Book picks similar to
Where's Merrill? a genealogical thriller by Gearoid O'Neary
genealogy
mystery
history
genealogy-family-history-mysteries
The Wives of Billie's Mountain
Kelly L. Simmons - 2014
Second families must go into hiding or be arrested. There is even a finder's fee for those who turn in their own. Ten-year-old Mary's father, a poor farmer, abandons Mary, her nearly-blind mother, and six brothers and sisters in the hills of the Wasatch Mountains to live in a shallow dugout not much better than a cave. Close to starving, the family is rescued by a nearby polygamist. As the much older man's intentions become more threatening, Mary finds it harder and harder to resist his proposal of marriage. Her family and friends, even her own mother, turn away from her. During the six-year period, from Mary's childhood to a forced marriage at sixteen, Mary must first survive, and then choose her fate. This is the story of survival, love, and compassion in a sometimes heartless existence. It is also the story of Mary's deep conflict with the Church's teachings on plural marriage, and with her father, who has abandoned them. Based on a true story."...filled with rich description that makes its early 20th-century setting and people come alive." -The Salt Lake Tribune"...an emotionally wrenching narrative out of U.S. history."-Kirkus Reviews
Scotland Yard's Ghost Squad: The Secret Weapon Against Post-War Crime
Dick Kirby - 2011
It was the age of austerity and criminal opportunity. Thieves broke into warehouses, hijacked trucks and ransacked rail yards to feed the black market; others stole, recycled or forged ration coupons. Scotland Yard was 6,000 men under strength but something dramatic had to be done and it was.Four of the Yards best informed detectives were summoned to form the Special Duties Squad and were told: Go out into the underworld. Gather your informants. Do whatever is necessary to ensure that the gangs are smashed up. We will never ask you to divulge your sources of information. But remember you must succeed.They did. Divisional Detective Inspector Jack Capstick, a brilliant thief-taker and informant runner, Detective Inspector Henry Clark, who knew the south London villains as few other detectives did and in addition, possessed a punch like the kick of a mule, and Detective Sergeants Matt Brinnand and John Gosling, who topped the Flying Squad wartime arrests, both individually and collectively. In under four years they arrested 789 criminals, solved 1,506 cases and recovered stolen property valued at 250,000 or 10 million by todays standards, with the aid of their informants, undercover officers and their own, unsurpassed ability.The Special Duties Squad was a one-off. How the four officers accomplished their task is divulged in this thrilling book, using hitherto unseen official documents and conversations from people who were there.
Diamonds in the Dust
Beryl Matthews - 2008
The three Bentley children are used to fending for themselves. Their widowed mother has been forced to take a night job at Grant’s clothing factory, and sees them only at breakfast and on Sundays. But at nearly eighteen, and with a job as a housemaid to help make ends meet, Dora is well able to look after her younger siblings Tom and Lily. Then one morning their mother fails to appear for breakfast, and when Dora is told by the gatekeeper at Grant’s factory that no one by the name of Harriet Bentley has ever worked there, the children grow worried. They know their mother loves them, and cannot believe she would deliberately deceive them. With the help of a neighbour, a former policeman who was badly injured during the War, Dora and her siblings start to investigate.
Anne Boleyn
E. Barrington - 1932
E. Barrington tells the romantic history of the most beautiful and vivid of them all - his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Anne rises to fame when she captures the heart of King Henry. He is married to Katharine of Aragon, but she is six years his senior, and though she has provided him with sons throughout their marriage, they have all died. Henry is desperate for an heir, and he becomes captivated by the mysterious and shrewd Anne Boleyn. But Christian law stands in his way, and their courtship is put on hold as he battles those in power to gain a divorce from Katharine. And the moment Anne finally gets what she wants - the crown - is also the moment her downfall begins… Barrington’s classic novel portrays Anne as shrewd, lovely, ambitious, generous, disillusioned, and resolved to capitalize her beauty for her own ends. This is the story of Anne, but also of the days of Anne - when the question over a woman’s virtue was paramount in the great game of kings and kingdoms… E Barrington is a pseudonym of Elizabeth Louisa Moresby (1862 – 3 January 1931), a British-born novelist who became the first prolific, female fantasy writer in Canada. Her other historical novels include ‘Glorious Apollo: The Life of Lord Byron’, ‘Queen of Hearts: A Novel of Marie Antoinette’ and ‘The Laughing Queen: A Novel of Cleopatra’. Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.
The Fairbairn Girls
Una-Mary Parker - 2013
1891: The rich, aristocratic Fairbairn family have occupied Lochlee Castle in Argyllshire for the past five hundred years, and the current head of the family, the Earl of Rothbury, along with his wife, sons and daughters, all seem set for a happy future, until they fall victim to a wicked curse. Soon it seems the whole family is doomed, with tragedy and heartbreak around every corner. Can the surviving Fairbairns show bravery in adversity and carve out happy and successful lives, against all odds?
The Cuban Affair
Nelson DeMille - 2017
At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan. He returned with the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts, scars that don’t tan, and a boat with a big bank loan. Truth be told, Mac’s finances are more than a little shaky.One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez.What Mac learns is that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. With the “Cuban Thaw” underway between Havana and Washington, Carlos, Eduardo, and Sara know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash—by accident or on purpose. And Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all.Brilliantly written, with his signature humor, fascinating authenticity from his research trip to Cuba, and heart-pounding pace, Nelson DeMille is a true master of the genre.
"I'm just an ordinary girl." The Sharon Kinne Story
James C. Hays - 1997
husband, her boyfriend's wife and a man in Mexico. All this before her twenty-fifth birthday.Sentenced to thirteen years in Mexican prison, she escaped and is still at large with an active murder warrant biting at her ass.This story has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries and Discovery I.D.'s Deadly Women series. (Episode-"Born Bad").
Grave Passage (Henry Grave Mysteries)
William Doonan - 2009
Henry Grave is an investigator for the Association of Cruising Vessel Operators. A former P.O.W., Henry is as cunning as he is charming, and at 84 years of age, he fits right in with his fellow passengers. When retired FBI profiler Robert Samson is murdered onboard the cruise liner Contessa Voyager, Henry Grave is sent to investigate. Samson was giving a series of lectures on cold case crimes he felt he could crack. But he got cracked first. Henry has just five days before Voyager reaches Miami. There, the FBI will question the passengers, but the case will have grown cold and the killer will walk free unless Henry can find him first. With the help of a television actress, a cosmonaut, and a Venezuelan general fighting extradition, Henry draws on skills honed in a Nazi prison camp to track down a couple of passengers who might have their own reasons for taking this particular cruise, reasons unrelated to the sumptuous meals, delightful shipboard activities, and exciting ports of call.12 million people take a cruise each year.Most have fun.Some die.Henry Grave investigates.
Just Deceits
Michael Schein - 2008
Based on actual events, Just Deceits tells the story of the Trial of the Century – the 18th Century – as the remarkable defense team of wily Patrick Henry and ambitious John Marshall battled each other, their clients, family intrigue, the prosecution, and the truth itself, trying to save their clients from the gallows. In its ribald portrayal of a young legal system already driven more by spectacle than evidence, Just Deceits calls into question the feasibility — and even the desirability — of uncovering “the whole truth.” Ultimately, in the secrets revealed and the relationships celebrated, Just Deceits is as much a story of a trial of love as the trial in the courtroom.
The Paris Wife
Meghan Masterson - 2021
A plot against the crown. Those she loves in terrible danger…Livia, a humble doctor’s daughter from the Italian countryside, arrives in Paris with her new husband. At first, she feels alone and isolated among the gray, rain-drenched streets. Until Elisabetta, the Emperor’s clever, beautiful mistress, takes her under her wing, and finally Livia has a true ally.The two women are soon inseparable, strolling arm in arm down Paris’s wide boulevards and dancing the night away at masked balls. At last, Livia feels happy in her new life.But when Elisabetta is mysteriously poisoned, the tables turn and it is Livia who has the power to shape the destiny of those around her. She must draw on all her knowledge of herbs and medicine to cure her friend. And the stakes soon become higher than she ever imagined, when her husband is falsely accused of treason and conspiring against the crown.With Elisabetta close to death and the future of France in peril, Livia will need to draw on all her courage to save the lives of those she loves… as well as her own…A totally gripping, richly imagined historical novel about the power held by women in a world run by men. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Kate Morton and Marie Benedict will be absolutely hooked from the very first page until the final, breathtaking conclusion.
Ulterior Motives
Mark O'Neal - 2008
Louis Wolves. His team got bounced out of the NBA Playoffs, so he decided to come back to Chicago to visit his family Mother's Day weekend. However, someone from his past wanted to make him pay, so his stepfather was kidnapped for a million dollar ransom. He had 48 hours to raise the money or else his stepfather was dead. Will Maurice rescue his stepfather, or will the two of them fall victim to this band of ruthless thugs?This is a reedited and reformatted version of Ulterior Motives; and it contains bonus chapters, a more in-depth background of the main characters, and an alternate ending for your enjoyment. Relive the action and suspense in Volume 1 of this spellbinding series.
Tell Me a Secret
Chloe Garner - 2020
Tina's old life ended the day she discovered her parents, murdered.Her new life began the day she walked into Tell's office, looking for someone who could do something about it.Tina isn't sure if Tell is weird for a detective, or if detectives are just weird people, but he talks like he may be the one who can figure out who killed her parents and why, and Tina is willing to put up with a lot of weird to get answers.The answers that she's going to get aren't anything like what she would have expected, and she's about to find out that the world is a lot bigger, a lot darker, and a lot less scientific than she's spent her whole life believing.But.It's an awful lot more interesting, too.
The Sword Master
I.J. Parker - 2012
Even the selfless physician who saves him cannot soften the boy's hardened spirit. Angry with the world and desiring vengeance against those who caused his parents' suicides, Hachiro feels rejection almost everywhere and reacts in kind. This anger he forges into an amazing skill with a sword. He becomes the most famous swordsman in the city. Many deaths are due to Hachiro’s reputation, until he seeks solitude and redemption by leaving the capital.The love of women proves even less kind than the cut of a sword. His obsession with a forbidden passion forces Hachiro to join the war between two powerful clans where he finds another dangerous woman and treachery.When at last he returns home, he finds Kyoto in ruin and his beloved master dead. In the midst of the tragedy of this ravaged city, he discovers his redemption, something he had given up hoping for. But first he must face the danger of losing all when a secret enemy sets his trap.
Accused (Kindle Single)
Paul Alexander - 2011
The district attorney had boasted, "Anyone can convict a guilty person, but it takes someone really good to convict an innocent one." Did Harris apply a naked choke-hold, or did the district attorney and his forensics team set up Harris?
Maid of Oaklands Manor
Terri Nixon - 2013
A chance meeting between scullery maid Lizzy Parker and heiress Evie Creswell is about to break them all . . .
Their meeting leads to more than an enduring friendship and a new job for Lizzy - it draws her into a world of privilege and intrigue and delivers her into the loving arms of a killer. Meeting the handsome but mysterious Jack Carlisle, Lizzy begins to fall for him despite rumours he had been involved in the death of Evie's father. As she becomes further embroiled in the dangerous life that Carlisle lives, she must decide if he can be trusted with the life of a close friend, and, ultimately, if he is worth the risk to her own . . . Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries, Dilly Court and Annie Murray. The story continues in The Roses of Flanders Field, out now! 'This is the kind of novel that makes you look forward to bedtime so you can read some more - an epic true romance story' - Historical Novel Society *Shortlisted for RNA Best Historical Novel 2013*