Victorian Gothic

Winner of the 2014 Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller competition. Abandoned on a bank of snow as a baby, Amy is taken in at nearby Hatville Court. But the masters and servants of the grand estate prove cold and unwelcoming. Amy's only friend and ally is the sparkling young heiress Aurelia Vennaway. So when Aurelia tragically dies young, Amy is devastated. But Aurelia leaves Amy one last gift. A bundle of letters with a coded key. A treasure hunt that only Amy can follow. A life-changing discovery awaits ... if only she can unlock the secret.

When lady’s maid Marian Osley and footman Valentine Hobbs assume their positions at the cliff-top estate of Valor Rise, they already share a history. Raised together as paupers in a London workhouse, they indulged in S&M games of imaginary crimes and sublime punishment. Now they’ve been unexpectedly reunited - in subservience to the brooding Wythe Bornholdt and his frail wife, Diana. A master and mistress with their own dark secrets.

The mysterious death of a Greek-born woman sparks eerie happenings in this nightmarish detective novel where the uncanny meets with science. England, 1848. When French Inspector, Maurice Leroux, arrives at Alexandra Hall to investigate two grisly murders, he finds superstition and fear rife among the servants and the new master of the house. And what of the mysterious man who once owned this isolated Berkshire mansion? A decade ago, Aaron Nightingale returned from the Greek islands with his bride-to-be — the gifted village girl, Calista. Now husband and wife lie dead and two other ...

Falling in love was never part of the bargain. Lady Sofia Cloverfield’s family has disintegrated, and she finds herself on the streets to make her own way with only a few guineas and her wits with which to rely on to survive. Sofia uses her common sense and prays she can figure out how to turn her fate around. Exeter Trenton, the Devil Duke, is wealthy, handsome, and lonely. His position demands he take a wife, but he finds none to his liking. Then, quite by accident, his luck changes when his horses nearly trample a waif he mistakes for a child. He allows her to leave with his ...

1851, Angel Meadow Asylum. Dr. Rutherford, principal physician to the insane, is found dead, his head bashed in, his ears cut off, his lips and eyes stitched closed. The police direct their attention towards Angel Meadow's inmates, but to Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain the crime is an act of calculated retribution, rather than of madness. To discover the truth Jem and Will must pursue the story through the darkest corners of the city.

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 ...

The Ripper Lives: Into the Black (4/10) A hidden truth. A dangerous conspiracy. A detective who refuses to surrender to the dark. The hunt for Jack the Ripper is far from over. As London reels from fear and suspicion, Inspector Frederick Abberline uncovers a chilling lead—a witness long thought lost to madness. His testimony threatens to unravel everything, exposing secrets that powerful men will kill to keep buried. From the gaslit corridors of wealth to the shadowed alleys of Whitechapel, Abberline follows a deadly trail of deception. But the deeper he goes, the more the darkness ...

England, 1925. Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six-year-old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly remarried to a war-traumatised husband and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex where she is to photograph the contents of the house for auction. She learns Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, and that the lady of the house has asked those who gathered back then to come together once more to re-create the evening.

The narrator - the old nurse of the title - is an old family retainer who has worked in the service of the same family for three generations. She tells the young children about a dark incident that she experienced in the company of the children’s mother, when she was a young woman and visiting her mother’s ancestral home.

In the swirling London fog, Adele Putnam witnessed a very real murder-but when the killer and his victim later vanished, she began to doubt her senses. Her brother Michael told her to forget the incident and to accompany him to Brittany, where he intended to study the ancient monoliths of Carnac, similar to Stonehenge. Adele was happy to go. Not only would she aid Michael in writing his book, but she could visit her girlhood friend Lysette, who had married the Count de Kerceval. But to her horror, she found that Lysette was dead, and the handsome grieving husband was none other than the man...

1887, the Cornwall coast. For years, rumors have flown through the village of Suttonsbury about Ashthorne Hall—that its occupants hoard pirate treasure, that a ghost walks its halls—but botanist Hyacinth Bell only cares about the estate’s extensive one-of-a-kind orchid collection. As an independent woman, she is eager to focus on her career, even if it means waiting to pursue a romantic relationship. After all, love—like an orchid—must be nurtured and tended before it can bloom. What she doesn’t expect is to be swept away by Lucas Harding, the manor’s caretaker, upon their first meeting.

A coming-of-age twisted fairy tale retelling with a lesbian enemies-to-lovers storyline. And a bisexual love triangle, too! Dorothy (of Oz) and Alice (of Wonderland) used to be in a relationship. Alice had thought their dysfunctional relationship was over, but sometimes the past has a way of coming back to haunt you. In this case, that way is a tornado Dorothy summons to snatch Alice from the Outside World and bring her back to Munchkinland. Alice has absolutely no intention of getting back together. You see, Dorothy has changed…into a pervert, a sadistic chief of the munchkin tribes, and...

When one man's scheme to create the Greatest Freak Show on Earth leads to an insane obsession that can only end in devastating tragedy. The ghoulish proprietor of a Victorian arcade specifically designed to showcase the myriad of freaks, outcasts, and oddities that abound in old London town is a man driven by his own dark desires. Rodney Thompson is an emotionless, sadistic person who craves glory above all else - at least until the beautiful Violet wafts into his world. From the very day when Violet first takes a dainty step inside the arcade, Rodney is determined to make her his own. A ...

A Trap of Terror... When Beatrice Perrine's father suddenly dies leaving her with little money, she has no choice but to become companion to Lady Ione Carlisle. But as Beatrice begins her duties at Carlisle Manor, she realizes that she has been hired to be more than just a companion . . . and it is with dread that she learns from the handsome Dunstan that the old house is known as "Folly Hall," built to the specifications of a madman. Beatrice soon discovers why, for she herself hears the strange sound of footsteps in the dark of night that threaten Lady Ione's sanity, and she sees the wild...

Elizabeth Canham accepts a position at Burndale Academy, an isolated girl's school where she meets mysterious widower Griffin Fairfax, a man dogged by dark rumors who both frightens and fascinates her. Soon, a woman is found dead in the nearby woods - the victim of a brutal murder...a murder that bears terrifying similarity to others. Then Beth discovers all the victims were intimately connected to Griffin. Beth’s heart tells her Griffin cannot be the charming, seductive killer stalking the night, stealing women’s hearts...and lives.

THERE’S A GHOST IN HER BATHTUB AND A WEREWOLF IN HER GARDEN! When lovely Viveca Stanhope fled a scandalous past in Old San Francisco to make a new life for herself in Savannah, little did she know she’d just purchased the most “haunted” house in the entire South! From the ghostly specters prowling the square to the ax woman stalking her yard, “Hangman’s House” is indeed a fright. And Viveca’s “Nightmare on Lost Lane” comes complete with a half-crazed housekeeper, a mysterious houseboy with a fetish for knife-throwing and numerous other strange bedfellows. Still, Viveca ...

“I can never go back to Terrenia,” Maxine said in a low voice. “If someone finds out…” “… that you have unusual abilities?” “That I’m a freak – yes, a freak – I will be facing worse than deportation.” Maxine Everett's hidden powers place her in danger under the dictatorial government of Terrenia. The ruling regime worships the Earth element and labels people with an affinity to other elements as unstable and treacherous. When Maxine receives an order of relocation to Demergia, a continent of dreary wilderness on the edge of the world, her prospects seem bleak. She ...

In the foreboding halls of Worthington Manor, eighteen-year-old Briar has always known she was different. Raised by a stern housekeeper and a reclusive uncle, her only friend the housekeeper's daughter, Briar's sheltered life is shattered when she stumbles upon a chilling secret. Every week, a mysterious coach leaves the manor at midnight. But where does it go? And what sinister purpose does it serve? As Briar delves deeper into her family's shadowy past, she uncovers a legacy of dark rituals and otherworldly power. With each revelation, the line between reality and the supernatural blurs, ...

Mary hoping to leave the hardships and loneliness of her past behind embarks on a new life running a bar in a remote Australian town. The occupants are all driven by fear, striving to survive both mentally and physically in the harsh environment. She dreams of returning to England but that would require a small fortune. After a period of success, the news of a gold strike leaves the town and farms deserted except for old women and teetotallers. Mary’s business is in danger of collapse and what’s worse her son William has disappeared also overcome with gold fever.

Maisie Thomas spends every summer at Grange House, a hotel on the coast of Maine ruled by the elegant Miss Grange. In 1896, when Maisie turns 17, her visit marks a turning point. On the morning after her arrival, local fishermen make a gruesome discovery: drowned lovers, found clasped in each other's arms. It's only the first in a series of events that casts a shadow over Maisie's summer. As she considers the attentions of two very different young men, Maisie also falls under the gaze of Miss Grange, who begins to tell her disturbing stories of her past.