A country that is growing rich and powerful. But, under the surface, there are matters savage and murderous, as well… When a small players’ troupe come to perform for a lord and his lady, none of the rag-tag group shine more than the young players’ boy, with his flaxen hair and fine features. The player boy had won a scullery maid’s heart, and it was she, at cock’s crow, who went searching for him in the stables where he slept. But upon finding him dead - murdered in a most gruesome way - the maid’s heart is broken. County Constable Matthew Stock, a humble clothier by trade, and his practical-minded wife Joan set about to get to the bottom of this horrendous crime. Constable Matthew must search high and low, from a Lord’s castle to a disreputable inn, to find the person who dealt such an ungodly blow … So impossible is the case that Matthew finds himself resenting the position of Constable, as every lead seems to be a dead end. Magistrate Sir Henry Saltmarsh and his ominous secretary Varnell take great pleasure in scrutinising the honest Constable. As their keen interest escalates, Matthew begins to suspect that they are less than honourable. Between adulterous wives, less than holy priests and a brutally enforced political hierarchy, Constable Matthew has his work cut out for him if he is to keep his job and get justice for the murdered boy... The Players' Boy Is Dead is a widely acclaimed mystery novel as rich in historical detail as it is in suspense. Praise for The Players' Boy is Dead: “Tourney writes so well that we are drawn into another world.” - Pittsburgh Press “A truly original suspense novel set in Elizabethan England — a most satisfying story.”- M. M. MacGiffin “This detective story, written in the style of 16th-century England, is vividly evocative of its era.” - People “This exceptional mystery comes from … an English professor who plotted murder while doing background reading for a Shakespeare course.” - The Washington Post “Tourney is a superb writer, skilled in the richness of the Elizabethan use of the language.” The Tulsa World Leonard Tourney was born and raised in Southern California, Leonard Tourney has spent his professional life as a teacher of writing and literature, especially that of William Shakespeare. He has written eight earlier mystery novels featuring the detective Matthew Stock and his wife, Joan. Since 1985, Tourney has been on the faculty of the Writing Program at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is married to the actress/director Judith Olauson.

    Benjamin Bones is at war with himself. While most young men are being sent away to fight the Germans, Ben is chosen to serve on English soil. Ordered to move to wild, beautiful Cornwall, he must trade his posh London office and stylish city life for the tiny village of Birdswing, population 1,221 souls. But leaving his home and shelving his career ambitions aren't the only sacrifices facing Ben. His unfaithful wife, Penny, is accompanying him to Cornwall in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage. But moments after their arrival, Penny is run down in the street, and Ben is almost fatally injured. And while the villagers assume Penny's death to be an accident, Ben quickly deduces it was murder.As he convalesces in Fenton House, which the locals call haunted, Ben meets Birdswing's eccentric inhabitants. Mr. Gaston, the volunteer air warden, obsessed with defending his remote village against Nazi spies; Mrs. Cobblepot, a thoroughly practical housekeeper who believes in fairies; and Lady Juliet Linton, a prickly, headstrong aristocrat who won't take no for an answer. While adapting to life during Britain's "War at Home," a time of ration books, victory gardens, bomb shelters, and the Blackout, Ben sets about solving the mystery of Penny's murder--with a little help from Lady Juliet and the Fenton House ghost.MARRIAGE CAN BE MURDER (Dr. Benjamin Bones Mysteries #1) is the new cozy mystery series from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Emma Jameson.

     For Inspector Paco Ruiz the death of a young woman in Retiro Park has a significance that even he does not fully understand. Battling against official hostility, and attempts on his own life, Ruiz finds himself being pulled deeper and deeper into a dark web of lies and treachery. As well as providing a thrilling and intriguing mystery, A Murder of No Consequence paints a vivid picture of a society – and a way of life – on the verge of collapse. James Garcia Woods was educated at the universities of Wales, Manchester and Oxford. Before becoming a full-time writer, he taught in England, Iran and Spain. He has lived with his wife in Madrid since 1979.

    But suspicion, intrigue and death await both inside and outside her new home, and the forces of nature take few prisoners.

    But after a duel with a jealous duke leaves him disfigured, Julian is ostracized by those who once celebrated him. Though his life is irrevocably changed, Trev is still loyal to his friends. When Willy Gilbert is accused of murder and Lady Vawdrey’s diamond necklace is stolen, he jumps at the chance to help them. As the two cases merge, however, Trev finds an unlikely ally in Miss Desdemona Woodmansey. She’s the only young lady who doesn’t seem put off by his scar and the scandal of the duel. But as their investigation into the murder reveals just how treacherous the mask of polite society can be, both Trev and Desdemona are placed in grave danger. Trev has already lived through the disgrace of a scandal, but can he survive a murderer who will do anything to protect a sinister secret?(Please note that the events of The Devil in Beauty take place eight years prior to the events of The Lord Who Sneered.)

    But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories.

    Not to mention her devastatingly handsome partner in crime, Nicholas Brisbane. Midsummer Night is the long awaited novella of their wedding, a dashing—and potentially deadly—affair not to be missed…Midsummer in Victorian England—an auspicious time for a wedding. Brisbane has taken charge of the music. Julia has, perhaps mistakenly, allowed her sisters to choose the dress. And Belmont Abbey is overflowing with guests awaiting the blessed day. What could go wrong?Combine the close-knit chaos of village life, pagan traditions bursting through staid Victorian conventions, and the congenial madness that tends to swirl around Lady Julia's family and you get an unforgettable wedding. But add in a dangerous past nemesis who has come to wish them not-so-well, and their day to remember just might take a fatal turn...

    Mabel Downing has been brutally murdered.She has been strangled -- and her mouth filled with cassette tape and a copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been left next to her body.There is one obvious suspect - Charlotte Sanderson who discovered the body.But Miller has been having a relationship with Charlotte - and refuses to believe she could be guilty of such a terrible crime. But if not her, who is the killer?Is Miller allowing his personal life to interfere with the investigation?What is the connection to Dracula - the Victorian gothic masterpiece partly set in the Yorkshire coastal town? And will the murderer strike again?Miller has to find out - before it is too late. 'Death’s Disciple' is a gripping contemporary crime novel set in the North Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby. It is the first in a series featuring Detective Inspector Miller and is perfect for fans of Peter James and Ian Rankin. "An intricate, compelling crime story that kept me turning the pages." - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of 'Trade-Off'. "You can taste the salt in the air...and the fear." - Robert Foster, best-selling author of 'The Lunar Code'. James Whitworth is a writer and cartoonist, Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

    Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt. Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen. Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn't leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior. Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco. Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, as well as the two short stories based on the characters from the novels, Dandy Detects, and The Misses Moffet Mend a Marriage.

    Yet Nell is determined to elude the duties and restrictions of matrimony. So when she finds herself pregnant at the age of 17, she refuses to divulge the name of the father and even her childhood friend Martin is kept in the dark.Nell's stepfather Hiram sends Nell to live at the Poor Farm of which he is a governor, to await the day when her baby can be discreetly adopted. Nell is ready to go along with Hiram's plans until an unused padded cell is opened and two small bodies fall out.Nell is the only resident of the Poor Farm who is convinced that the unwed mother and her baby were murdered, and the incident prompts her to rethink her decision to abandon her own child to her fate. But the revelations to which her questions lead make her realize that even if she manages to escape the Poor Farm with her baby, she may have no safe place to run to.

    In the Spanish town of Caltrava, a group of ex-pats have created their own close-knit community. In moving to a hotter country, the Brits are hoping to find a more relaxing way of living. But then – disaster strikes when the beautiful Linda Huntingdon is killed in a fatal car crash. Nothing appears too suspicious until retired actor Aubrey de Lamplugh meets the same fate, being crushed by a falling cliff. Two complete accidents, or a double homicide? That’s what Inspector Borges intends to discover. At first, the two appear unrelated – how is the death of a young, bored housewife connected with that of an alcoholic egotist?Slowly, a picture starts to unfurl before the Inspector’s eyes...The Private Face of Murder is an intriguing murder mystery that will keep you gripped until the very end.

    Born into dismal poverty, young Nell Sweeney scratches by on her wits and little else until fortune blesses her with a position as nursery governess to the fabulously wealthy Hewitts. But she soon learns that ugly secrets lurk beneath the surface of their gold-plated world.The Hewitts’ eldest son, William, a former Union Army battle surgeon and the black sheep of the family, was reported to have died three years before in a notorious Confederate prison camp. But one snowy February afternoon, his parents learn that he is, in fact, still alive—and in jail for having murdered a man while intoxicated on opium. Infuriated by his son’s deception and convinced of his guilt, August Hewitt forbids his wife from coming to Will’s aid, so she begs Nell to help exonerate him. Nell finds that she must delve into the kind of dark and treacherous underworld she thought she’d left far behind if she is to unearth the truth before the hangman’s noose tightens around William Hewitt’s throat.

     Yet to Inspector Sam Blackstone, the case is as puzzling as any he has ever come across. Why should a corpse dressed the in rags of a commoner have the face of a gentleman? And if this man does belong to noble stock, why has no one come forward to claim the body? As his investigation proceeds, Blackstone finds himself entering the world of the aristocracy—in which the presence of an ordinary policeman is far from welcome—and tramping the dangerous streets of London's Little Russia—where English law and order are not welcome. Death seems to stalk him, and as each new clue leads to nothing more than a new murder, Blackstone comes to realize that he is caught up in what may turn out to be the most horrendous crime of the century… Blackstone and the Rendezvous with Death is an expertly plotted Victorian mystery that will keep readers guessing to the last page. Praise for Sally Spencer: “Spencer's finest hour: a tightly plotted puzzler with surprises at every turn” Kirkus Reviews “Spencer is an accomplished craftsman who serves up a good puzzle and deftly solves it with intelligence and insight” Publishers Weekly “Characters are diverse, intriguing, and believable . . . plots never fail to surprise; and the procedural details are grittily realistic” Kirkus Reviews Sally Spencer worked as a teacher both in England and Iran - where she witnessed the fall of the Shah. She now writes full time. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

    Tucked in the folds of the woman’s curiously vintage gown is an infant, as cold and at peace as its mother. No one can identify the woman. Except for Kate. She’s seen her before. In her dreams…One hundred years ago, a love story ended in tragedy, its mysteries left unsolved. It’s time for the lake to give up its secrets. As each mystery unravels, it pulls Kate deeper into the eddy of a haunting folktale that has been handed down in whispers over generations. Now, it’s Kate’s turn to listen.As the drowned woman reaches out from the grave, Kate reaches back. They must come together, if only in dreams, to right the sinister wrongs of the past.

    Not only to stop the killing but also to prove her skills at detection to her father and win her dowry and independence. There’s only one catch—she has to take one last matchmaking job to do it. Never mind that the match is impossible, all the better because if she fails, then no one will seek her services again. The job provides the perfect cover especially when her peculiar investigatory techniques are mistaken for unconventional matchmaking attempts. Things would go a lot smoother if she weren’t knee-deep in suspects and thwarted at every turn by a rival matchmaker. But when the killer strikes again, Katherine’s investigation leads down a dangerous path. Too late, she discovers that she has a lot more to lose than her dowry…