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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
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 SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022. It is the
summer of 1669 and England is in dire straits. The treasury's
coffers are bare and tensions with the powerful Dutch Republic are
boiling over. And now, an investigator sent by the King to look
into corruption at the Royal Navy has been brutally murdered.
Loathe to leave the pleasures of London, Samuel Pepys is sent
dragging his feet to Portsmouth to find the truth about what
happened. Aided by his faithful assistant, Will Hewer, he soon
exposes the killer. But has he got the right man? The truth may be
much more sinister. And if the real plot isn't uncovered in time,
England could be thrown into a war that would have devastating
consequences ...
John the Carpenter has been happy to leave the investigation of
death behind. For six years now he's been content to work with
wood. His life looks prosperous, but times are growing desperate.
Then the coroner summons him to look at the mysterious death of an
anchoress, a religious woman who lived in confined solitude. She's
been murdered. Her father is an important local landowner, a man of
influence with the crown. He's distraught, and the money he offers
John to find the killer can solve his problems and leave his family
comfortable for life. But the path to the truth leads John to the
heart of the rich, and back into history, to places where he's not
welcome and in danger for his own life. Can he find the killer? And
what will happen if he doesn't?
Who is that mournful man in the painting? The Afterlives of Doctor
Gachet tells the story of Paul Ferdinand Gachet, the subject of one
of Vincent van Gogh's most famous portraits: one that shows what
the artist called 'the heartbroken expression of our times'. But
what caused such heartbreak? This thrilling historical novel
follows Doctor Gachet from asylums to art galleries, from the
bloody siege of Paris to life with Van Gogh in Auvers, and from the
bunkers of Nazi Germany to a reclusive billionaire in Tokyo, to
uncover the secrets behind that grief-stricken smile.
In this absorbing new entry in the acclaimed New York Times
bestselling series, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge is caught up in a
twisted web of vengeance and murder. On the north coast of
Cornwall, an apparent act of mercy is repaid by an arrest for
murder. Four young women have been accused of the crime. A shocked
father calls in a favor at the Home Office. Scotland Yard is asked
to review the case. However, Inspector Ian Rutledge is not the
first Inspector to reach the village. Following in the shoes of a
dead man, he is told the case is all but closed. Even as it takes
an unexpected personal turn, Rutledge will require all his skill to
deal with the incensed families of the accused, the grieving
parents of the victim, and local police eager to see these four
women sent to the infamous Bodmin Gaol. Then why hasn't the killing
stopped? With no shred of evidence to clear the accused, Rutledge
must plunge deep into the darkest secrets of a wild, beautiful and
dangerous place if he is to find a killer who may-or may not-hold
the key to their fate.
An exquisite silver coffeepot in the shape of a locomotive is on
its way to Cardiff in the care of the young silversmith, Hugh
Kellow. But before he can deliver it a gruesome murder is
committed. Inspector Colbeck is confronted all too soon with
complications and with no shortage of suspects and he must sift
through layers of deceit to find the killer.Commissioned by wealthy
ironmaster Clifford Tomkins for his acquisitive wife, who wants it
to be the envy of all her friends and enemies, the coffeepot is
stolen. When a gruesome murder is committed at the Railway Hotel,
Winifred Tomkins is distraught. Caring little for the dead
silversmith, all she can think about is her missing treasure.
Inspector Colbeck and Sergeant Leeming of the Detective Department
are summoned to Wales from London by telegraph and they are soon
confronted by some additional crimes. The situation is complicated
by the arrival of a famous theatre company and by revelations of
illicit liaisons among members of the local high society. Colbeck
has to find the killer before it is too late."
'Think Sherlock Holmes is the only detective working in Victorian
London? Meet William Arrowood, the hero of Mick Finlay's series of
absorbing novels' The Times London Society takes their problems to
Sherlock Holmes. Everyone else goes to Arrowood. 1896: Sherlock
Holmes has once again hit the headlines, solving mysteries for the
cream of London society. But among the workhouses and pudding shops
of the city, private detective William Arrowood is presented with
far grittier, more violent, and considerably less well-paid cases.
Arrowood is in no doubt who is the better detective, and when Mr
and Mrs Barclay engage him to trace their estranged daughter
Birdie, he's sure it won't be long before he and his assistant
Barnett have tracked her down. But this seemingly simple missing
person case soon turns into a murder investigation. Far from the
comfort of Baker Street, Arrowood's London is a city of unrelenting
cruelty, where evil is waiting to be uncovered . . . PRAISE FOR THE
MURDER PIT: 'Another brilliant read from Mick Finlay . . . even
better than [Arrowood]' B.A. Paris 'Gripping' Daily Telegraph
'Astounding ... If you crave Victorian age murder mystery, love
darkly gothic atmospheres and want your detective rather tattered
and torn at the edges Arrowood is your man.' SHOTS 'Enthralling'
Publishers Weekly (starred review) 'A gripping novel with an adept
sense of place as well as a clear-eyed examination of the dark
exigencies of human behaviour' Crime Time
Missing diamonds. Mysterious deaths. And all that jazz. London,
1925. With their band the Dizzy Heights, jazz musicians Ivor
'Skins' Maloney and Bartholomew 'Barty' Dunn are used to
improvising as they play the Charleston for flappers and toffs, but
things are about to take a surprising turn. Superintendent
Sunderland has had word that a deserter who stole a fortune in
diamonds as he fled the war is a member of the Aristippus private
members' club in Mayfair-where the Dizzy Heights have a residency.
And the thief is planning to steal a hoard of jewels hidden there
under the cover of a dance contest. As mutual pal Lady Hardcastle
has suggested, Skins and Dunn are perfectly placed to be
Sunderland's eyes and ears-and Skins's wife Ellie soon lends a hand
with a bit of light snooping. But the stakes change dramatically
when a mysterious death at the club brings a sinister note to the
investigation. With the dance contest fast approaching, the trio
must solve the mystery of the missing diamonds, unmask the
murderer, and prevent more deadly crimes-all without missing a
beat.
From the bestselling author of The House at Riverton and The Secret Keeper,
Kate Morton brings us her dazzling sixth novel, The Clockmaker's Daughter.
My real name, no one remembers. The truth about that summer, no one else knows.
In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and
talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the
Upper Thames. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of
inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has
been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing;
and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.
Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in
London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a
sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an
artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend
of a river.
A Times 'Best New Thriller' for May 2022 'Enthralling ... Sharp
dialogue and flashes of dry wit' Financial Times 'Ben Creed has a
genuine gift for conjuring up Stalin's Leningrad in all its beauty
and misery' The Times 'A cleverly constructed thriller' Sunday
Times 'A fantastically tense atmosphere ... A spine-tingling
page-turner' The Sun ___________Leningrad, winter 1952. An
invisible killer known as Koshchei - a nightmare of Slavic folklore
- stalks the streets, leaving a distinctive and gruesome mark upon
its victims. Three thousand kilometres away in a Gulag labour
colony, threatened by the vicious criminals who rule the camp and
tormented by the Arctic cold, former militia lieutenant Revol
Rossel is close to death. But then a brutal saviour descends from
the skies: the state security interrogator who years ago ruined his
life is back, tasking Rossel with tracking down the murderer. As
the hunt continues, the two men uncover riddle after riddle,
including a clue to finding a weapon of unimaginable power - a
weapon the Kremlin's scheming plotters will kill for...
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Architect!
Charles Belfoure's next novel is a puzzling historical thriller
about a man who must dig through the rubble of his past to
construct a future worth living, grounded by Belfoure's experiences
as a professional architect. Someone has to take the blame when the
Britannia Theatre's balcony collapses. Over a dozen people are
killed, and the fingers all point at the architect. The man should
have known better, should have made it safer, should have done
something. Douglas Layton knows the flaw wasn't in his design, but
he can't fight a guilty verdict. When the architect is finally
released from prison, he has no job, no family, nowhere to go. He
needs to assume a new identity and rebuild his life. But the
disgraced man soon finds himself digging up the past in a way he
never anticipated. If the collapse wasn't an accident ... who
caused it? And why? And what if they find out who he used to be? A
chilling novel of architecture, intrigue, and identity, this
historical thriller uncovers one man's quest to clear his name and
correct the mistake that ruined his life. "A twisted
mystery...Belfoure gets better and better"-Karen Bakshoian,
Letterpress Books (Portland, ME) Also by Charles Belfoure: The
Paris Architect House of Thieves
A murder close to home leaves Athelstan with his most dangerous
case yet...After the discovery of three savagely murdered bodies in
his parish, Brother Athelstan finds himself involved in the hunt
for a dangerous killer. It is clear that two of the victims, a
prostitute and a preacher, surprised an assassin who was then
forced to kill them. But who the third victim is, and why someone
has gone to so much trouble to kill him, remains a mystery. And can
it really have any connection with Sir John Cranston's attempt to
save a women unjustly accused of stabbing a clerk? Brother
Athelstan returns in the ninth exciting mystery thriller in Paul
Doherty's brilliant series, perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell,
E. M. Powell and Rory Clements.
A set of horrific killings hints at the answer behind a legendary
crime...Autumn, 1380. Brother Athelstan is very busy. He and his
parish council are preparing for the annual Christmas mystery play
when a series of brutal murders occur at a Southwark tavern. Two
young whores are found slain but their deaths are only the
beginning of a series of gruesome killings which occur around the
parish of St Erconwald's. He resolves to solve not only these
grisly deaths, but also their source - the Great Robbery of the
Lombard treasure, which occurred in Southwark some 20 years
earlier. Plots and deceptions abound in this thrilling mystery
novel by Paul Doherty, ideal for fans of Susanna Gregory, C. J.
Sansom and S. J. Parris. Praise for Paul Doherty'His fascination
for history comes off the page' Daily Express 'Paul Doherty has a
lively sense of history ... evocative and lyrical descriptions' New
Statesmen 'An opulent banquet to satisfy the most murderous
appetite' Northern Echo
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 McILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THEAKSTON
OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE
YEAR A Raven and Fisher Mystery: Book 1 Edinburgh, 1847. Will Raven
is a medical student, apprenticing for the brilliant and renowned
Dr Simpson. Sarah Fisher is Simpson's housemaid, and has all of
Raven's intelligence but none of his privileges. As bodies begin to
appear across the Old Town, Raven and Sarah find themselves
propelled headlong into the darkest shadows of Edinburgh's
underworld. And if either of them are to make it out alive, they
will have to work together to find out who's responsible for the
gruesome deaths.
Belle Sorensen loves men. She loves them to death...
Early in life Belle Sorensen discovers the world is made only for men. They own everything: jobs, property, wives. But Belle understands what few others do: where women are concerned, men are weak. A woman unhampered by scruples can take from them what she wants. And so Belle sets out to prove to the world that a woman can be just as ruthless, black-hearted and single-minded as any man.
Starting with her long suffering husband Mads, Belle embarks on a killing spree the like of which has never been seen before nor since. And through it all her kind, older sister Nellie can only watch in horror as Belle's schemes to enrich herself and cut down the male population come to a glorious, dreadful fruition...
Based on the true story of Belle Sorensen whose murderous rampage began in Chicago in 1900, Triflers Need Not Apply is a novelistic tour de force exploring one woman's determination to pay men back for all they have taken.
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