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. Reprint.

An Epicurean Mystery

The Thin Woman

An ill-advised second marriage between dull Edward Stodmarsh and the scheming Regina Stapleton culminates in a scandal involving an eccentric member of the bride's family who becomes a subject of curiosity and suspicion.

Murder at Mullings

Sir Henry Gossinger scandalizes his family when he rewrites his will and leaves everything to his devoted butler, whose bizarre death places the butler's sweet young granddaughter in the middle of a murderously tangled web

God Save the Queen!

As her marriage begins to falter, Ellie Haskell seeks assistance from Fully Female, an organization devoted to putting the zest back into married life, and finds herself also involved in a murder investigation. By the author of The Thin Woman.

Femmes Fatal

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. Reprint.

How to Murder Your Mother-in-law

Tessa Fields was left on the doorstep of an English vicarage and adopted by the vicar and his wife. At 21 she’s devised a plan to discover who her birth mother was. Her plan involves suitor Harry Harkness, and faking amnesia, and imposing on two elderly ladies. Amidst a cast of eccentric characters, Tessa is not entirely surprised by the bizarre murder she stumbles on. Mystery by Dorothy Cannell; originally published by St. Martin’s Press

Down the Garden Path

In this “entertaining gothic tale” (Chicago Sun-Times) that “reads like Wuthering Heights on steroids” (Publishers Weekly), amateur sleuth Ellie Haskell gets caught up in the drama of a trio of ancient spinsters—and the ghosts of murder past. “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 childhood friends, known collectively as “the bridesmaids.” Ellie once asked her mother where the nickname came from and her mother replied, “It’s a long story, best forgotten.” After all, 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, expecting to set the record straight. What she gets is a life-changing journey into the unknown, from a séance and a hidden diary to a mysterious death that took place more than fifty years ago. Praise for Bridesmaids Revisited “Witty . . . [Dorothy] Cannell fleshes out an entertaining gothic tale, old-fashioned in structure, sprinkled with . . . wacky humor.”—Chicago Sun-Times “The tale sometimes reads like Wuthering Heights on steroids. . . . Cannell’s smooth narration and her appealing, smart-mouthed characters charm you into suspending disbelief. The result is a thoroughly delightful puzzle.”—Publishers Weekly “Full of gothic touches and the ineffable sweetness of memory, this is clearly Cannell’s best so far.”—Booklist Praise for Dorothy Cannell and the Ellie Haskell series “A thoroughly entertaining series.”—Cosmopolitan “It is the absurd predicaments of her central characters that readers find themselves recalling, and Cannell is cunning at devising outlandish situations for them.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Cannell is a master of subtle wit and humorous asides that lift her cozies to great heights. Before the influx of writers trying to out-humor Janet Evanovich, there was Dorothy Cannell. Long may she write!”—Library Journal

An Ellie Haskell Mystery

Bridesmaids Revisited

Life has been hectic in the Haskell household, but a lull in household affairs should allow Ellie time enough to slim down, pick up the threads of her interior design career, and kick the romance-reading habit that keeps her from her marital boudoir. But murder rears its ugly head when the body of the Chitterdon Fells librarian found sprawled among the library stacks. The only positive side of the untimely demise is the arrival of male romance cover model, Karisma, come to town to strut his tawny mane and sun-bronzed muscles for a fund-raiser in the late lamented librarian's name. But when hunky Karisma's entourage is poisoned, and the spouse of a Library League newlywed dies mysteriously, fantasy life careens toward a collision course with reality. Ellie must find a clever killer before she meets a sinister and decidedly unromantic fate! Fizzing with deadly wit and outrageous secrets, How To Murder The Man Of Your Dreams is a mystery to swoon for.

How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams

November, 1932. When mild-mannered Kenneth Tenneson is found dead from a fall down the stairs at his home, the coroner s inquest announces a verdict of accidental death. But Florence Norris the quietly observant housekeeper at Mullings, country estate of the wealthy Stodmarsh family suspects there may be more to it than that . . ."

Death at Dovecote Hatch

In the delectable debut that earned her instant acclaim, award-winning author Dorothy Cannell serves up a murder mystery to be savored. . . Ellie Simons longs to be thin—and married. But with her single-minded passion for éclairs and clotted cream, her prospects on both counts seem dim. That's why the summons to attend a family reunion at the old ancestral home is about as welcome as a snakebite. How can she show up with her embarrassingly full figure in her humble unmarried state and keep her chins up? Enter Bentley T. Haskell of Eligibility Escorts, a devastatingly attractive writer of smutty novels who also cooks like a dream. With Bentley posing as her besotted beau, Ellie feels brave enough to beard her batty relations in their den. . . . But mouldering Merlin's Court is nothing like Ellie remembers, and with her wretchedly beautiful cousin Vanessa making eyes at Ben, and her malevolent old uncle Merlin popping up in the most unexpected places, it's enough to put Ellie off her food. And the best—and worst—is yet to come, as the weekend leads to sudden death, unexpected romance, and a treasure hunt that promises epicurean Ellie wealth, hearth, and happiness . . . if she survives. Praise for The Thin Woman “[Dorothy] Cannell makes a delicious debut; discriminatory whodunit fans will want more of her inventions.”—Publishers Weekly “A likable debut—combining fairy-tale romance, treasure hunts, and a homicidal mania.”—Kirkus Reviews

Once Ellie Haskell's life was a fairy tale: the one about the overweight, underpaid interior designer who falls rapturously in love with a gorgeous prince and lives happily ever after. But now, four months after the birth of her twins, her worst nightmare has come true: the princess has turned into a frog and the bliss has gone out of the bedroom. Can a course in the sensual arts, featuring naughty nighties and Peach Melba Love Rub, rekindle the romance she and her adored Bentley once shared? It's a question that leads Ellie straight to an organization called Fully Female. But before she can say "Marriage Makeover," one fellow vamp becomes a sex-crazed zombie and another meets her end in a fatally frothy bubble bath. Then a third victim of amour turns up dead, and Ellie realizes it's more than ill luck. Can Ellie catch a crazed killer before love gets a bad name.

Several pounds heavier—and gaining—blissful mother-to-be Ellie Haskell knows her days as a thin woman are numbered. Time to let out her clothes, put up her feet, and prepare to enjoy the next nine months as pampered wife. But the first pangs of morning sickness have barely passed when Ellie's handsome husband, Ben, is invited to compete for membership in the world's most exclusive secret society of chefs, and suddenly Ellie finds herself whisked off to America—to Mud Creek, Illinois—and to a gothic mansion straight out of a horror movie.

Mum's the Word

Hyacinth and Primrose Tramwell of the Flowers Detective Agency are retained to investigate the possible murders of unfaithful husbands in the village of Chitterdon Fells and turn up evidence of the deadly Widows Club.

The Widows Club

Ellie Haskell’s prodigal father, Morley Simons, has landed in Chitterton Fells just when Ellie and husband Ben were about to vacation in France. Morley’s luggage contains an urn with the ashes of his lady love, Harriet, to return to her relatives. As her father explains his relationship with the femme fatale Harriet, Ellie begins to suspect something is amiss. And when there’s another fatal car accident… Cozy British Mystery by Dorothy Cannell; originally published by Viking/Penguin

The Trouble with Harriet

Eleven mystery short stories by Dorothy Cannell, including The Purloined Purple Pearl, Cupid’s Arrow, One Night at a Time, Telling George, The January Sale Stowaway, The Gentleman’s Gentleman, Come to Grandma, Fetch, Poor Lincoln, The High Cost of Living, and The Family Jewels: A Moral Tale. Mystery Short Stories by Dorothy Cannell; originally published by Five Star First Edition Mystery Series

Family Jewels and Other Stories

Ellie Haskell received a letter from her dead grandmother Sophia’s supposed “bridesmaids,” which urged her to visit them at the Old Rectory, so Sophia could make “contact.” Since husband Ben is away with the children, Ellie and housekeeper Mrs. Malloy (who wished to avoid one of her former husbands) set out on a journey which would involve an old diary and a séance—and several startling revelations. British cozy mystery by Dorothy Cannell; originally published by Viking

The formerly plump girl turned Thin Woman may now be happily married and a mother but Ellie Haskell hasnt lost her wit her weakness for Gothic romance or her knack for solving crimes. So when her young cousin Ariel suddenly turns up on Ellies doorstep asking her to investigate some mysterious happenings back home Ellie cant refuse especially since Ariel lives in a fabulous Gothic mansion on the Yorkshire moors. But things in Bronte country are even worse than Ellie anticipated.

Withering Heights

After her divorce, a woman moves to coastal Maine and forms some new attachments in this “thoroughly enjoyable and cozy tale” (Library Journal). Recovering from a painful divorce, Sarah Draycott has moved to the picture-postcard village of Sea Glass on the Maine coast, and is soon caught up in the lives of its inhabitants. As she helps elegant but troubled widow Gwen cope with her desperately ill son, and assists nine-year-old orphan Oliver in uncovering the secrets surrounding the mysterious Cully Mansion, Sarah’s broken heart begins to heal. She isn’t looking for new romance—but love finds a way of seeking someone out just when they least expect it… From the “deft and talented” (Richmond Times-Dispatch), Agatha Award-winning author of the Ellie Haskell series, this “sweet contemporary romance” (Publishers Weekly) comes complete with a gloriously atmospheric setting, a generous dollop of mystery and suspense, and a cast of unforgettable characters.

Dorothy Cannell

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