Historical Detective

An eclectic mix of eight stories drawn from the annals of the MX Series of New Sherlock Holmes stories and the many Holmes anthologies of Belanger Books, all from the pen of emerging pastiche author Stephen Herczeg.

Hannah James thought she was amazingly fortunate to land a job as a maid in the house of one of the most wealthy, powerful men in the state, until she witnesses him have a man killed. Knowing she is likely next to die, she flees. With little money and hope for suitable employment she jump at the chance to go to Colorado as a waitress at a train-line restaurant. Unfortunately, her former employer has a long reach. Sheriff Cal Steadman is mighty proud of his town and the place he’s made for himself in it. He thought his life was pretty complete until Miss Hannah James arrived and he knew he...

Cabballero. Patriot. Vigilante. Follow the swashbuckling adventures of Zorro, as he metes out his own brand of justice against the tyrannical opressors of young California. This charismatic reading is sure to please young and old alike!

Northumberland, 1809: A beautiful young heiress disappears from her locked bedchamber at Linn Hagh. The local constables are baffled and the townsfolk cry "witchcraft". The heiress' uncle summons help from Detective Lavender and his assistant, Constable Woods, who face one of their most challenging cases.

In the winter of 1906, Lady Emily and husband Colin are invited to the opulent home of Baroness Ursula von Duchtel in the Bavarian alps. Outside is a mountainous winter wonderland with a view of Mad King Ludwig’s fairy tale castle. Inside, the villa hosts a magnificent but eclectic art collection—as well as an equally eclectic collection of fellow guests, among them a musician, an art dealer, a coquette from the demi-monde, and Kaspar, the Baroness’ boorish son-in-law, whom, it begins to appear, someone wants dead.

From seat number nine, Hercule Poirot is almost ideally placed to observe his fellow air travelers on this short flight from Paris to London. Over to his right sits a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite. Ahead, in seat number 13, is the Countess of Horbury, horribly addicted to cocaine and not doing too good a job of concealing it. Across the gangway in seat number eight, a writer of detective fiction is being troubled by an aggressive wasp. Yes, Poirot is almost ideally placed to take it all in.

Don't blink A gripping thrill ride begins when Oklahoma private investigator Buck McDivit witnesses a murder and finds himself possessing an ancient artifact with mystical powers. The investigation leads him to the Spiro Mounds Archeological Museum, where he meets the gorgeous Chief Archeologist Thorn Little Deer and discovers someone recently stole the artifact he now possesses—the priceless Black Cup of Oklahoma. A deadly ex-Army Ranger with the nickname Blade may be responsible for both the theft and the murder. As Buck sets out to catch the thief, he joins a cryptid expedition to the ...

When Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn are hired to find a girl from the upper classes who has gone missing in the East End, they assume her kidnapping is the work of white slavers. But when they discover five girls have been murdered in Bethnal Green, taunting letters begin to arrive in Craig's Court from a killer calling himself Mr. Miacca. Barker fears that Miacca might be part of the Hellfire Club, a group of powerful, hedonistic aristocrats performing satanic rituals.

Monsters create monsters; Frank kept telling himself. Since his father was killed by a serial killer when he was only fourteen, Frank was on the path of becoming a monster himself. Then, on Easter Sunday of 2019, less than two years after The Schuylkiller wreaked havoc on the City of Philadelphia, a new killer reared his head and began his own reign of terror. When Frank settles into a quiet life with his former partner, Penny, and their infant daughter, he is pulled out of retirement and must go it alone if he’s to save his family and his soul. What Frank discovers next will have him ...

In this sci-fi thriller short story, L.A.'s hard-boiled, World War II-era private detective Geno Richter faces down a new paranormal Nazi enemy, one that he must stop before it can deal a deadly blow to the American war effort. After narrowly surviving a fight with a vicious Nazi thug, Geno Richter soon learns he's on the trail of a dangerous, racist-inspired assassination plot. But then the mystery deepens as Richter encounters a Nazi agent whose evil talents are unlike anything he has ever seen or imagined. In addition to his tough, no-nonsense approach, Richter has a few tricks of his ...

In London, 1946, the Right Sort Marriage Bureau is getting on its feet and expanding. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are making a go of it. That is until Lord Bainbridge—the widowed Gwen’s father-in-law and legal guardian—returns from a business trip to Africa and threatens to undo everything important to her, even sending her six-year-old son away to a boarding school. But there’s more going on than that.

In 1870s London, Scotland Yard’s famous Detective Department is still in its infancy. Surrounded on all sides by critics and detractors, it has yet to earn its reputation. Lord Riley Rochester, younger son of a marquess, works as one of its first detective inspectors—but his uniformed colleagues view him with suspicion and his immediate superior resents all he stands for. With his career choice frowned upon by his own social class, Riley has his work cut out proving himself. Attacked on all sides, Riley’s only respite comes in the form of attractive widow, Amelia Cosgrove, and his ...

"Murder Mountain" takes readers on a journey to the deadly and beautiful landscape of 1886 New Mexico, where troubles are always looming. Oliver Redcastle, a sharpshooter and ex-Pinkerton detective, seeks a quiet life on a sheep ranch with a mountain view, hoping to leave his violent past behind and provide a healthy environment for his asthmatic daughter. However, his fickle lady love, Marietta Dumont, joins him, and their problems begin. As the winter turns brutal, and a vicious viscount and two kidnapped twins enter the picture, Marietta's discontent grows, and she longs for the ...

Sixteen-year-old Alice is spending the summer in Paris, but she isn't there for pastries and walks along the Seine. When her grandmother passed away two months ago, she left Alice an apartment in France that no one knew existed. An apartment that has been locked for more than 70 years. Alice is determined to find out why the apartment was abandoned and why her grandmother never once mentioned the family she left behind when she moved to America after World War II. With the help of Paul, a charming Parisian student, she sets out to uncover the truth.

LOS ANGELES, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically everyone, especially the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu when they discover a body one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills home where she lived after her fame skyrocketed. The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the police don’t seem motivated to investigate.

The Red Death Murders transforms Edgar Allan Poe’s classic story ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ into a fast-paced novel of detection with clues provided openly in the tradition of Agatha Christie, ingenious explanations worthy of John Dickson Carr, and a complex plot to delight fans of Seishi Yokomizo. A deadly plague The pestilence known as the Red Death had devastated Prince Prospero’s lands, and so he retired to his isolated castle with several hundred friends to outwait the blight in safety. Here, they distracted themselves from the horror outside the walls with decadent revelry ...

What happened to Catherine’s sister? TJ O’Connell flew into Kansas City to win aerial races. Instead, he runs into a corrupt political machine and the mob as he risks his life to solve the mystery of the missing girls As the Great Depression grips America, something more sinister grips Kansas City. The political machine controlling the city is supported by the mob and funded by graft, corruption, and vice. Ace pilot TJ O’Connell becomes embroiled in a gripping mystery that propels readers into a world where determination, courage, and violence may be the only path to justice. Prepare ...

As Police Superintendent Thomas Pitt investigates the leak in the Colonial Office, he quietly looks into the tragic death of his childhood mentor, Sir Arthur Desmond. Pitt believes he was murdered and that the crime is connected with the treachery in the government. He makes little progress...until a second murder reverberates through London.

A far-from-warm welcome greets Hercule Poirot as he arrives for lunch at Lucy Angkatell's country house. A man lies dying by the swimming pool, his blood dripping into the water. His wife stands over him, holding a revolver. As Poirot investigates, he begins to realize that beneath the respectable surface lies a tangle of family secrets and everyone becomes a suspect.

In pre-war London, Olivia Denis wins a plum assignment from her newspaper when she meets the glamorous French fashion designer, Mimi Mareau. Mimi has it all - wealth, talent, acclaim, and a British duke for a lover. But on her first visit to Mimi's new Mayfair house of haute couture, Olivia finds something else - the body of an unknown man. Mimi and her three French assistants say they don't know the man, but is that true? As Olivia spends time around the salon, she learns at least one of the women knew the dead man and all four women are lying.