Steven Helmer Publications

Synopsis: Agatha Raisin is in a bit of a rut. Business has slowed down at her detective agency, forcing her to downsize her staff and the few cases she does get are barely enough to pay the bills. Even though she hates divorce cases, she reluctantly agrees to let Robert Smedley hire her to spy on his wife, Mabel, only to find Mabel is both smart enough to know she is being followed and might be the most perfect wife ever. Things take an unexpected turn soon when Agatha and her new photographer, Phil, discover the body of missing teenager Jessica Bradley. For publicity, Agatha vows to find Jessica's killer free of charge but when Robert Smedley is also murdered, just hours after un-hiring Agatha and claiming he made up with his wife, Agatha soon finds evidence suggesting the murders might be related. Review:   I misjudged how long it would take me to read the stack of books I checked out from our library prior to its temporary closure for renovation and finished the last one, The P...

Synopsis: Even though they still correspond by mail, Jane Marple hasn't seen her long-time friend, Carrie Louise in years. That changes, however, when Carrie Louise's sister, Ruth, suspects something is wrong and arranges for Miss Marple to stay at Carrie Louise's estate, Stonygates, under the pretense being a post-war charity case. Soon after arriving, Christian Gulbrandsen, Carrie Louise's stepson from a previous marriage and one of the overseers of the juvenile delinquent home located on the property, is murdered. During the course of the investigation, another sinister truth is revealed - Christian believed someone was trying to kill Carrie Louise. Review: Our library is officially closed for a month as of yesterday, but I made sure to be prepared by checking out a stack of books to hold me until it's re-opened. This included They Do it With Mirrors , which I finished reading early this morning. I think I can honestly say this was the best Miss Marple book I...

Synopsis: After putting her life in danger to solve murders for the police and receiving no credit for her efforts, Agatha Raisin decides to give up her amateur sleuthing and instead open a detective agency. She finds immediate success and soon has a full staff working for her, including her new neighbor, Emma Comfrey.  While most of her cases involve missing pets, adulterous spouses and runaway teenagers, Agatha is soon hired by Mrs. Laggat-Brown to investigate death threats being made against her soon-to-be-married daughter and stops a murder attempt at a dinner party. As her investigation continues, the detective once again finds her own life in danger, both from the investigation itself and from Emma, who has fallen in love with Sir Charles Fraith and grown jealous over Agatha's friendship with him. Review: Our local library will be closed for a month because it is moving out of its temporary location and back into its newly remodeled building. As a result, I took the time to...

Synopsis: After experiencing back-to-back heartbreaks, Agatha Raisin is determined to avoid any sort of relationship with her new neighbor, Paul Chatterton. However, when Paul convinces her to investigate a reported haunted house, she readily accepts and soon finds herself falling for him - only to learn he is married. Any hopes of cutting Paul off completely is then dashed when Mrs. Witherspoon, the owner of the haunted home, dies under mysterious circumstances and Agatha finds herself involved in yet another murder investigation. Review: After taking a short break from Agatha Raisin mysteries, I checked Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House out from my local library and gave it a shot. While my opinion of the oft-heartbroken detective has remained mixed, I have enjoyed some of the more recent books more than the earlier ones. Unfortunately, this one proved to be more of a step backwards. There were things about the book I did like. For one, I was much more intrigued by Agatha's ...

Synopsis: Still mourning her divorce from James Lacey and the way their unhappy marriage ended with him choosing a life at monastery over her, Agatha Raisin takes a vacation at the remote Robin Crusoe Island. When she returns, she is determined to get on with her life and starts by joining a Pilates class and visiting a beauty salon. She crosses paths with the soon-to-be-married Kylie at the latter and keeps her mouth shut when she thinks the young woman is making a mistake.  Soon after, a heavy rainfall causes flooding and Agatha spots Kylie's body, dressed in her wedding dress, floating on top the water. When she learns it was murder, Agatha makes it her mission to find the killer. This time, she's getting help from her new neighbor, a divorced, successful mystery writer by the name of John Armitage.   Review: I must admit, I was looking forward to reading Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came , mostly because I was curious how the title character would start over foll...

Synopsis: C.S. "Duff" Duffy doesn't talk a lot about his time in Bensonhurst, the Canadian psychiatric hospital he was sent to as a teenager. His friend and business partner, Aberforth "Abe" Allard learns more about Duff's experience when Duff's former bully, Hank Novak, shows up at their detective agency asking them for help for his daughter, Sarah, who has been arrested for murdering her boyfriend, a division III college quarterback with NFL aspirations. The pair agree to help but Duff's sleuthing skills might be hindered by a pair of distractions - his hatred for Novak and the proximity to the unsolved murder of a friend that resulted in Duff being sent to Bensonhurst to begin with. Review: I came across Fourth and Wrong earlier this year but held off on requesting a copy at my library until after I read the book that came before it, The Single Twin . After reading a couple other books in between, I finally checked it out this week and was not ...

Synopsis: Ever since he first met James Bland, Sergeant Hamish Macbeth knew there was more to the American than he let on. So, when Bland joins the Lochdubh police force, officially as part of an exchange program but in reality, to get Macbeth's help tracking down a spy ring, he isn't surprised but also a bit reluctant. Unfortunately, the new mission also comes at a time when Lochdubh is being terrorized by a burglar and puts his fledgling relationship with Claire on the ropes. Review: I came across Death of a Spy while returning some books to our library over the weekend and since I didn't have anything else immediately on my reading list, decided to check it out. I haven't been a big fan of the Hamish Macbeth books published since M. C. Beaton's death but was willing to give this one a fair chance. In the end, my opinion of it, like the others, was mixed. The whole James Bland/spy ring thing is something I've never been able to get on board with. My biggest...

Synopsis: Long-time friends Aberforth Willard Allard and C.S. Duffy, or as they preferred to be called, Abe and Duff, are a pair of average-looking, socially awkward geniuses who run a barely surviving private investigation service and often solve cases (without credit) for the Chicago Police Department in a matter of minutes. They are offered $50,000 with the promise of another $50,000 by former CIA operative Mindy Jefferson, who has been searching for a long-lost twin brother, now feels her life is in danger as a result and wants the pair to continue her investigation if she were to go missing or in hiding. Abe and Duffy accept the case and soon find themselves embroiled in a 35-year-long coverup involving a United States Senator that could get them both killed. Review: I came across another book by Sean Patrick Little a few weeks ago that looked interesting but since it was part of the larger Abe & Duff Mystery series, I decided I should first read the first book in the series...

  This is a sequel to Murder by Chili I've been working on for some time now and it stars the detective from that book, Maxwell V. Diamond. I decided to publish this book on Kindle Vella, which is a platform on Amazon that lets me publish the story in "episodes" rather than all at once. I've never tried this platform before so it's definitely a new experience for me. My hope is, depending on how successful this murder mystery is, I can add other stories as additional episodes down the road. The first four chapters are already published and can be read here:  The Body at Belmount Manor | Kindle Vella (amazon.com)

Synopsis : Already forced to work overtime on the weekend, Sue Fisher is less than thrilled when she is also asked to watch her boss' son. When the young boy brags about a "treasure" box he had gotten from his dad, a curious Sue looks inside and discovers thousands of dollars in cash. However, before she can do anything more about it, she learns Amelia Corning, the arthritic and blind company owner, has arrived two days early and she needs to pick her up and bring her to the office. When Amelia disappears with the company's sensitive papers and possibly the box of money, Sue relies on Perry Mason to defend her against pending embezzlement charges. However, when a body turns up and the evidence points to his client, Mason must defend her against murder charges too. Review: I didn't expect to finish this book over the weekend but, to my surprise, I was able to find time to read it in its entirety in a little over a day. Unfortunately, as far as Perry Mason murder ...