Historical Romance Women Sleuths

Penrose and Pyke’s wedding dream turns to ashes when the local women’s refuge goes up in flames. Grace Penrose is used to protesters at Lavender House, but she never expected them to set the refuge on fire, especially not on her wedding day. And her mother’s carefully orchestrated wedding plan definitely did not include Charlie Pyke disappearing into an inferno. The discovery of a woman’s body in the smouldering ruins rouses Grace and Charlie’s detective instincts. With marital bliss on their minds, an investigation is the last thing they need. But how can they ignore a murder, ...

Highlands Lake is a small town…but even there where the most reliable news can be found in the local bakery and friendships last a lifetime…there are those who choose to live outside the rules…Jonathan Delamarck takes his job seriously. As such, murder investigations typically slide to the top of his priority list whether they took place in the last twenty-four hours or sometime in the last two hundred years. He believed that justice began with identifying the individual who was responsible. And that was exactly what he planned to do. Have you ever said something you really wish you ...

Called to the home of her fiancé's former mistress late one night, Francesca finds her curiosity piqued. But upon arrival, she is shocked to find Daisy Jones's bloodied body…and even more devastated when the evidence points to one suspect—her fiancé, Calder. Francesca cannot—will not—believe that Calder is capable of such an act. Still, she is unable to shake her instinctive sense that Calder is lying about something. The police are far less inclined to believe his innocence, and Calder is arrested for Daisy's murder.

Within just a couple of days, detective Leo Schultz’s life unravels. His son Rick is kidnapped and horrifically murdered. The very next day, Schultz’s car runs over a little girl, and he is identified by witnesses as the driver. Only his partner, PJ Gray, believes in his innocence. For city officials, this is not the end of it, as key members of the law and order systems are successively taken down.

May 1942 - Regan O'Reilly comes from a long line of police officers. She would have followed her father and brother into the Force, but women officers are rare and usually relegated to the status of social workers. Now she's a private investigator with her own agency and the freedom to live her life the way she wants. That is, until she meets widower Mark Harris and his delightful son, Patrick, who have plans of their own for Regan.

*Publisher Note: Contrary to some of the reviews posted, this book IS NOT a spin-off of the PBS series, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, nor was it written and published after the series began. This story was crafted and published years BEFORE the series on PBS, with completely different characters and storyline. Set in London, 1851. After Miss Scarlet Warden proves to her sister that her husband is being unfaithful, word spreads. Soon Scarlet is getting calls from her other female friends begging her to spy on their husbands. To help them, Scarlet goes undercover as the governess in various ...

Siblings Lily and Robert Brewster have agreed to help out at a nursing home next door to their own cottage. The convalescent home is full of colorful characters, including a cantankerous old man named Sean Connor. The day the Brewsters arrive, he slips into a coma and dies. No one is surprised at his passing - until it's revealed that he's been murdered. And Mr. Connor isn't the only victim in town.

Penrose & Pyke are flung into an explosive new mystery during the campaign for women’s suffrage. Politicians are worried that women voters will oust them, liquor barons are terrified that women will favour prohibition, and the man in the street fears his wife will no longer be content with home and hearth. Just how far will they go to stop women from getting the vote? Medical student Grace Penrose and Detective Constable Charlie Pyke are about to find out. The ‘Penrose & Pyke Mysteries’ are a series of heart-warming, pulse-racing historical mysteries, set during a remarkable period of...

You can always go home…but what will you find when you do. Jonathan Hansen is about to find out. For years they’ve hidden a huge secret…an island that was home to their small town, the families and friends who live there, and the secrets they've kept for generations. But danger might be right beyond the water’s edge. Together, two guarded hearts are willing to face the impending threat and the danger it poses to the peaceful tranquility of their home. Ainslin O’Cleary wasn’t the type to over-react but she was beginning to feel a little desperate. She loved her home and ...

In the seaside town of Temple Regis, seagulls are wheeling overhead and the holidays are getting close. And then the body of political candidate Odile Clifford is discovered on the balcony of the lighthouse. Fearless Riviera Express reporter Judy Dimont goes in search of the killer - but who is it? And where will they strike next?

It’s never easy keeping secrets...Only her desire to crush the Crown’s enemies could induce Lady Lucille Stanford to endure another Season. For years she has worked secretly for the Home Office, and she has come to London with one purpose: Foil the attempted kidnapping of a highly valuable target, identity unknown. Inconveniently, Lord Harrington - Lucy’s brother and guardian - has other plans. He won’t be satisfied until she is at long last married.

Penrose & Pyke have until Christmas Eve to save the orphans’ home, by unravelling a tangle of tinsel and trickery. Private detective Charlie Pyke was looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas with his fiancée, Grace Penrose. Instead, Charlie and Grace must stop a dubious deal, find a sneak thief and foil a mischievous brother, with the help of a pair of inquisitive orphans and the spirit of a dear departed grandmother. If they can decipher the clues and make it through the dessert course, they just might survive their first family Christmas together. Tinsel and Trickery is a half-...

In The Lantern: A Renaissance Mystery, a 21st century American woman searches to learn the truth about the 15th century mysterious Italian girl who dared to compete with the most famous artists of the Renaissance. Across time and space, their lives collide as they battle abuse, disease, fear and prejudice in pursuit of their dreams. Along the way, they intersect with some of the most famous figures of the Renaissance.

Penrose and Pyke are under siege. A mischievous gossip, a series of robberies, and now a callous murder and a looming epidemic. How much worse can it get? When a shopkeeper is killed during a robbery, Detective Charlie Pyke is desperate to track down the killer for reasons close to his heart. If only it was that simple. A tell-all article in the local ladies’ journal threatens both his investigation and his private life. Charlie needs Grace Penrose to stand by him, but she has her hands full preventing a deadly outbreak of measles. The rash of clues only starts to make sense when they ...

From the creator of Falco comes Falco: the new generation, featuring her unforgettable heroine Flavia Albia in her fourth novel. Life is sweet for Flavia Albia and her soon-to-be husband Faustus. But his new job as a building contractor runs into a problem: At the Garden of the Hesperides a barmaid went missing years before; now the workmen start unearthing her bones. Albia takes on the task of finding out what happened.

Elizabeth Bennet, a rookie counterintelligence officer, lands an intriguing first assignment - investigating the CIA's legendary William Darcy, who is suspected of being a double agent. Darcy's charmed existence seems at an end as he fights for his career and struggles against his love for the young woman he doesn't know is watching his every move. Elizabeth's confidence dissolves as nothing is like she planned - and the more she discovers about Darcy, the more she finds herself in an ever-tightening web of danger.

Lady Augusta Colebrook, 'Gus', is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents itself: to rescue their friend's goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband. The sisters set out to Caroline's country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford.

Sometimes the past won't stay hidden, it demands to be uncovered. The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger is a moving story from best-selling author Suzanne Fortin. Arthur Pettinger's memory isn't what it used to be. He can't always remember the names of his grandchildren, where he lives or which way round his slippers go. He does remember Maryse though, a woman he hasn't seen for decades, but whose face he will never forget.

Laurence Levain was a culinary superstar: the high-profile owner and chef of Chez Laurence, an internationally renowned restaurant in Washington, D.C. When Levain collapses in his clogs the night before a star-studded black-tie benefit dinner, all bets are on his soaring cholesterol level. But one person has her doubts: Chas Wheatley, the Washington Examiner's saber-penned restaurant critic.

Passion. Intrigue. Love. London’s high society loves nothing more than a scandal. When the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about. The prince will have to decide what comes first - his country or his heart.