Book picks similar to
The Game's Afoot by Richard Foreman


historical-fiction
fiction
historical
england

Before the Rain Falls


Camille Di Maio - 2017
    She’s free from confinement—and ready to tell her secrets before it’s too late.She finds a willing audience in journalist Mick Anders, who is reeling after his suspension from a Boston newspaper and in town, reluctantly, to investigate a mysterious portrait of Eula that reportedly sheds tears. He crosses paths with Dr. Paloma Vega, who’s visiting Puerto Pesar with her own mission: to take care of her ailing grandmother and to rescue her rebellious younger sister before something terrible happens. Paloma and Mick have their reasons to be in the hot, parched border town whose name translates as “Port of Regret.” But they don’t anticipate how their lives will be changed forever.Moving and engrossing, this dual story alternates between Della’s dark ordeals of the 1940s and Paloma and Mick’s present-day search for answers―about roots, family, love, and what is truly important in life.

Honeymoon in Paris


Jojo Moyes - 2012
    Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle poque Paris but discovers that loving a feted artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications. Following in Sophie's footsteps a hundred years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for...This enthralling self-contained story will have you falling in love with Liv and Sophie, and with Paris then and now, and it is the perfect appetizer for the The Girl You Left Behind, a spellbinding story of love, devotion and passion in the hardest of times.

Wild Wood


Posie Graeme-Evans - 2015
    Intrigue, ancient secrets, fairy tales, and the glorious scenery of the Scottish borders drive the story of a woman who must find out who she really is.Jesse Marley calls herself a realist; she’s all about the here and now. But in the month before Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981 all her certainties are blown aside by events she cannot control. First she finds out she’s adopted. Then she’s run down by a motor bike. In a London hospital, unable to speak, she must use her left hand to write. But Jesse’s right-handed. And as if her fingers have a will of their own, she begins to draw places she’s never been, people from another time—a castle, a man in armor. And a woman’s face.Rory Brandon, Jesse’s neurologist, is intrigued. Maybe his patient’s head trauma has brought out latent abilities. But wait. He knows the castle. He’s been there.So begins an extraordinary journey across borders and beyond time, a chase that takes Jesse to Hundredfield, a Scottish stronghold built a thousand years ago by a brutal Norman warlord. What’s more, Jesse Marley holds the key to the castle’s secret and its sacred history. And Hundredfield, with its grim Keep, will help Jesse find her true lineage. But what does the legend of the Lady of the Forest have to do with her? That’s the question at the heart of Wild Wood. There are no accidents. There is only fate.

Pale Rose of England


Sandra Worth - 2011
    It is 1497. The news of the survival of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, has set royal houses ablaze with intrigue and rocked the fledgling Tudor dynasty. With the support of Scotland's King James IV, Richard-known to most of England as Perkin Warbeck-has come to reclaim his rightful crown from Henry Tudor. Stepping finally onto English soil, Lady Catherine Gordon has no doubt that her husband will succeed in his quest.But rather than assuming the throne, Catherine would soon be prisoner of King Henry VII, and her beloved husband would be stamped as an imposter. With Richard facing execution for treason, Catherine, alone in the glittering but deadly Tudor Court, must find the courage to spurn a cruel monarch, shape her own destiny, and win the admiration of a nation.

A Murder of No Consequence


James García Woods - 2013
     For Inspector Paco Ruiz the death of a young woman in Retiro Park has a significance that even he does not fully understand. Battling against official hostility, and attempts on his own life, Ruiz finds himself being pulled deeper and deeper into a dark web of lies and treachery. As well as providing a thrilling and intriguing mystery, A Murder of No Consequence paints a vivid picture of a society – and a way of life – on the verge of collapse. James Garcia Woods was educated at the universities of Wales, Manchester and Oxford. Before becoming a full-time writer, he taught in England, Iran and Spain. He has lived with his wife in Madrid since 1979.

Number Seventeen


Louis Tracy - 1915
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

The Sixth Victim


Tessa Harris - 2017
    Flower girl Constance Piper is not immune to dread, but she is more preoccupied with her own strange experiences of late.Clairvoyants seem to be everywhere these days. In desperation, even Scotland Yard has turned to them to help apprehend the Ripper. Her mother has found comfort in contacting her late father in a séance. But are such powers real? And could Constance really be possessed of second sight? She longs for the wise counsel of her mentor and champion of the poor, Emily Tindall, but the kind missionary has gone missing.Following the latest grisly discovery, Constance is contacted by a high-born lady of means who fears the victim may be her missing sister. She implores Constance to use her clairvoyance to help solve the crime, which the press is calling “the Whitechapel Mystery,” attributing the murder to the Ripper.As Constance becomes embroiled in intrigue far more sinister than she could have imagined, assistance comes in a startling manner that profoundly challenges her assumptions about the nature of reality. She’ll need all the help she can get—because there may be more than one depraved killer out there...

Out of Reach


Elizabeth McGregor - 2015
    She has a job as a local newspaper reporter, a flat above an antiques shop in a village by the sea, and a close group of friends. But one day her carefully erected existence collapses when tragedy explodes back into her life. Ten years ago Kate’s eight-week-old baby, Jamie, was stolen. The loss destroyed her marriage and still haunts her dreams with guilt and longing. And now letters have started arriving on her doormat, anonymous letters that read, ‘I know where he is…’ Tragedy strikes again when her colleague and close friend, Maggie, is found, dead. Kate is torn between running once again or finding out who sent the letters so she can finally have some answers. She enlists the help of Johnathon Reeve, a psychiatrist, to help her work through her issues. He seems to be exactly what she needs – someone who listens, understands, and is willing to help. Kate soon comes to the realisation that she must put her fear to one side and find the truth behind her son’s disappearance. Even if the child will always remain just Out of Reach... Praise for Eliazabeth McGregor ‘Compulsive and claustrophobic … the writing embroiled me … and, like a pit-bull terrier, refused to let go. Just when it seemed the suspense had peaked, McGregor turned the ratchet another notch and forced me to read on … made me turn pages with an eagerness that defied sleep’ – Val McDermid, Manchester Evening News ‘Without doubt the most unputdownable psychological thriller I have come across for a long time’ The Lady Elizabeth McGregor is the pen name of Elizabeth Cooke. She also writes under the name Holly Fox and has had over a hundred stories and serials published in the UK and abroad. She has worked for both magazines and radio, and currently writes a weekly column for the Dorchester Guardian. She lives in Dorset with her husband, her daughter and the world’s most laid-back golden retriever.

The Mistletoe Mystery


Caroline Dunford - 2013
    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…

Death's Head: A Soldier With Richard the Lionheart


Robert Broomall - 2016
    When he is unjustly accused of murder, Roger flees for his life and joins the crusade of Richard the Lionheart. In the Holy Land, Roger is introduced to the grim realities of war. He thrives, though, and rises through the ranks to become commander of a company known as the Death’s heads. He loses one love and finds another, and he suffers a crisis of faith as he watches the huge crusading army being destroyed by disease and famine while the dream of freeing Jerusalem seems as far away as ever. And his other dream, the one about finding his father, seems as far away as ever, too -- or is it? "Death’s Head" illuminates a little-known but significant moment in history, one whose outcome resonates through the years to the present day. It is a story of war and love and the faith that enables ordinary men to perform extraordinary deeds.

The Caretakers


Eliza Maxwell - 2020
    But there’s no escaping the past in this chilling novel from the bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl. Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended.She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge.A crumbling monument to a gruesome history, the mansion has been abandoned by all but two elderly sisters retained as caretakers. They are also guardians of all its mysteries. As the house starts revealing its dark secrets, Tessa must face her fears and right the wrongs of her past to save herself and her relationship with Margot. But nothing and no one at Fallbrook are what they seem.

The Custom of the Trade


Shaun Lewis - 2017
    His captain, Lieutenant Johnson, has previously withheld a recommendation for command – Richard is too ill at ease with his men and too fond of his Bible. Just as Johnson changes his opinion, the submarine is involved in a tragic accident and sinks, leaving Johnson dead and the survivors trapped on the seabed with a diminishing air supply. It’s a race against time for Richard to save his men. In March 1912, Richard’s cousin, Elizabeth Miller, is an activist in the Women’s Social and Political Union, standing alongside the Pankhursts to gain the vote for women. When Elizabeth faces arrest and is later imprisoned, Richard comes to her aid and the two become engaged, to the disapproval of his mother. War is brewing, and no one knows what the future brings. After her father dies and her brother goes off to fight, Elizabeth is left to run Miller’s Shipyard, building submarines and ships for the Navy, whilst Richard takes command of a submarine and heads off to war. The fight for women’s equality takes a backseat to the war effort, but Elizabeth knows where women can do the most good – in her shipyard. Set in the dying days of the Edwardian era, and the violence and heartache of World War I, The Custom of the Trade is filled with rich, historical details of the hazards of life in early submarines, the successful submarine campaign in the Dardanelles and women’s own battles against prejudice to gain the vote.

Blood On The Stone


Jake Lynch - 2019
    Oxford is hosting the English Parliament under the ‘merry monarch’, King Charles II. As politicians and their hangers-on converge on the divided city, an MP is found murdered, triggering tensions that threaten mayhem on the streets. Luke Sandys, Chief Officer of the Oxford Bailiffs, must solve the crime and thwart the plot. On his side is the respect for evidence and logic he absorbed in his student days, as a follower of the new science. On the other, a group of political conspirators are stirring up sectarian hatreds in their scheme to overthrow the Crown.Struggling to protect all he holds dear, Luke leans heavily on his cavalry officer brother, his friends, and his faithful deputy, Robshaw. But he has a secret, which may be clouding his judgement. At the moment of truth, will he choose love or duty?

Ready Set Rogue


Manda Collins - 2017
    Unfortunately, Lady Celeste’s nephew, the rakish Quill Beauchamp, Marquess of Kerr, is determined to interrupt her studies one way or another...Bequeathing Beauchamp House to four bluestockings—no matter how lovely they are to look at—is a travesty, and Quill simply won’t have it. But Lady Celeste’s death is not quite as straightforward as it first seemed…and if Quill hopes to solve the mystery behind her demise, he’ll need Ivy’s help. Along the way, he is surprised to learn that bookish Ivy stirs a passion and longing that he has never known. This rogue believes he’s finally met his match—but can Quill convince clever, skeptical Ivy that his love is no fiction?

The Hands of Time


Irina Shapiro - 2011
    Meanwhile, Valerie Crane finds herself transported to the year 1605. Terrified and confused she turns for help to the Whitfield brothers, who take her in and offer her a home. Both Alexander and Finlay Whitfield fall in love with the mysterious woman who shows up on their doorstep creating a love triangle that threatens to consume them all. Valerie must make her choice, deciding between the brother who will lead her down the path of destruction or one who will give her a love she couldn’t find in her own time.