Historical Detective

On a tiny island off Paradiso, Florida, in 1970, neighbors gather to toast two new arrivals: shy Catherine and her taciturn husband, Dr. Frank Overbrook, who is taking over an old friend’s medical practice. It’s an intimate welcoming for the newlyweds, who have abandoned city life for swaying palms and an ocean breeze. But the morning after is anything but peaceful when Frank is found dead on the beach.

When Mayor Cermak’s “Hoodlum Squad” brings Heller along on a raid with no instructions but to keep his mouth shut and his gun handy, he becomes an unwitting, unwilling part of a hit on Al Capone’s successor, Frank Nitti. As a result, Heller quits the force to become a private eye. His first job: head off a nation-shaking political assassination in Miami Beach. With the Chicago World’s Fair as a backdrop, Heller encounters a ragtag array of crooks and clients, including Al Capone, George Raft, “Dutch” Reagan, and FDR himself.

Spring, 1909, and Lady Hardcastle, amateur sleuth and all-round eccentric, is enjoying a well-deserved rest. But a week after a trip to the cattle market, Spencer Caradine, a local farmer, turns up dead in the pub, face-down in his beef and mushroom pie. Once again, it is up to Lady Hardcastle and her maid, Florence, to solve the case. Armed with wit and whimsy, not to mention Florence’s mean right hook, the pair set out to discover what really happened and why. Was it poison or just ill luck?

A wealthy debutante dodges an arranged marriage by becoming a Pinkerton agent, only to find out her first assignment will involve working undercover with the man she was supposed to marry. All her life, Bernadette Chambers has been following orders about how to dress, what to say, and who to say it to. However, she draws the line at marrying a man she’s never met, even though it means she’ll be disowned. Desperate for both money and adventure, she signs on as a Pinkerton agent, never dreaming her new partner will be the very man she was trying to avoid. Park Harrington is a shipping ...

The Count of Monte Cristo as Retold by Sherlock Holmes begins with a condensed retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, related through the voice of Sherlock Holmes. Subsequent sequels include exhilarating new adventures, characters, and ideas, carrying the reader through this book I, leading to book II and with book III promising an ever-expanding new series based on the classic. The author consulted the original French as well as the oldest English translations of The Count of Monte Cristo, yet the style of the retelling, in the distinctive voice of Sherlock Holmes, ...

Peter Marlin's wife is found strangled and he becomes the prime suspect. She'd only just returned from an unexplained absence of several months. And during that time, Peter had found a new lover. Everything points to the husband but there's no real proof. Inspector John Crow is called in to help the local police. But his new colleagues aren't keen on an outsider. And Crow must solve the case before anyone else dies.

The Dance of Death "Murder Most British" Set in 1936, amidst a glittering Charity Ball held in the newly opened plush Regency-By-The-Sea Hotel, a beautiful couple perform a mesmerizing exhibition dance. Later that night, gunshots are heard and Sybil Thornton the rising star of the West End is found critically wounded. The astute and resourceful Pauline Frobisher, her enigmatic Aunt Angela, and the formidable Lady B are soon thrown into an investigation like none other. Together with Josh Farland and Inspector Grosvenor, they delve into a world of hidden motives and dark secrets, where each ...

The first book in a brand new historical mystery series. "Melanie Jackson is a talent to watch." --WritersWrite.com Armistice Day 1918: Christmas is a peaceful time in Quiet Corner -- except at Mayhem Mansion. There is no peace in Kenneth Mayhew's ancestral manse with a restless ghost playing tricks on the family. Christmas guests will be arriving soon and Kenneth's Aunt Agartha has assigned him the task of laying their ghost to rest before the Yuletide revels. If you are a fan of P. G. Wodehouse or Dorothy Sayers you are going to love this holiday comedy romp. About the Author Melanie has ...

Followers of an ancient cult threaten to overthrow the Italian government and destroy the Church. Rome is in chaos. Earthquakes shake the city. The pope is in a coma. And a Vatican scholar has been found dead in the Tiber. Detective Marco Leone is about to take a sabbatical when his estranged friend—charged with organizing the Vatican’s secret archives—is murdered. Leone stays to investigate, but the killing is just the first in a series of ritual assassinations and attacks on specific churches—all of which were built over ancient chapels of the Roman god Mithras. Leone’s research...

When mystery writer Marius Quin and his sleuthing partner Lady Bella Montague are hired by a secretive stranger to find a missing civil servant, they immediately set to work. Ernest Castleton was taken at gunpoint days earlier, but with the help of his distraught fiancée, Marius and Bella uncover a vital clue. Ernest hid a cryptic letter in the British Museum, and it sends the intrepid duo on a trail that stretches from the center of London all the way to the English coast.

You can die and you can lose your soul. They aren't the same. The pandemic is over, Jazz Fest pending in New Orleans, and French Quarter private detective Wyatt Thomas has a new client. Dita Lika, the headliner of this year's Jazz Fest is having a recurrent nightmare related to New Orleans. Will Wyatt solve the mystery of her Satan-related nightmare, or will the Prince of Darkness prevail, claim their souls and drag them both to hell? Take an intoxicating ride with Wyatt Thomas, the French Quarter's favorite private investigator, and voodoo mambo Mama Mulate as they chase the answers on an ...

A Riviera crime novel the way you want it to be! The newly married Kit Aston and Mary are back in their latest crime caper that takes you from a stag weekend in Scotland to the set of Alfred Hitchcock’s latest film and onto the gaming tables of Monte Carlo. When Kit and Mary join Agatha in Monte Carlo, they are shocked to discover that Prince Albert I has asked her to investigate unusual gambling activities in the casino. This becomes a murder investigation when Kit’s Uncle Alastair is accused of being a killer. The finger of blame points towards the mysterious Bluebeard Club. Can Kit ...

London, 1884. Sidney Grice is restless, having filed his latest case under S, for 'still to be solved', to await further inspiration. His ward, March Middleton, remains determined to uncover the truth. Geraldine Hockaday was outraged on the murky streets of Limehouse. Yet her attacker is still on the loose. But then a chance encounter brings a new victim to light, and it seems clear March and Grice are on the trail of a serial offender.

When a routine flight takes an unexpected turn, TJ O'Connell finds himself plunged into a perilous game of corrupt politicians, and the ominous shadows cast by the Chicago mob. In the midst of economic hardship, TJ takes on what seems like a straightforward job—flying someone to the state capital for a quick $100. Little does he know, this seemingly innocent task will propel him into a treacherous web of mystery involving murder and ruthless mobsters. As the police struggle to untangle the threads of guilt and innocence, TJ is left to navigate the dangerous labyrinth alone. With each ...

When Edith responds to an advertisement to become a junior detective for a small detective agency in New York City, she hardly expects to land the job. Surprised and anxious to leave her divorced father and the big city behind to explore the rest of the world, she secretly harbors one small glimmer of hope the owner of the agency can also find her estranged mother while he sends her on a crazy assignment to work undercover as a switchboard operator in Alaska. Tasked with finding a man who appears to be on the run from his family and friends for reasons unknown, Edith is drawn to the ...

After her father dies, March Middleton has to move to London to live with her guardian, Sidney Grice, the country's most famous private detective. It is 1882, and London is at its murkiest yet most vibrant, wealthiest yet most poverty-stricken. No sooner does March arrive than a case presents itself: A young woman has been brutally murdered, and her husband is the only suspect.

England, 1914. Joanna Blalock's keen mind and incredible insight lead her to become a highly skilled nurse, one of the few professions that allow her to use her finely tuned brain. But when she and her 10-year-old son witness a man fall to his death, apparently by suicide, they are visited by the elderly Dr. John Watson and his charming, handsome son, Dr. John Watson Jr. Impressed by her forensic skills, they invite her to become the third member of their investigative team.

The Phantom is back... It's 1920 and a series of daring diamond robberies take place in London's fashionable West End by a thief who leaves a calling card. Kit Aston investigates, and this time he's brought his aunt... What seems a straightforward case spirals out of control as London gangland's 'Elephant Boys' become involved. Can Kit, his fiancee Mary, Aunt Agatha and a film-making chauffeur called Alfred succeed where Scotland Yard have failed? 'The Phantom' is a fast-paced whodunnit, sparkling with romance and humour. The Kit Aston mysteries mix real life historical characters and ...

A fake bride, a groom who’s not the man he claims to be, and their highly inconvenient spark of attraction… Lorelai Woods is convinced she's engaged to the perfect man, until she discovers he’s part of a cattle rustling gang trying to steal her blind. In a desperate bid to regain control of her family’s ranch, she applies for a job as a Pinkerton agent. Unfortunately, they need her to serve undercover as the fake bride of a fellow agent for a few weeks before launching an investigation into her family’s troubles. John Langston was pressed into sailing on a pirate ship when he was ...

A condemned and wretched woman who had long given up any hope of ever being free again. The evidence that had convicted Annie Crockett of brutally murdering her husband had been overwhelming, although the body was never found, until now. After serving ten hard years in a prison hellhole the wretched woman was offered salvation by Scotland Yard’s most accomplished detective, Chief Inspector Richard Rayner, who was the first to hold doubts about her conviction. But to prove the lady’s innocence, it was necessary to find the real killer and that wasn’t going to be easy. Annie Crockett ...