Cynthia E Hurst: 38 books

He’s considered a heretic. She’s a 13-year-old thief.  Jacob Silver and Sarah Simm are mistrusted by the residents of their Cotswold market town even before the suspicious death of wealthy merchant Thomas Martyn – a  man with the power to destroy both of them. But a secret night visit, a hidden...

The police are chasing a ring of art thieves. The thieves are chasing Zukie Merlino’s cousin Lou, who’s accidentally interrupted a handover of stolen goods. And Zukie? She’s causing chaos as only she can, in between baking lemon meringue pies, thwarting burglaries and trying not to end up as...

Gideon Young was a fast-talking con man who could convince gullible people to gamble on almost anything. But even Young wouldn't have bet on being outwitted by a clock repairer and a thief turned housemaid, as his plans to fleece the residents of a Cotswold market town go terribly wrong. A woman with...

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.

  The five R&P Labs staff members travel south for a three-day scientific conference in San Diego, expecting nothing more exciting than sunshine, salsa and swimming pools. At least, they certainly aren’t expecting one staff member to disappear and another to become a murder suspect when  a...

James Leatheran was found dead at his writing desk with a pen embedded in his throat, an ironic death for a man whose acerbic newspaper column had made him so many enemies. Among the targets of his venom were a wealthy banker, a respected police inspector and a humble clock repairer named Jacob Silver....

The R&P Labs staff members are planning their Christmas potluck lunch when a stranger arrives on the doorstep with an announcement that threatens to turn several lives upside  down. 'Tis the season to be wary, and in this short story, the five scientific sleuths have to do some rapid research to discover whether one of them will be getting a very unusual Christmas present.

Rob Mangan has problems. His small independent research lab is on the brink of bankruptcy and his wife's gone off with the fish tank cleaner. So when Rob and his brother Phil are offered a small fortune to develop surgical dressings using sphagnum moss, they jump at the opportunity. But things...

It's the season of peace on earth and goodwill toward men except at R&P Labs, which has been drawn into the middle of a feud between two Seattle seafood restaurants.A customer has died from an unusual form of food poisoning found in oysters and the restaurant where he had his last meal is in trouble....

In a season of peace and goodwill, it was shocking for residents of the Cotswold town to learn a stranger had been murdered in their midst. It was even more shocking that he died on the doorstep of the town's police inspector's home as he was entertaining guests on Christmas Eve. It appeared Daniel...

Clock repairer Jacob Silver usually prefers to stand on the sidelines of life, but he gets more action than expected when he agrees to replace a missing player at a village fete 'Aunt Sally' competition. Play comes to an unexpected end when a body is discovered and the promised prize money is snatched...

French dressmaker Lucille DuBois brought a touch of glamour to the provincial Cotswold market town – at least until a corpse was discovered in her elegant establishment. Now she insists she's being framed for murder, but the townspeople are saying they knew all along a Frenchwoman couldn't be trusted....

Luke Alden had everything to live for – a good job, a loving wife and a child on the way – until the events of one stormy night destroyed it all. Some people said it was an act of God, but police in the Cotswold market town suspect it was a very human hand that started a fire and left Alden to...

    A chance to win $10,000 by writing a fast food slogan seems like a no-brainer to Zukie Merlino, but things go disastrously wrong when one of her co-competitors is murdered at the hotel where they’re all staying for the final round. Confined to quarters but still able to cause chaos, Zukie...