Victorian Suspense

Ledbury, December 1892. Detective Inspector Ravenscroft looks forward to spending a quiet Christmas with his family. Then he receives news that an old friend stands accused of a brutal murder. Ravenscroft and Detective Sergeant Crabb travel to the old Worcestershire market town of Bromsgrove to investigate. But events soon take a deadly dramatic turn. As the bad weather closes in on the two detectives, Ravenscroft begins to wonder whether they will make it home for Christmas.

On a quest to distract her lifelong friend Jeremy from his recent heartbreak, Lady Emily organizes a holiday in Greece. As a lover of all things Greek, she quickly finds herself occupied with tours of ancient ruins, lively debates with Margaret, a devoted Latinist, and slightly more scandalous endeavors with her dashing husband, Colin Hargreaves. But the pleasantries are brought to an abrupt halt when a man long believed dead greets the party at their island villa. Lord Philip Ashton, Colin's childhood best friend and Emily's first husband, has returned.

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.

Nicola Claire's captivating new Gothic romance series continues with a dark and sinister London City at the end of the nineteenth century - brightened by a fearless and talented heroine and a loyal and secretive police inspector... Determined doctor? Interfering busybody? Fearless fighter? The London of Anna Cassidy’s memories is not the London she faces today. Having proved her worth as a physician, Dr Cassidy finds herself pitted against the stolid attitude of a male-dominated society. But it's not only society she has to contend with. A criminal mastermind has set themselves up in ...

With London's streets deserted, a young flower girl is murdered. But why was she out so late on the foggiest night of the year? Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard has nowhere to even begin looking for a suspect. However, Mrs. Jeffries, his housekeeper, is even more accomplished at detection than she is at household management. A policeman's widow herself, her quick wits allow her to nudge the inspector in the right direction to solve the mystery.

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.

Phoebe Atkinson is what society might call unconventional. Instead of marrying well like other women born to wealth, she chose to be a schoolteacher. Not to mention she lives in a leaky flat in an unfashionable part of town rather than stay in her parents’ mansion. But when her most promising pupil goes missing she has only one option: beg her sister’s best friend, the powerful Duke of Ellis, for help.

London, 1851. With the opening of the Great Exhibition at hand, interest in mounting in the engineering triumphs of the railways, but not everyone feels like celebrating. In an audacious attack, the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed and derailed, causing many casualties. Planned with military precision, this crime proves a challenge to Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck who fights to untangle a web of murder, blackmail and destruction.

Leo has no reason to think Bryony could ever forgive him for the way he treated her, but he won't rest until he's delivered an urgent message from her sister - and fulfilled his duty by escorting her safely back to England. But as they risk their lives for each other on the journey home, will the biggest danger be the treacherous war around them - or their rekindling passion?

Lady Marion is most displeased. Her father, Lord Audley, is determined that she should marry a gentleman of his choice. However, when his favored suitor is one Lord Haddington, Marion finds herself bitterly disappointed. Alexander, the Earl of Haddington, finds himself quite caught up with Lady Marion. Determined that he will not allow himself to feel anything for her, he seeks to court her but holds his emotions back. However, a sudden illness begins to strike Alexander down each time he draws close to Lady Marion. Weak and confused, he does his best to find a remedy but finds himself ...

An artist's model never shows up at Neville Grant's house...or so he claims. But when one of Mr. Grant's houseguests suddenly dies, the Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries have to work double-time to find both the missing model and the killer!

Fresh out of medical school, John McCutcheon finds his stagecoach under attack by brutal outlaws. With the help of a feisty acquaintance Lily Anthony, he manages to fend off the assault. Lily is attracted to the charming cowboy-doctor, with his chiseled good looks and teasing ways, then heartbroken to learn he's engaged to be married.

Audrey Sheridan is London's sweetheart, a position that allows her access to the ton and all its secrets. As the enigmatic writer, Lady Society, she is wild, reckless, and speaks her mind. She matchmakes wicked rogues with their perfect wives. But there's one thing she's failed to find since her debut. A husband for herself. And there's only one man she's ever wanted. There's just one problem: He doesn't want her. What's a lady to do to mend her broken heart? Run off to become a spy.

Why do the fallen women in The Magdalen House refuge continue to die mysteriously? A devastating fire at Danvers’s ancestral home induces Charles to accept his brother Frederick’s plea for help with his work among fallen women and impoverished orphans in York. Charles soon finds himself struggling to identify a ruthless murderer while Antonia helps feed the women and children living in the asylum Frederick runs. The trial of notorious poisoner William Dove leads to surprising discoveries and sets legal precedent still followed today.

Living in Victorian London is difficult at the best of times. So, instead of following in his father’s footsteps, Albert decides on adventure. However, fate has other plans. One drunken night on his way home, he responds to the blood-curdling scream of a woman. He rushes her attacker and in the ensuing fight, he is bitten. Albert's world is changed forever. With that one savage bite, he is turned into a monster that people had believed was just a creation of an author's mind.

“What an irony it is that what would turn out to be among my friend Sherlock Holmes’ oddest cases began with a seaside holiday….” So commences the reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson, as he relates a serpentine tale dubbed “The Haunting of the Jersey Lily,” in which he and Holmes are unexpectedly wrapped up in a mystery that seems to have its beginnings in what the famed client insists was no less than a visitation from a man she knew to be dead. With a scene that shifts from Cornwall, to the north of the nation, and back again to the crowded avenues of Victoria’s London, the ...

It’s 1876, and Charles Lenox has just given up his seat in Parliament after six years, primed to return to his first love, detection. With high hopes he and three colleagues start a new detective agency, the first of its kind. But as the months pass, and he is the only detective who cannot find work, Lenox begins to question whether he can still play the game as he once did.Then comes a chance to redeem himself, though at a terrible price: a friend, a member of Scotland Yard, is shot near Regent’s Park.

Mr. James Harding was a lot of things - businessman, well-to-do, probable scoundrel - but a drinker he most assuredly was not. So when Harding is believed to have drunkenly fallen to his death into the icy River Avon, Lord William Wethington is immediately suspicious. Finding Lord William's name on a letter in the victim's pocket, the local constabulary summons William to identify the victim. Police detectives learn that William had been one of Harding's business clients - and undoubtedly not the only client the dead man had cheated.

Can Emily find the courage to save herself and give her heart to the man she truly loves? Miss Emily Smythe has loved Viscount Wickton ever since she set eyes on him. Having always been a quiet wallflower, she lacks the courage to tell Lord Wickton the truth about how she feels. However, Lord Wickton does not appear to be at all interested in her and, despite her sorrow, Emily decides that she will have to allow Lord Davenport to pursue her instead. Lord Arthur Wickton has always appreciated Miss Smythe’s acquaintance but has never allowed himself to consider his heart. When witnessing ...

Lord Charles Danvers, still mourning his lost love Charlotte, hopes to escape from his ghosts at the gala coming-of-age celebrations for the son of his oldest friend. All is jubilation and proper respectability until the evening is shattered by a brutal murder. The police are quick to point to a quarrelsome farmer, but Danvers has his doubts. Is the real culprit much closer to home? And does Danvers owe the greater loyalty to an old friend or to the truth? Then, Danver is even more unsettled by the entrance of the alluring Lady Antonia Hoover. The first in the Lord Danvers Investigates ...