Book picks similar to
Guns in the North by P.F. Chisholm
historical-fiction
historical
collections
mystery-crime-thriller
The Last Dickens
Matthew Pearl - 2009
The Last Dickens is a tale filled with the dazzling twists and turns, the unerring period details, and the meticulous research that thrilled readers of the bestsellers The Dante Club and The Poe Shadow.Boston, 1870. When news of Charles Dickens’s untimely death reaches the office of his struggling American publisher, Fields & Osgood, partner James Osgood sends his trusted clerk Daniel Sand to await the arrival of Dickens’s unfinished novel. But when Daniel’s body is discovered by the docks and the manuscript is nowhere to be found, Osgood must embark on a transatlantic quest to unearth the novel that he hopes will save his venerable business and reveal Daniel’s killer.Danger and intrigue abound on the journey to England, for which Osgood has chosen Rebecca Sand, Daniel’s older sister, to assist him. As they attempt to uncover Dickens’s final mystery, Osgood and Rebecca find themselves racing the clock through a dangerous web of literary lions and drug dealers, sadistic thugs and blue bloods, and competing members of Dickens’s inner circle. They soon realize that understanding Dickens’s lost ending is a matter of life and death, and the hidden key to stopping a murderous mastermind.
A Metropolitan Murder:
Lee Jackson - 2004
A young woman is found strangled, her body abandoned in a second-class carriage. The brutal 'Railway Murder' brings Inspector Decimus Webb to the newly-formed Metropolitan Line on a bleak winter's night. His investigation leads him through the slums of Victorian London to the Holborn Refuge, a home for 'fallen women', and to Clara White, a respectable servant. But Clara has her own tragic and shameful history. As her past is revealed, Inspector Webb must decide whether she is merely a victim of circumstance, or a prime suspect. Only then can he unearth a dark secret, hidden in the depths of underground London. Lee Jackson's second novel brilliantly recreates the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian London, taking readers on a suspense-filled journey through its criminal underworld.
The Cromwell Deception
John Paul Davis - 2014
For over four hundred years the Crown jewels of England have been held safely in the Tower of London, yet in the coming days they are removed, never to be seen in public again. Government receipts confirm the jewels have been sold and melted down for mint value.Only one man knows the truth...Present day: In the heart of London, a famous art gallery is robbed in the dead of night. Two paintings are taken: a newly purchased £10million self-portrait of a famous 17th-century artist and a portrait of a Roundhead soldier of moderate fame. For gallery director Gillian McKevitt, news of the theft is an absolute nightmare. Aside from the theft occurring less than two days before the self-portrait's unveiling, CCTV footage suggests the theft was an inside job.As the news sinks in, a surprise revelation from Gillian's predecessor confirms she is dealing with no ordinary theft. One of the portraits contains an unimaginable secret, one with the potential to reveal the whereabouts of a long-lost treasure. With time running out before the grand unveiling, Gillian realises she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. Following the clues revealed by earlier x-ray and infrared examination of the painting, Gillian finds herself in a frantic, and dangerous, race across England and through history as she attempts to track down the thieves before they reach their goal. To succeed, she must not only uncover their identity, but also unearth one of England's best-kept secrets...
A Flight of Arrows
A.J. MacKenzie - 2021
Two nations. One crown. 1328. After years of civil unrest between England and France, Charles IV dies, leaving no apparent heir. His closest heir to the throne is Edward III of England, but it passes instead to Charles' cousin, Phillip, spurring both countries on to war.1346. Landing at Normandy, Edward's immense army makes inroads into French territory, burning everything in their path. But the mysterious assassination of an English knight reveals a terrible truth: there is a traitor in their midst. The king charges Simon Merrivale, the Prince of Wales’ herald, with solving the case.As the army marches on towards its destiny, at the awesome scenes of the Battle of Crécy, Simon will uncover a conspiracy that goes to the heart of the warring nations. Among the ashes and the rubble, their fate will be decided: on the battlefield... and in the shadows.
Murder at Mondial Castle
Issy Brooke - 2019
By using her wit, unconventional intelligence and good humour, she’s risen to marry an earl who dotes on her; she’s raised and married off seven beautiful daughters; what more is there for her now?
What, indeed. Adelia’s looking for a new adventure. She’s not ready for her twilight years of slumber just yet…Then her daughter’s friend is found brutally murdered in the grounds of Mondial Castle – in the company of a man who is not her husband. That man is the Marquis of Mondial but he’s also injured and obviously above suspicion. Yet his subsequent peculiar behaviour soon sets fashionable tongues wagging…Adelia negotiates the gossips of the drawing room while her husband Theodore wrestles with the other gentlemen and their foibles.Adelia and Theodore are shocked as they peel back layers of deadly secrets in the household of the castle but the truth at the heart of it threatens their own daughter’s marriage … and their whole family’s place in society.
Unmasking the murderer is impossible alone but working as a team, they are unique.
And unstoppable.
Mrs. O'Malley's Midnight Mystery
M. Louisa Locke - 2020
O’Malley, especially when you have seven children and are forced to live in one of the crowded neighborhoods South of Market. Late one night, as she sat at the window of her crowded flat, sewing and worrying, she noticed something strange going on across the street. Her decision to investigate will have unexpected consequences. Mrs. O’Malley’s Midnight Mystery is a short story in the Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, and it comes right after the short story, Dandy’s Discovery, and before Lethal Remedies, the seventh novel in the series.
Duval and the Infernal Machine
Michele McGrath - 2013
Newly appointed and off duty, he is strolling through the city when he sees a crowd waiting for Napoleon, the First Consul, not yet Emperor. He is jostled by some men leaving the area in a hurry and shortly afterwards a bomb, the 'Infernal Machine' explodes.Next day, Duval describes the men to a police artist and joins the hunt for the bombers. Horse-shoes and barrel hoops send him searching all over Paris. Eventually he finds the warehouse used by the bombers and his mentor is killed in the subsequent fight. Some of the bombers are captured but others escape, then Napoleon puts an abrupt end to the search, blaming others for the outrage.But the story is not over. Duval falls in love with his mentor's daughter, and together they find another of the bombers, leading to a surprise ending.
Hall of Mirrors
Roxanne Lalande - 2021
Their social and political lives are intricately intertwined within a rigid hierarchy of etiquette.Behind the brilliant facade of lavish festivities lies a shadowy world of intrigue, promiscuity, sorcery, and murder.When human remains and a silver locket are unearthed on the neighboring estate of her husband’s lover, the duchess Elisabeth Charlotte d’Orleans investigates their origin and jeopardizes her own safety when her discoveries lead to the criminal involvement of her most powerful enemies at court.
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Four
Ashley Gardner - 2018
The Thames River Murders Captain Lacey is called upon to solve the cold case of a young woman drowned in the Thames years ago, but to do so he must enter a closed world unfamiliar to him. The Alexandria Affair Captain Lacey travels with Grenville to Egypt with Brewster to guard him, and there finds intrigue, murder, and treasure. A Mystery at Carlton House The Prince Regent asks Grenville to have Captain Lacey look into thefts from lavish Carlton House, but James Denis threatens Lacey to have nothing to do with it. Join Captain Lacey, Grenville, Lady Breckenridge, Denis, Brewster, and more these three tales of Regency England.
The Fireraisers
Malcolm Archibald - 2019
After the mill of businessman Matthew Beaumont burns to the ground, Detective Sergeant George Watters is sent to investigate.Soon, George discovers that this is not the first property that has been targeted. When a man is found dead in the hold of a trade ship, George discovers a shocking connection between Beaumont and foreign powers threatening the very country.George tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, but clues are few and far between. What connects the enigmatic Beaumont to the murder and strange events taking place in the Dundee shipyard?
Gallows Thief
Bernard Cornwell - 2001
Desperate to earn money he accepts the job of being the government's Investigator; an official who discovers whether petitions for mercy sent by condemned criminals should be granted. His first case concerns a portrait painter who is due to hang for murder in a week's time and the government makes it clear that they want the verdict confirmed.But Rider Sandman, whose qualifications for the post are nonexistent, discovers that the painter is almost certainly innocent and, as he peels back the layers of a corrupt penal system, he finds himself pitted against some of the wealthiest and most ruthless men in Regency England who want to keep the truth hidden.
The Raven Spell
Luanne G. Smith - 2022
Among his effects: a bloodstained business card bearing the name of a master wizard and a curious pocket watch that doesn’t seem to tell time. To retrieve his lost memories, Ian demands answers from Edwina and Mary Blackwood, sister witches with a murky past. But as their secret is slowly unveiled, a dangerous mystery emerges on the darkened streets of London.To help piece together Ian’s lost time, he and Edwina embark on a journey that will take them from the river foreshore to an East End music hall, and on to a safe house for witches in need of sanctuary from angry mortals. The clues they find suggest a link between a series of gruesome murders, a missing person’s case, and a dreadful suspicion that threatens to tear apart the bonds of sisterhood. As the investigation deepens, could Ian and Edwina be the next to die?
Deadly Engagement
Lucinda Brant - 2003
Career diplomat Alec Halsey returns to London to the shocking news his estranged brother, the Earl of Delvin, has not only killed his friend in a duel but is engaged to the woman Alec hoped to marry. The dead man’s mother wants Alec to investigate, so he reluctantly attends a weekend house party celebrating the engagement. Houseguests get more than they bargained for when a lady’s maid is murdered, the bride-to-be is attacked, and a guest is shot dead. Uncovering a connection between these sinister acts and his brother's duel, Alec confronts a cruel twist of fate and why his brother will go to any lengths to ruin him in Polite Society.The Alec Halsey mysteries explore the darker side of Lucinda Brant’s deliciously romantic 18th century world. Along with her trademark wit and high drama there are deeper subplots and even quirkier characters that will have you shuddering and laughing in equal measure!
The Heiress of Linn Hagh
Karen Charlton - 2012
Northumberland, 1809: A beautiful young heiress disappears from her locked bedchamber at Linn Hagh.The local constables are baffled and the townsfolk cry ‘witchcraft’.The heiress’s uncle summons help from Detective Lavender and his assistant, Constable Woods, who face one of their most challenging cases: The servants and local gypsies aren’t talking; Helen’s siblings are uncooperative; and the sullen local farmers are about to take the law into their own hands.Lavender and Woods find themselves trapped in the middle of a simmering feud as they uncover a world of family secrets, intrigue and deception in their search for the missing heiress.Taut, wry and delightful, The Heiress of Linn Hagh is a rollicking tale featuring Lavender and Woods—a double act worthy of Holmes and Watson.
Revised edition: This edition of The Heiress of Linn Hagh includes editorial revisions.
The Forgotten Story
Winston Graham - 1945
This is "the forgotten story" of some of the people who came unexpectedly to be passengers in the ship on her last voyage, of their loves and hates, and how a young boy is drawn irrevocably into the centre of a gripping drama.