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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
The death of an unpopular nobleman brings trouble to Sir Josse's family, in the latest Hawkenlye mystery All Saint's Eve, 1211. An overweight but wealthy nobleman, desperate for an heir, dies at the celebration feast he's thrown in his own hall. A natural death . . . or at the hands of his reluctant new wife? Sabin de Gifford, an apothecary and healer of note, is called to examine the body, and concludes that he died of a spasm to the heart. But she is troubled, all the same, and beset by suspicions. Did the man really die of a heart attack? Or was something more sinister to blame? There is only one person Sabin can turn to for help: fellow healer Meggie, daughter of Sir Josse d'Acquin. But what she requires of her is dangerous indeed . . .
First in a brand-new Victorian mystery series featuring steward Matthew Rowsley and housekeeper Mrs Faulkner as an engaging detective duo. Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother attests - or is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the scenes at the grand country estate . and where has his lordship disappeared to? Teaming up with housekeeper Mrs Faulkner to get to the bottom of the matter, Matthew uncovers a number of disturbing secrets, scandals and simmering tensions within the household. Something rotten is going on at Thorncroft - and it's up to Matthew and Mrs Faulkner to unearth the truth.
Set in France in the 1930s, "L'Art de vivre" evokes the contrasting worlds of a wealthy, socially prominent Parisian couple, and an impoverished struggling American sculptor living in Paris. The aristocratic couple occupy an elegant penthouse apartment and frequent the highest levels of society and government. The artist shares a very humble apartment with his girlfriend and scrapes by, earning a living from the few students he can still attract and the occasional sculpture he can sell. These worlds, which are physically only a mile apart, come together as a result of an improbable set of circumstances involving thefts, a suspected murder, and a high profile police investigation. Newspapers all over France report excitedly on the mystery surrounding the artist, as his friends try to understand what has become of him. Friends of the aristocratic couple never suspect the obsessive secret that drives them to risk their position and fortune through a daring crime spree.
London, May, 1911. The new king, George V, is preparing for his coronation. The suffragettes are campaigning for women to get the vote. The East End seethes with unrest. And 18-year-old Kitty Challoner is looking forward to 'coming out' in London society. But Kitty's secure, sheltered world is about to be torn apart. Lydia Challoner is shot dead while out riding in Hyde Park, and during the ensuing murder investigation Kitty discovers that there was so much she didn't know about her mother. Was Lydia really the killer's intended target? Is there a link to her Russian heritage? Why had she been behaving so strangely in recent weeks? Was she having an affair? As Kitty determines to uncover the truth and wonders exactly whom she can trust, she learns that the household in which she lives harbours a number of dangerous secrets.
Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is faced with the classic locked-room conundrum in this engaging historical mystery July, 1955. Donald Langham has interrupted his romantic break in rural Suffolk with the delectable Maria Dupre to assist a fellow writer. Alastair Endicott has requested Langham's help in discovering what's happened to his father, Edward, who seems to have disappeared without trace from inside his locked study. Before he vanished, the elder Endicott had been researching a book on the notorious Satanist Vivian Stafford. Could the proposed biography have something to do with his disappearance? Does local resident Stafford really possess supernatural powers, as some believe? As Langham and Dupre question those around them, it becomes clear that there have been strange goings-on in the sleepy village of Humble Barton. But is the village really haunted - or does someone merely want it to look that way? With a further shocking discovery, the case takes a disturbing new twist.
The perfect murder mystery for fans of Richard Osman and Robert Thorogood. 'Spotswood understands that [...] spending time with unforgettable characters is paramount.' - New York Times 'A loving, intricately plotted tribute to the great days of American noir.' - Daily Mail New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go. To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren't playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets beneath all that ink. Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for good? Praise for Stephen Spotswood: 'Razor-sharp, tons of flair. A really good noir novel.' Tana French 'Spotswood's stellar debut puts a modern spin on classic hard-boiled fiction. . . The deep and sensitive characterization of the two protagonists, coupled with rich description and tonally spot-on humour, make this a novel to remember. Spotswood is definitely a writer to watch.' Publishers Weekly 'This novel not only offers fun, offbeat characters and an exceptional flavour of the time, it's utterly charming too.' Woman's Weekly 'This hugely enjoyable debut is a deft melange of Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery and 1940s Chandler-esque pulp crime fiction with a feisty narrator' Irish Independent Review 'Persuasive in its attention to period detail and dialogue, with well-constructed set piece scenes deftly staged, this is a highly accomplished, auspicious first entry in what we must hope will be a long-running series' The Irish Times
1947. Elinor White, known locally as 'the White lady', is living a solitary, quiet life in a grace-and-favour cottage in the Kent countryside. Unbeknownst to her neighbours, she is the veteran of two world wars, a trained killer and former intelligence agent. Yet Elinor's private and seemingly tranquil existence conceals a past trauma that comes to the fore when she is drawn into the predicament of a local man entangled with one of the most dangerous crime families in London. A treacherous path lies ahead, but it may be one that ultimately leads Elinor to a future unshackled from her own painful history.
DI Herbert Reardon is drawn into a world of secrets and lies when a body is discovered at a girls' boarding school. 1930. When a body is discovered on the premises of the newly-established Maxstead Court School for Girls, Detective Inspector Herbert Reardon is called in to investigate. His wife Ellen having just accepted a job as French teacher, Reardon is alarmed to find the school a hotbed of scandalous secrets, suppressed passions, petty jealousies and wanton schoolgirl cruelty. As he pursues his enquiries, it becomes clear that the dead woman was not who - or what - she claimed to be. Who was she really - and why is Reardon convinced that more than one member of staff is not telling him the whole truth? Then a pupil goes missing - and the case takes a disturbing new twist .
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'It's hard to believe that such an accomplished novel could be a debut - The Leviathan is a gloriously dark story that sweeps you along to its harrowing yet satisfying conclusion. Superb' Susan Stokes-Chapman, number one bestselling author of Pandora 'Darkly compelling and dripping with atmosphere... bewitching' Stacey Halls, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FAMILIARS SHE IS AWAKE... Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft. Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before. Something has awoken, and now it will not rest. Richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is set in England during a time of political and religious turbulence. It is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but most of all it is a spellbinding mystery and a story of impossible things... 'Outstanding... a seething, haunting delight' Beth Underdown, award-winning author of THE WITCHFINDER'S SISTER 'Thoroughly gripping and utterly absorbing' Jennifer Saint, author of ARIADNE *ROSIE ANDREWS'S The Puzzle Wood coming in 2024*
A 'Canterbury Tales' medieval mystery As Chaucer's pilgrims shelter for the night in a well-stocked tavern, it's the physician's turn to enthral his fellow travellers with a terrifying tale of mystery and intrigue. When Brother Anselm and his novice Stephen are summoned to the Church of St Michael's, Candlewick, to perform an exorcism, little are they prepared for the horror that awaits. The demons and apparitions that plague the church would appear to have been summoned by an infamous sorcerer known as the Midnight Man. But what has he unwittingly unleashed - and why? Is someone using the haunting as the perfect cover for their murderous intent? And is there any link with the sudden disappearances of a number of young women in the area? The answers lie in the past and an unresolved wickedness from many decades before. But before Anselm can get to the truth, he must uncover the identity of the mysterious Midnight Man. |
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