British Historical Mysteries

A new breed of villain has risen, possessed of extraordinary intellect and violence. Only the brilliant mind and courage of Sexton Blake, scourge of the criminal world, can stop them, in these three classic stories, collected together in one volume for the first time. From the streets of London to the catacombs of Paris, join Blake as he pits his wits against bank robbers, impostors and kidnappers, duels with swords and pursues his foes by any means necessary.

It’s 1589, and England is embroiled in a furious pamphlet war between an impudent Puritan calling himself Martin Marprelate and publishing’s brightest wits. The archbishop wants Martin to hang. The Privy Council wants the tumult to end. But nobody knows who Martin is or where he’s hiding his illegal press. Then two writers are strangled, mistaken for Thomas Nashe, the pamphleteer who is hot on Martin’s trail. Francis Bacon is tasked with stopping the murders - and catching Martin, while he’s about it.

A meticulously researched novel set in 19th-century British India, The Light Horse is the story of two men who join forces to capture one of the most dreaded murderers in history - one man driven by sworn duty and the other man by vengeance. It is a psychological thriller based on documented fact, crafted after years of research into this compelling and nearly unbelievable chapter in the true history of 19th-century British-occupied India.

It is the 1960s and Canon Sidney Chambers is enjoying his first year of married life with his German bride Hildegard. But life in Grantchester rarely stays quiet for long. Our favourite clerical detective soon attempts to stop a serial killer who has a grievance against the clergy; investigates the disappearance of a famous painting after a distracting display of nudity by a French girl in an art gallery; uncovers the fact that an ‘accidental’ drowning on a film shoot may not have been so accidental after all; and discovers the reasons behind the theft of a baby from a hospital.

MURDER AT MARLEY CHASE by MARILYN CLAY is book ten in the popular JULIETTE ABBOTT REGENCY MYSTERY SERIES. Whilst Lord Marley prepares for the important Derby he is hosting at his large country estate Marley Chase, located near London, his lady wife is in the midst of readying their sumptuous mansion for the onslaught of house guests set to arrive to take part in the festivities surrounding the horse races. Frantic that she’ll not be ready in time, Lady Marley has recruited Miss Abbott’s help in assembling a prestigious art gallery in her home. Whilst gathering precious artifacts to ...

MURDER IN MARTINDALE by MARILYN CLAY is book nine in the popular JULIETTE ABBOTT REGENCY MYSTERY SERIES. When clever young sleuth Miss Juliette Abbott is invited to spend a fortnight at Martindale Manor as companion to a young blind girl whose father suddenly passed away, she believes she has been offered the perfect respite from murder and mayhem in the tiny hamlet of Martindale in England’s North Country. Told that the girl’s brother and heir, Sir James Martindale, is even now on his way home, Miss Abbott and her trusted maid Tilda set out in high spirits for their four-day journey ...

Loveable full-time priest and part-time detective Canon Sidney Chambers is back, continuing his investigations. A mysterious stranger seeks sanctuary in Grantchester’s church; a shooting weekend in the country has a sinister end; a friend receives poison pen letters; a piano falls on a musician’s head; a school cricket match has an explosive finish; and on a holiday in Italy, Sidney is accused of stealing a priceless painting. On the home front, his new curate has become irritatingly popular with the parish and his daughter is starting to walk and talk.

Chief Inspector Angus Balfour had expected that his enforced vacation near a remote seaside village would be a nuisance but little more. Ordered by his superiors to abscond to Scotland to avoid having to testify for the defense in a notorious murder trial, Balfour finds himself in an ancient mansion where people mysteriously disappear, messages are written in blood on walls, and a vengeful ghost appears to be haunting the attic.

David Salomon, a young violinist and composer, has left New York to find fame and fortune in Regency London. But disaster strikes not long after he arrives. A mysterious rival composer is stealing his compositions and having them performed to great acclaim—and when David tries to protest that he is the music’s true creator, he becomes the laughingstock of the beau monde he had hoped to conquer. With few friends and even fewer resources, the desperate Mr. Salomon turns to Ezra Melamed for help with discovering the identity of his shadowy foe.

Jake Hughes cannot run from the fact that he is entering a head on collision with the Mob! Six weeks earlier Jake Hughes was living the quiet life in America with his wife Emily, They decide to take their annual vacation, walking in England. A chance meeting during the walk awakens a hidden memory in Jake, dragging him into direct conflict with a powerful Mafia Family, catapulting him into a a game of cat and mouse, challenging life or death! He teams up with, Jonty Ball, a retired detective inspector, between them they thread the pieices of an unsolved murder twenty years earlier. Is it ...

MURDER IN THE MERRYTON MEWS by MARILYN CLAY is book eleven in the popular JULIETTE ABBOTT REGENCY MYSTERY SERIES. Miss Abbott, now wed to her beloved Mr. Sheridan, (who is now Lord Sheridan dur to inheriting his late father's title and fortune) has been invited to Merryton to visit with two of her husband's cousins, a married couple. Although they specifically invited Juliette to come for a visit, they seem far less than cordial or welcoming. Juliette quickly begins to uncover the Harris’s deadly secrets but as the complications mount and her fears grow, her options to seek and find help ...

A quiet governess. A powerful politician. A dangerous conspiracy and scandal… In the heart of early 19th-century London, where whispers of intrigue echo through the corridors of power, a quiet governess named Margaret Hayworth discovers a world beyond her wildest dreams. Trapped in a life of routine and intellect, Margaret yearns for passion and adventure beyond the confines of her role. But when her path crosses with James Thornton, a rising star in the political arena, Margaret's ordinary life is turned upside down. Drawn to each other despite the societal boundaries that separate them,...

Christmas Eve, 1938. The Westbury family and assorted friends have gathered for another legendary celebration at their beautiful country house. The champagne flows, the silverware sparkles and upstairs the rooms are ready for their occupants. But one bed will lie empty that night. On Christmas morning, David Campbell-Scott is found dead in the snow. There is a pistol beside him and only one set of footprints. Yet something doesn't seem right to amateur sleuth Hugh Gaveston. Campbell-Scott had just returned from overseas with untold wealth - why would he kill himself?

Forty modern masterpieces are found concealed on a neutral ship in international waters 16 months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Their provenance is sketchy and their final destination unknown. The Royal Navy suspects the works are “degenerate art” seized by the Nazis and shipped across the Atlantic to create cash for their covert operations. But how to prove it? There’s only one man for the job - Roy Hawkins. The British Secret Intelligence Service has put their half-American star agent in tough spots before, and he’s always come out on top.

Time has moved on for Quirke, the world-weary pathologist first encountered in Christine Falls. It is the middle of the 1950s, that low, dishonourable decade; a woman he loved has died, a man he once admired is dying, while the daughter he for so long denied is still finding it hard to accept him as her father. When an old acquaintance approaches him about his wife's apparent suicide, Quirke recognizes trouble but, as always, trouble is something he cannot resist.

It's Christmas 1937 and an eclectic list of guests and staff have gathered for the grand re-opening of Maybridge castle, a newly renovated yet still crumbling hotel deep in the Cumbrian countryside. An innocent game of murder-in-the-dark will turn into a real game of life and death. And by the time the first sherries have been drunk, one of these people will be dead - and one of them the killer. Someone has changed the rules, but who?

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Jonathan Coe's brilliant new comic novel Expo 58, read by the actor Julian Rhind-Tutt. Expo 58 - Good-looking girls and sinister spies: a naive Englishman at loose in Europe in Jonathan Coe's brilliant comic novelLondon, 1958: unassuming civil servant Thomas Foley is plucked from his desk at the Central Office of Information and sent on a six-month trip to Brussels.

Being summoned to the home of a woman she despises, has upset the Dowager Duchess of Ashby's well-ordered life. Curiosity drives her to accept and find the house in chaos. Lady Honoria Huntington, also known as the notorious Lady Secrets, a much-hated gossip writer, has been murdered is a decidedly grisly way. Blythe Armstrong and her "nephew" Owen Kennedy take on the herculean task of finding the killer, among the hundreds of members of the ton who she has worked to destroy with her poison pen. Meanwhile, Owen must contend with his headstrong sister, who has turned his world on it's head.

1939. As Europe teeters on the brink of war, Alfred Kendall is tasked with carrying out a minor mission for the British Intelligence Service. Travelling to Prague, he takes his troubled young son, Hugh, as cover. When Hitler invades Czechoslovakia, Alfred is given an ultimatum by the Czech Resistance. They will arrange for him to return to England, but only if he leaves his son Hugh behind as collateral. Hugh is soon taken under the wing of a Nazi colonel - Helmuth Scholl.

MURDER IN MAYFAIR is Book 2 in MARILYN CLAY's Juliette Abbott Regency Mystery Series. Clever young Miss Juliette Abbott and Miss Cathleen Haworth have catalogued a house-full of priceless artifacts in order to sell to a London Curiosity Dealer, but before the girls can approach the handsome man, he turns up dead! With only two likely suspects and no funds to hire a Bow Street detective to investigate the crime, Juliette takes on the task of solving the mystery herself. Attempting to uncover who killed the kind gentleman who made female hearts flutter keeps Juliette awake at night and on her...