Book picks similar to
The Alchemist of Paris by M.C. Dulac
historical-fiction
intelligent-fantasy
historical-fantasy-fiction
fiction-historical
The Winter Queen
Boris Akunin - 1998
There are many unresolved questions. Why, for instance, have both victims left their fortunes to an orphanage run by the English Lady Astair? And who is the beautiful "A.B.," whose signed photograph is found in the apparent suicide's apartment? Relying on his keen intuition, the eager sleuth plunges into an investigation that leads him across Europe, landing him at the deadly center of a terrorist conspiracy of worldwide proportions.
With Every Letter
Sarah Sundin - 2012
Mellie Blake is looking forward to beginning her training as a flight nurse. She is not looking forward to writing a letter to a man she's never met--even if it is anonymous and part of a morale-building program. Lt. Tom MacGilliver, an officer stationed in North Africa, welcomes the idea of an anonymous correspondence--he's been trying to escape his infamous name for years.As their letters crisscross the Atlantic, Tom and Mellie develop a unique friendship despite not knowing the other's true identity. When both are transferred to Algeria, the two are poised to meet face-to-face for the first time. Will they overcome their fears and reveal who they are, or will their future be held hostage by their pasts?Combining a flair for romance with excellent research and attention to detail, Sarah Sundin vividly brings to life the perilous challenges of WWII aviation, nursing--and true love.
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.
A Stranger Here Below
Charles Fergus - 2019
Gideon faces his first real challenge as death rocks the small town again when the respected judge Hiram Biddle commits suicide. No one is more distraught than Gideon, whom the old judge had befriended as a mentor and hunting partner. Gideon is regarded with suspicion as an outsider: he’s new to town, and Pennsylvania Dutch in the back-country Scotch-Irish settlement. And he found the judge’s body. Making things even tougher is the way the judge’s death stirs up vivid memories of Gideon’s mother’s murder, the trauma that drove him west from his home in the settled Dutch country of eastern Pennsylvania. He had also discovered her body. At first Gideon simply wants to learn why Judge Biddle killed himself. Later, as he finds out more about the judge’s past, he realizes that the judge’s suicide was spurred by much more than the man’s despair. Gideon’s quest soon becomes more complex as it takes him down a dangerous path into the past. A Stranger Here Below is so atmospheric, so compelling and convincing, that readers will taste the grit of the dirt roads, cringe at the unsanitary conditions and medical superstitions that inflame a flu epidemic, and marvel at the immensely arduous task of carrying out an investigation using the primitive tools of the early 1800s. Fergus leaves us breathlessly waiting for the next Gideon Stoltz mystery.
Bonaparte's Sons
Richard Howard - 1997
Thrown together under the leadership of the ambitious Cezar, they are pronounced expendable.
White as Snow: A Christmas Story
Donna Westover Gallup - 2006
As Charlie tries to figure out how to survive the winter, when he doesn't even know how to chop firewood.Soon after Charlie barely escapes a bear attack, the first snow storm hits, and a mysterious mountain man shows up at the isolated ranch. Then good things--and mysterious things--start happening.But Charlie is troubled by a gnawing secret, which makes it hard for him to trust the giant stranger. Then, on Christmas day, Charlie learns that trusting means he'll never have to be alone again.An entertaining, inspirational story for all ages.Book #1 in the
Mysterious Ways
Four-Book Series of Frontier Fiction by Donna Westover Gallup.
Gaslight In Page Street
Harry Bowling - 1991
William’s loyalty has worn thin over the years but he cannot break the ties with Galloway because times are hard and the house in which he lives belongs to him. Carrie Tanner grows up in the heart of a poor yet loving family, but as she becomes a young woman she becomes involved in the Suffragette movement. The times are changing – and quickly. Will this close-knit community be able to pull together or will it be torn apart?
The Saracen Storm: A Novel of the Moorish Invasion of Spain
J.M. Nunez - 2019
Trained in combat since he was a youth, and taught the dark arts of war by a brilliant ex-monk, he is determined to prove wrong those who say he is unfit for command. As he follows the trail of devastation left by the raiders, he discovers that Valentina, his half-brother's betrothed, has been taken captive. The mission that he has viewed merely as an adventure now turns into a personal quest to save the headstrong daughter of his father's closest ally from the slave markets of Arabia.In the capital of Toledo, the sudden death of the monarch unravels old alliances, sparking a fierce competition for the throne. As the country descends into civil war, Musa ibn Nosseyr, Caliph al-Walid's ambitious governor in Carthage, sees the Iberian nation's troubles as an opportunity to expand the reach of the caliphate into Europe.
Murder So Wrong (Muckraker Mysteries #1)
Ted Clifton - 2017
It is a very disturbing beginning for Tommy Jacks on his first day as a 1960s newspaper reporter, hired to cover politics. He soon encounters an eclectic group of characters who bring to life a different world at a different time: Taylor Albright, legendary gossip-monger and discredited columnist; Ray Jacks, Tommy’s father, an infamous political leader now in state prison; Joe Louongo, slimy lawyer of questionable ethics; Steve Marsh, sportswriter and former famous football star; J.H. Gilmore and his son, Robbie, wealthy and conniving owners of a competing newspaper; Tracy Clark, beautiful TV reporter; and Judy Jackson, gorgeous past playmate of Tommy’s. A story of the ’60s, full of intrigue, love, and tragedy—Tommy Jacks: Muckraker.
What Angels Fear
C.S. Harris - 2005
Then a beautiful young woman is found raped and savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol discovered at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.Now a fugitive running for his life, Sebastian calls upon his skill as an agent during the war to catch the killer and prove his own innocence. In the process, he accumulates a band of unlikely allies, including the enigmatic beauty Kat Boleyn, who broke Sebastian's heart years ago. In Sebastian's world of intrigue and espionage, nothing is as it seems, yet the truth may hold the key to the future of the British monarchy, as well as to Sebastian's own salvation....
The Amersham Rubies
Rhys Bowen - 2011
When heirloom rubies vanish from Lady Amersham’s neck, Molly relies on her wits to solve her first case. A short story prequel to mystery series.
Touching the Clouds
Bonnie Leon - 2010
She pilots a mail-delivery plane in the forbidding Alaskan wilderness, the lone woman in a male profession. But even that seems easy compared to finding true love. She likes a fellow pilot and would even consider marrying him--if it weren't for Paul, a mysterious man on her mail route with a gentle spirit and a past to hide. Can Kate break through the walls Paul has put up around his heart? And will her quest for adventure be her demise?
A Talent for Murder
Andrew Wilson - 2016
In this tantalizing new novel, Christie’s mysterious ten-day disappearance serves as the starting point for a gripping novel, in which Christie herself is pulled into a case of blackmail and murder.“I wouldn’t scream if I were you. Unless you want the whole world to learn about your husband and his mistress.”Agatha Christie, in London to visit her literary agent, is boarding a train, preoccupied with the devastating knowledge that her husband is having an affair. She feels a light touch on her back, causing her to lose her balance, then a sense of someone pulling her to safety from the rush of the incoming train. So begins a terrifying sequence of events—for her rescuer is no guardian angel, rather he is a blackmailer of the most insidious, manipulative kind.“You, Mrs. Christie, are going to commit a murder. But, before then, you are going to disappear.”Writing about murder is a far cry from committing a crime, and Agatha must use every ounce of her cleverness and resourcefulness to thwart an adversary determined to exploit her expertise and knowledge about the act of murder to kill on his behalf.In A Talent for Murder, Andrew Wilson ingeniously explores Agatha Christie’s odd ten-day disappearance in 1926 and weaves an utterly compelling and convincing story around this still unsolved mystery involving the world’s bestselling novelist.
Beneath a Glass Bridge
Tali Asnin-Barel - 2013
Naomi, a young Jewish woman, gives birth to a baby girl in a remote rural farm. The Nazi foe is everywhere, and Naomi realizes she must do everything in her power in order to save her daughter’s life, even at the expense of her own.United States, 1990. Helena tells her daughter, Blair, for the first time, the truth about her past, and presents her with a mysterious box that sheds light on her personal story. Blair, stunned and sore by the shattering discovery, storms out of the house and disappears to the other side of the world.Her family situation unsettled as ever, Helena leaves next. Shadows from her past and the need to cope with them have gradually revealed painfully tangible memories, imploring to be exposed. She travels far, determined to try and build bridges—to her past, to her husband and children, and to her loved ones that are long gone.Distant and removed from everyone in her life, at a furious pace, she writes down all her secrets, as well as the life story of her extensive family, which was torn to shreds by the Second World War.When she’s closer than ever to exposing her account, devastating news from home force Helena to expedite her return.Is her world about to change forever?Beneath a Glass Bridge raises profound questions about loss, motherhood in times of crisis, hiding and exposure of the truth. Are the decisions we make in our lives reversible? Can we make up for missed opportunities?