British House

Turning her back on her privileged life in Victorian England, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), fired by her innate curiosity, journeyed the world and became fascinated with all things Arab. Traveling the length and breadth of the Arab region, armed with a love for its language and its people, she not only produced several enormously popular books based on her experiences but became instrumental to the British foreign office. When World War I erupted, and the British needed the loyalty of the Arab leaders, it was Gertrude Bell's work and connections that helped provided the brain for T. E. Lawrence's military brawn.

The House of Life & Death by Vann Chow is an epic narrative that spans generations, weaving together love, betrayal, history, and the supernatural. Elise’s world turns upside down when she stumbles upon her grandmother’s ancient diary, leading her into a web of dark family secrets and haunting supernatural forces. The diary reveals a deep connection to the House of Life, a mystical realm where the souls of the dead linger, shaped by Chinese folklore and ancient rituals. As Elise uncovers her family’s legacy, she learns that the House of Life is tied to a centuries-old curse rooted in ...

England, 1925. When a strange young woman is found murdered on the grounds of Unsworth Castle, the duke and his family are astounded at first, but quickly become enraged when the police begin asking all sorts of impertinent questions. And when suspicions dare to fall on one of their own, it is up to Mr. Quayle, Lord Unsworth's exceedingly efficient secretary, to find the true culprit and save the House of Unsworth from scandal and ruin.

This is another of the great action-packed stories taken from the records of Cornwall’s Company of Archers. The mouse-eaten parchments on which this particular tale is based were found in a chest at the Bodleian Library during the 1887 renovation of its basement. It is the witty and almost true story, with a bit of embellishment that Harry Flashman would have enjoyed, about the early days of the Windsor family during the early days of Britain's rise as a great military power and the founding of the great merchant companies that came to have more power and commanded more allegiance than ...

Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, the eighth earl of Asherton, has brought to Howenstow, his family home, the young woman he has asked to be his bride. But the savage murder of a local journalist is the catalyst for a lethal series of events that shatters the calm of a picturesque Cornwall village and embroils Lynley and St. James in a case far outside their jurisdiction - and a little too close to home.

It's with a heavy heart that Jane Austen takes up a new residence at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Secretly mourning the lost love of her life, she's stunned to learn that the late Lord Harold Trowbridge has made her heir to an extraordinary bequest: a Bengal chest filled with his diaries, letters, and most intimate correspondence. From these, Jane is expected to write a memoir of the Gentleman Rogue for posterity. But before she can put pen to paper on this labor of love, she discovers a corpse in the cellar of her new home.

Victorian England sets the stage for a passionate, unforgettable romance between a diplomat's daughter and a notorious mercenary who has targeted her father for assassination.

Christmas at a fairytale German castle turns into a nightmare for Agatha and Eustace… Agatha and Eustace along with their Basset hound, Talleyrand, agree to spend Christmas with their friend Ernst Marlow at the castle of his friend in the middle of Germany’s Teutoburg Forest. They expect a holiday filled with snow-covered landscapes, roaring fires, and festive cheer. But as they arrive at the ancient fortress, they are met with a chilling atmosphere that feels more like a scene from a Grimm’s fairytale than a cozy winter retreat. The castle, steeped in legends of dark forests and ...

In July 1949, an unpopular and deeply unpleasant man is stabbed to death in the courthouse of an English city. As the murder has been committed in a room to which the general public doesn’t have access, it seems probable that the culprit is someone involved with the business of the courts. Suspects include a number of lawyers, police officers, and magistrates. For various reasons, the local Chief Constable decides to ask Scotland Yard to investigate the murder. Chief Inspector Philip Bryce and Sergeant Alex Haig are assigned to the case. Theirs is a recent partnership, but the two men ...

Jas’ fantasy is Mr. Darcy, elegant balls, and amusing assemblies. So romantic. Jas’ reality? Rory, boring work, and painting the hall. Not romantic … at all. An accidental purchase of a lover’s locket enables Jas to time travel back to its origins: the Regency era. Her excitement is short-lived, however, when she realizes she is not just an observer but is inhabiting the real lives of real, living people; people never mentioned in any of Jane Austen’s novels; people whose lives are neither romantic nor elegant. So much for fantasy. Seeking romance in the Regency era seems like a ...

Christmas at a snowed in country house. You know what happens next… Not necessarily. Agatha Aston is invited to spend the weekend before Christmas with some old friends. Accompanied by her Machiavellian Basset hound, Talleyrand, Agatha encounters murder, ghosts and romance at a country house where nothing is as it seems. While Agatha has her hands full solving a murder, Talleyrand has his own problems in the shape of Bismarck, the hosts’ unfriendly German Shepherd. Expect fireworks. Containing a short ghost story within a story, The Christmas Murder Mystery is a twisty box of delights, ...

As World War I drew to a close, change reverberated through the halls of England's country homes. As the sun set slowly on the British Empire, the shadows lengthened on the lawns of a thousand stately homes. In The Long Weekend, historian Adrian Tinniswood introduces us to the tumultuous, scandalous, and glamorous history of English country houses during the years between world wars.

In an innovative and engaging narrative of everyday life in Shakespeare’s England, Ramie Targoff carries us from the sumptuous coronation of Queen Elizabeth in the mid-sixteenth century into the private lives of four women writers working at a time when women were legally the property of men.

Four ghost stories from England’s historic shires present a heady brew of the Gothic, folk horror, historical fiction and satire. The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? At Fall of Night A ghostly excursion into the Victorian Gothic; a tale of obsession, terror, and vengeance. Welcome to Wiltshire in the autumn of 1843. Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world and a man of cultured accomplishments, finds himself ...

The Grim Reaper is an anthropomorphic symbol of death, except when a serial killer thinks he is real, thinks he is himself. Follow the Spittlefields urchins as they discover who is killing drunks in East End London.

Mr. Collins must marry. If Lizzy won’t have him, then Charlotte certainly will. Mr Collins may be a conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man, making him the object of considerable scorn for the Bennet sisters, but Charlotte knows to seize an opportunity when it presents itself. After a week in his irksome company, her friend, Elizabeth, can only see his irritating manner. Whereas Charlotte, after a matter of hours, has already estimated his value and weighed it against the mortification she will undoubtedly have to endure. The opportunity to become the wife of a well-connected ...

From an acclaimed military historian, a bold reappraisal of young George Washington, an ambitious if reckless soldier destined to become the legendary general who took on the British and, through his leadership, defined the American character.

The House on Thornhallow Moor (Book One of the Between Heartbeats Series) On the wind-swept cliffs overlooking Blackwater Hollow stands Thornhallow Moor—a house bound by secrets older than the sea. When Clara Wren returns to the neglected Victorian estate of her childhood, she expects memories, perhaps even closure. But the house has waited patiently for her arrival, harboring more than just dust and echoes of the past. Whispers drift through empty rooms, footprints glisten with seawater, and in the shadows stands Silas Vale—a ship’s captain lost to a storm over a century ago. Bound ...

Survival rests with Rachelle Macquinet, a beautiful young couturiere, and Marquis Fabien de Vendome, her dashing nobleman-husband, when Queen Mother Catherine de Medici unfolds her murderous scheme to preserve her reign. Faith in Christ must uphold them to escape the Queen's web of treachery.

The Open Championship returns to St. Andrews, Scotland, the Home of Golf. But an official with the Links Trust turns up dead, stuffed into the Bottle Dungeon at St. Andrews Castle, and, as usual, Hacker has to help find the killer. There are Russians everywhere in the Auld Grey Toon, along with a famous U.S. resort developer, and an alcoholic caddie on the run. Luckily, Hacker has his significant other, Mary Jane, along for the ride, with an ending no one sees coming.