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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
September, 1873. Private enquiry agents Matthew Grand and James
Batchelor have been hired by timber merchant Selwyn Byng following
the disappearance of his heiress wife. The only clue they have to
go on is a badly spelled note demanding the princely sum of
GBP5,000 if Byng is ever to see Emilia again. As the two
investigators assess whether Byng has been telling them the whole
truth, a second package brings an extremely unwelcome surprise. At
the same time, a human torso is found floating in the River Thames.
Could there be a connection to Emilia Byng's disappearance . ?
'Just brilliant.' DONAL RYAN 'An exceptionally good book.' C. J.
SANSOM 1816 was the year without a summer. A rare climatic event
has brought frost to July, and a lingering fog casts a pall over a
Dublin stirred by zealotry and civil unrest, torn between
evangelical and rationalist dogma. Amid the disquiet, a young
nursemaid in a pious household conceals a pregnancy and then
murders her newborn. Rumours swirl about the identity of the
child's father, but before an inquest can be held, the maid is
found dead. When Abigail Lawless, the eighteen-year-old daughter of
Dublin's coroner, by chance discovers a message from the maid's
seducer, she is drawn into a world of hidden meanings and deceit.
An only child, Abigail has been raised amid the books and
instruments of her father's grim profession. Pushing against the
restrictions society places on a girl her age, she pursues an
increasingly dangerous investigation. As she leads us through
dissection rooms and dead houses, Gothic churches and elegant
ballrooms, a sinister figure watches from the shadows - an
individual she believes has already killed twice, and is waiting to
kill again... Determined, resourceful and intuitive, Abigail
Lawless emerges as a memorable young sleuth operating at the dawn
of forensic science.
It's true: the last camel is gone, leaving Amelia, Emerson and
Ramses to bake under the desert sun in the winter of 1897. Armed
with a mysterious note and map, they have been commissioned to
locate a lost English aristocrat and his wife, who disappeared over
a decade ago. In this tribute to H. Rider Haggard ("King Solomon's
Mines"), the family marches into the desert where survival depends
on solving a mystery as old as Ancient Egypt, and where they meet a
young girl, Nefret, who will join their family and change their
lives forever.
She may be thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but Lady Georgiana
Rannoch cannot wait to ring in the New Year--before a Christmas
killer wrings another neck...
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me--well,
actually, "my" true love, Darcy O'Mara, is spending a "feliz
navidad" tramping around South America. Meanwhile Mummy is holed up
in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel
Coward And I'm snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling
brother, Binky, and sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig.
So it's a miracle when I contrive to land a position as hostess to
a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The village is like something
out of "A Christmas Carol" But no sooner have I arrived than a
neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie, falls out of a tree
dead. On my second day, another so-called accident results in a
death - and there's yet another on my third. Perhaps a recent
prison break could have something to do with it...that, or a
long-standing witch's curse. But after Darcy shows up beneath the
mistletoe, anything could be possible in this wicked wonderland.
Includes an English Christmas companion, full of holiday recipes,
games, and more
A mighty warrior A faithful friend An immortal love As Arthur
forges a union in Britain, across the sea a royal son is denied his
birthright. The Romans are gone and war is coming to Gaul. In an
age of cruelty and barbarism, Lancelot - known as Clothar - has
been raised to champion justice and righteousness, but as his
boyhood world in Gaul disintegrates, he seeks sanctuary in a new
home: Britain. There he finds Arthur Pendragon, newly crowned High
King, who, dreams, like Clothar himself, of living in a better
world. The friendship of these men, and the love they share for a
woman, will grow into Britain's most enduring legend. Discover the
most authentic telling of the Arthurian legend ever written
Everything is about to change... 1789. Pierre and Catherine Aubert,
the Comte and Comtesse de Verais, have fled the palace of
Versailles for their chateau, deep in the French Alps. But as
revolution spreads through the country, even hidden away the
Auberts will not be safe forever. Soon they must make a terrible
decision in order to protect themselves, and their children, from
harm. Present day. When Lu's mother dies leaving her heartbroken,
the chance to move to a chateau in the south of France with her
husband and best friends seems an opportunity for a new beginning.
But Lu can't resist digging into their new home's history, and when
she stumbles across the unexplained disappearance of Catherine
Aubert, the chateau begins to reveal its secrets - and a mystery
unsolved for centuries is uncovered... Unlock the secret of the
chateau today. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Fiona Valpy and The
Forgotten Village! Readers love The Secret of the Chateau! 'I
absolutely loved this book... Enthralling... I really struggled to
put this book down.' NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars 'Brilliant... I
was gripped right until the end. Great characters, a riveting plot
and the fantastic writing style I've come to expect.' NetGalley
reviewer, 5 stars 'Had me gripped... Fast enough to keep you
intrigued and turning the pages... Would highly recommend.'
NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars 'I was drawn in from the first
chapter... It is rare that a book brings tears to my eyes but this
one succeeded!... Held me captivated right to the last words. A
must read for everyone.' NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars 'Kathleen
McGurl's books knock it out of the park every single time!!!!!!!...
Wonderful... You should read it. Right now.' NetGalley reviewer, 5
stars 'Both storylines were equally as gripping... A very enjoyable
read!... One I shall remember! Would definitely recommend!'
NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars
You've never met a woman as dangerous as Bella Sorensen . . . THE
FASCINATING REIMAGINING OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HISTORY'S ORIGINAL
FEMALE SERIAL KILLER 'Extraordinary. Bruce does a marvellous job of
reimagining this real-life murderer, without excusing her crimes'
THE TIMES 'Dark, twisted and dangerously addictive' SAM LLOYD,
bestselling author of THE MEMORY WOOD ________ 1900, Chicago. Bella
Sorenson knows that the world is made for men. They control
everything: jobs, property, money. Marriage makes women like her
their slaves. But now Bella is fighting back. Because she's angry.
She's bloodthirsty. She's willing to kill to get what she wants -
starting with her husband. And then her next husband. And the next
one . . . ________ 'Explosive . . . If you like true crime, you'll
devour this chilling story of revenge' WOMAN'S WEEKLY 'Dark glee,
tragedy . . . Fans of my story The Corset will gobble this up'
LAURA PURCELL 'Come for the fabulous premise, stay for the
razor-sharp portrait of a marvelously complex (and often totally
terrifying) mind . . . Camilla Bruce has absolutely outdone
herself' LAIRD HUNT 'Starts as a revenge story but quickly becomes
so much more. Clever, shocking and horrific in places, it's the
sort of book for which the phrase 'page-turner' was invented' LUCIE
MCKNIGHT HARDY
Duelling, derring-do, and dastardly deeds are all in a day's work
for Liberty Lane: the plucky heroine for fans of Georgette Heyer
and Sarah Waters's Victorian novels. London. Summer 1839. And the
temperature is rising as Liberty Lane takes on her strangest case
yet. Deranged aristocrat Lord Brinkburn is nearing death and his
elder son, Stephen, is expecting to inherit the title. But Lady
Brinkburn's sudden announcement that Stephen is illegitimate throws
the family into turmoil. Tensions reach boiling point between the
two brothers, one of whom stands to gain everything, and they come
to blows in public - much to the amusement of London Society.
Liberty is engaged privately to get to the truth of the matter, but
a macabre murder raises the stakes considerably...added to which
she finds her own judgement being undermined by the beguiling Lady
Brinkburn. She is only too aware that time is running out - one of
the brothers may be next, but which will it be...?
In this action-packed new Bernicia Chronicles adventure from
Matthew Harffy, Beobrand finds himself in a dangerous foreign land,
caught between warring factions of royalty and the Church. AD 652.
Beobrand has been ordered to lead a group of pilgrims to the holy
city of Rome. Chief among them is Wilfrid, a novice of the church
with some surprisingly important connections. Taking only Cynan and
some of his best men, Beobrand hopes to make the journey through
Frankia quickly and return to Northumbria without delay, though the
road is long and perilous. But where Beobrand treads, menace is
never far behind. The lands of the Merovingian kings are rife with
intrigue. The queen of Frankia is unpopular and her ambitious
schemes, though benevolent, have made her powerful enemies. Soon
Wilfrid, and Beobrand, are caught up in sinister plots against the
royal house. After interrupting a brutal ambush in a forest,
Beobrand and his trusted gesithas find their lives on the line.
Dark forces will stop at nothing to seize control of the Frankish
throne, and Beobrand is thrown into a deadly race for survival
through foreign lands where he cannot be sure who is friend and who
is foe. The only certainty is that if he is to save his men, thwart
the plots, and unmask his enemies, blood will flow. Reviewers on
Matthew Harffy: 'A brilliant characterization of a difficult hero
in a dangerous time. Excellent!' Christian Cameron 'He is really
proving himself the rightful heir to Gemmell's crown.' Jemahl Evans
'A genuinely superb novel.' Steven McKay 'Beobrand is the warrior
to follow.' David Gilman
'Echoes of Daphne Du Maurier . . . an intriguing, elegantly
constructed gothic mystery' Sunday Times 'The Key in the Lock
demands to be devoured whole' Stacey Halls, author of Mrs England A
captivating story of burning secrets and buried shame, and of the
loyalty and love that rises from the ashes. -------------- 'I still
dream, every night, of Polneath on fire...' By day, Ivy Boscawen
mourns the loss of her son Tim in the Great War. But by night she
mourns another boy - one whose death decades ago haunts her still.
For Ivy is sure that there is more to what happened all those years
ago: the fire at the Great House, and the terrible events that came
after. A truth she must uncover, if she is ever to be free. A
SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION PICK -------------- 'Intriguing,
beguiling and surprising until the very end - I was transfixed'
Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground 'Absorbing, beautifully
written . . . Everything I enjoy in a gothic mystery' Rosie
Andrews, author of The Leviathan 'The Key in the Lock is an
absolute triumph! Dark, clever and utterly enthralling, this is
historical fiction - and storytelling - at its absolute best'
Elizabeth Macneal, author of The Doll Factory and Circus of Wonders
'A beautifully observed novel. Intriguing, beguiling and surprising
until the very end - I was transfixed and moved by Underdown's
storytelling' Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground
'Brilliantly twisty, dripping with mystery and utterly
heartbreaking' Emily Koch, author of Keep Him Close 'A gothic
mystery of the highest order. Chilling, sad, beautiful, and so
elegantly conjured' Emma Stonex, author of The Lamplighters 'The
perfect gothic novel' Stuart Turton 'Deliciously intriguing from
the very first sentence' Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of
Frannie Langton 'Captivating and elegant and undoubtedly a future
classic' Lucie McKnight Hardy, author of Water Shall Refuse Them 'A
masterclass in atmosphere... haunting, vivid and urgent. The Key in
the Lock demands to be devoured whole' Stacey Halls, author of Mrs
England 'Atmospheric and rich with evocative detail, I found myself
in tears by the end' Harriet Tyce, author of Blood Orange 'A
Cornish landscape evocative of Daphne du Maurier . . . brilliantly
plotted' Louise Hare, author of This Lovely City 'I was captivated
by the characters, the story and the sinuous, seamless plotting'
Sarah Hilary, author of Fragile 'This is a novel of true elegance,
deftly and satisfyingly plotted' Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The
Mermaid and Mr Hancock 'An ingenious page-turner' The Times 'A
compelling gothic mystery' - Good Housekeeping 'An evocative,
emotional and compelling gothic read' - CultureFly, Books to Look
Forward to Reading in 2022 'With echoes of Daphne du Maurier from
its very first, Underdown's second novel is an intriguing,
elegantly constructed gothic mystery' Sunday Times 'A captivating
and atmospheric read' My Weekly 'Packed full of secrets, eerily
atmospheric, this is a darkly gothic tale' Daily Mail 'The
gloriously Gothic second novel from Beth Underdown tells a story of
smouldering secrets, lingering guilt and hidden love' Daily Express
'A clever, chilling and emotionally charged journey makes The Key
In The Lock the perfect novel for a winter's night' Buzz Magazine
Enthusiasts call Harry Gysel a psychic. To others he is a fraud, a
meddler in the occult. When he appears to predict the death of a
woman in the audience of one of his shows and that woman is
subsequently murdered, Harry becomes an instant celebrity. But
Chief Inspector Morgan isn't so easily convinced.
Cleo Sherwood disappeared eight months ago. Aside from her parents
and the two sons she left behind, no one seems to have noticed. It
isn't hard to understand why: it's 1964 and neither the police, the
public nor the papers care much when Negro women go missing. Maddie
Schwartz - recently separated from her husband, working her first
job as an assistant at the Baltimore Sun - wants one thing: a
byline. When she hears about an unidentified body that's been
pulled out of the fountain in Druid Hill Park, Maddie thinks she is
about to uncover a story that will finally get her name in print.
What she can't imagine is how much trouble she will cause by
chasing a story that no-one wants her to tell.
Albert Campion travels to Dorset as he attempts to get to the
bottom of a series of shocking events connected to a TV adaptation
of one of Evadne Childe's famous novels. "Ripley's brilliant
inventiveness demonstrates that golden age characters and tropes
can still work for contemporary fair-play fans"- Publishers Weekly
Starred Review London, 1972. The Evadne Childe Society has gathered
in honour of what would have been the author's eighty-second
birthday, and Albert Campion is there as a reluctant guest speaker
and ceremonial birthday cake cutter. But Campion's oratory skills
aren't the only thing in demand. A TV remake of a twenty-year-old
film adaptation of one of Evadne's classic novels, The Moving
Mosaic, has been derailed by someone attempting to murder the
leading man - the latest in a series of increasingly disturbing
incidents - and the society wants Campion to investigate. Who is
determined to sabotage the production at any cost, and why?
Travelling to the picturesque village of Kingswalter Manor in
Dorset where filming is due to start, Campion soon stumbles upon
dark secrets, ghosthunters, an impressive mosaic, and murder.
Every relationship comes at a cost in this tense and gripping
Turkish mystery from award-winning crime writer Barbara Nadel and
featuring Ikmen - 'one of modern crime fiction's true heroes' The
Times When jeweller Fahrettin Muftugolu is found dead in his
apartment in the Istanbul district of Vefa, it looks like suicide.
Searching the jeweller's home, Inspector Mehmet Suleyman and his
team come across a hoard of extraordinary artefacts including solid
gold religious relics and a mummified human head. But are they real
and, if so, who owns these priceless possessions? As his colleagues
begin their investigation, Suleyman is distracted by troubles of
his own. His wedding to Gonca Serekoglu is days away, but when
Gonca receives her bridal bedcover from a Roma haberdasher and
discovers that it is covered in blood, she sees this as a curse on
their marriage. Suleyman asks his old friend Cetin Ikmen to help
him uncover the truth, but the task is not that simple...
Meanwhile, as the stories swirling around Muftugolu become
increasingly sinister, the dead man's wife appears, laying claim to
his valuables, and Suleyman is drawn into a dark and dangerous
world of smuggling and savagery . . .
Duelling, derring-do, and dastardly deeds are all in a day's work
for Liberty Lane: a new heroine for fans of Matthew Hawkwood and
Sarah Waters's Victorian novels. Thomas Jacques Lane - radical,
romantic, scholar and devoted father - had led an unconventional
life but of one thing his daughter, Liberty, is certain: he would
never have taken part in a duel. So when she receives a note
informing her of his death in just such a manner, Liberty ignores
all advice and sets off in pursuit of the truth. With no resources
bar her wits, she travels to the Continent and back in search of
her father's killer. And as the nation prepares for the coronation
of a young Victoria, Liberty uncovers murder and treachery at the
very highest levels....
Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London
household when she was thirteen. Her employer, suffragette Lady
Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright
youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan's friend, Maurice Blanche,
often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized
Maisie's intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the
prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to
complete her education.
The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse,
then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found--and
lost--an important part of herself. Ten years after the Armistice,
in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private
investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful,
and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected
infidelity but reveals something very different.
In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a
working farm known as The Retreat, that acts as a convalescent
refuge for ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. When
Fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat, she must
finally confront the ghost that has haunted her for over a decade.
"From the Hardcover edition."
The past is never far behind you . . . Old sins have a nasty way of
catching up with you, as Detective Chief Inspector Henry Johnstone
discovers in this gripping historical mystery, which takes him back
to a difficult case in his early days as a police officer. Full of
unexpected twists, this is a must-read for fans of Downton Abbey
and Jacqueline Winspear. 1929. The discovery of the bodies of two
retired policemen, Walter Cole and Hayden Paul, sounds warning
bells to DCI Henry Johnstone. Both men were experiencing financial
difficulties, and their deaths were staged to look like suicides.
Hayden left a note containing two words: old sins. And when Henry
attends his sister's Halloween party, he is approached by a
flamenco dancer who leaves a note with the name of another man.
Could this be a grim warning? Henry is forced on a painful journey
back to an old case he worked on with Cole and Paul. Is someone
playing a deadly game with Henry, and is he about to pay for his
past mistakes? With Detective Sergeant Mickey Hitchens by his side
and his family at risk, Henry must catch a dangerous killer bent on
revenge - before the killer catches him . . .
Was the wrong man hanged for a young woman's murder, or is a
copycat killer on the loose? DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey
Hitchens must crack a darkly complex case when the community close
ranks. 1930, Leicestershire. Everyone in the quiet market town of
East Harborough is convinced that local miscreant Brady Brewer is
responsible for the brutal murder of Sarah Downham. Despite
Brewer's protestations of innocence, and his sister's pleas for
help from DCI Henry Johnstone and DS Mickey Hitchens, he is
convicted and hanged. Two weeks after the hanging, a farmworker
finds the body of another young woman less than a mile from where
Sarah was found - and there are other disturbing similarities
between the two murders. Is a copycat killer on the loose, or was
Brewer innocent after all? Where is the missing yellow dress that
Sarah wore the night she was murdered? As the locals close ranks,
Henry and Mickey soon discover that reputations - and the truth -
are all on the line . . .
A gripping historical thriller introducing Bow Street Runner
Matthew Hawkwood - a sexy, dangerous and fascinating hero who hunts
down thieves, spies and murderers in the crime-ridden streets of
Regency London. Hunting down highwaymen was not the usual preserve
of a Bow Street Runner. As the most resourceful of this elite band
of investigators, Matthew Hawkwood was surprised to be assigned the
case - even if it did involve the murder and mutilation of a naval
courier. From the squalor of St Giles Rookery, London's notorious
den of thieves and cutthroats, to the brightly lit salons of the
aristocracy and the heart of the British government, Hawkwood
relentlessly pursues his quarry. As the case unfolds and another
body is discovered on the banks of the Thames, the true agenda
begins to emerge. And only Hawkwood can stop a dastardly plot that
will end British mastery of the seas forever.
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