Bücher von Peggy Kopman-Owens

Simon Pennington Paris Sleuth is hired by Mrs. Duchesney to find her favorite author, Jamie Litton, a reclusive mystery writer whose best friend Ben Foulof is a spy on the run. Her assignment was meant to be a fun, harmless adventure for the summer, but Simon now suspects he has been duped into playing a role in a far more dangerous game. This unique crossover mystery re-introduces a cast of characters that readers may recognize from this author's three previous Paris mystery series: SEVEN PARIS MYSTERIES (7-book series), MRS DUCHESNEY MYSTERIES (9-book series), SIMON PENNINGTON MYSTERIES (4-book series).This newest title: à la carte A Cast of Paris Café Characters © 2023 Peggy Kopman-Owens. Cover Art © Roger Kopman

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. In the pre-dawn hours of another rainy day in Paris, a wet and shivering little bird of a woman appears at the door of a famous Paris sleuth to ask for help in selling an unknown masterpiece. The always-suspicious Mrs. Duchesney asks her visitor, "Did you steal it?" The meek widow Chorifé assures her host that she did not, but fears she might know who did. "Fear?" Mrs. Duchesney eyes grow larger. "Just how well do you know this thief?" To chase the villain from Paris to Corsica, all the while staying stay ahead of her nemesis, police detective Monsieur Bougonne, Mrs. Duchesney will need the assistance of her sleuthing partner, Monsieur Louie Bertrand, and an old friend, homicide detective Bruno Lacosta.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. A person could not boast of visiting Paris without one night at Caveau des Trésors. The century-old underground jazz club and quintessential address for the best jazz musicians in the world, where famous and infamous mingle freely, has been Louie Bertrand's favorite hideaway for 30 years. So, when the famous sleuth's table remains empty for too many nights in a row, the club's owner suspects foul play and contacts Louie's partner Mrs. Duchesney to begin a private investigation. When Mrs. Duchesney's cousin Rudy also goes missing, she must enlist the help of Chief Homicide Detective Monsieur Bruno Lacosta, recruit a reporter by the name of Simon Pennington, and lastly, make peace with the one woman in Paris she does not trust - the famously seductive owner of the most popular jazz club in Paris.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. An airplane departs Los Angeles with 406 souls onboard, but arrives in Sydney, Australia with 384 passengers, 18 cabin crew, 4 pilots and… one dead man! Where did passenger No. 407 come from? With the Prime Minister of one of the most powerful countries onboard, his government wants to know - "Could this have been an assassination attempt?" Fiona Forester Chesterfield, an unsuspecting government fraud investigator is contracted to keep tabs on one particular Sydney crew member, her neighbor, Isabel Quince Lewis. Both will discover that no one on that fateful Sydney flight is free from suspicion or safe from becoming the next victim!

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. "Monsieur Pennington! You're late." "Oui. Excusez-moi. It was unavoidable." "A woman?" "A painting." "Mon Dieu! Two in one week?""An ambitious thief." The Paris Opera has presented sleuths Simon Pennington and André Caron with another intriguing case to solve. One prime suspect has fallen victim to the pandemic, those still alive are afraid to show their faces, and some witnesses have been dead for more than a century! Clients Madame Oberon-Bouvier and Monsieur Ergos Santierre appear to be the victims of clever art thieves, but Paris sleuths Simon Pennington and André Caron know nothing is ever as it appears to be. Although a damsel in distress knows the truth, Simon Pennington is running out of time.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. A search for immortality? Did this bring people to Paris in the summer or was their search for something more lasting? Love, romance, the perfect martini? When bouquets show up at Mrs. Duchesney's door four Sundays in a row with no cards attached, something other than a rare flower begins smelling odd to this seasoned Paris sleuth. The mystery is complicated when her newest client delivers an antique bottle of amber-colored liquid for analysis and her partner Louie Bertrand disappears from Paris… again. Is the bottle hidden on her bookshelf as priceless as the 300-year old gossip suggests? Could this be the elixir of eternal youth coveted by French aristocracy and of which poets wrote? If so, solving this mystery could change the perfume industry forever, but is it worth the risk?

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. People often ask me, "How did Louie Bertrand become a famous Paris sleuth?" For our first interview, Louie Bertrand agreed to meet me at a café at one o'clock in the afternoon for "le petit dejeuner." This should have been my first clue, for it shouted this artist turned sleuth was a "night bloomer." After our first night out together my head was still spinning. I pleaded to his amused face, "Tell me again how you and Mrs. Duchesney met, but first… please, tell me where I was last night." Monsieur Bertrand smiled, poured us both a coffee, and began, "We met during her first summer in Europe, when she was looking for something or someone to give her young life meaning. I could not have imagined then that our lives would become intertwined for thirty more summers. It was not logical in any sense, that she seventeen, and more child than woman, would have such a profound influence on me a man of thirty." From my interviews, I would learn that Louie Bertrand and his sleuthing partner Mrs. Duchesney were as different as… Well, as different as Paris in the daytime and Paris at night.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. An early history of Paris Sleuths Extraordinaire, Mrs. Duchesney and Louis Bertrand. "Whatever the unknown in Europe," young Francine Robinsworth Duchesney told her parents at supper, "it has to be better than the known in a small town, where truth is hidden behind smiles, pleasantries, and an over abundance of stretch lace at weddings." On an old borrowed map hidden beneath her bed, Francine Robinsworth Duchesney had scribbled in bright blue "the other side of the world." Born with exceptional curiosity in a small town jam-packed with well-preserved century-old mysteries, where idle indiscretions lined cellars and attics like jars of last year's apricots, she found no lie was so well constructed, no secret so well kept, no treasure so deeply buried, that she could not discover and reveal it to an uneasy audience. So, when this youngest of eight Duchesney children receives an unexpected invitation to go abroad, most of her neighbors are relieved to see the annoyingly little amateur sleuth go. Europe will teach Francine how easily a young woman's mind and heart can be swayed by a dangerously vivid imagination and the unprecedented eagerness of intriguing men. In Switzerland, one man will ask her to stay "a while." In Paris, another will invite her to stay "forever." Only one will change her destiny forever with a small token, a mystery, and a priceless souvenir of A Summer Abroad. Later, she would write in her diary, "Whatever the truth is about my own life, it's still waiting somewhere else on a blank page in a place where people make no attempt to predict the future based upon a person's past."

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. People often ask me, "How did Mrs. Duchesney become a famous Paris sleuth?" I tell them it should have been easy to predict that Francine Robinsworth Duchesney would find success doing something unexpected of a young woman from a small town in the American Midwest. For you see, she had never been what others in that part of the world might call normal. When I came to Paris in search of Mrs. Duchesney, a person described to me as the legendary Paris Sleuth Extraordinaire, I did not imagine her to be the unassuming little woman seated alone on a bench in Parc Montsouris. There was nothing extraordinary about this vaguely fashionable bundle of clothes, whose face was hidden beneath a hat and eyeglasses. Born with an exceptional curiosity, in a small town jam-packed with well-preserved century-old mysteries, where indiscretions lined cellars and attics like jars of last year's apricots, Francine found no lie was so well constructed, no secret so well kept, no treasure so deeply buried that she could not discover it. My interviews with Mrs. Duchesney would be the focus of my first year in Paris. After that, I was completely seduced by the woman and the city, forgetting the reason I had come there and finding new reasons to stay.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Among the rich of Paris, there are opportunities for thieves and forgers such as Vadim Bergeron, a predator who delights in destroying the reputations of true artists and the naïve women who love them. However, one private detective has spent years recruiting waiters and chefs to build a reliable, although eclectic network of informants. Within days of an art theft, he can count on clues arriving during dinner: a note slipped under his dessert plate, an address scribbled on a receipt, a suggestion of where an object might be fenced, or the name of a potential buyer whispered in his ear along with a…"Will there be anything else, Monsieur?" Catching art thieves has become this Paris sleuth's "raison d'etre" and Simon Pennington is determined Olivette Ferrier will become Vadim Bergeron's last victim.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. "Do you carry any weapons, Monsieur Pennington?" "Only my wits." A modern-day Casanova is targeting American tourists in Paris, stealing their hearts, and leaving odd clues as to his identity. A few victims have hired a private detective to find the rogue. However, Paris sleuth Simon Pennington would never interrupt someone dining at his favorite French restaurant, not even to arrest him for stealing a priceless treasure. Here, the waiters are trusted informants and the Chef, an expert marksman. However, tonight, there is no need for a gun. A fork will do. "Tell Chef, the man seated at table two is a thief." "What did he steal, Monsieur Pennington?" "A woman's heart." "Mon Dieu!" "By the way, what did the thief order for dinner?" "The goose." "S'il vous plaît, tell him his goose is cooked." "Tout de suite!"

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Humorous, inspirational, philosophical, romantic, nostagic memories of Paris, France. QUOTES - The Wit and Wisdom of Paris Sleuths is a collection of the author Peggy Kopman-Owens' favorite quotes from her novels: SEVEN PARIS MYSTERIES (7-book series); MRS DUCHESNEY MYSTERIES (9-book series); SIMON PENNINGTON MYSTERIES (3-book series); THE MIST OF MONTMARTRE; PARIS APARTMENT FOR RENT; LATE PASSENGER.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. In desperation, she wrote, "Meet me in Paris." He would have said, "Yes." But, he never received her letter.Who did? Bon Voyage! Les grandes vacances, the six-week summer exodus, is about to begin, taking Paris sleuth Louie Bertrand to the sunny beaches of Deauville and leaving his sleuthing partner Mrs. Duchesney alone in Paris to investigate not one, but four new mysteries! The stamp market provides a perfect setting for a shadowy figure from Moscow, whose real interest in Paris may not be collecting stamps. A cold case involving a dead diplomat and his dubious widow simply refuses to remain cold, when evidence surfaces suggesting an Egyptian statue may not be the only priceless item missing from the couple's apartment. While Louie searches for two married sisters, traveling sans husbands, Mrs. Duchesney receives a coded invitation to rendezvous with a dead poet. As if that weren't enough intrigue, both Paris sleuths are compelled to investigate one of their oldest friends, when his unauthorized biography reveals a hidden past and secrets taken to his grave. It's another busy summer of Paris Mysteries. Pack your bags!

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies read! Best friends will discover some secrets should remain hidden… underground. Ignoring his best friend's warning to stay out of Paris, mystery writer Jamie Litton leaves the Côte d'Azur and returns to Paris to investigate yet another unexpected death and a mystery evolving at Maxmillian's apartment. While Jamie is in Paris learning the secrets of his eclectic Café Society, best friend Ben Foulof goes it alone in South America to investigate rumors surrounding a murder in the Paris antique store L' Indice. Was Claude, a German collaborator or a hero? The young French doctor disappeared from Paris at the end of WWII, but could his fading path to Brazil, or the artwork in the attic, condemn him?

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. In Paris, there were simply too many beautiful women hiding too many secrets, and this case was becoming too personal and too intriguing for Mrs. Duchesney to solve on her own. There was only one name on the engraved invitation, "Louie Arnaud Bertrand" making it perfectly clear that Mrs. Duchesney was not welcome at Chateau de Robinesque-Roussel. Investigating the very delicate nature of this mystery would become her sleuthing partner Louie's first solo assignment. Mrs. Duchesney had to admit Louie was an excellent private detective, but at times like these, his weakness for fiery-tempered women always made him act a bit too charming and foolish… and always far too seductive for his own good. It was so curious. Why would a woman, who kept the chief inspector of the Paris police on her speed dial, prefer the help of a former lover in solving a mystery? Unless, of course, there was more to her story or something far more interesting to hide.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. In Paris, two bodies have been found floating in the river. Two friends appear in tourists' photographs, side-by-side smiling up into the Heavens, as if this had been nothing more than another Saturday spent happily fishing. Later, a third unclaimed body will turn up at the morgue. When the fourth appears, it's time for Paris sleuths Mrs. Duchesney and Louie Bertrand to get involved. Something very fishy has been happening along the banks of the Seine. What could these four deaths have in common and how is a small boy named Cicero involved? "Demandez au Morse," the worm seller tells Mrs. Duchesney. "Ask the Walrus."

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies read! Mystery writer Jamie Litton discovers that the worst thing anyone can say to a friend is "Never Change." Sometimes a man must… to stay alive! What first drew Jamie to Paris and to Montmartre, to the true power of Café Society, all becomes clear in this last book in the series. What drove Ben Foulof to abandon his successful career as an investigative journalist, to become a spy for an international organization, and then, suddenly end the dangerous liaison will be revealed. In Never Change Montmartre, lifelong best friends Jamie Litton and Ben Foulof learn, "Sometimes, you can go home, again."

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Why had the beautiful young French woman been so willing to offer a perfect stranger, an American,her apartment and one month free rent? Paris was a property owner's paradise, a place where renters far exceeded the inventory of apartments.Yes. There were less expensive places in the world to live, but Zack's heart was set on a place of his own in the 6th Arrondissement. And yes, it did matter that it was in this particular neighborhood, where Gertrude Stein had lived and Hemingway had walked. It was a mystery, which demanded investigation, but was discovering the neighbors' secrets worth risking eviction?

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies read! The rich are not like us. When it rains, they simply fly away, taking their secrets with them. On the Côte d' Azur, a missing journalist is given a rare opportunity to becomes an insider, offering his best friend an unexpected invitation to a masquerade ball at the Darimus Mansion in Antibes, and a chance to settle an old score. To spend New Year's Eve on the French Riviera in the company of the rich and royal is more than mystery writer Jamie Litton had imagined. If Ben Foulof's plan works, his appearance there will be an even bigger surprise for his enemies.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies Read! A murder has been committed in Paris at an antique store named "L' Indice." The antique store's strange history of unsolved murders and robberies began long before the WWII rumors of masterpieces stolen from castles on the Rhine. Jamie Litton, whose mystery writer's imagination won't let dead men or their secrets rest in peace, moves in upstairs with hopes of discovering the truth for his next bestseller. His best friend Ben Foulof is untangling a mystery of his own in Japan & Australia, where he has sought refuge from an international news organization that has condemned him as a rogue agent. Will either of them understand an ominous warning hidden in a book?

GAMANBook Three of Seven Paris Mysteries© 2011 Peggy Kopman-OwensCover Art © Roger Kopman MYSTERY. SUSPENSE. INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE. Who knew? Spies read! Danger awaits best friends Jamie Litton and Ben Foulof on the island of Malta, where one will be accused of murder and the other of being a spy on the run. A missing journalist cannot tell the world he is still alive by becoming a mystery writer's alibi. An escape to sea seems like their only option, but is it?Hiromi failed in an earlier attempt to capture her target, but after finding him hiding on the island of Malta, she now has a second chance to redeem her reputation at the agency. She must neutralize their rogue agent and silence a mystery writer who hides agency secrets in his novels. She must… or die.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies read! "I did not know, that I was being seduced, until it was too late - the faces unknown, the moment unexpected. Is that not the essence of seduction?" Living in a loft in the 18th Arrondissement near Montmartre, mystery writer Jamie Litton has become intoxicated with his life as the newest member of Parisian café society; a group of talented, eccentric artists, musicians, and poets. They have unconditionally embraced their American friend, not knowing that he hides a dangerous secret.His best friend is a spy on the run from a powerful international news organization that wants a rogue agent back, dead or alive. From Paris to the island of Malta, the hunt for Ben Foulof is on. If the bumbling mystery writer Jamie Litton gets in the way, kill him… but bring back his newest manuscript. It holds all the clues.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Who knew? Spies read! This 30-year saga asks readers, "How well do you know your best friend and what are you willing to do to keep him alive?"A sinister-looking man shows up late at night at a New York City apartment shared by mystery writer Jamie Litton and journalist Ben Foulof to deliver disturbing news. Ben has disappeared from his reporting assignment in the Middle East. The stranger leaves behind an absurd, but frightening accusation. Jamie's best friend Ben has become a spy, but for whom, and why?To unravel the mystery Jamie will escape to Europe with shadowy figures in pursuit, who assume if they cannot find their missing rogue agent, perhaps, his best friend can. Attempts to lead them astray will take Jamie on a path familiar only to one other person, and reveal memories of an ill-fated love affair. Will coded messages and secrets hidden in novels bring Ben in from the cold and keep them both alive? If so, for how long?

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Surviving on the streets of Paris as an artist's model had been difficult, but Laura had wanted to be remembered forever, as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's putains had been immortalized. In another place and time, her alliance with the rich and powerful of Paris might have cost her head. However, this was 21st century France, where the rich and the poor had learned how to negotiate tolerance. Olivette, Franz, Rudi, Gretchen, Martine, Gaston, and Nicolai chose Montmartre, where they had become soldiers in a war against ennui and mediocrity, putting on their canvases and taking to their beds - other men's wives, other wives' husbands, and the heroes and whores willing to follow them. When one of the richest men in Europe offers to make Laura his wife, she must choose which one she has become.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman. Mitchell Irwin isn't the sort of a man who believes in second chances. Once-upon-a-time, this respected Shakespearean actor sold his soul to Hollywood in exchange for fame and fortune. Ignoring a warning to be careful what you wish for, he has become a cynical, world-weary, celebrity searching for escape from another scandal. Mitchell finds sanctuary in a remote little fishing village populated by artists, poets, and book lovers, who don't know who he is. One extraordinary woman, whose talent rests in painting portraits of visitors' soul mates, is willing to hide his secret, until a stranger arrives from the outer island… that place out there, where people go, but rarely return. The most unlikely woman will change his life forever, if only he is willing to take another chance on love.

Cover Art © Roger Kopman."Does the past change the future or does the future change the past?" Set in the Ireland, early 1970's. Strangely, for more than a year photo-journalist Natalie McKenna has been dreaming of another woman's life. This no-nonsense 30-year veteran of armed conflicts arrives prepared to document "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland, but not to fall in love with a man she was pre-destined to meet.