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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
Hailed by critic Anthony Boucher as "one of the best detective stories of modern times," this classic tale by Grand Master Dorothy Salisbury Davis combines suspense and psychological insight as a priest and a police detective both race to find a self-confessed murderer before he is compelled to kill again. "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned ..." Father Duffy has heard many confessions through the years, but none quite so disturbing as the one he's heard tonight. A young man enters the confessional just as the priest is readying to leave for the evening; he's distraught that he has killed a woman in a paroxysm of uncontrollable rage-and he's still wielding the hammer he used to do the deed. Father Duffy tries to convince the young man to turn himself in to the police, but he flees just as suddenly as he had appeared. When the priest learns the next day that an escort was found bludgeoned to death on the East Side, he sets out to search for the troubled confessor. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ben Goldsmith of the NYPD is drawn deep into the official investigation. Neither is aware that the other is searching for the murderer, and both hope against hope that they're able to find the killer before he strikes again.
Introducing Will Somers, the king's jester but nobody's fool in this exuberant, intriguing and thoroughly entertaining mystery set in Tudor England - the first in a new series from the author of the critically acclaimed Crispin Guest Medieval Noir series. 1529, London. Jester Will Somers enjoys an enviable position at the court of Henry VIII. As the king's entertainer, chief gossip-monger, spy and loyal adviser, he knows all of the king's secrets - and almost everyone else's within the walls of Greenwich Palace. But when Will discovers the body of Spanish count Don Gonzalo while walking his trusted sidekick Nosewise in the courtyard gardens, and a blackmail note arrives soon after demanding information about the king, is one of his own closely guarded secrets about to be exposed? Trouble is afoot at the palace. Are the king's enemies plotting a move against him? Will must draw on all his wit and ingenuity to get to the bottom of the treacherous and deadly goings-on at the court before further tragedy strikes . . .
An escaped assassin. A group of cannibals on the run. A threatening letter. Newspaper reporter Alec Lonsdale is on the case in this compelling Victorian mystery. "All Londoners will see what the Watchers are capable of on Christmas Eve ." December 1882. Attending the opening of the new Natural History Museum, Pall Mall Gazette reporter Alec Lonsdale and his colleague Hulda Friederichs are shocked to discover a body in the basement, hacked to death. Suspicion immediately falls on a trio of cannibals, brought over from the Congo as museum exhibits, who have disappeared without trace. Alec however has his doubts - especially when he discovers that three other influential London men have been similarly murdered. When he and Hulda discover a letter in the victim's home warning of a catastrophic event planned for Christmas Eve, the pair find themselves in a race against time to discover who exactly the Watchers are and what it is they want .
Due to impressive research, 1930s England is beautifully evoked
There is nothing more deadly than an ambitious and desperate man. Even as the Allies inch ever closer to winning the war from within the dying embers of the Third Reich, a monstrous plot is hatched to restore Nazi Germany to world prominence. Major Michael Tagleva is flown to France on a top secret mission and soon finds himself in the thick of the fighting to liberate Paris. He becomes embroiled in a desperate race against time to protect his country from a web of intrigue and at the same time save the Tagleva banking empire from its enemies. Before the end, exhausted and despite personal tragedy, Michael comes face to face with the creator of the plot who will stop at nothing to win his prize. Can he find and eliminate the source of catastrophe before it overwhelms everything he holds dear. In this long-awaited completion of the Tagleva saga, Stephen Davis has once again uncovered true historical fact to create a gripping adventure, which treads the murky corridors of the intelligence services in London and Berlin, pulls back the veil of Switzerland's secret banking system and ends with a truly shocking revelation from within the very heart of the Vatican.
1853. When the body of a prostitute is found in Hyde Park, veteran sleuth Charley Field is disinclined to believe the official verdict of suicide. Convinced the woman was murdered, he determines to track down the mysterious client who visited her the day she died. But there is more to this murder than even Charley could have imagined.
The discovery of a body on a local allotment site re-opens an unresolved cold case for Monika Paniatowski and her team. He was going to have to terminate Monika, he decided. It was a pity, but there it was. The body has lain buried for years, and has no face and no fingertips. Monika Paniatowski's team have no real leads, but when they discuss the case at her hospital bedside - where she lies paralysed - Monika begins to see possible links with a case she closed four years earlier. Are the two cases connected? Did the first murder make the second almost inevitable? She doesn't know, but she does know that she is being watched by an old enemy who will kill her if he decides there is ever any chance of her sharing her thoughts and information with her team.
Discover Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson through the eyes of those who knew them best. From familiar faces like Mrs Hudson to minor characters like Lomax the sub-librarian, Observations by Gaslight - told through diaries, telegrams, and even grocery lists - paints a masterful portrait of Holmes and Watson as you have never seen them before. See Irene Adler team up with her former adversary in an eerie and near-deadly enquiry. Learn of the case that cemented the friendship between Holmes and Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard. And witness Stanley Hopkins' first meeting with the remote logician he idolizes. Lyndsay Faye, two-time Edgar Award nominee, debuted with Dust and Shadow, her much-admired novel pitting Sherlock Holmes against Jack the Ripper. Now Faye is back with a thrilling volume of new and previously published short stories and novellas narrated by those who knew the Great Detective best. Reviewers on Observations by Gaslight: 'Faye is an expert on all things Sherlockian, she has unparalleled flair.' CrimeReads 'Meat and drink for fans of the Canon of the Sacred Writings.' Kirkus
**WINNER OF THE CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER ** 'An exceptional historical crime novel' C.J. Sansom India, 1919. Desperate for a fresh start, Captain Sam Wyndham arrives to take up an important post in Calcutta's police force. He is soon called to the scene of a horrifying murder. The victim was a senior official, and a note left in his mouth warns the British to leave India - or else. With the stability of the Empire under threat, Wyndham and Sergeant 'Surrender-not' Banerjee must solve the case quickly. But there are some who will do anything to stop them... **A THE TIMES/SUNDAY TIMES CRIME CLUB TOP 40 BOOK OF LAST FIVE YEARS** Praise for the Wyndham and Banerjee series : 'A thought-provoking rollercoaster' Ian Rankin 'Does for the Raj what Philip Kerr did for the Reich' The Times/Sunday Times Crime Club 'Highly entertaining' Daily Telegraph If you enjoyed A Rising Man, further books in the Wyndham and Banerjee series are available now: A Necessary Evil Smoke and Ashes Death in the East The Shadows of Men
"One of the best novels I've read this century. Kate Atkinson is a
marvel. There aren't enough breathless adjectives to describe LIFE
AFTER LIFE: Dazzling, witty, moving, joyful, mournful,
profound."--Gillian Flynn, author of Gone GirlWhat if you could
live again and again, until you got it right?
Scandal, murder and treason... Athelstan and Cranston are back with a bang.Winter, 1379. French privateers are attacking the southern coast and threaten London itself, the very heart of the nation. The situation becomes dire when an English flotilla of warships, with the colossal God's Bright Light among them, drops anchor in the Thames; during the first night, the entire watch of the ship disappears without a trace. The series of murderous and strange incidents leads to Sir John and Brother Athelstan being summoned to resolve the mysteries on board the ill-omened warship. Their investigations uncover some shocking truths - and they find themselves in the thick of a bloody battle on the Thames. A gripping and suspenseful historical mystery with plenty of action, perfect for fans of Michael Jecks, S. G. MacLean and Susanna Gregory.
Imagine that your father is one of New York City's top gangsters, and that you want nothing to do with him or his criminal empire. Now imagine he's been murdered . . . and the only person who gives a damn is you. Meet Mat Lawrence, a stand-up guy-think Gary Cooper-who's got one thing on his mind: revenge. The last place Mat wants to go is back to New York, but that's where the killers are, and he won't stop until they're dead . . . or he is. And there's only one man who can help him track them down: his father's criminal attorney-the Mouthpiece. But there's more than a desire for revenge at play in this deadly game. When Mat's old man went down, a million dollars went missing. Put it all together-a cold-blooded murder and a cool million gone-and it's a pretty good bet that the one thing Mat is sure to find is some serious heat. Mouthpiece was originally published in the September, 1934, edition of Thrilling Detective. That same year, as the youngest writer ever to serve as president of the New York Chapter of the American Fiction Guild, L. Ron Hubbard sought to promote greater accuracy in the writing of detective and mystery stories. To that end he invited the coroner to speak to the Guild members over lunch. He later recounted that "they would go away from the luncheon the weirdest shade of green." But, we can assume, they also went away better informed. Years later, expanding his studies in the area, Hubbard became a special officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. Also includes the tales of mystery, Flame City, the story of one man's harrowing attempt to save his father and the city from a serial arsonist; Calling Squad Cars!, in which a police dispatcher goes to extraordinary lengths to bring down a gang of bank robbers after he is accused of working with them; and Grease Spot, the story of a former racecar driver, now the owner of a wrecking company, who plays fast and loose with the police . . . and may have to pay for it. * A Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award Winner
September 1940: the height of the Blitz. The Savoy Hotel boasts London's strongest air raid shelter with all the luxury expected from one of the capital's most prestigious hotels. It prompts the arrival of a disgruntled crowd from the East End, demanding they be allowed entry and respite from the endless bombing raids. They are given permission to enter and are stunned by the opulence that greets them. The all-clear sounds the next morning and London comes slowly back to life, but not everyone can dust themselves down and carry on. One of the hotel's guests has been discovered dead, stabbed in the back. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are called in and the finger of suspicion falls firmly upon the East Londoners, but not everything is as it seems in these sumptuous surroundings.
Benjamin January heads to the "Slaveholders' Republic" of Texas to locate a kidnapped girl and help a woman who saved him from the noose. April, 1840. Benjamin January knows no black person in their right mind would willingly go to the Republic of Texas but when his former pupil Selina Bellinger is kidnapped and enslaved, he has no choice. Once there he is saved from being hanged by Valentina Taggart, wife of the wealthy landowner of Rancho Perdition. After Valentina is accused of the murder of her husband, she in turn calls on Benjamin for help. To do so, he must abandon the safe haven of New Orleans, where people know he's a free man, to return to the self-proclaimed "Slaveholders' Republic". In a land still disputed between vengeful Comanche, disgruntled Mexican Tejanos, Americans who want to join the United States and those who want to keep Texas free, January must uncover what happened to Valentina's husband. Behind lies, betrayals and rising political tensions lies the answer . . . but finding it could cost Ben his life.
An enchanting tale of secrets and deception that stretches from the heaths of Suffolk to the banks of the Seine.Annie Sancerre is looking for love. After her husband was killed in the trenches of the Great War, she found herself putting motherhood before everything else, whatever the cost. So when the kind and gentle Fergus Cameron proposes, Annie realises a life with him could bring both comfort and security. Then she meets debonair lawyer Richard Ross near her home in Kew and her future is thrown into doubt. But why does Richard seem to know more about her past than she does? From bestseller Teresa Crane comes an elaborate mystery of love both lost and found. Praise for Treacherous Waters 'This is compulsive reading' Marina Oliver, author of The Accidental Marriage
In the sequel to Red Jacket, former Rough Rider turned Michigan game warden Lute Bapcat sets out to find a deputy warden who has disappeared from Ontonagon County, one of the Michigan Upper Peninsula's most lawless places. Merely hours into his search, Bapcat is shot by assailants unknown. After a miraculous rescue and recovery aided by mysterious caretakers, Bapcat uncovers a plan by powerful locals to capture and sell bears to zoos around the country, an act akin to theft in Bapcat's mind. The game warden's determination to break the scheme ratchets up when it seems his missing colleague may have authored the idea and employed the help of an outlaw called Red Hair, who had been raised in the same orphanage with Bapcat. Red Hair's gang of thugs have long terrorized the region. Bapcat must use all of his woodcraft to brave the Trap Hills and Porcupine Mountains to face the criminals at the old Nonesuch Mine. Zakov the Russian-Bapcat's eccentric game warden partner-is brought in to help with the hunt, which causes Bapcat to reevaluate his personal values. In classic Heywood style, an extraordinary band of Upper Peninsula characters collects around intrepid woods cops.
Kaite Welsh's thrilling medical mystery THE UNQUIET HEART is the second in the gothic Sarah Gilchrist series, following a medical student turned detective in Victorian Edinburgh. For readers of Natasha Pulley's THE WATCHMAKER OF FILIGREE STREET or Laura Purcell's THE SILENT COMPANIONS This powerful novel combines a disturbing look at late Victorian attitudes towards women and morality with a satisfying murder mystery - Sunday Express Sarah Gilchrist has no intention of marrying her dull fiance Miles, the man her family hope will restore her reputation and put an end to her dreams of becoming a doctor, but when he is arrested for a murder she is sure he didn't commit she finds herself his reluctant ally. Beneath the genteel facade of upper class Edinburgh lurks blackmail, adultery, poison and madness and Sarah must return to Edinburgh's slums, back alleys and asylums as she discovers the dark past about a family where no one is what they seem, even Miles himself. It also brings her back into the orbit of her mercurial professor, Gregory Merchiston - he sees Sarah as his protegee, but can he stave off his demons long enough to teach her the skills that will save her life?
'An immersive and entertaining read' - Alistair Mabbot, The Herald The year is 1317, and young squire Benedict Russell has joined the English-held garrison of Berwick-upon-Tweed after the spectacular Scottish victory at Bannockburn three years earlier. Serious and self-doubting, he can't wait for his time there to come to an end. Living on the disputed territory between Scotland and England is a precarious existence, and as the Scots draw ever closer and the English king does nothing to stop them, Benedict finds himself in a race against time to solve the brutal murder of a young girl and find the traitor who lurks within Berwick's walls.
Rachel Savernake investigates a bizarre locked-room puzzle in this delicious Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger. 1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of a intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge's daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, and Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint - who's determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant - Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances and bring the truth to light. A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics; journalists and judges, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin. Praise for Martin Edwards: 'Martin Edwards celebrates and satirises the genre with wit and affection... He leaves you wanting more.' The Times 'A pitch-perfect blend of Golden Age charm and sinister modern suspense.' Lee Child 'Edwards has managed, brilliantly, to combine a Golden Age setting with a pace that is bang up-to-date.' Peter James
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