![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
The arrival of a band of Spanish mercenaries brings new danger for Margaret Beaufort and the House of Lancaster in this richly-imagined medieval mystery. November, 1471. With Edward of York on the English throne and her son, Henry Tudor, in exile in Brittany, the newly-widowed Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, is alone, without protectors. All she can do is wait and watch, planning for a time when she's in a position to make her move. But new dangers are emerging. En route to England is a band of Spanish mercenaries known as the Garduna. With no allegiance to prince, prelate or people, they are a lethal fighting force, utterly ruthless and implacable killers. But who has hired them . . . and why? The discovery of the body of an unexpected visitor, found murdered in a locked room in her London townhouse, heralds the start of a series of increasingly menacing incidents which threaten Margaret and her household. Is there an enemy within? It's up to Margaret's wily clerk Christopher Urswicke to uncover the truth and ensure Margaret survives to fulfil her destiny.
In the spring of 1666 everyone's first reaction to a sudden death at the palace of White Hall is that the plague has struck, but the killing of Thomas Chiffinch was by design, not disease. Chiffinch was holder of two influential posts - Keeper of the Closet and Keeper of the Jewels - and rival courtiers have made no secret of their wish to succeed to those offices. To Thomas Chaloner, ordered to undertake the investigation, such avarice gives a whole host of suspects an ample motive for murder. The same courtiers are at the heart of the royal entourage endorsing the King's licentious and ribald way of life, and Chaloner has some sympathy with the atmosphere of outrage and disgust at such behaviour. London's citizens, already irked by the wealthy fleeing to the country at the outbreak of the plague, have scant patience with the Court on its return. The city is abuzz with rumours of dissent and rebellion, fuelled by predictions from a soothsayer in Clerkenwell of a rain of fire destroying the capital on Good Friday. Chaloner initially dismisses such talk as nonsense, but as he uncovers ever more connections to Clerkenwell among his suspects, he begins to fear that there is also design behind the rumours - and that, come Easter Day, the King and his Court might find themselves the focus of yet another rebellion.
Two men seeking the bones of a martyr stumble upon the crimes of a devil in the stunning historical crime novel by bestselling author David Mark. Hull, 1849: a city in the grip of a cholera outbreak that sees its poorest citizens cut down by the cartload. Into this world of flame and grief comes former soldier Meshach Stone. He's been hired as bodyguard by an academic hunting for the bones of the apostle Simon the Zealot, rumoured to lie somewhere in Lincolnshire. Stone can't see why ancient bones are of interest in a world full of them. Then a woman he briefly loved is killed. As he investigates, he realizes that she is one of many... and that some deaths cry out for vengeance.
'An enthralling read' -- DAILY MAIL In the gripping new novel by the author of The Fourteenth Letter, a lawyer in Victorian London must find a man he got off a murder charge - and who seems to have killed again . . . Victorian London, 1882. Five years ago, crusading lawyer Cage Lackmann successfully defended Moses Pickering against a charge of murder. Now, a body is found bearing all the disturbing hallmarks of that victim - and Pickering is missing. Cage's reputation is in tatters, and worse, he is implicated in this new murder by the bitter detective who led the first failed case. Left with no other alternative, Cage must find Pickering to prove his innocence. Did Cage free a brutal murderer? Or is there something more sinister at work? PRAISE FOR CLAIRE EVANS 'A darkly brilliant romp packed with intrigue and romance . . . curl up and prepare to become immersed' Heat 'Exuberant plotting and witty prose. Great fun' The Times 'Claire Evans has created a cast of deliciously sinister and mysterious characters. A hugely satisfying read' Good Housekeeping 'If you enjoyed Kate Mosse's Labyrinth or Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist, then chances are you're going to love this new thriller' Hello Magazine
The bestselling, Man Booker Prize-winning novel hailed as "a true
achievement. Catton has built a lively parody of a 19th-century
novel, and in so doing created a novel for the 21st, something
utterly new. The pages fly."--New York Times Book Review
A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history. Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own. Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie. Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.
After narrowly escaping the terror of Nazi Germany, Rowland Sinclair and his companions land in London, believing they are safe ... but they are wrong. A bizzare murder plunges the hapless Australian into a queer world of British aristocracy, fascist Blackshirts, illicit love, scandal and spies. A world where gentlemen are not always what they are dressed up to be ...
When a prominent citizen is murdered, former Captain of the Guard Owen Archer is persuaded out of retirement to investigate in this gripping medieval mystery. 1374. When a member of one of York's most prominent families is found dead in the woods, his throat torn out, rumours spread like wildfire that wolves are running loose throughout the city. Persuaded to investigate by the victim's father, Owen Archer is convinced that a human killer is responsible. But before he can gather sufficient evidence to prove his case, a second body is discovered, stabbed to death. Is there a connection? What secrets are contained within the victim's household? And what does apprentice healer Alisoun know that she's not telling? Teaming up with Geoffrey Chaucer, who is in York on a secret mission on behalf of Prince Edward, Owen's enquiries will draw him headlong into a deadly conspiracy.
March, 1919. DI Hardcastle must find Lily, the missing daughter of Austen Musgrave MP. Hardcastle, aided by DS Marriott, discovers that Lily provides risque entertainment for ex-officers. When she returns home of her own accord, Hardcastle assumes the case is closed. But Lily goes missing again and this time, finding her might not be so easy.
A secret diary. A forbidden love. A centuries old mystery to solve. When a rare sixteenth-century manuscript lands on her desk courtesy of William, a struggling painter, shy book restorer Rose makes a startling discovery: it is a palimpsest. Beneath the text is a different document, one that's been written over. What they discover is the secret diary of William's ancestor, Giovanni Lomazzo, a Venetian painter who has just been commissioned by Venice's most powerful admiral to paint a portrait of his favourite courtesan... it is a diary of forbidden love, dangerous political plots, and secrets that could destroy everyone involved. Together, Rose and William work to solve the mystery of what happened to the secret lovers. As feelings develop between Rose and William, their own experience begins to mirror the affair that they're uncovering, and each set of lovers is forced to confront the reality of their romance. A richly detailed and sweeping page-turner, Margaux's sumptuous portrait of late Renaissance Italy will have you falling headlong into history, slipping in and out of the shadows along the canals of Venice.
DCI Paniatowski's team suspect a murder is the result of ritual killing, carried out by a secret society. But DCI Dixon treats it as a mere domestic murder. So Meadows, Crane and Beresford risk their careers to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Monika knows killer and that he is stalking her daughter. Yet she is in a coma, so what can she do about it?
Henry Christie foils the kidnap attempt on his fiancee's daughter and realises his family are the targets of a killer. But who and why? Henry also witnesses a murder and unwittingly steps into the conspiracy. Pursued by assassins, Henry must defend himself against a killer who will stop at nothing to take back what he believes is rightfully his.
The Earl of Burford cannot believe his luck. Rex Ransom, his favourite film star, and a hot-shot producer want to film their next feature at Alderley, the family's seventeenth-century country estate. Somewhat less enthusiastic are the Countess and poor Merryweather, the family's butler, who suddenly find themselves hosting the incoming Hollywood crowd. And that's before there's a murder in the dead of night. Paying homage to Golden Age crime fiction in which even the red herrings are impeccably turned out, The Affair of the Mutilated Mink is a must-read for armchair sleuths.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
"Trust me," the insect repeated. Franz did not. What if Franz Kafka did not succumb to tuberculosis at the age of 40? What if he awoke the day after his supposed death to find himself attended by the giant insect he once imagined in his own story The Metamorphosis? And what if he were recruited by a mysterious agency to investigate a rash of bizarre, mysterious murders plaguing 1924 Vienna? Murders that are possibly connected to an equally mysterious performer who commits suicide every night at the music hall (but cannot be connected to any crimes)?
|
You may like...
Islamic Biomedical Ethics Principles and…
Abdulaziz Sachedina
Hardcover
R2,155
Discovery Miles 21 550
To Know as I Am Known: The Communion of…
Mark Mcleod-Harrison
Hardcover
R1,687
Discovery Miles 16 870
My Revision Notes OCR A Level Religious…
Julian Waterfield, Chris Eyre
Paperback
R407
Discovery Miles 4 070
Novel Macromolecular Architectures via a…
Bernhard V. K. J. Schmidt
Hardcover
Biofunctionalization of Polymers and…
Gibson Stephen Nyanhongo, Walter Steiner, …
Hardcover
R7,664
Discovery Miles 76 640
|