Book picks similar to
Death Riddle by Maureen Ash


mystery
historical-mystery
historical-fiction
england

A Test of Wills / A Long Shadow / A False Mirror / A Pale Horse


Charles Todd - 2014
    But for Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, recently returned from the battlefields of France, there is no peace. Suffering from shell shock, Rutledge plunges into his work to save his sanity. But his first assignment is a case certain to spell both personal and professional disaster.A Long Shadow—A story that immerses readers in the sights and sounds of post-war Great Britain, as the damaged policeman pursues answers to a constable’s slaying and the three-year-old mystery of a young girl’s disappearance in a tiny Northamptonshire village.A False Mirror—A love triangle turned deadly sends Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge to a small town simmering with secrets.A Pale Horse—A body found in the ruins of an ancient abbey sends Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge off to find a killer, in another superb atmospheric mystery by Charles Todd.

Poppy Redfern and the Midnight Murders


Tessa Arlen - 2019
    Summer 1942. The world has been at war for three long and desperate years. In the remote English village of Little Buffenden, Poppy Redfern's family house and farmland has been requisitioned by the War Office as a new airfield for the American Air Force. As the village's Air Raid Warden, Poppy spends her nights patrolling the village as she tries to ease her neighbors' fears about the "Friendly Invasion" and what it means to their quiet way of life.When two young, popular women who were dating American servicemen are found strangled, Poppy quickly realizes that her little town has been divided by murder. The mistrust and suspicion of their new American partners in war threatens to tear Little Buffenden apart. Poppy decides to start her own investigation with the help of a charismatic American pilot and she soon unearths some chilling secrets and long-held grudges. Poppy will have no choice but to lay a trap for a killer so perilously close to home, she might very well become the next victim....

Murder at the Brightwell


Ashley Weaver - 2014
    Looking for a change, she accepts a request for help from her former fiancé, Gil Trent, not knowing that she’ll soon become embroiled in a murder investigation that will test not only her friendship with Gil, but will upset the status quo with her husband.Amory accompanies Gil to the Brightwell Hotel in an attempt to circumvent the marriage of his sister, Emmeline, to Rupert Howe, a disreputable ladies’ man. Amory sees in the situation a grim reflection of her own floundering marriage. There is more than her happiness at stake, however, when Rupert is murdered and Gil is arrested for the crime. Amory is determined to prove his innocence and find the real killer, despite attempted dissuasion from the disapproving police inspector on the case. Matters are further complicated by Milo’s unexpected arrival, and the two form an uneasy alliance as Amory enlists his reluctant aid in clearing Gil’s name. As the stakes grow higher and the line between friend and foe becomes less clear, Amory must decide where her heart lies and catch the killer before she, too, becomes a victim. Murder at the Brightwell is a delicious mystery in which murder invades polite society and romance springs in unexpected places. Weaver has penned a debut in the tradition of Jacqueline Winspear.

The Murder of Patience Brooke


J.C. Briggs - 2012
     But he is shocked when the matron’s assistant – Patience Brooke – is found hanging outside the property, covered in blood. Desperate to protect the reputation of the Home and to stop a scandal from spreading, Dickens takes the investigation into his own hands. With the help of his good friend, Superintendent Sam Jones of Bow Street, and a description of the suspect as ‘a man with a crooked face’, Dickens's search takes him deep into the filthy slums of Victorian London. Can Dickens save his reputation? Will he find out the secrets of Patience Brooke’s troubled past? Or will the killer strike again …? The Murder of Patience Brooke is the first urban mystery in J. C. Briggs' literary historical series, the Charles Dickens investigations, a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London.The Charles Dickens Investigations Series: BOOK ONE: The Murder of Patience Brooke BOOK TWO: Death at Hungerford Stairs BOOK THREE: Murder by Ghostlight BOOK FOUR: The Quickening and the Dead

The King's Hounds


Martin Jensen - 2010
    The year is 1018 and the war is finally over, but the unified kingdom is far from peaceful.Halfdan’s mixed lineage—half Danish, half Saxon—has made him a pauper in the new kingdom. His father, his brother, and the land he should have inherited were all taken by the new king’s men. He lost everything to the war but his sense of humor. Once a proud nobleman, Halfdan now wanders the country aimlessly, powered only by his considerable charm and some petty theft. When he finds an unlikely ally in Winston, a former monk, he sees no reason not to accept his strange invitation to travel together to Oxford. Winston has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the king at the invitation of his new wife, and the protection of a clever man like Halfdan is well worth its price in wine and bread.But when the pair’s arrival in court coincides with news of a murder, the king has a brilliant idea: Why not enlist the newly arrived womanizing half-Dane and the Saxon intellectual to defuse a politically explosive situation? The pair represents both sides of the conflict and seem to have crime-solving skills to boot. In their search for the killer, Halfdan and Winston find seduction, adventure, and scandal in the wild early days of Cnut’s rule.

The Daisy Gumm Majesty Cozy Mystery Box Set 3 (Three Complete Cozy Mystery Novels in One): Historical Mystery (Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery)


Alice Duncan - 2019
    But when the producer's wife experiences a mysterious illness and another cast member is murdered, it looks like someone doesn't want the show to go on.AWARDS:Romantic Times Top PickReviewer's Choice Awards, finalistTHE DAISY GUMM MAJESTY MYSTERIES, in series orderStrong SpiritsFine SpiritsHigh SpiritsHungry SpiritsGenteel SpiritsAncient SpiritsSpirits RevivedDark SpiritsSpirits OnstageUnsettled SpiritsBruised SpiritsSpirits UnitedSpirits UnearthedShaken SpiritsScarlet Spirits

Murder at Ashgrove House


Margaret Addison - 2013
    When Sir William and Lady Withers invite friends and family to a weekend house party at their country home, Ashgrove House, they are faced with the arrival of both invited and uninvited guests, the consequence of which is murder. Set in 1930, Murder at Ashgrove House is full of intrigue, clues and red herrings, with nearly everyone having a motive for wishing the victim dead. This is a classic country house murder mystery set during the golden age of crime and will appeal to fans of Agatha Christie and Downton Abbey, alike.

Grand Canyon Thunder


Gary McCarthy - 2011
    THE 1869 POWELL EXPEDITION...deep in a chasm of roaring water and soaring stone and at a deadly stretch of river now named Separation Rapids, three desperate men abandoned the expedition after months of unspeakable hardships and near starvation. But only one of the three could survive high up on the wild, uncharted North Rim. WILLIAM DUNN...a mountain man forever haunted by guilt and driven by the love of extraordinary women will cast his fate across the vast and magnificent Grand Canyon of the Colorado in an epic tale of undying courage. This is a story of fearless river adventurers, brave and beautiful women and the early Mormon pioneers all of whose lives are interwoven with the Navaho, Hopi and the Havasupai...“The People of the Blue Green Water.” GRAND CANYON THUNDER is a never to be forgotten American saga written by multiple award-winning author Gary McCarthy.

Tea & Sympathy


J. New - 2021
    Former Agony Aunt. Purveyor of Fine Teas. Accidental Sleuth.When Lilly Tweed former agony aunt with the local newspaper is made redundant, she takes the opportunity to pursue a lifelong ambition, to open The Tea Emporium in the small market town of Plumpton Mallet.But with her replacement making a hash of the column, it’s not long before she is once again being sought for valuable advice.When the body of a local woman is found drowned in the river, the contents of her pockets reveal a letter from Lilly and she’s unwillingly drawn into the case.But is it just a tragic accident, as the police think? Lilly isn’t convinced, but pursuing her own inquiry means it isn’t long before she gets into hot water.

The River: A Christopher Radcliff Short Story


A.D. Swanston - 2018
    . . Cambridge on the morning of a day in April, the year of Our Lord 1569.And Christopher Radcliff, Doctor of Civil Laws at Pembroke Hall and recruiter of clever young men to the service of the Earl of Leicester, is amongst a crowd of excited townsfolk and university scholars gathered on a field to watch a game of foot ball. It is to be played between the apprentices of the town and pupils of the colleges and it is hoped it will reconcile differences between town and gown. Bets are placed, wagers made. On the field long-standing animosities surface and violence breaks out but not before the college team is victorious, thanks to the skill of a Pembroke Hall man, John Groom.Later that day, Radcliff is summoned to the senior tutor’s rooms. It transpires that John Groom has been locked up on a serious charge of assault – he’d nearly caused a cobbler’s apprentice to drown. If found guilty, Groom would be expelled from college and face imprisonment. But Christopher smells a rat. He believes the charge to be the fabrication of someone with a serious grudge against the young man, and yet it does seem as if Groom is hiding something. Enlisting the help of his friend Edward Allington and his wife Katherine, Dr Radcliff knows the truth lies somewhere within the infamous den that is Slegge’s gaming house…

The King's Justice


E.M. Powell - 2018
    Aelred Barling, esteemed clerk to the justices of King Henry II, is dispatched from the royal court with his young assistant, Hugo Stanton, to investigate a brutal murder in a village outside York.The case appears straightforward. A suspect is under lock and key in the local prison, and the angry villagers are demanding swift justice. But when more bodies are discovered, certainty turns to doubt—and amid the chaos it becomes clear that nobody is above suspicion.Facing growing unrest in the village and the fury of the lord of the manor, Stanton and Barling find themselves drawn into a mystery that defies logic, pursuing a killer who evades capture at every turn.Can they solve the riddle of who is preying upon the villagers? And can they do it without becoming prey themselves?

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.

Death Below Stairs


Jennifer Ashley - 2018
    Kat is unbothered by the family’s eccentricities as long as they stay away from her kitchen, but trouble finds its way below stairs when her young Irish assistant is murdered. Intent on discovering who killed the helpless kitchen maid, Kat turns to the ever-capable Daniel McAdam, who is certainly much more than the charming delivery man he pretends to be. Along with the assistance of Lord Rankin’s unconventional sister-in-law and a mathematical genius, Kat and Daniel discover that the household murder was the barest tip of a plot rife with danger and treason—one that’s a threat to Queen Victoria herself.

The Garden


Gillian Linscott - 2003
    No wonder the purple beech is weeping. I'm sure it is from sheer bewilderment. Oh my girl of little patience, this is not the way one makes a garden, any more than one makes a painting by squeezing every tube to hand onto canvas. I shall explain when I come. Holders Hope, Herefordshire. The roots of a great garden are laid in the long summer of the Edwardian age. Grown from a woman s desperate need to hold on to beauty, created by a man who plants his love for her, hated by a husband it humiliates and imprisons - the garden grows around a secret it will take almost a century to solve.For two generations the lives of two families are bound up with the garden. The Allegri family, mine owners with the money to pay for it. The Thomas family, mine workers from the Welsh valleys with whose care and skill help to shape it. Three children - an unhappy rich girl, a musician and a boy dreaming of revolution - meet in the garden and share a secret that will affect the rest of their lives.

A Useful Woman


Darcie Wilde - 2016
      The daughter of a baronet and minor heiress, Rosalind Thorne was nearly ruined after her father abandoned the family. To survive in the only world she knew, she began to manage the affairs of some of London society’s most influential women, who have come to rely on her wit and discretion.   So, when artistocratic wastrel Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in London’s most exclusive ballroom, Almack’s, Rosalind must use her skills and connections to uncover the killer from a list of suspects that includes Almack’s powerful patronesses and her former suitor Devon Winterbourne, now Lord Casselmaine.   Torn between her old love and a growing attraction to a compelling Bow Street runner, Rosalind must not only unravel the mysteries surrounding Jasper’s death, but the mysteries of her own heart as well...