Historical Women Detectives

Haunted Montague by Harper Stanwick, Sr. is a gripping mystery fiction novel set in the eerie, fog-shrouded valleys of the English countryside during the early 20th century. This chilling story of secrets, shadows, and psychological suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Explore the haunting mystery surrounding Montague Hall, a sprawling estate with a dark past. Follow Major Sauer and his friends as they uncover secrets buried deep within the ancient walls of the house. Encounter eerie apparitions, unsettling whispers, and chilling discoveries that will leave ...

New York City, 1962. Vera Kelly is struggling to make rent and blend into the underground gay scene in Greenwich Village. She's working night shifts at a radio station when her quick wits, sharp tongue, and technical skills get her noticed by a recruiter for the CIA. Next thing she knows she's in Argentina, tasked with wiretapping a congressman and infiltrating a group of student activists in Buenos Aires. When a betrayal leaves her stranded in the wake of a coup, Vera learns the Cold War makes for strange and unexpected bedfellows.

Lorraine Mansford was nineteen years old, beautiful, popular, sophisticated and murdered. May 1904 Katherine Mansford, the eldest of four sisters, has resigned to a reclusive life. Unlike Lorraine, she could never live up to her father’s expectations. Lorraine was perfect. Yet, a few days before she was murdered, she told Katherine a secret that would destroy their family if anyone found out. Michael Johnston fled the scene of the crime, evaded the law, and he's hiding in an abandoned cabin a beach on Lake Ontario. Katherine’s private refuge. When she discovers him there, she fights ...

In this second installment of Carola Dunn's cozy mystery series set in 1923 England, plucky Daisy Dalrymple embarks on another assignment for Town and Country magazine and discovers that daffodil bulbs aren't all that's buried in a country estate's flower bed.

The Pinesby Harper Stanwick, Sr. is a gripping mystery novel set in the eerie and atmospheric surroundings of 1920s Pine Cone, North Carolina. Janice Nicole, a young and desperate woman, accepts a position as a housekeeper at "The Pines," an old Southern mansion owned by Mrs. Anderson. Upon her arrival, Janice is struck by the eerie atmosphere of the mansion and the peculiar behavior of its inhabitants, including Mrs. Anderson and her frail son, Gorman. As Janice settles into her role, she becomes increasingly aware of strange occurrences within the house. Gorman, the young boy, is ...

Never underestimate the power of a good hat... or a sharp hatpin. 9-Book Series! Paris 1917. Sent by the War Office to follow the notorious Fredrick Fredricks, file clerk turned secret agent Fiona Figg is under strict orders not to get too close and not to wear any of her usual "get-ups." But what self-respecting British spy can resist a good disguise? Within hours of her arrival in Paris, Fiona is up to her fake eyebrows in missing maids, jewel thieves, double agents, and high treason. When Fiona is found dressed as a bellboy holding a bloody paperknife over the body of a dead countess, ...

The ladies of the Mayfair Orchid and Exotic Plant Society are known for a bit of friendly rivalry, but the backstabbing has never been literal - until now. When Hiram Filmore, an orchid hunter and supplier, is found dead in Mrs. Helena Rayburn's conservatory, Inspector Witherspoon is called in to weed out a murderer. When it comes out that Mrs. Rayburn and her flowery friends knew each other from long ago, Mrs. Jeffries begins to suspect that there's more to unearth about this case than meets the eye.

As Christmas of 1804 approaches, Jane Austen finds herself "[I]nsupportably bored with Bath, and the littleness of a town". It is with relief that she accepts a peculiar commission from her Gentleman Rogue, Lord Harold Trowbridge - to shadow his niece, Lady Desdemona, who has fled to Bath to avoid the attentions of the unsavory earl of Swithin. But Jane's idle diversion turns deadly when a man is discovered stabbed to death in the Theatre Royal. Adding to the mystery is an unusual object found on the victim's body - a pendant that contains a portrait of an eye!

London, 1937. Following the gloomy days of the abdication of King Edward VIII, the entire city is elated to welcome King George. Just one of the many planned festivities for the historic coronation is a BBC radio adaptation of Queen of Scots, and the original playwright, Josephine Tey, has been invited to sit in on rehearsals. Soon, however, Josephine gets wrapped up in another sort of drama. The lead actress has been sleeping with Britain's most venerable newsman, Anthony Beresford - and his humiliated wife happens to work in the building.

It’s August 1861, and her latest assignment could end the bloody Civil War and bring the fractured United States together again. All she must do is win the trust of her captive: Confederate spy and socialite Rose Greenhow. But with Rose well aware of Kate’s working-class background and belief in abolitionism, it seems an impossible task. Worse, Kate has secrets that make her vulnerable, such as her forbidden love affair with a colleague.

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.

Classic Movies, Ghostly Mischief, and Murder! Nora Paige is settling into her new life as manager of the Palace movie theater. She only has a few things to worry about. Like keeping the theater safely out of the clutches of an evil real estate developer, dealing with her staff of movie-obsessed misfits and their daily meltdowns, and hiding the fact that her new best friend Trixie is the ghost of an usherette who died in 1937. It would also be helpful if she could figure out whether she wants to take her charming-but-cheating husband back. But when someone close to the Palace is murdered, ...

The foggy streets of London's Whitechapel district have become a nocturnal hunting ground for Jack the Ripper, and no woman is safe. Flower girl Constance Piper is not immune to dread, but she is more preoccupied with her own strange experiences of late. Clairvoyants seem to be everywhere these days. In desperation, even Scotland Yard has turned to them to help apprehend the Ripper.

Penrose and Pyke must put aside their own problems in a race against the clock to rescue a kidnapped infant. When private detective Charlie Penrose Pyke is asked to investigate the kidnapping of a child, his instinct is to refuse. As their first wedding anniversary approaches, Charlie fears for the fragile state of his wife, Grace, for whom this heart-breaking case could be the final straw. But how can he let the desperate parents down, when they have struggled for years to conceive only to have their baby snatched away? Besides, Charlie is their only hope, because the ransom note threatens...

In this second book in the Brentwood Women Mystery series, Victoria Brentwood calls the family together to solve the hit and run death of her neighbor-a murder that might be linked to the death of her beloved husband Robert twenty years earlier. Victoria, her daughter, Hildegard, and granddaughter, Grace live in Houston's Heights neighborhood with their fur babies. Minuit is Victoria's rescue greyhound; Shasta is Hildy's yappy white schnauzer; and Catrina is Grace's regal Russian Blue feline. Cameron Mitchell, Victoria's neighbor, is one of Minuit's BFFs. He collects Minuit every morning at...

Nothing ever happens in August, so Kate goes off on a long-overdue holiday to Whitby to visit her friend Alma who works there as a fortune teller. She's been looking forward to a relaxing seaside sojourn, but, upon arrival, she discovers that Alma's daughter, Felicity, has disappeared, leaving her mother a note and the pawn ticket for their only asset: a watch-guard. What makes this more intriguing is that the jeweler who advanced Felicity the 30 shillings is Jack Phillips, Alma's current gentleman friend.

The year is 1910, and in the small and seemingly sleepy English municipality of Haxford, there’s a new chief police inspector. At first, the dapper and unflappable Pignon Scorbion strikes something of an odd figure among the locals, who don’t see a need for such an exacting investigator. But it isn’t long before Haxford finds itself very much in need of a detective. Luckily, Scorbion and the local barber are old acquaintances, and the barbershop employs a cast of memorable characters who are nothing less than enthralled by the enigmatic new chief police inspector.

Two bodies have been found in a park in the fashionable London neighborhood of Callander Square. While Inspector Thomas Pitt is fighting to get the square’s aristocratic residents to speak with him, his pretty, well-born wife, Charlotte, decides to do some detective work of her own. Soon she is unearthing secrets in every house on the square, while Thomas tries to discover what would drive a person to murder.

Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie in this witty whodunnit. 9-Book Series! 1917. Vienna. Can Fiona catch a killer AND find a decent cup of tea? File clerk turned British agent, Fiona Figg, is more comfortable wearing a fake mustache than a ballgown. When a royal ball ends with a royal body in the middle of the dance floor, Fiona trades her dancing slippers for practical oxfords and sets out to investigate. As she tracks her nemesis, Fredrick Fredricks, from Vienna to the Austrian countryside, a hunting accident makes her rethink her loyalties. Can Fiona prevent Fredricks from striking ...

Mystery People of the UK The use of modern forensic methods on this long-forgotten case is fascinating as is the incorporation of real figures from 1902 New York. 5-Stars on Goodreads In 1902, nineteen-year-old Ruby was charged with murdering her family and sent away to a women’s asylum. Fast forward to 2016 to another family murder. Are they connected? This book was wonderfully written, and I love the history of old mental institutions and a murder mystery on top. . . what an excellent read! Hart Island is a small island located in the Long Island Sound, off the coast of the Bronx, in ...