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 ...

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 ...

In Ruler of the Night, listeners feel they're actually on the harrowing fogbound streets of 1855 London as the brilliant opium-eater Thomas De Quincey and his irrepressible daughter, Emily, confront their most ruthless adversary. The stakes couldn't be greater: both the heart of Victorian society and De Quincey's tormented soul.

This short story in the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series features one of the most beloved characters in the series, as well as giving the listener a tour of the boardinghouse itself. Chronologically, this story come soon after the events in Scholarly Pursuits, so if you don't like spoilers, you might want to wait to listen to it until you have finished that book.

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 ...

Germany is rattling its war machine at Britain. Sherlock Holmes and Watson are made special agents to stop the war machine from destroying Britain from within. A cult is rising to power in Germany. ..The Verboten Party. It is led by forces that would put terror into the hearts of people if they knew who was behind the power of the cult. And it's not Hitler, a dark, but overly ambitious soul. No, it's a nation hidden from view beneath our world. A nation of cruel giants!

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!

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.

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 ...

Lord Hector Guthrie has a troubled past. A past that forced him to leave London, to hide his disgrace from everyone but himself. Finally, years later, he has returned, only to find himself saddled with a friend’s ward, promising to find her a suitable match. Determined to keep his past a secret, he tries to push his growing feelings for her aside. Miss Sophia Newton is perturbed by her sudden change in circumstances but soon finds Lord Guthrie to be more than amiable. However, one thing she did not expect is to find herself desperate for Lord Guthrie’s heart, battling against her sudden...

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.

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 ...

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 ...

December 1864. As a cold winter wind scours the Worcestershire countryside, an excursion train comes through a tunnel in the Malvern Hills, only to be confronted by a blockage on the line ahead. The driver manages to slow the train down so that the impact is minimised, but the passengers are alarmed. The first person to alight is Cyril Hubbleday, the man in charge of the excursion. He walks to the front of the locomotive—and, as he is talking to the driver, fireman and guard, he is shot dead by a sniper.

Victorian England is a country of sharp divides between rich and poor, but James Lionel Falconer, who spends his days working at his father’s market stall, is determined to become a merchant prince. James quickly rises through the ranks, proving himself both hardworking and trustworthy and catching the eye of Henry Malvern, head of the most prestigious shipping company in London. But when threats against his reputation - and his life - begin to emerge, James will have to prove he truly is the master of his fate.

Dorothea Wilcox is employed as governess for the Earl of Cumberwell's six-year-old daughter. But when the earl first sees Dorothea, her sylph-like winsomeness convinces him that she has come to disrupt the tranquility of his life. Her innocent blue eyes hide a deep secret. Not only do the earl and Dorothea need to overcome the social difficulties of love between the classes; they also need to find out if their love is strong enough to weather the ravages of the past. Publisher’s Note: This steamy historical romance contains elements of power exchange.

The Ripper Lives: Psycho (5/10) A city in chaos. A killer in the shadows. A detective on the brink. London is drowning in fear, but Inspector Frederick Abberline refuses to let the darkness consume him. With each step deeper into the Ripper’s twisted world, he faces a truth more terrifying than murder—insanity is contagious, and no one is immune. When a routine investigation leads Abberline to a house of horrors, he finds himself entangled in the mind of a killer who defies all expectations. The crime scene is meticulous. The body—unnatural. The suspect—a man whose quiet rage has ...

Clayton Barbour, the narrator, is a protected bourgeois son just weak enough to allow himself to be overwhelmed by a sly, dissembling force of evil, just strong enough to be constantly tormented by his weakness. Invited to a séance by a casual acquaintance, Moore, who sees in him a psychic force, he becomes the inadvertent victim of Moore's wife's contact with a channeled malignant force.