyler fears that what first seemed a tragic accident may be the result of something much more sinister, organized, and far-reaching. The rich sense of England during the era of the Blitz, pitch-perfect dialogue, and vivid characters--not least the rough-around-the-edges charmer Tom Tyler--make Beware This Boy another classic page-turner from master storyteller Maureen Jennings.

In 1858, a young woman on her honeymoon is abducted and taken across the border from Canada and sold into slavery. Thirty-eight years later, the owner of one of Toronto's livery stables is found dead. Then a second man is murdered, his body strangely tied as if he were a rebellious slave. Detective Murdoch has to find out whether Toronto's small "coloured" community has a vicious killer in its midst - an investigation that puts his own life in danger. With her usual masterful storytelling and sharp dialogue, Jennings shows how a great harm committed in the past can fatally affect the present.

In his forties, the Reverend Charles Howard still cut an impressive figure. A married Presbyterian minister in Toronto's east end, Howard was popular with the congregation that elected him, especially with the ladies, and most particularly with Miss Sarah Dignam. Respected in the community, Howard, as Visitor for the House of Industry, sat in judgment on the poor, assessing their applications for the workhouse. But now Howard is dead, stabbed and brutally beaten by someone he invited into his office. His watch and boots are missing. Has some poor beggar he turned down taken his vengeance? Murdoch' s investigation takes him into the arcane Victorian world of queer plungers--men who fake injury all the better to beg--and the destitute who had nowhere left to turn when they knocked on the Reverend Howard's door.