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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
Introducing Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins as an unusual
detective duo in the first of a brand-new Victorian mystery series.
When Inspector Field shows his friend Charles Dickens the body of a
young woman dragged from the River Thames, he cannot have foreseen
that the famous author would immediately recognize the victim as
Isabella Gordon, a housemaid he had tried to help through his
charity. Nor that Dickens and his fellow writer Wilkie Collins
would determine to find out who killed her. Who was Isabella
blackmailing, and why? Led on by fragments of a journal discovered
by Isabella's friend Sesina, the two men track the murdered girl's
journeys from Greenwich to Snow Hill, from Smithfield Market to St
Bartholomews, and put their wits to work on uncovering her past.
But what does Sesina know that she's choosing not to tell them? And
is she doomed to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate
Isabella .?
Dry Bones, the third novel of the Fintan Dunne series by Peter
Quinn, follows Fintan, who works for the OSS, the forerunner of the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The novel is set during World
War II, when Fintan teams up with several of his colleagues working
to rescue several intelligence officers who had been fighting the
Nazis inside Czechoslovakia. Things go awry and the team soon
uncovers a huge conspiracy that may change the course of their
careers and their lives. After the end of the war, many of his
colleagues have bad things happen to them. The common thing about
his friends who either go missing or end up dead is that they were
trying to unearth the mystery of an infamous doctor who had gone
missing. It seems the CIA is determined to ensure that what
happened to the infamous doctor who had made his name experimenting
on prisoners of war remained a secret.
Get ready for another gripping read from USA Today bestselling
author of THE SILENT WOMAN! Will she find the truth? England, 1940
When a cryptographer is murdered, Thomas Charles is sent on a
secret mission to uncover the killer - and it's the perfect
opportunity to rekindle his romance with Cat Carlisle, the woman
who helped uncover a double agent and solve her own husband's
murder. The victim's niece - and the police's top suspect - is
Cat's childhood friend and she begs Cat for help. Soon Cat
discovers a scheme of deception that spreads far and wide. Someone
is working with the Nazis, and Thomas and Cat are determined to
find out who it is. Can they solve the murder and expose the enemy
hiding in plain sight? Readers LOVE The Family Secret! 'Fabulous
and gripping... A fantastic read.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Gripping, filled with unexpected twists and turns... I thoroughly
enjoyed every moment, racing through it in a single sitting.'
Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Every page brought something
surprising... Once you start, you won't want to put this book
down.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Plenty of twists and turns and
kept me eagerly turning the pages.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Gripping... I highly recommend it!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Lots of twists and turns... A very exciting read.' Goodreads
reviewer, 5 stars 'Loved it!!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I found
myself trying to read as fast as possible to find out what the
secrets are... Extremely enjoyable.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Excellent... Gripping... I really did not want to put the book
down!' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Completely and utterly
immersive.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'I could not put this book
down. It really pulls you in from page one and has you on your toes
as another plot twist unfolds.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
'Wonderfully atmospheric... Lots of twists and turns. I found it
hard to put down... Highly recommended!' Goodreads reviewer, 5
stars
Sheriff Kyle of Deadeye, Nevada, is headed east to the nation's
capital. Like Dennis Weaver in the television series McCloud,
Kyle's about to discover that the law can be even wilder in the big
city than in the Wild West. It's a fact that hits home when he's
the one accused . . . of murder. Kyle's come to the city to give a
report to his senator on the misdeeds of Nevada's filthy rich
copper kings. But before he has a chance, he's knocked unconscious,
later coming to alongside his senator-now dead, with Kyle's knife
imbedded in the corpse. Welcome to Washington D.C., where
corruption, intrigue and murder are all in a day's work. Kyle's got
no alibi, no memory, and apparently doesn't have a prayer ...
unless he can find a way to outwit, outfox and outmaneuver the
masters of deception and double-crosses in this police procedural
thriller. Much like Kyle, L. Ron Hubbard was born and bred on the
western frontier and made his way east to explore and experience
life in Washington, D.C. But unlike the sheriff, Hubbard enjoyed
his time in the capital, where he went to college at Georgetown. He
came to know the ins and outs of the city as well as he knew the
arroyos and canyons of the west, giving him the kind of insights he
needed to write stories like Killers Law. "...some of the most
carefully and beautifully crafted trade paperbacks of our time."
-Mystery Scene
An enthralling novel of war, rivalry and intrigue in 1920s
Tuscany.A decade after her sister Isobel eloped with a wounded
soldier to Italy, Poppy Brookes receives a troubling letter,
summoning her to the neglected country estate they now share in
beautiful Siena. Poppy soon finds a disturbing undercurrent in the
marriage. The relationship between the sisters is also strained, as
Poppy had nursed Kit back to health, and has never quite forgiven
Isobel for ensnaring him. And when Poppy accidentally uncovers a
terrible secret, her journey into love becomes eclipsed by a desire
for vengeance that threatens to consume them all... Siena Summer is
a thrilling tale full of history and atmosphere, perfect for fans
of Rosanna Ley and Lucinda Riley. Praise for Teresa Crane'A writer
of great skill and vitality' Sarah Harrison, author of The Flowers
of the Field
"Intellectually stimulating and viscerally exciting, The Darwin
Affair is breathtaking from start to stop." --The Wall Street
Journal A Barnes & Noble Discover Pick * A Wall Street Journal
Best Mystery Book of the Year * A Reader's Digest Best Summer Book
* A Forbes.com Best Historical Novel of the Summer Get ready for
one of the most inventive and entertaining novels of 2019--an
edge-of-your-seat Victorian-era thriller, where the controversial
publication On the Origin of Species sets off a string of
unspeakable crimes. London, June 1860: When an assassination
attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely
murdered moments later--and only a block away--Chief Detective
Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that the crimes are
connected. Was Victoria really the assassin's target? Or were both
crimes part of an even more sinister plot? Field's investigation
soon exposes a shocking conspiracy: the publication of Charles
Darwin's controversial On the Origin of Species has set off a
string of terrible crimes--murder, arson, kidnapping. Witnesses
describe a shadowy figure with lifeless, coal-black eyes. As the
investigation takes Field from the dangerous alleyways of London to
the hallowed halls of Oxford, the list of possible conspirators
grows, and the body count escalates. And as he edges closer to the
dastardly madman called the Chorister, he uncovers dark secrets
that were meant to remain forever hidden.
A cosy Dandy Gilver mystery set in 1930s Scotland. For fans of PG
Wodehouse, Dorothy L Sayers and Agatha Christie. On the
rain-drenched, wave-lashed, wind-battered Banffshire coast, tiny
fishing villages perch on ledges which would make a seagull think
twice and crumbly mansions cling to crumblier cliff tops while, out
in the bay, the herring drifters brave the storms to catch their
silver darlings. It's nowhere for a child of gentle
Northamptonshire to spend Christmas. But when odd things start to
turn up in barrels of fish - with a strong whiff of murder most
foul - that's exactly where Dandy Gilver finds herself. Enlisted to
investigate, she and her trusty cohort Alec Osborne are soon swept
up in the fisherfolk's wedding season as well as the mystery.
Between age-old traditions and brand-new horrors, Dandy must think
the unthinkable to solve her grisliest case yet. Catriona
McPherson's latest novel in the series, Dandy Gilver and a Spot of
Toil and Trouble is now available for pre-order.
"My life would have been more tranquil in the days after Martinmas
had I not seen the crows. Whatever it was that the crows had found
lay in the dappled shadow of the bare limbs of the oak, so I was
nearly upon the thing before I recognized what the crows were
feasting upon. The corpse wore black." Master Hugh is making his
way towards Oxford when he discovers the young Benedictine - a
fresh body, barefoot - not half a mile from the nearby abbey. The
abbey's novice master confirms the boy's identity: John, one of
three novices. But he had gone missing four days previously, and
his corpse is fresh. There has been plague in the area, but this
was not the cause of death: the lad has been stabbed in the back.
To Hugh's sinking heart, the abbot has a commission for him ...
*****Part of the bestselling John Shakespeare series of Tudor spy
thrillers from Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical
Fiction Award***** '[Clements] does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ
Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times ********** The
Elizabethan navy has a secret weapon: an optical instrument so
powerful it gives England unassailable superiority at sea. Spain
will stop at nothing to steal it and seize the two men who
understand its secrets - its operative William Ivory, known as the
'Queen's Eye', and its inventor, the maverick magician Dr Dee. With
a second Armada threatened, intelligencer John Shakespeare is sent
north to escort Dr Dee to safety. But his mission is far from
straightforward. Dee's host, the Earl of Derby, cousin to
Elizabeth, is dying in agony, apparently poisoned. Who wants him
dead and why? What lies behind the lynching of the recusant priest
Father Matthew Lamb? And what exactly is the connection between
these events and the mysterious and beautiful Lady Eliska? While
Shakespeare attempts to untangle a plot that points to treachery at
the very highest reaches of government, he also faces serious
accusations far closer to home. With so much at stake, must he
choose between family and his duty to Queen and country? Moving
from the Catholic heartlands of Lancashire to a vagabond camp in
the heart of England, and from the deck of Admiral Frobisher's
flagship off the Brittany coast to the secret meetings of
Elizabeth's closest associates, Traitor is award-winning writer
Rory Clements' most intriguing and compelling novel to date.
October, 1093. On a perilous journey north in search of King
William, Lassair and her former lover Rollo are pursued by a
skilled and ruthless assassin. They do not know who he is or why
they have been targeted, but if they are to survive, they must turn
the tables on their would-be killer.
The sixth book in a thrilling series of mediaeval mysteries by C.B.
Hanley. November 1217: Edwin Weaver is back in his home village of
Conisbrough. But if he thinks life is going to be peaceful, he's
wrong: the new bailiff is unpopular and cruel, and soon his
murdered corpse is discovered. Everything points to the culprit
being a foreigner, and the villagers are happy to have an outsider
take the blame; Edwin isn't so sure and is determined to
investigate. However, his former friends, all with something to
hide, are increasingly hostile to him and resent his interference.
The more he discovers, the more he is convinced that the stranger
is innocent, but this comes with dangers of its own. With the
sheriff due to arrive any day expecting to supervise a swift
execution, Edwin and his wife Alys must join forces to solve the
mystery before it is too late.
The death of a local tax-collector spells trouble for Libertus in
this compelling historical mystery. Having been inveigled into
standing for the local curia, responsible for the submission of all
local tax, Libertus discovers that any shortfall must be made good
by the councillors themselves. So when news arrives that a
tax-collector from a nearby outpost has committed suicide, having
gambled everything away, Libertus is despatched to make enquiries,
in the hope of recovering at least some of the missing revenue. He
has also been asked to attend a wedding, in place of his patron,
who is expecting a visit from an Imperial Legate. But the
assignment which should have seen Libertus for once treated as an
honoured guest begins to take grisly and unexpected turns. As he
pieces together the unlikely truth, Libertus finds himself in
mortal danger. Freedom, in all forms, is only relative - but there
is a high price for it, sometimes paid in blood .
1894. The monstrous Hound of the Baskervilles has been dead for five years, along with its no less monstrous owner, the naturalist Jack Stapleton. Sir Henry Baskerville is living contentedly at Baskerville Hall with his new wife Audrey and their three-year-old son Harry.
Until, that is, Audrey’s lifeless body is found on the moors, drained of blood. It would appear some fiendish creature is once more at large on Dartmoor and has, like its predecessor, targeted the unfortunate Baskerville family.
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to Sir Henry’s aid, and our heroes must face a marauding beast that is the very stuff of nightmares. It seems that Stapleton may not have perished in the Great Grimpen Mire after all, as Holmes believed, and is hell-bent on revenge…
March, 1581. Queen Elizabeth is once again being urged to consider
marriage to the Duke of Alencon, a French Catholic twenty years her
junior. The prospect of the match is causing unrest throughout the
kingdom. Ursula Blanchard, however, has more immediate matters to
worry about when her nine-year-old son is snatched away while out
riding. If she is ever to see him again, Ursula must undertake an
impossibly difficult and dangerous mission - and commit an act of
high treason. Can she rely on her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth, for
help?
These are stories of the sort loved by true fans of the greatest of
all detectives, in which a client tells Holmes a strange tale,
drawing him into a baffling mystery. Whether in fogbound London or
deep in the English countryside, these action-packed stories, set
during the 1880s and early 1890s, before Holmes's disappearance at
the Reichenbach Falls, faithfully recreate the atmosphere of Conan
Doyle's early Holmes stories. This wonderful anthology brings
together the best work of Denis O. Smith, much admired for his new
Sherlock Holmes stories, including 'A Hair's Breadth', 'The
Adventure of the Smiling Face' and 'An Incident in Society'. Ten of
these stories have never previously been published in book form.
When human bones are discovered in the cellars beneath St Luke's
College - two bodies, buried thirty years apart - the bursar,
Charlie Swift, hires Jennie Redhead to investigate. As she uncovers
a series of scandals stretching back sixty years, Jennie wonders
how well she really knows her old friend Charlie and whether she
can trust him.
From Boris Akunin, the writer who invented the popular Russian
crime novel, a gripping tale of a secret suicide society in
turn-of-the-century Moscow featuring a naive young protagonist and
the inimitable hero Erast Fandorin. Naive young Masha Mironova
arrives in Moscow at the turn of the century with a modest
inheritance and a determination to shed her provincial Siberian
upbringing. As soon as she alights in Moscow, she becomes
Columbine, a reckless and daring young woman with eccentric outfits
and a pet snake worn as a necklace. In her quest for danger and
passion, Columbine soon discovers the Lovers of Death--a small
group of poets enraptured by death who gather nightly at the home
of their leader, the Doge, and conduct seances to determine death's
next chosen lover. Once named at a seance, the chosen member must
await three signs from death before taking his own life. The string
of suicides resulting from the group have drawn attention, becoming
fodder for extensive media coverage and widespread hysteria in
Moscow. As the group's numbers dwindle, a mysterious newcomer
appears. Revealed to the reader as Erast Fandorin thanks to the
presence of his trusty Japanese sidekick, Fandorin begins to
investigate the suicides while also trying to convince the members
that death is neither beautiful nor poetic and should not be sought
out. But will the gentleman detective be able to stop Columbine
from taking action when she receives her three unmistakable signs?
She Lover of Death is a fantastically entertaining murder mystery,
where the murderer's weapons are trickery and psychological
manipulation.
'Chris Nickson works his usual magic, populating late medieval
Chesterfield with characters that are clearly of their time and yet
jump off the page, vibrant and familiar. The icing on the cake (or
the jeweled cover on the exquisite psalter) - a fiendishly clever
puzzle. Highly recommended!' Candace Robb, author of the
bestselling Owen Archer mysteries 1361: John the Carpenter, married
and soon to become a father, has plenty of work to keep him busy in
Chesterfield. But when an elderly man in the town is found murdered
with no clue as to why, the coroner calls upon John's
mystery-solving expertise once again. However, this is a crime
where nothing is as it appears. When the suspected murderer is
found dead and a valuable Book of Psalms vanishes, John is suddenly
embroiled in a string of crimes that threaten his own life and the
safety of his new family.
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