Book picks similar to
The Secret of Lions by Scott Blade


mystery
thriller
world-war-ii
historical

Before the Fall (Irish Trilogy, #2)


Orna Ross - 2012
    "A highly ambitious, engaging, and evocative novel and a hauntingly captivating read." -The Sunday IndependentWhat happens when a woman is haunted by the sins of her foremothers–and the men who betrayed them?Facing the birth of her child, and single motherhood, Jo Devereux has spent the last six months in Mucknamore, the Irish village she fled twenty years ago.A trunk of letters and diaries left by her grandmother and great-aunt has revealed a heartbreaking legacy of bitter secrets that have haunted the women of her family for four generations.Now she must find out the ultimate truth: What other secrets and lies lie under her mother’s and grandmother’s unshakeable silence? How does it connect with her failed life as a gender-bending agony aunt in San Franciso? And what of Rory… her lost love, son of her family’s sworn enemies?Will Jo’s mission to uncover the past unlock a possible future together? Or are they about to lose everything all over again?As she pieces together the poisonous fragments of the past, Jo must now face into the guilt and shame that were her legacy and see how she might best redeem them in her own life.

Once Night Falls


Roland Merullo - 2019
    Luca Benedetto has joined the partisans in their fight against the German troops ravaging the shores of his town on Lake Como. While risking his life to free his country, Luca is also struggling to protect Sarah, his Jewish lover who’s hiding in a mountain cabin. As the violent Nazi occupation intensifies, Luca and Sarah fear for more than their own lives.In the heart of their village, their mothers have also found themselves vulnerable to the encroaching Nazis. But Luca’s mother, undeterred, is devising her own revenge on the occupiers. With Mussolini deposed and Allied armies fighting their way up the peninsula, the fate of Italy hangs in the balance, and the people of Lake Como must decide how much they’re prepared to sacrifice for family, friends, and the country they love.The most trying of times will create the most unexpected heroes and incredible acts of courage in this stirring narrative as seen through the eyes of those devastated by war-torn Italy.

Jazz Baby


Beem Weeks - 2012
    Taken in by an aunt bent on ridding herself of this unexpected burden, "Baby" Teegarten plots her escape using the only means at her disposal: a voice that makes church ladies cry and angels take notice. "I'm gonna sing jazz up to New York City," she brags to anybody who'll listen. 'Cept that Big Apple--well, it's an awful long way from that dry patch of earth she used to call home. So when the smoky stages of New Orleans speakeasies give a whistle, offering all kinda shortcuts, Emily soon learns it's the whorehouses and drug joints promising to tickle more than just a young girl's fancy that can dim a spotlight . . . and knowing the wrong people can snuff it out. Jazz Baby just wants to sing--not fight to stay alive.

Sherlock Holmes and the Chilford Ripper


Roger Jaynes - 2006
    Watson receives an alarming telegram from the respectable Doctor Geoffrey Blake. A monster is loose in the normally quiet Essex town of Chilford – a fiend who had already not only murdered, but mutilated three of the town’s inhabitants in the bloody style of the infamous Jack the Ripper. And for no apparent reason.The simple life of the villagers has been disrupted as a ripper lurks in the shadows, ready to pounce on his next victim. Despite the efforts of the young Constable Newton’s attempts to catch the wicked killer, Doctor Blake decides to take the matter upon his hands and visits 221B Baker Street to disclose the ghastly events and convince Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to uncover the dreaded mystery before the killer strikes again. The dangerous journey leads them to a group of five ex-servicemen who guard a troubling secret with the intention of suppressing the truth that could shake the whole town. Holmes and Watson are forced to reconcile the dispute that has erupted between the residents as they carefully time their plan which will ultimately reveal the murderer’s identity. Can the duo find the missing piece of the puzzle and expose the ripper before he destroys Chilford? Or will the ripper find a way to strike again?‘Sherlock Holmes and the Chilford Ripper’ tells the story of the duo’s spellbinding journey set in the picturesque countryside with a dark twist.Roger Jaynes has spent his entire life writing about a multitude of subjects in a variety of ways. As an award-winning sportswriter for the Miami Herald, Gannett News Service and the Milwaukee Journal, he was recipient of over 45 national writing awards including his being chosen as top ‘Sports News Writer of The Year’ in the United States by the Associated Press Sports Editors Association in 1977. After leaving journalism in 1988, Jaynes served as Director of Public Relations at Road America.Sherlock Holmes & The Chilford Ripper is the fourth book Jaynes has written.Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Saving Grace: A Victorian Mystery


Hannah Howe - 2018
    During and after dinner he had nothing to excite him save the receipt of a letter which somewhat annoyed him, and that his wife consumed rather more wine than he considered to be good for her health. Immediately after retiring to his room he was seized with symptoms of irritant poisoning, and despite every effort made on his behalf, he succumbed to its effects. An inquest was held, which vexed the minds of the Coroner’s jury to a degree without precedent in Coroners’ Inquest Law, and an open verdict was returned. However, the matter will not rest there, for after questions in Parliament, a second inquest has been called under suspicion that Mr Charles Petrie was murdered. * * * Who poisoned Charles Petrie? Dr James Collymore, a man familiar with poisons, a man harbouring a dark secret that, if exposed, would ruin his career; Florrie, the maid who supplied Charles with his bedtime drink; Bert Kemp, a disgruntled groom, who used poisons in his work, who four months previously had predicted Charles’ dying day; Mrs Jennet Quinn, a lady’s companion with a deep knowledge of poisons, and a deep fear of dismissal; or Grace Petrie, Charles’ wife of four months, a woman with a scandalous past, a woman shunned by polite society. With crowds flocking to the courtroom and the shadow of suspicion falling upon Grace in the shape of the hangman’s noose, could dashing young advocate, Daniel Morgan, save her?

The House


A. O'Connor - 2012
    But its world is threatened when no heir is born. Anna could restore their fortunes, but it would mean the ultimate betrayal. Then the Great Famine grips the country. 1910s – Clara finds life as lady of the manor is not what she expected when she married Pierce Armstrong. As the First World War rages, she finds solace in artist Johnny Seymour’s decadent circle. Then the War of Independence erupts and Clara is caught between two men, deceit and revenge. Present Day – When Kate Fallon sees the house it is love at first sight. She and her tycoon husband Tony buy it and hire the last Armstrong owner, architect Nico, to oversee its restoration. As Kate’s fascination with the house grows, she and Nico begin to uncover its history and the fates of its occupants in centuries past. But then, as her husband's business empire faces ruin, Kate realises that they are in danger of losing everything. Betrayal, deceit, revenge, obsession – one house, one family, three generations Editorial Reviews “Skillful and original plotting kept me enthralled until the final page of the story” Rosemary McLoughlin author of Tyringham Park “Downton’ fans, you’ll love this big house, Engrossing and imaginative” - Irish Independent “An irresistible mix of history, drama and intrigue that entertained and enthralled me in equal measure!” - Bord Gáis Energy Book Club

The Shadow Priest: Book Two


D.C. Alexander - 2017
    The barest of clues lead him on a desperate quest to hunt down the hidden ringleaders of the conspiracy and find evidence that might ultimately clear his name. As he goes along, Arkin begins to wrangle with the question of whether the group should, in the interest of the greater good of humanity, be left to its philanthropic but murderous ways.

The Last Will And Testament Of Daphné Le Marche


Kate Forster - 2016
    Eighteen year old Daphné may be from a tiny French village, but she knows she’s destined for more. Stepping off a bus into bustling Paris with a suitcase full of her home-made beauty products, she’s ready to do whatever it takes to claim her stake in the world.London, 2016. Scandalous love affairs and an iconic cosmetics brand have kept Daphné Le Marche in spotlight – but her darkest secrets have never come to light. Now, in her London penthouse, enveloped in her rich signature scent, the Grande Dame of glamour has died.But not even those closest to her could have been prepared for what came next.The Last Will and Testament of Daphné Le Marche is a sweeping story of heartbreak, scandal and the importance of keeping it in all the family…

On the Run


Joseph Flynn - 2020
    He refused to go on the Mob’s payroll. Refused to become one of organized crime’s stooges in blue. If the Mob let something like that go unchallenged, it’d be the end of them.So McGill had to go. Six feet under. Only the Mob made a serious mistake. The boss decided Charlie Hart, Dan’s best friend and the crooked police lieutenant who’d been given the task of roping Dan in, had to die, too. That was the price Charlie had to pay for failing to make Dan knuckle under.The Mob got Charlie, all right, but then Dan struck back. He killed the boss’s two sons and then the old man himself. He caught the boss just as he was about to blow town — with $3 million stuffed into two suitcases. Finders keepers, Dan thought after putting the boss down. He took the Mob’s money after all.From that moment on, a hunt began that would last four years. The mob would stalk its target throughout the United States and all the way into war-torn Europe after learning that Dan, now calling himself Charlie Hart, had joined the army. The boys in Chicago figured if they didn’t kill the bastard, the Nazis would get the job done.

City of Dark Hearts


James Conan - 2008
    With the support of a young man who is just venturing into the burgeoning trade of news photography, Emily soon finds herself in a race against time to save Anna's life and to bring her story back to New York before Pulitzer's tough deadline expires.Chicago is a place of dangerous contrasts. Among all the glitz and razzmatazz of the Fair itself and the spectacular wealth and influence of a new middle class elite, Emily comes face to face with rival ethnic groups, the sinister underworld of pornography and prostitution, as well as the ruthless meatpacking giants of the Union Stock Yard, who control the lives and destinies of so many of Chicago's immigrant poor.

Rustlers in the Sage: A Western Novella


Donald L. Robertson - 2018
    His years as a Texas rancher and lawman are behind him. His wife and son rest on a lonely hill overlooking the Llano River. Now, he rides through the rugged mountains and sagebrush covered valleys of Northern New Mexico, searching. He’s hoping for a new life, but will settle for a hot meal.

Bridge of Sighs: A Short Story of the Bubonic Plague


Laura Morelli - 2016
    But as the Black Death reaches its hand into his uncle’s workshop, young Tonino is faced with making a choice to survive. From the author of THE GONDOLA MAKER and MADE IN VENICE comes a short tale of pestilence, Venetian artisanship, and the will to live.

Murder in Hampstead: a classic whodunnit in a contemporary setting


Sabina Manea - 2021
    

The Sandman


McClelland & Stewart - 2014
    For readers of Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo.      During a cold winter night in Stockholm a man is found walking alongside a railway bridge, suffering from hypothermia and legionella. After he's rushed to the hospital, it's discovered that, according to a death certificate, the man has been dead for over seven years. He is believed to be a victim of notorious serial killer Jurek Walter, who was arrested years ago by Detective Inspector Joona Linna and sentenced to a life of total isolation in forensic psychiatric care. As Joona Linna investigates where the "dead man" has been all these years, some unexpected evidence leads to the reopening of a cold case. Danger is imminent, and someone needs to get under the skin of the serial killer--fast--as they are running out of time.

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.