This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting. London 1888. Angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A utopia, except for one thing: Angels can Fall, and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. Dr J. H. Doyle returns to London having been wounded in Afghanistan by a Fallen, and finds himself lodging in Baker Street with the enigmatic angel Crow. But living with a rogue angel is not so easy; the pair find themselves drawn into the supernatural and criminal worlds of London, from a man kidnapped by a vampire nest to Jack the Ripper's horrific murders. Besides Doyle's nightmares, there is the lingering worry that Crow might Fall...

May, 1588. With Elizabeth I s court rocked by stories of an imminent invasion and one of his key undercover agents missing, Sir Francis Walsingham despatches Kit Marlowe to the Isle of Wight off the south coast: the first line of defence against the approaching Spanish Armada.
Lodging at Carisbrooke Castle with the Isle of Wight s Governor, Sir George Carey, Marlowe finds the Islanders a strange and suspicious lot, with their own peculiar customs and dialect. But is there reason to doubt their loyalty to the Crown? And is the Island really haunted, as some believe? Of one thing Marlowe is certain: it s no ghost behind the series of violent and inexplicable deaths which plague the region. But will he have time to uncover the truth and expose the killer before the might of the Armada descends?"

When your boss is the Queen of England, you never know what the day will bring. For Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, Sir Maurice Newbury, it is likely to involve rooftop chases, sword fights, races through the Underground, and the most terrifying case of murders to ever plague London.When an Egyptian mummy is unveiled, a string of mysterious murders follows in its wake, drawing Newbury into a web of occult intrigue. Meanwhile, Miss Veronica Hobbes becomes increasingly perplexed by a growing pool of young women who have disappeared after being used as props in a magician's stage act. But what appears to be a straightforward investigation pulls Miss Hobbes into mortal danger.So begins another thrilling Newbury & Hobbes investigation - a weird and wonderful adventure quite unlike any other.

In its 300-year history, there has never once been a scandal at Mullings, ancestral home of the decent but dull Stodmarsh family. Until, that is, Edward Stodmarsh makes an ill-advised second marriage to the scheming Regina Stapleton, who insists on bringing her family's 'ornamental hermit' to live on the estate. Suddenly everyone wants to visit Mullings to glimpse this mysterious figure. Strange but harmless, thinks Florence Norris, the family's longstanding housekeeper. But events take a sinister turn with the arrival of sudden, violent death - and suddenly the hermit doesn't seem so harmless after all.

Private detectives Grand & Batchelor's latest case draws them into the arcane world of high art and high society in this compelling Victorian mystery. London. May, 1878. Private enquiry agents Matthew Grand and James Batchelor have been hired by the artist James Whistler to dig into the past of outspoken critic John Ruskin, with whom he has an ongoing feud. Not particularly optimistic of success, the two detectives are sidetracked from the investigation by the murder of a prostitute in nearby Cremorne Gardens. Her body posed on a park bench, a book on birth control sitting on her lap, Clara Jenkins is not the first young woman to have met a similarly grisly fate - and she won't be the last. Could there be a connection between the Cremorne killer and their art world case? With the investigation heading nowhere fast, Grand comes up with a decidedly unorthodox plan to ensnare the killer. But even the best-laid plans have a nasty habit of going catastrophically awry ...

"A collection that might have been called CSI: 1912."-Kirkus Reviews The seventh book in the esteemed Library of Congress Crime Classics, an exciting new classic mystery series created in exclusive partnership with the Library of Congress. This short story collection features twelve tales of intrigue and suspense, starring Craig Kennedy, the "American Sherlock Holmes." New York City, early 1900s. Craig Kennedy, a university professor who uses science to help catch criminals, investigates crimes in and around NYC boroughs featuring deaths by apparent-but-inexplicable means. These highly imaginative crimes include spontaneous combustion and vengeful spirits, along with less fatal crimes involving kidnapping, safe-cracking, and a missing fortune in diamonds. With his impressive knowledge, friend Walter Jameson (his own Watson!), and use of cutting-edge technology of the day, Kennedy cracks each case using unorthodox yet entertaining means. Arthur B. Reeve's Craig Kennedy stories were so popular in his time that he went on to publish twenty-six books featuring the professor, who also appeared in comic strips and a number of films. Readers of classic crime fiction will delight in this collection of twelve short stories. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will especially appreciate Kennedy's insistence on logic and science over brawn.

"When Ursula Blanchard's neighbour is murdered, she is once again involved with matters of espionage and affairs of state"
July, 1573. Recently widowed, Ursula Blanchard is living a quiet life on her Surrey estate, caring for her infant son. But her peaceful existence is shattered when Ursula's neighbour Jane Cobbold is found dead in her own flowerbed, stabbed through the heart with a silver dagger - and Ursula's manservant Brockley is arrested for the crime. Determined to prove Brockley's innocence, Ursula seeks help from her old mentor Lord Burghley. But when a second death occurs and the queen's new spymaster, Francis Walsingham, gets involved, once again Ursula is reluctantly drawn into matters of espionage and affairs of state.

Richard Nottingham confronts an old enemy in the latest intriguing historical mystery 1734. When a young country lad requests the Constable's help in finding his sister who has run away to Leeds to seek her fortune, Nottingham is not optimistic. Such girls usually end up as prostitutes - or worse. The following day, the young man is found dead, his throat slit. The evening before his death, the victim had been seen in deep conversation with career criminal Tom Finer in the Bell Inn. Could there be a connection to his murder? Why has Finer returned to Leeds after a seventeen-year absence? And what really happened to the young man's sister? Then a second body is discovered floating in the River Aire - and Nottingham finds himself plunged into a murder investigation where nothing is as it seems.

Murder visits the Winter Festival in the days of Ancient Rome . . . Marcus Corvinus investigates the death of a seemingly respectable citizen in this gripping, twist-filled mystery in the critically-acclaimed historical series. A perfect read for fans of Lindsey Davis and Rosemary Rowe. "Like Chandler's Marlowe, Corvinus wisecracks his way through a weary world of murder and intrigue until he hunts down the truth" The Times December, AD39. While enjoying the Winter Festival holiday at his adopted daughter's home in the Alban Hills, Marcus Corvinus discovers that an outwardly respectable pillar of the community, local politician Quintus Caesius has been discovered beaten to death at the rear entrance of the town brothel. Questioning those who knew the victim, Corvinus is dismayed to find Bovillae a place of small town secrets, bitter feuds, malicious gossip and deadly rivalry: a world away from the sophistication of Rome. As he is to discover, there are several suspects with reason to bear Caesius a grudge. But who would hate him enough to kill him? And what would a supposedly solid citizen be doing visiting the local brothel? Praise for Solid Citizens and the Marcus Corvinus mysteries: "Fans will greet this new Corvinus novel with open arms" Booklist "Wry first-person narrative . . . Wishart adds his usual evocative historical touches" Kirkus Reviews "Brings ancient Rome vividly to life . . . bound to keep Lindsey Davis fans entertained" Library Journal "Corvinus proves an astute sleuth as he tackles the nicely constructed puzzles" Publishers Weekly "Wishart's investigator pinches his conversation style and hardboiled wisecracking from classic Hollywood noir, which adds a charming incongruity to this entertaining whodunit" Financial Times "Like Chandler's Marlowe, Corvinus wisecracks his way through a weary world of murder and intrigue until he hunts down the truth. A taut thriller in which ancient Rome springs to life" The Times

Crispin Guest is summoned to a London priory to unmask a merciless killer. Can he discover who is committing the deadliest of sins? 1399, London. A drink at the Boar's Tusk takes an unexpected turn for Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, and his apprentice, Jack Tucker, when a messenger claims the prioress at St. Frideswide wants to hire him to investigate murders at the priory. Two of Prioress Drueta's nuns have been killed in a way that signifies two of the Seven Deadly Sins, and she's at her wits end. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing outside of London when the exiled Henry Bolingbroke, the new Duke of Lancaster, returns to England's shores with an army to take back his inheritance. Crispin is caught between solving the crimes at St. Frideswide's Priory, and making a choice once more whether to stand with King Richard or commit treason again.

As the Great War grinds to its bloody finale, DI Hardcastle is encumbered with a frustrating and complicated investigation . . . March, 1918. The Great War is grinding slowly to its bloody finale. Divisional Detective Inspector Ernest Hardcastle, head of the Whitehall Division of the Metropolitan Police, is called to a body is recovered from the Thames. Mavis Parker, the victim and attractive widow, proves to be a good-time girl, and to complicate matters, all the suspects seem to be known to each other, including a South African who purports to be an actor. But it is when Special Branch intervene that things really get complicated . .

Cairo, 1912. The Pasha receives an unexpected gift: a traditional Bride Box. When opened, however, the box contains an unwelcome jolt from the past . . . At the same time, a little girl is discovered riding under a train from Luxor - and the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Khedive's Secret Police, is called in to investigate.
He soon finds himself confronting a political storm as the end of British rule approaches and his investigations uncover a tangled web of family loyalties and betrayals, with its roots in a slave trade long supposed to have been stamped out in Egypt.

A Roger the Chapman mystery Christmas, 1483: Roger the Chapman is looking forward to twelve days of peace and celebration with his wife and children in Bristol. The family is particularly excited by the arrival of a troupe of mummers, who will perform their plays in the outer ward of the castle throughout the festival. But the gruesome murders of two of the town's most prominent and venerable citizens, both veterans of the French wars, scupper Roger's hopes as he is gradually drawn into the hunt for the killer. Once again, Roger finds himself in grave danger, but it is someone else who pays the price of his inability to keep his nose out of matters that do not concern him . . .

In the latest Richard Nottingham historical mystery, the Constable must track down a predatory child-killer who roams the city. Leeds, 1733. Three children are found dead in a disused bell pit; their bodies battered and bruised, each of them stabbed through the heart. As an atmosphere of fear and suspicion pervades the city, Richard Nottingham and his team find themselves hunting a ruthless child-killer, a monster who preys on abandoned street children, those with no one to care about them, no one to report them missing. The Constable has his suspicions as to who the culprit might be - but how can he prove it when the wealthy and powerful protect their own? He could also do without the interference of the new mayor, who's taking a close personal interest in the case. Nottingham's efforts to bring the killer to justice will have tragic consequences for himself and his family.

"Harrison, like Peter Tremayne in his Sister Fidelma series, provides a superior brand of historical mystery" Booklist February, 1512. Mara, Brehon of the Burren, judge and lawgiver, has been invited, along with her pupils, to the magnificent and imposing city state of Galway, which is ruled by English laws and operates under a royal charter originally granted by Richard III. While in the city, Mara and her students sit in on a hearing for a man from the Burren who has been caught stealing a meat pie. He cannot speak English and has no means to defend himself, but the penalty for such a theft is death. Can Mara use her legal knowledge to save the poor man's life? However, events in the city take a dramatic turn when the mayor's son is charged with a heinous crime. Mara is sure there is more to the case than meets the eye and sets out prove his innocence, before he too is sent to the hangman's noose .

Happily married to her third husband, Ursula Blanchard is rudely shaken on receipt of a threatening letter from the exiled Anne Percy, Countess of Northumberland, whose treasonous plot against Elizabeth I, Ursula helped foil a few months previously. Ursula dismisses the Countess's letter as idle threats, but then a series of strange events rocks Ursula's household - and Ursula herself is accused of witchcraft. Could Anne Percy really be orchestrating a plot against Ursula from her exile in the Netherlands? And, if so, how can Ursula prove it before she is hanged as a witch?

Benjamin January's search for a missing man takes him into a dark world filled with grave robbers and slave stealers. New Orleans, 1838. When Benjamin January suddenly finds that his services playing piano at extravagant balls held by the city's wealthy are no longer required, he ends up agreeing to accompany sugar planter Henri Viellard and his young wife, Chloe, on a mission to Washington to find a missing friend. Plunged into a murky world, it soon becomes clear that while it is very possible the Viellards' friend is dead, his enemies are very much alive - and ready to kill anyone who gets in their way.

A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN DAILY EXPRESS, I AND IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Thrilling, mysterious, twisted' Graham Norton 'Utterly mesmerising . . . A triumph' New York Times Book Review 'Delivers chills galore' Guardian The case of the extraordinary child . . . London, 1863. A strange puzzle has reached Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age. To recover a stolen child, Bridie must enter the dark world of medical curiosities. The public love a spectacle and this child may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen. Things in Jars is a Victorian novel unlike any other, one that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.

Private investigator Liberty Lane's latest case takes her to rural Gloucestershire to uncover the truth of a brutal murder. July, 1840. Did young Jack Picton, a known rebel and political agitator, kill governess Mary Marsh? Liberty Lane has left London for Cheltenham to find out, sharing the magistrate's doubts. He is, however, hiding something ...but what? As Liberty is about to discover, behind Cheltenham's genteel facade lies a hotbed of vice. It is a place where the poor are driven to desperate lengths to escape the horror of the workhouse. A place which is harbouring a ruthless killer. Can Liberty uncover the truth in time?

June, 1914. Following three, seemingly unrelated suicides, DI Silas Quinn knows he must uncover the link between the three men if he is to discover what caused them to take their own lives. The one clue is a card each victim was carrying, depicting a crudely-drawn red hand. To find out what it means, Quinn must revisit his own dark past.

"Medieval mystery fans have cause for rejoicing with the return of Brother Athelstan" Booklist on Bloodstone The twelfth intricately plotted Brother Athelstan medieval mystery January, 1381. Guests of the Regent, John of Gaunt, Brother Athelstan and Sir John Cranston have been attending a mystery play performed by the Straw Men, Gaunt's personal acting troupe, when the evening's entertainment is rudely interrupted by the sudden, violent deaths of two of Gaunt's VIP guests, their severed heads left on stage. The Regent orders Athelstan to find out who committed such a heinous act, leading Athelstan to tackle his most baffling case yet.

Come to me! I need you! These are the words that bring apprentice healer Lassair awake one morning in the spring of 1092, shaking and trembling, covered in sweat despite the chill night. It is not the first time she has had such a dream, and Lassair - who is growing more aware of the strange power within her - knows that something in the spirit world is trying to reach her. Something increasingly insistent and threatening. Soon, Lassair is certain that one of her loved ones is in terrible danger - but who? Travelling from Cambridge, where she is studying under the tutelage of an extraordinary man, she returns to her backwater Fenland village - to hear the dreadful news that a nun at Chatteris Abbey has been murdered. The same nunnery where her beloved sister, Elfritha, lives. Could the urgent summons have come from her? Lassair immediately sets off, full of fear, but the danger she will have to face may be greater than she is ready for . . .