Cozy Historical Women Sleuth

Sarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at Hope’s Daughters Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them. Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Malloy to investigate. But when he goes to interview the woman at her tenement in Chelsea, he finds she has been murdered. Though her death leaves Sarah’s claim to Catherine unchallenged, her sense of justice compels her to work with Malloy to find the killer.

When Kat's employer asks for help in clearing her friend's name, Kat trades her kitchen for the homes of Mayfair's wealthiest families. Soon antiquities are disappearing not only from the extravagant households of connoisseurs and collectors but also from the illustrious British Museum. As the thefts increase in frequency, Kat calls upon her friend Daniel McAdam, who has already set himself up in a pawnshop on the Strand as a seedy receiver of stolen goods. When a man is murdered in the shop, Kat must use all of her wits to see that the thieves are caught and justice is done.

When guests arrive at a séance to contact a man's lost sons, it becomes clear that everyone has dark secrets - secrets that result in the death of a guest.

November, 1923. Olive’s school chum, Gigi, invites Olive to London because Gigi’s dotty grandmother fears for her life—or so she’s said to Gigi. However Olive is surprised to find that the dowager is far from muddled. The sharp and imperious matriarch refuses to admit to her worries and sends Olive on her way. Without a client or case, Olive is swept into the glittering lifestyle of the “fast set,” and their decadent excess. But then among the cocktails and champagne, a murderer strikes during a frivolous party game, and Olive realizes the dowager’s fears were well-founded.

Penelope “Pen” Banks has a knack for puzzling things out and the uncanny ability to remember everything she sees. Two talents that have helped her make ends meet, playing cards in clubs and speakeasies. Now, they might just help her discover the true cause of death for a dear old family friend.

Evie, the countess of Woodridge, has come under fire from a newcomer to the small village of Halton, but she has no time to dwell on the woman's petty-minded criticisms. She is hosting three scriptwriters. Unfortunately, they are determined to set their murder mystery at Halton House. Evie's life is thrown into turmoil when reality begins to imitate fiction, and Henrietta, the dowager countess of Woodridge becomes the prime suspect in a villager's death.

Leila is on her way home for the holidays. She has a big surprise for her family and friends…only to find out there is a surprise of a different kind waiting for her. Lizzie is so ready for Christmas…she’s also ready to solve the mysterious puzzle Harry found carved into the front of the saloon’s very antique bar. A suggestion from Leila has them searching the saloon yet once again for something else they might be missing. If it exists, it could help solve the old puzzle they were beginning to believe was an impossible feat. Kevin is ready for the holidays too. His and Lizzie’s ...

The winds of change have brought great joy to Lady Arianna and Saybrook, who have recently welcomed an infant son to their family. They are still adjusting to their new life when a letter arrives from Arianna's dearest friend and former comrade-in-chicanery inviting them to a gala fiftieth birthday celebration in Switzerland. With the blessing of their surgeon friend, they decide to make the trip, only to find themselves once again drawn into a dangerous web of political intrigue that may ignite war throughout Europe.

August 1856. The Dickinson family is comfortably settled in their homestead on Main Street. Emily’s brother, Austin Dickinson, and his new wife are delighted when famous thinker and writer Ralph Waldo Emerson comes to Amherst to speak at a local literary society and decides he and his young secretary, Luther Howard, will stay with the newlyweds. Emily has been a longtime admirer of Emerson’s writing and is thrilled at the chance to meet her idol. She is determined to impress him with her quick wit, and if she can gather the courage, a poem.

Back home in the Kootenays after her Arizona honeymoon, Lane offers her assistance when neither the outgoing teacher, Rose, nor her replacement, Wendy, show up at the local schoolhouse one blizzardy Monday in December. But when she finds the teachers’ cottage ransacked with Rose unconscious and bleeding, and Wendy missing, Lane delivers Rose to the hospital in Nelson and turns the case over to her exasperated husband, Inspector Darling, and his capable colleagues, Sergeant Ames and Constable Terrell.

Can a rogue really change his ways? The Duke has a dark past. Miss Kelling does not believe that he has changed. She finds him irritating, and she does not want to give him a minute of her time. The Duke wants to redeem himself, but his efforts are futile. However, when the Duke needs Miss Kelling’s help, can she really turn him away in his time of need?

In this compelling Gaslight Mystery by Edgar Award-nominated author Victoria Thompson, a lady of means helps midwife Sarah Brandt rescue a young woman and her newborn from a brothel. But when the wealthy benefactor is found murdered, Sarah uncovers some unpleasant truths about the victim, her charity, and the woman and child Sarah risked her own life to save.

Victoria Thompson is the Edgar Award-nominated author of the Gaslight Mysteries and numerous historical romance novels. Set in 19th-century New York, Murder on Fifth Avenue follows midwife Sarah Brandt and Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy as they investigate the murder of a Knickerbocker club member.

Despite suffering a few initial setbacks, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare has settled into her new position nicely. Thanks to Lady Abercrombie’s machinations, she has secured the admiration of society and finally earned the respect of her staff. Even the lessons in defending herself, which her husband, the Duke of Kesgrave, insists she take if she wants to continue in her dangerous avocation, are going well. But then she learns from a most unlikely source that Kesgrave’s malevolent uncle is scheming to destroy her happiness.

Maple Bishop is ready to put WWII and the grief of losing her husband, Bill, behind her. But when she discovers that Bill left her penniless, Maple realizes she could lose her Vermont home next and sets out to make money the only way she knows how: by selling her intricately crafted dollhouses. Business is off to a good start—until Maple discovers her first customer dead, his body hanging precariously in his own barn.

Kitty Underhay is looking forward to a week of long lunches and wedding planning with her husband-to-be, Captain Matthew Bryant. But the plan is derailed when he is called on to collect a former comrade-in-arms, arriving on the 15:50 from Paddington. As the train bearing Simon Travers pulls up to the platform, a piercing scream rises over the screech of its brakes. Travers is dead in his seat, a dagger in his heart. Only a few individuals had access to Travers’s compartment, and Kitty must find out which of these seemingly benign passengers is, in fact, a cross-country killer.

Emma's job is to take note of the real players off the field—Newport's well-bred elite. But the fashionable façade is breached when a woman demands to speak to the wife of Senator George Wetmore—until she is escorted off the grounds by the police. The next morning, police detective Jesse Whyte asks Emma to meet him at the Wetmores's Bellevue Avenue home, Chateau-sur-Mer, where the senator's wife, Edith, has mysteriously asked to see her. Upon entering the mansion, Emma is confronted with a crime scene.

Evie, the Countess of Woodridge, is hosting a house party to celebrate the end of summer. Some of the guests include a famous actress trying to revive her career, a theater critic renowned for his biting reviews, a newspaper owner in need of a scandal, and more than a few guests with motives for murder. Evie could not have hoped for a livelier group of guests to amuse her granny, Toodles, who has finally arrived for a visit and is eager for some entertainment. However, Evie gets more than she bargained for when one of the guests dies right before their eyes.

The Duke of Ellsworth and Lady Foster must discover the person who is trying to destroy their reputations! Lady Foster has lost her husband at a very young age. With his death, she has also lost her status in society. She is penniless and has nowhere to go. Becoming a companion to the niece of the Duke of Ellsworth is her only option to survive. But when a rumor begins to spread through London about her, will Louisa be able to keep her position? Or will the Duke of Ellsworth ask her to leave? *** The duke does not want to be back amongst the ton, but he has returned to London solely for the...

After a perfectly decent local woman is killed during a robbery, the Witherspoon household receives a surprising visit from a stranger named Blimpey Groggins. He claims his best buddy was convicted of the crime. He also claims the peaceable chap didn't even know how to fire a gun. And considering he's to be hanged in three weeks, Blimpey's desperate to find the real killer. With the trail cold, the crime allegedly solved, and the evidence mucked up, Mrs. Jeffries and her belowstairs cohorts have their work cut out for them if they want to save an innocent man from the gallows.