Molly Keatley is deeply contented with her life, her loving husband, her comfortable home in an attractive London suburb. Things are so pleasant, in fact, that they're ever so slightly boring, but that changes abruptly one bright September morning, when her husband comes rushing home, mutters a hasty, unexplained apology . . . and disappears. Minutes later, two strange men arrive with news that her husband is in fact a Soviet spy, and that the sleepy joys of her marriage have acted as a cover for years of personal and public betrayal.
Sofie Metropolis's PI business is so successful at finding missing spouses and lost pets and at proving insurance fraud that she's hired new staff, including her (formerly) layabout cousin. There are two men in Sofie's life: sexy Greek baker Dino, who found a place in her heart—and bed—in Foul Play, and man-of-mystery Jake Porter, whose Australian accent is guaranteed to turn Sofie's knees to water. The week before Halloween, a body disappears from Sofie's Aunt's funeral home. It might be a holiday prank, but Sofie's barely begun to investigate when she's handed a truly hot case: prove the innocence of someone already on trial for murder!
Brooke and Zeke are aspiring thespians who get the roles of Esmerelda and the Phantom respectively in their school play. During a rehearsal, a masked man comes swooping down from the catwalk and disappears down the trap door. When Zeke is accused of being the masked man, he is kicked out of the play, but the masked man continues to make appearances.
The holidays will be fun, think Roger and Diana, despite having to have extra lessons. Their cousin Snubby is staying with them, and they make a new friend called Barney. But when Barney disappears the children begin to worry about the strange behaviour of their new tutor.
Elvis Cole's relationship with attorney Lucy Chenier is strained. When she moved from Louisiana to join Elvis in Los Angeles, she never dreamed that violence would so easily touch her life -- but then the unthinkable happens. While Lucy is away on business and her ten-year-old son, Ben, is staying with Elvis, Ben disappears without a trace. Desperate to believe that the boy has run away, evidence soon mounts to suggest a much darker scenario.
