Victorian English Mystery

A WINNER IN DRAGONBLADE PUBLISHING'S 2021, THE WRITE STUFF COMPETITION Daphne Randall is a woman in disgrace and nothing short of a miracle can fix it. Six years ago, Daphne's divorce left her virtually penniless and entombed on a derelict estate. An inheritance frees her to pursue dreams of composing music and clearing her name from the stigma of adultery. When the scandal sheets reveal Daphne as the resident composer for the Arcadian music hall, she draws the ire of people who want her gone from London – including her former husband, Adam Randall, the Earl of Wakefield. Daphne is ...

Sebastian Kennett is a self-made man-passionate, adventurous, and powerful; a master trader and international shipper; a man who'll risk everything for a profit. Jess Whitby grew up on the mean streets of the East End. Her father's a fine rogue and sometime smuggler. His canny trading and her brilliant management have built them a fortune. Then one of Sebastian's ships goes down and a traitor is to blame. All the Whitbys' money won't protect Jess's father from an accusation of treason.

Emma Cadbury had been an innocent, a whore, a charity worker, and a surgeon. She chose a life without love until she saved a dying soldier in a charity ward. Brandon Rohan had lost himself to drugs and degradation, wanting to die, and only one person could save him. But she’d disappeared. Now they’ve come together again, but he doesn’t remember, and she doesn’t want to. But someone is trying to kill her, and Brandon is the one man who can save her.

Miss Julia Hawkins and Lord Stephen Paxton must learn to work together to solve a mystery. Miss Julia Hawkins is delighted to be back in London and amongst her friends, and she longs for some excitement. An evening ball at Lord Atherton’s newly purchased townhouse throws her headlong into a deep and dark mystery. Lord Atherton is brutally attacked, rumors of a curse are brought to life once more and Julia finds herself drawn into the puzzle of uncovering the truth. Lord Stephen Paxton never expected to be caught up in such a whirlwind. With his brother close to death, he clings to Miss ...

The Ripper Lives: To Catch a Killer (1/10) A city haunted by fear. A case buried in secrecy. A detective who refuses to let the past die. In the gaslit streets of Whitechapel, terror still lingers. Months have passed since the brutal murders that gripped London, yet the killer remains a phantom—unseen, unnamed, unstoppable. As whispers of conspiracy spread and trust in Scotland Yard crumbles, Inspector Frederick Abberline is left with more questions than answers. When the government issues a chilling directive—close the case publicly, but continue the hunt in absolute secrecy—...

The Ripper Lives: Secrets and Lies (3/10) A killer in the shadows. A city built on deception. A detective who trusts no one. London is a city of secrets—some buried in filth, others hidden behind wealth and power. Inspector Frederick Abberline has spent months chasing a ghost, a murderer whose reign of terror should have ended. But as another woman turns up dead, it’s clear the Ripper is not finished. Abberline and Assistant Chief Constable Melville Macnaghten follow the trail to an opulent mansion in Mayfair, where the rich and powerful play their own dangerous games. Their so-called ...

More dastardly than Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel; more vile than the dense fog of a London Particular, an arch-fiend prowls the Victorian city streets. Nobody is safe from his experiments, whether peer or prostitute, preacher or policeman in this in this shocking tale of murder. Will Inspector Albert Sutton, aided by his wife Nell and her cat, be able to unmask and apprehend the heartless serial killer, or will they become the next novelty specimens of the Death Collector? In this riveting melodrama, Toni Mount explores the darker side of Victorian London, creating a gripping thriller ...

She keeps house for Inspector Witherspoon...and keeps him on his toes. Everyone's awed by his Scotland Yard successes - but they don't know about his secret weapon. No matter how messy the murder or how dirty the deed, Mrs. Jeffries's polished detection skills are up to the task...proving that behind every great man there's a woman - and that a crimesolver's work is never done. When the general office manager of Sutcliffe Manufacturing is murdered, no one is really surprised. Ronald Dearman was anything but a dear man. The tyrannical bully had more than enough enemies to go around.

On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed. After the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

Oliver Redcastle’s enemies are out for blood. Appease them, foil them, or do a disappearing act? Before he can find a way to elude his lethal adversaries, he must save his daughter from a merciless scam artist, and see her through a crisis. There’s more! Can he outshoot a persistent Civil War opponent, ferret out the cause of a brutal accident, and deal with a determined woman who has marriage on her mind? Oliver must sort out all these roadblocks before he can find his way to the peaceful life he craves. Will he? Read this thrilling Redcastle adventure and find out!

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 ...

Nobody comes to a brothel seeking a true story. But you will want to learn the truth about Aimée Bonnard, the best-paid woman in Galveston. Formerly known as Yvonne LaCroix, Aimée arrives on the Island in the summer of 1898. She’s looking for work in a high-end brothel, but she is also outrunning the consequences of a deadly night in New Orleans–a night in which a rival prostitute lost her life. Mistress of deception, Aimée charms and entices her way into an existence of extravagance and adventure in one of the most exclusive brothels of Galveston.

A former smuggler and thief, Ariq--better known as the Kraken King--doesn't know what to make of the clever, mysterious woman he rescues from an airship besieged by marauders. Unsure if she's a spy or a pawn in someone else's game, Ariq isn't about to let her out of his sight until he finds out.

When young widow, Sybil St. Laurent, rents Primrose Cottage from the handsome Viscount Charles Smithson, she soon discovers that all is not as it seems in the idyllic village of Amberton. Vicious tongues whisper that Lord Smithson's interest in her might be less than honorable and it soon becomes apparent that the village is harboring a murderer. Will Sybil find love or lose her life while those who know the truth remain. . .Silent as the Grave.

Train enthusiast Francis Humphreys took his last breath while relatives and neighbors visited downstairs. But if everyone was downstairs, who could have stolen into Uncle Francis's study, killed him, and escaped? Mrs. Jeffries will have to lend her downstairs common sense to this upstairs murder mystery.

The Mt. Vernon Affairby Harper Stanwick, Sr. is a historical romance mystery set in New York during the 1890s. Embark on a journey of love, betrayal, and mystery in this captivating tale that weaves together the fates of three intriguing characters. When the stunning Teresa Drysdale returns from her European tour, she catches the eye of Howard Rutherford, the charming son of a New York millionaire. Their flirtation is cut short as Howard's interests shift upon meeting the beautiful and carefree Paola Flanders, also known as "Fly-away Pay." Paola's dark family history, linked to the ominous ...

A thrilling mix of espionage, danger, and the supernatural, The Vampire Spy box set follows Nora Kelly as she trades the backstreets of London for the shadowy world of spies. Book 1: The Vampire Spy When an English gentleman offers Nora Kelly a new life, she soon discovers her work involves more than intelligence gathering; after all, this elite team of spies also happen to be vampires. Once a woman of the night, now an agent of the crown, Nora joins Lord Alfred Covington’s elite team of vampires spies sworn to protect the Realm. Her first mission? Hunt down a ruthless adversary ...

Annabelle is struggling to overcome a personal tragedy without losing the man she loves. Suddenly, she finds herself locked in a Victorian country home, nannying royal children in a strange time and place. How did she get here? Why is she embroiled in the abdication crisis of 1936 when King Edward VIII gave up the throne for Wallis Simpson? Is she meant to influence the future of the British monarchy? More importantly, how can she unlock the key back to the modern life she desperately misses? If The Time Traveler’s Wife were to meet Downton Abbey, you’d find The Royal Key. Travel back ...

Decipher. Deduce. Deliver. Sherlock Holmes, the most cerebral of detectives, finds his deductive powers put to the test in this intriguing collection of cases. Each adventure presents a web of secrets, clues, and deceptions. Only his highly honed observational skills lead him to the truth. In a locked-room murder, did the victim succumb to “The Curse of Kisin?” And how had the daughter of Squire Northridge disappeared from her own locked bedroom? Can Holmes, an ocean away, determine if a missing treasure hunter ran off with Jean Lafitte’s fabled buried plunder? The disappearance of a ...

Ghost stories date back centuries, but those written in the Victorian era have a unique atmosphere and dark beauty. Michael Sims, whose previous Victorian collections Dracula’s Guest (vampires) and The Dead Witness (detectives) have been widely praised, has gathered twelve of the best stories about humanity’s oldest supernatural obsession. The Phantom Coach includes tales by a surprising and often legendary cast, including Charles Dickens, Margaret Oliphant, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as lost gems by forgotten masters such as Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and W. F. Harvey. Amelia B. Edwards’s chilling story gives the collection its title, while Ambrose Bierce ("The Moonlit Road"), Elizabeth Gaskell ("The Old Nurse’s Story"), and W. W. Jacobs ("The Monkey’s Paw") will turn you white as a sheet. With a skillful introduction to the genre and notes on each story by Sims, The Phantom Coach is a spectacular collection of ghostly Victorian thrills.