Jack the Ripper: Quest for a Killer


M.J. Trow - 2009
    This book names him. Mad doctors, Russian lunatics, bungling midwives, railway policemen, failed barristers, weird artists, royal princes and white-eyed men. All of these and more have been put in the frame for the Whitechapel murders. Where ingenious invention and conspiracy theories have failed, common sense has floated out of the window.M.J. Trow, in this gripping historical reinvestigation, cuts through the fog of speculation, fantasy and obsession that has concealed the identity of the most famous serial murderer of all time.

The Moonstone and The Woman in White


Wilkie Collins - 1937
    Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative Sergeant Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious band of Indian jugglers.The Woman in WhiteOne of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White was a phenomenal bestseller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Dickens, Collins' friend and mentor. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall readers today.The story begins with an eerie midnight encounter between artist Walter Hartright and a ghostly woman dressed all in white who seems desperate to share a dark secret. The next day Hartright, engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie and her half sister, tells his pupils about the strange events of the previous evening. Determined to learn all they can about the mysterious woman in white, the three soon find themselves drawn into a chilling vortex of crime, poison, kidnapping, and international intrigue.Masterfully constructed, The Woman in White is dominated by two of the finest creations in all Victorian fiction: Marion Halcombe, dark, mannish, yet irresistibly fascinating, and Count Fosco, the sinister and flamboyant "Napoleon of Crime."

Ghost of the Thames


May McGoldrick - 2011
    But the mist-shrouded alleys of Victorian England hold grave dangers for the friendless.Captain Edward Seymour, the last of a long line of distinguished Royal Navy officers, is searching, as well. Returning from sea to find that his niece has disappeared, he begins combing every inn and hellhole of the city’s darkest corners, desperately hoping to find some trace of the girl.No one knows the streets of London like Charles Dickens, a young novelist with a reformer’s soul, and Sophy and Edward turn to him for help. Flush with his early literary successes, he is working hard to use his knowledge of the city and his newfound fame to right some of the social ills that plague Victorian England. But with each step they take toward the truth, Death draws ever closer…May McGoldrick's novels are“Richly romantic.” –Nora Roberts“Enchanting.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer “Excellent.” –Heather Graham

Earl of Darling


Maggie Dallen - 2021
    A beast. All Miss Rathmore knows is he’s the man who saved her while running away from her horrid fiancé. The least she can do is help Darling and his sisters adapt to good society. After all, the earl has gone so far as to offer his own hand in marriage to save her reputation. But that is merely an act of charity. And those stolen kisses? Those are sheer folly. For only a fool would fall for such a sandalous rogue...Society is more dangerous than a battlefield for this soldier who was never meant to be an earl. Luckily for him, his new savior is every bit the lady.Give him a battle any day. Those were rules he understood. But the insipid whisperings of the ton? He hadn’t the faintest idea how to fight them. Until he meets Miss Rathmore. Now he's found himself slaying her dragons when he ought to be fighting for his own good name. And proposing marriage? What was he thinking? His three sisters would say that he’d lost his senses, of course. Or, at the very least...his heart.

The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde Centenary Edition


Maria Leach - 2000