Book picks similar to
Fencing With Death by Elizabeth Pewsey


mystery
historical-mystery
mysteries
fiction

The Case at Barton Manor


Emily Queen - 2019
     When she discovers her own family might be implicated in the crime, this bright young thing will have to hold her ground against the police and a charming Scotland Yard detective if she wants to clear their names.

Murder at the Ritz


Jim Eldridge - 2021
    On the streets of London, locals watch with growing concern as German fighter planes plague the city's skyline. But inside the famous Ritz Hotel, the cream of society continues to enjoy all the glamour and comfort that money can buy during wartime - until an anonymous man is discovered with his throat slashed open.Detective Chief Inspector Coburg is called in to investigate, no stranger himself to the haunts of the upper echelons of society, ably assisted by his trusty colleague, Sergeant Lampson. Yet they soon face a number of obstacles. With the crime committed in rooms in use by an exiled king and his retinue, there are those who fear diplomatic repercussions and would rather the case be forgotten. With mounting pressure from various Intelligence agencies, rival political factions and gang warfare brewing either side of the Thames, Coburg and Lampson must untangle a web of deception if they are to solve the case - and survive.

The Case of the Mysterious Madam


Elise M. Stone - 2020
    Scandal. Can one man’s troubled conscience save an innocent woman from a terrible fate? 1894, Whitby, Massachusetts. Hard-working attorney Titus Strong's last win left him riddled with guilt. Fleeing the shame of freeing a murderer, he retreats to a seaside community notorious for gambling, booze, and bawdy houses. But befriending the town madam becomes his newest controversy when she’s accused of murder.With the scarlet woman slammed behind bars, Titus is convinced she didn’t pull the trigger and sets about clearing her name. But between shipwrecks, hidden loot, and blackmail in the village, the persistent lawyer finds himself on the wrong end of something far more dangerous than a smoking gun.Can Titus redeem himself and free a blameless woman before she’s sentenced to death?The Case of the Mysterious Madam is the atmospheric first book in the Shipwreck Point historical mysteries series. If you like tormented heroes, small-town scandals, and complex twists and turns, then you’ll love Elise M. Stone’s tale of redemption.Buy The Case of the Mysterious Madam to crack open a treasure chest of truth today!

Candlelit Madness


Beth Byers - 2019
     Welcome to a very flapper evening! Are you ready for the roaring twenties? For spunky young women crafting their own lives? If so, you’ll love Violet, Julia, Edwina, Hettie, Ro, and Lola. Inside, you’ll find several short stories with adventures, cocktails, kisses, and fun. With stories from The Violet Carlyle Mysteries, The Piccadilly Ladies Club Mysteries, the Lola Star series, as well as the brand-new Hettie and Ro Adventures. For fans of Carola Dunn, Jacqueline Winspear, Georgette Heyer, and Lee Strauss. A light, cozy mystery with a fun peek into a an evening with bright young things.

Call for the Dead


John le Carré - 1961
    But why? Fennan, a Foreign Office man, had been under investigation for alleged Communist Party activities, but Smiley had made it clear that the investigation -- little more than a routine security check -- was over and that the file on Fennan could be closed. The very next day, Fennan was found dead with a note by his body saying his career was finished and he couldn't go on. Smiley was puzzled...

A Poisoning In Piccadilly


Lynda Wilcox - 2019
    When he dies at her feet she suspects poison, and the police suspect her. But the vital documents Henry had brought with him for the British Government have gone missing, and Military Intelligence now suspect her, too. With the threat of an arrest imminent, Eleanor must prove herself a Bright Young Thing in every sense in order to uncover the real killer. A Poisoning In Piccadilly is a high-spirited romp through 1920s London, featuring fast cars, feisty women, and the men who love them both.

The Gypsy: A Romantic Thriller


T.J. Jones - 2021
    Standing, and straddling my broken body with a well-muscled leg on either side of me, she looked like an ethereal giant: a beautiful Amazon, impossible tall, and equally invincible. She fired immediately, spun quickly and fired again, then dropped down and crowded me against the antique safe that had become our sanctuary. Improbably, she grinned at me. "Two down, and one to go."A mass shooting, an FBI coverup, and a madman with his own militia and a political hit list. Adam Cain is caught in the middle with only one person to trust; the beautiful and mysterious woman that calls herself the Gypsy. She seems to have all the answers, and a hit list of her own.

In Farleigh Field


Rhys Bowen - 2017
    After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.As Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls?Inspired by the events and people of World War II, writer Rhys Bowen crafts a sweeping and riveting saga of class, family, love, and betrayal.

In the Blood


Steve Robinson - 2011
    American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is hired to find out what happened, but it soon becomes apparent that a calculated killer is out to stop him.In the Blood combines a centuries-old mystery with a present-day thriller that brings two people from opposite sides of the Atlantic together to uncover a series of carefully hidden crimes. Tayte's research centres around the tragic life of a young Cornish girl, a writing box, and the discovery of a dark secret that he believes will lead him to the family he is looking for. Trouble is, someone else is looking for the same answers and will stop at nothing to find them.In the Blood is the first in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series.

A Thread of Madness


Blythe Baker - 2020
    But the unexpected discovery that the killer might be in their very midst soon changes everything, sparking an urgent desperation to ferret out his identity.While assisting the local constable in his investigation, Iris stumbles across a family mystery of her own, a buried secret that calls into question everything she thinks she knows about her sister. With Iris’s once-blind faith in Lily shaken, can the sisters unite long enough to escape the schemes of a dangerous lunatic?

No Game For a Dame


M. Ruth Myers - 2011
     Moving through streets where people line up at soup kitchens, Maggie draws information from sources others overlook: The waitress at the dime store lunch counter where she has breakfast; a ragged newsboy; the other career girls at her rooming house. Her digging gets her chloroformed and left in a ditch behind the wheel of her DeSoto. She makes her way to an upscale bordello and gets tea – and information – from the madam herself. A gunman puts a bullet through Maggie’s hat. Her shutterbug pal on the evening paper warns her off. A new cop whose presence unsettles her thinks she’s crooked. Before she finds all the answers she needs, she faces a half-crazed man with a gun, and a far more lethal point-blank killer. If you like Robert B. Parker's hard boiled Spencer series and strong women sleuths, don't miss this one-of-a-kind Ohio detective from a time in United States history when dames wore hats -- but seldom a Smith & Wesson.

A Death of Innocence


David Penny - 2020
    Together they uncover a web of deceit and lies to reveal the sad truth behind the murder.Meanwhile, another kind of death has come to Lemster—one that cannot be solved by reason alone.A Death of Innocence is the first of three prequels relating the story of how Thomas Berrington leaves England to begin his travels to Moorish al-Andalus.

The Girl Next Door


Ruth Rendell - 2014
    Throughout the summer of 1944—until one father forbids it—the subterranean space becomes their "secret garden," where the friends play games and tell stories.Six decades later, beneath a house on the same land, construction workers uncover a tin box containing two skeletal hands, one male and one female. As the discovery makes national news, the friends come together once again, to recall their days in the tunnel for the detective investigating the case. Is the truth buried among these aging friends and their memories? This impromptu reunion causes long-simmering feelings to bubble to the surface. Alan, stuck in a passionless marriage, begins flirting with Daphne, a glamorous widow. Michael considers contacting his estranged father, who sent Michael to live with an aunt after his mother vanished in 1944. Lewis begins remembering details about his Uncle James, an army private who once accompanied the children into the tunnels, and who later disappeared.In The Girl Next Door Rendell brilliantly shatters the assumptions about age, showing that the choices people make—and the emotions behind them—remain as potent in late life as they were in youth.

The Dead Priest of Sedona


Charles Williamson - 2015
    The caller, KEVIN RIKER, reports that a man has been killed up on the plateau above the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. Kevin leads the two lawmen on the trail through the West Fork Canyon. The trail is busy with hikers enjoying the autumn colors that are at their peak on November first. After several miles of hiking, a wade through the cold creek water, and a steep climb to the canyon rim, the group rests. Kevin explains that he had lost the normal trail when he found a strange circular grove of ponderosa pines where he discovered the gruesome body.

The 39 Steps


John Buchan - 1915
    Initially sceptical, Hannay nonetheless harbours the man—but one day returns home to find him murdered... An obvious suspect, Hannay flees to his native Scotland, pursued by both the police and a cunning, ruthless enemy. His life and the security of Britain are in grave peril, and everything rests on the solution to a baffling enigma: what are the 'thirty nine steps?'