Victorian Suspense

Dark Trade by Harper Stanwick, Sr.is a gripping mystery thriller set in Victorian London. This historical fiction novel plunges readers into a world of intrigue, dark secrets, and psychological suspense. Follow Larry Myrick, a city alderman and potential future Mayor of London, as he navigates a labyrinth of deceit and murder in the fog-laden streets of London. Experience the chilling atmosphere of Victorian society, from opulent mansions to shadowy alleyways. Uncover a web of secrets involving high-ranking officials, mysterious women, and enigmatic characters that will keep you guessing ...

In the heart of Regency-era Bath, two souls find solace and love amidst the shadows of their pasts. Lydia Pritchard, a young woman with a mysterious past, serves as a companion to the kind and vivacious Lady Avery. With a heart burdened by secrets and a fierce devotion to her younger brother, Max, Lydia has found refuge in her newfound home. Unbeknownst to her, the arrival of the enigmatic and dashing Lord Jasper Ravenscroft, known as Ravenstock, will change her life forever. Ravenstock, a charismatic and influential man, is captivated by the shy and beautiful Lydia from the moment they ...

Venturing into the bustling city was her family's last hope to save their struggling farm. Little did she know that fate had other plans. In New York, Lillian Guilford loses her job at a textile mill and takes on a daring disguise to secure a new position as an author of Penny Bloods. Her gripping tales provide both escape and livelihood, but her success comes at a cost. Lillian must navigate a precarious balancing act, concealing her true identity while being drawn to the handsome owner of the publishing house, Apollo Donovan. Shadows lurk on the edges of her life, threatening to unravel ...

“What an irony it is that what would turn out to be among my friend Sherlock Holmes’ oddest cases began with a seaside holiday….” So commences the reminiscence of Dr. John H. Watson, as he relates a serpentine tale dubbed “The Haunting of the Jersey Lily,” in which he and Holmes are unexpectedly wrapped up in a mystery that seems to have its beginnings in what the famed client insists was no less than a visitation from a man she knew to be dead. With a scene that shifts from Cornwall, to the north of the nation, and back again to the crowded avenues of Victoria’s London, the ...

In 1899, the dead rule the night. Juniper St. James, a witch ensnared in the grasp of the alluring vampire Lucas Crawford, finds herself entwined in a sinister game of power and destiny. She is Lucas's courtesan, forced to serve his infamous vampire family. Ordered to recruit their latest victims, she is drawn deeper into their world of ancient rivalries and insatiable bloodlust. Prague's cobblestone alleys conceal secrets darker than the abyss, and the dead's thirst for dominion grows stronger with every heartbeat. A forbidden connection blooms with Kristoff Novak, a captivating butler ...

This collection brings together three novellas by USA Today best-selling author M. Louisa Locke: Violet Vanquishes a Villain, Katherine Catches a Killer, and Dandy Delivers. These shorter works contain the light romance, humor, and suspense of the novels in her cozy Victorian San Francisco mystery series and are an excellent introduction to the gas-lit world of late 19th-century San Francisco.

When one man's scheme to create the Greatest Freak Show on Earth leads to an insane obsession that can only end in devastating tragedy. The ghoulish proprietor of a Victorian arcade specifically designed to showcase the myriad of freaks, outcasts, and oddities that abound in old London town is a man driven by his own dark desires. Rodney Thompson is an emotionless, sadistic person who craves glory above all else - at least until the beautiful Violet wafts into his world. From the very day when Violet first takes a dainty step inside the arcade, Rodney is determined to make her his own. A ...

Young Imogen Burnhope and her maid Rhoda board a non-stop train to Oxford to visit her Aunt Cassandra, who waits on the platform at Oxford station where the train terminates, to greet them. Only they never arrive. All the passengers alight but the two women are nowhere to be seen. The train is searched and the coachman swears he saw them board onto first class, but they seem to have vanished into thin air. The Railway Detective must unravel the mystifying web of their disappearance before Imogen and Rhoda vanish into oblivion for good.

In the shadow of Blackmoor Manor, secrets fester, love ignites, and danger lurks at every turn. Charlotte Waverly never imagined her simple life as a debutante would lead her into the heart of a storm. Sent to the enigmatic Blackmoor Manor to unravel the mysteries surrounding the tragic death of Isabella Ashton, Charlotte finds herself drawn to the manor’s brooding and haunted master, Gabriel Ashton, the Duke of Blackmoor. Gabriel carries the weight of a shattered past—a legacy tarnished by betrayal, loss, and whispers of a sinister plot. As enemies close in, threatening his title, his ...

Annie has a problem: She has a beautiful child, a loving husband, a well-run boardinghouse with a supportive circle of friends and family, but she’s feeling restless and unhappy. Dr. Charlotte Brown, the doctor who delivered Annie’s baby, has a different problem. The Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children, the clinic and hospital she co-founded, is being threatened by financial and legal difficulties caused by the mysterious illness of a former patient.

A book of passion, of 16th century England, of greed and political ambition unto death. Historians and novelists have written extensively about the various aspects of Queen Elizabeth I’s long, rich, and tumultuous life. No one has ever given us a fully realized portrait of the greatest English monarch as a young girl. Concluding her brilliant Tudor trilogy, Robin Maxwell enters this new territory by introducing Elizabeth as a romantic and vulnerable teenager dangerously awakening to sexuality with the wrong man.

Historical Adventure Novel set in the remote Northern Rockies during the late 19th century. In the rugged wilderness of the northern Rockies, Corporal David Dexter of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police embarks on what he believes to be a routine patrol. The discovery of his fellow officer, Constable Tommy Graves, brutally murdered, sets off a chain of events that plunges Dexter into a web of deceit, danger, and secrecy. Determined to find his comrade's killer, Dexter explores the clues left behind, including a photograph of the notorious criminal "Pink" Crill. His investigation leads him to ...

When Emma Langley discovers a mysterious symbol in her late husband's diary, she uncovers a connection to a secretive treasure-hunting group with powerful members. Her investigation takes an unexpected turn when Lord Charles Harpole, a society member, is found dying in his hotel room. The authorities rule it suicide, but Emma and her friend Penny Green aren't convinced. As they follow a trail of cryptic clues leading from St. Paul's Cathedral to Hampton Court, they find themselves caught in a deadly game.

The Mt. Vernon Affairby Harper Stanwick, Sr. is a historical romance mystery set in New York during the 1890s. Embark on a journey of love, betrayal, and mystery in this captivating tale that weaves together the fates of three intriguing characters. When the stunning Teresa Drysdale returns from her European tour, she catches the eye of Howard Rutherford, the charming son of a New York millionaire. Their flirtation is cut short as Howard's interests shift upon meeting the beautiful and carefree Paola Flanders, also known as "Fly-away Pay." Paola's dark family history, linked to the ominous ...

Shadowseer: Rome continues the story of Kaia, 17, an orphan coming of age in Victorian Europe of the 1850s. Kaia yearns to escape her horrific orphanage, to discover who her parents were, and to understand why she can sense shadows when others cannot. When the brilliant Detective Pinsley, 45, takes Kaia under his wing and enlists her help in solving the mysterious and bizarre murders sweeping over Europe, the two of them become unlikely partners. Are they part of a greater war of light versus dark? And is Kaia the only one who can stop it?

Falling in love was never part of the bargain. Lady Sofia Cloverfield’s family has disintegrated, and she finds herself on the streets to make her own way with only a few guineas and her wits with which to rely on to survive. Sofia uses her common sense and prays she can figure out how to turn her fate around. Exeter Trenton, the Devil Duke, is wealthy, handsome, and lonely. His position demands he take a wife, but he finds none to his liking. Then, quite by accident, his luck changes when his horses nearly trample a waif he mistakes for a child. He allows her to leave with his ...

London's most notorious scoundrel has been saddled with an abandoned baby boy, and with the unflappable, intriguing spinster summoned to nurse him. Justine Brightmore may be a viscount's niece, but she's also a spy's daughter, determined to safeguard the infant when his suspected royal parentage makes him a target. Yet how to protect herself from the rakish Griffin? Marriage might shield her reputation, but it can only imperil her heart, especially with a groom intent on delicious seduction.

On a freezing Christmas Eve in 1879, a forensic psychic reader is summoned from her Baker Street lodgings to the scene of a questionable death. Alexandrina Victoria Pendlebury (named after her godmother, the current queen of England) is adamant that the death in question is a magically compromised murder and not a suicide, as the police had assumed. After the shocking revelation contained by the body in question, Alex must put her personal loss aside to uncover the deeper issues at stake, before more bodies turn up.

England, 1925. Louisa Drew lost her husband in the First World War and her six-year-old twin sons in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Newly remarried to a war-traumatised husband and seven months pregnant, Louisa is asked by her employer to travel to Clewer Hall in Sussex where she is to photograph the contents of the house for auction. She learns Clewer Hall was host to an infamous séance in 1896, and that the lady of the house has asked those who gathered back then to come together once more to re-create the evening.

This time, Jack the Ripper messed with the wrong woman. London, England November 1888 It’s the height of the Ripper murders, and Katherine Kelly’s older sister has gone missing. Defying her controlling family, she takes off to the slums of London’s East End in search of Mary. On the hunt for the violent predator that is terrorizing his beat, Police Constable Edward Stanhope feels compelled to help her. Together, Katherine and Edward discover the closer they come to finding Mary, the closer they come to finding Jack, and their undeniable passion.