Henry Carter Hull

Twenty years ago, Gus Novak committed a crime and fled the country, only to die in the Mexican desert. But Zukie Merlino thinks she's just seen him on a downtown Seattle street, and being perpetually curious, she wants to know what he — or his ghost — is doing there. With her cousin Lou temporarily sidelined she's on her own, but whether it's tracking down Novak's ghost or dealing with a more personal emergency, Zukie can be counted on to deliver...

Everybody liked good-natured Jimmy Battista, so when he died of a heart attack, no one suspected foul play. No one, that is, except his elderly sister-in-law, who confided her suspicions to her niece Zukie. Being seriously snoopy and a magnet for trouble, Zukie is soon up to her multi-colored wigs in a mystery involving Italian relatives, a German shepherd and a Canadian corpse.

Trick or treat' takes on a whole new meaning when Zukie's at the door in this Zukie Merlino Mysteries short story.

Unusual ingredients found in their products are threatening the good reputation of Gardener's Spice & Herb Company, so R&P Labs agree to investigate. But what seems like a simple job takes a deadly twist when one member of the Gardener family has a fatal accident on an icy road and another is freeze-dried along with the herbs. In "Icefox", the eighth R&P Labs mystery, the scientific quintet of Rob, Phil, Ellis, Virginia and Mitch referee a pair of...

When Gabriel Webb volunteered for a sleep lab experiment, he didn't expect to find himself pursued by the Grim Reaper on a racing bike. And when, on a cold October morning, Rob Mangan offered a cup of hot coffee to a shivering stranger in the R&P Labs parking lot, he never dreamed what the consequences of his act of kindness would be. In the seventh R&P Labs Mystery, the scientific quintet - Rob, Phil, Ellis, Virginia and Mitch - dodge homicidal cyclists...

A street party on a hot summer evening takes a deadly turn when one of the revelers dies, apparently from food poisoning. But there's more to the death than first meets the eye, and the five R&P Labs staff members find themselves drawn into a case of love, loathing and lemon meringue pie. 'Half baked' is a short story of about 16,500 words. It also appears in the collection 'Four by Five' and introduced Zukie Merlino, who then insisted on being featured...

Property developer Leslie Henderson wants to demolish a quirky 1940s building and erect a modern office block in its place. But the building happens to be occupied by R&P Labs, and in 'Bedrock', the eleventh mystery in the series, its staff members face their biggest challenge yet. Mitch has an explosive evening, Phil hits a rocky patch and Virginia finally gets a piece of the action as the five scientific sleuths race the wrecker's ball to uncover...

Businessman Hector Kirby had ambitious plans for a derelict piece of land along the River Windrush, but the current residents were determined to stop him. So was the person who had hidden something there that was never meant to be discovered. As a rare summer heatwave envelopes Oxfordshire, the local police once again enlist the help of clock repairer Jacob Silver and his wife Sarah in an effort to find who has been stung into action by Kirby's...

It was thoughtful of William and Imogen Pascoe to come to look after their Aunt Eleanor, an elderly widow in poor health. It didn't hurt that she also possessed a considerable fortune and her only son was three thousand miles away. But then things begin to go wrong, starting with the sharp-eyed neighbor who questions their motives, followed by an unexpected arrival and an equally unexpected death. As more uncomfortable truths are revealed, clock...

Having been implicated in several burglaries, the notorious Bishop brothers fled the Oxfordshire countryside to disappear into the streets of Victorian London. They might have remained more or less forgotten in their home town, but twenty years on, two suspicious deaths and the discovery of a hidden jewel worth a small fortune bring them to the attention of the police again. Clock repairer Jacob Silver and his wife Sarah join forces with the police...