Or so it seems to intelligence officer Hugo Hawksworth, wounded on a secret mission and now reluctantly assuming an altogether less perilous role at Selchester. The Castle’s faded grandeur hides a web of secrets and scandals—the Earl has been missing for seven years, lost without a trace since the night he left his guests and walked out into a blizzard. When a skeleton is uncovered beneath the flagstones of the Old Chapel, the police produce a suspect and declare the case closed.Hugo is not convinced. With the help of the spirited Freya Wryton, the Earl’s niece, he is drawn back into active service, and the ancient town of Selchester is dragged into the intrigues and conspiracies of the Cold War era. With a touch of Downton Abbey, a whisper of Agatha Christie and a nod to Le Carré, A Man of Some Repute is the first book in this delightfully classic and witty murder mystery series.

    Everyone knows it, from her dearest friends within the Spinsters’ Sewing Circle to her most distant acquaintances within the parish.So when the beloved new curate turns up dead the night before Valentine’s Day, stabbed through the heart with Lydia’s own knitting needle, not even Lydia’s closest friends expect her to do more than cry and perhaps arrange a luncheon after the funeral service. After all, the tragedy was only a robbery gone wrong, and how could any vicar’s daughter hope to bring the long-gone thief to justice?
But Lydia can’t shake the feeling that this crime was somehow personal. The clues suggest the curate was murdered for some terrible purpose, and everyone at the house party seems to have a motive. Was it the high-born lady whose charitable endeavors are at risk? The beautiful young lady of the house who's hiding an agonizing secret? Her mother, who had every reason to want the curate gone? Or even the butler, whose private life is more scandalous than it seems?
And that’s to say nothing of handsome Mr. Pemberton, a notorious gambler and infuriating flirt from London who seems equally likely to have killed the curate and to drive Lydia to commit a murder herself.
This cozy, romantic Regency murder mystery—full of strong female friendships, gripping twists and turns, and witty repartee sharper than a knitting needle—is sure to delight fans of Jane Austen, Lynn Messina, and Patricia C. Wrede.

    As it’s Bertram's first Christmas at White Orchards since he purchased it, he has a sudden desire for a big Christmas party – which creates a huge task for Euphemia, one which her normally excellent staff are reluctant to take part in. For, as she struggles with her responsibilities, Euphemia learns that White Orchards is built on the site of Hadwell House, a manor which suffered a terrible fate one Christmas Eve …As Christmas draws closer, and people start behaving strangely, there is a palpable sense in the air that something is very, very wrong. Forming an unlikely alliance with Bertram's step-sister Richenda, Euphemia tries to prevent disaster befalling the entire household, and faces her most terrifying mystery as she sets herself against seemingly supernatural forces…

    When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case. Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority. Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray. Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man. The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.

    With the opening of the Great Exhibition at hand, interest is mounting in the engineering triumphs of the railways, but not everyone feels like celebrating...In an audacious attack, the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed and derailed, causing many casualties. Planned with military precision, this crime proves a challenge to Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck who fights to untangle a web of murder, blackmail and destruction.As Colbeck closes in on the criminal masterminds, events take an unexpected turn when the beautiful Madeleine, daughter of the injured train driver, becomes a pawn in the criminals' game. With time running out, good and evil, new and old, battle against each other. But will the long arm of the law have speed on its side?The Railway Detective is an action-packed dip into murky 1850s London. Full of historical detail, unexpected twists and memorable characters, this is a mystery that will surprise you at every turn.

    In these eight stories, the master burglar indulges his passion for cricket and crime: stealing jewels from a country house, outwitting the law, pilfering from the nouveau riche, and, of course, bowling like a demon-all with the assistance of his plucky sidekick, Bunny. Encouraged by his brother-in-law, Arthur Conan Doyle, to write a series about a public school villain, and influenced by his own experiences at Uppingham, E. W. Hornung created a unique form of crime story, where, in stealing as in sport, it is playing the game that counts, and there is always honor among thieves.

     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.

    This reprint anthology showcases the best Holmes short fiction from the last 25 years, featuring stories by such visionaries as Stephen King, Neil Gaimen, Laura King, and many others.

    When the ship’s captain is found dead, Ginger is only too happy to lend her assistance to the handsome Chief Inspector Basil Reed.The SS Rosa delivers a convincing array of suspects - the wife, the mistress, a jealous crew mate. To Ginger’s dismay, her name has been added to the list! With a little help from Ginger’s dog Boss, Ginger and Haley navigate the clues (those wartime operative skills come in handy.) They must solve the case and clear Ginger’s name before they dock–and oh, whatever shall she wear!

    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…

     Londoner Larry Dunne divides his time between writing bad avant-garde poetry, working in a Bloomsbury bookshop, arguing with his upper-class girlfriend Pamela and putting the world to rights in a dive off the Strand named Joe’s Club in honour of Stalin. Until one day he applies for a job in Hungary, where he imagines he will at last breathe the purer air of an ideal Socialist State and enjoy universal fellowship and equality. Off he goes to Budapest, to find that the State runs on envy, paranoia and two-stroke. And soon, despite the attractions of an elegant Hungarian ballerina, Larry wants nothing more than to get back to cosy Bohemian London. Not so easy, when a neighbour is stabbed to death with a fencing sabre. On the run from ultra-clever investigator Major Nagy, Larry realises he might be in Budapest for a very, very long time. Unless the murderer is caught. A man in a long grey coat stood there. At the sight of Larry he clicked his heels together, extended a hand, announced that he was Major Nagy and strode past Larry into his apartment. Larry was rooted to the spot. ‘What is it? Has something happened?’ ‘Indeed you may say it has, Mr Dunne. A body has been found in an apartment in this block, and it is necessary to ask you some questions.’ ‘A body? What kind of body?’ ‘A dead body, Mr Dunne. This is the only kind I am interested in.’ ‘No, I mean, whose body? And how, has someone had a heart attack?’ ‘Not at all, Mr Dunne. Please sit down. This is a case of murder.’ Originally published as LOSING LARRY by Elizabeth Pewsey

    Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl. After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.

    London, 1880. Kat Holloway, highly sought-after young cook to the wealthy of London, finds herself embroiled in murder when she’s accused of poisoning her employer, the loathsome Sir Lionel Leigh-Bradbury. Her only help as she works to clear her name comes from the mysterious Daniel McAdam, a handsome man-of-all-work who seems to know everyone and always happens to be in the right place at the right time. Kat and Daniel investigate the crime, but the mystery of Daniel’s background might be just as elusive and dangerous as the poisoner bent on framing Kat for murder.

    A plan that should have brought the lovers together and had them married within a month. It was a simple matter of masquerading as the duke’s gardener, compromising the lady, and then having the duke rush them off to Gretna Green.Alas, he underestimates the duke’s intelligence and the tangled situation on the estate—never had he imagined that compromising a lady could be so difficult.His endeavours lead to a comedy of errors, charades, and knotty love affairs. Yet he forges ahead in spite of pesky house guests, a flea bitten mattress, his lovesick best friend, and a blackmailer.Just when things seem to be going well, someone is murdered (very inconvenient), and he happens to be one of the suspects (extremely inconvenient).His simple plan for winning the wager suddenly becomes … a tad complicated.

    The doctors and police, however, insist that he was alone at the scene. The shock of the accident must have made him imagine Lena, especially since his description of her resembles his late sister, Laura.Convinced that Lena is as real as he is, Rob teams up with Rebecca Lewis, a London-based PI who has a mysterious connection to Laura—and learns that even a close-knit community like the Isle of Man can hide dangerous secrets that will not stay safe forever.