Now and Forever


Margaret Scutt - 2021
    But if she thinks she’s safe at home, she is wrong.Her scheming brother wants to marry her off to a fortune-hunter, and he won’t take no for an answer. Out on a lonely walk, Catherine is attacked and left for dead.Could this be her brother’s doing?Catherine won’t wait to find out. Her childhood friend, Martin Lacey, lives in the manor house across the woods, and there was a time when he would have done anything for her.But in the turmoil of Restoration England, nothing lasts forever. Will turning up at Martin’s door be the saving of her — or the end?

The Duke of York


Patricia Finney - 2014
    Four physicians have failed to bring the young lad back to health, and his nurses seem unable to bring him comfort. Sir Robert decides that he and Elizabeth Lady Carey should have the keeping of the child – despite the disgrace that will come to them if he dies in their care. It’s not long before Sir Robert begins to suspect that foul play lies behind the young Duke’s condition. Is there a poisoner at Court? If so, will Sir Robert find the miscreant in time to save the Duke? Patricia Finney is the author of six novels featuring Sir Robert Carey, all of them written under the pseudonym P F Chisholm and all available on Kindle. Patricia Finney’s latest Elizabethan crime novel, Do We Not Bleed?, features the ambiguous James Enys, his elusive sister, and a young playwright, Will Shakespeare. Do We Not Bleed? is also available on Kindle.

The House of Closed Doors


Jane Steen - 2012
    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.

Amy Snow


Tracy Rees - 2015
    But Aurelia leaves Amy with one last gift.A bundle of letters with a coded key. A treasure hunt that only Amy can unlock.A life-changing secret awaits... if only she can reach it.

The Lantern Boats


Tessa Morris-Suzuki - 2021
    Half-Japanese by heritage, Elly was repatriated to Japan after the war, but Tokyo is a city she barely knows. And now she’s certain her new husband is having an affair with the enigmatic Japanese poet known as Vida Vidanto. Yet Elly is not the only one suspicious of Vida.The occupying American forces have their eye on her too. Kamiya Jun has been recruited to spy on the poet and find out why Vida spent her war years in China. He is perfect for the part. A war orphan, he has honed the art of becoming invisible in order to survive. But following Vida leads Jun to the Ruskins. And he soon finds himself delving into their private lives as well. Then Vida Vidanto is found murdered in her apartment. Is it a case of mere jealousy or has there been a betrayal of a more dangerous kind? Because Vida had more than one secret worth killing for.A powerful, absorbing mystery that will be consumed by fans of Victoria Hislop, Dinah Jefferies, Fiona Valpy, Robert Goddard, Kate Morton and Louise Douglas.ABOUT TESSA MORRIS-SUZUKITessa Morris-Suzuki divides her time between a small village on the south coast of New South Wales and Canberra, where she is Emeritus Professor of Japanese History at the Australian National University

The Seven Days of Christmas


Tess Thompson - 2021
    Until she discovers the dangerous secret he kept from her. One that threatens to ruin their marriage and the stability of a happy home for their two little girls.When his siblings suggest a way to gain back Shannon's love and trust, they embark on a seven-day journey to do so. Can Flynn win back her love before it's too late?Along with their focus on Flynn, the family is also helping plan Cymbeline's wedding to Viktor. Will Emerson Pass's favorite tomboy embrace a traditional wedding with all the trimmings? Her sisters are determined to make sure she does.Join the Barnes family for this bonus novella in the bestselling Emerson Pass Historicals. Christmas joy abounds as the family does what they do best, stick together no matter what happens. Don't miss this surprise holiday gift from USA Today Bestselling author Tess Thompson.

The Secret


Kathryn Hughes - 2016
    1 Kindle bestseller The Letter, comes The Secret - a heartbreaking novel of tragedy, hope and second chances. Readers who treasure the novels of Lesley Pearse and Susan Lewis will adore this author. Mary has been nursing a secret. Forty years ago, she made a choice that would change her world for ever, and alter the path of someone she holds dear.Beth is searching for answers. She has never known the truth about her parentage, but finding out could be the lifeline her sick child so desperately needs. When Beth finds a faded newspaper cutting amongst her mother's things, she realises the key to her son's future lies in her own past. She must go back to where it all began to unlock...The Secret.

The Bluebeard Club: A 1920's Historical Murder Mystery (Lord Kit Aston Book 6)


Jack Murray - 2021
    

Under a Gilded Moon


Joy Jordan-Lake - 2020
    The country’s grandest example of privilege, it symbolizes the aspirations of its owner and the dreams of a girl, just as driven, who lives in its shadow.Kerry MacGregor’s future is derailed when, after two years in college in New York City, family obligations call her home to the beautiful Appalachians. She is determined to distance herself from the opulence she sees rising in the Blue Ridge Mountains, however close its reach. Her family’s land is among the last pieces required to complete the Biltmore Estate. But something more powerful than an ambitious Vanderbilt heir could change Kerry’s fate as, one by one, more outsiders descend on the changing landscape—a fugitive from Sicily, a reporter chasing a groundbreaking story, a debutante tainted by scandal, and a conservationist prepared to put anyone at risk to stoke the resentment of the locals.As Kerry finds herself caught in a war between wealth and poverty, innocence and corruption, she must navigate not only her own pride and desperation to survive but also the temptations of fortune and the men who control it.

In the Shadow of Lakecrest


Elizabeth Blackwell - 2017
    Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

The Witch Doctor's Wife


Tamar Myers - 2009
    But her enthusiasm cannot cushion her from the shock of a very foreign culture—where competing missionaries are as plentiful as flies, and oppressive European overlords are busy stripping the land of its most valuable resource: diamonds. Little by little, Amanda is drawn into the lives of the villagers in tiny Belle Vue—and she is touched by the plight of the local witch doctor, a man known as Their Death, who has been forced to take a second job as a yardman to support his two wives. But when First Wife stumbles upon an impossibly enormous uncut gem, events are set in motion that threaten to devastate the lives of these people Amanda has come to admire and love—events that could lead to nothing less than murder. Richly evocative, written with warmth and humor, and based on the author's own experiences, Tamar Myers's The Witch Doctor's Wife is an unforgettable African journey with a spellbinding mystery at its heart.

The Forgotten Garden


Kate Morton - 2008
    The Forgotten Garden is a captivating, atmospheric and compulsively readable story of the past, secrets, family and memory from the international best-selling author Kate Morton.Cassandra is lost, alone and grieving. Her much loved grandmother, Nell, has just died and Cassandra, her life already shaken by a tragic accident ten years ago, feels like she has lost everything dear to her. But an unexpected and mysterious bequest from Nell turns Cassandra’s life upside down and ends up challenging everything she thought she knew about herself and her family.Inheriting a book of dark and intriguing fairytales written by Eliza Makepeace—the Victorian authoress who disappeared mysteriously in the early twentieth century—Cassandra takes her courage in both hands to follow in the footsteps of Nell on a quest to find out the truth about their history, their family and their past; little knowing that in the process, she will also discover a new life for herself.

Death of a Serpent


Susan Russo Anderson - 2012
    . . A dark secret . . . And one woman determined to uncover the truth. Sicily, October 1866. At a high-class house near Palermo, three women are knifed to death, their foreheads slashed with a strange mark, their bodies dumped on the madam's doorstep. Infuriated with the inept police inspector who does nothing to solve the crimes, the madam summons her friend, Serafina, and asks her to catch the killer. Serafina launches into the investigation, gathering evidence, following leads. An unexpected murder plunges her into despair, but not for long. In a defiant meeting with the local mafia capo, her arch enemy, she makes an important discovery. Now convinced of the murderer's identity, she enlists the help of her very pregnant daughter and together they conceive a daring plan to ensnare the killer, but not before Serafina uncovers shocking truths of her own.

The Bookman’s Tale


Charlie Lovett - 2013
    Peter Byerly isn't sure what drew him into this particular bookshop. Nine months earlier, the death of his beloved wife, Amanda, had left him shattered. The young antiquarian bookseller relocated from North Carolina to the English countryside, hoping to rediscover the joy he once took in collecting and restoring rare books. But upon opening an eighteenth-century study of Shakespeare forgeries, Peter is shocked when a portrait of Amanda tumbles out of its pages. Of course, it isn't really her. The watercolor is clearly Victorian. Yet the resemblance is uncanny, and Peter becomes obsessed with learning the picture's origins. As he follows the trail back first to the Victorian era and then to Shakespeare's time, Peter communes with Amanda's spirit, learns the truth about his own past, and discovers a book that might definitively prove Shakespeare was, indeed, the author of all his plays.

The Things We Don't Say


Ella Carey - 2018
    Years after Patrick’s death, ninety-year-old Emma still has the painting hanging over her bed at their country home as a testament to their love.To Emma’s granddaughter, Laura, the portrait is also a symbol of so much to come. The masterpiece is serving as collateral to pay Laura’s tuition at a prestigious music school. Then the impossible happens when an appraiser claims the painting is a fraud. For Laura, the accusation jeopardizes her future. For Emma, it casts doubt on everything she believed about her relationship with Patrick. Laura is determined to prove that Patrick did indeed paint the portrait. Both her grandmother’s and Patrick’s legacies are worth fighting for.As the stories of two women entwine, it’s time for Emma to summon up the past—even at the risk of revealing its unspoken secrets.