Victorian Suspense

Worcester, April 1893. Detective Inspector Ravenscroft receives a strange note from a lonely old woman fearing for her life. But when he visits her, she is already dead. Did Miss Maud Fincher's heart give out or was she scared to death? Maud Fincher was part of a group of locals trying to speak to their deceased loved ones through the medium of séance. Ravenscroft thinks this is harmless nonsense . . . until the old lady's last surviving heir is murdered.

The evidence was all there: a dead body, two dessert plates, and a gun. Could it be that Mr. Ashbury was sharing his cake with his killer? The old bloke had enemies galore - even his own daughter disliked him. Mr. Ashbury's son-in-law doesn't want Inspector Witherspoon asking questions. Of course this doesn't stop Mrs. Jeffries and her staff from snooping around.

When a letter from Salisbury reaches Baker Street one morning in 1887, its writer telling of his fears relating to a matter he will only discuss in person, Holmes is intrigued. Yet when that would-be client turns up dead less than a day before he was to have made the journey up to London, Holmes’ interest in the case becomes, in his words, “a matter of personal honour.” So begins A Slaying in Salisbury, the latest volume in The Continuing Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes, a murder mystery in which nearly everyone within an entire town not far from Stonehenge, could be regarded as ...

Lady Frederica knows she needs to stay away from the Earl of Wetherby. However, she cannot seem to remove thoughts of him from her mind. The London Season has just begun, and one of the first gentlemen Lady Frederica meets behaves most improperly, indeed! The Earl of Wetherby’s social blunders keep happening and her own reputation is at risk. Percy, the Earl of Wetherby, is embarrassed by his own behavior and mistakes. However, most of the mistakes are not his fault. Someone is out to get him. He does not understand why a mysterious woman is trying to force his hand in marriage. Lady ...

A novel of Gothic Horror and psychological suspense, "Ghostly Oath" is an artfully composed novel that plunges readers into a haunting labyrinth of mystery, fear, and spectral obsession. Set in the stark isolation of the UK during the darker half of the 19th century, this chilling narrative masterfully intertwines otherworldly terror with the psychological unravelings brought upon by insidious apparitions. The Plot Begun around a cozy fireplace, a group of eager listeners huddled for the tale of their lives - a chilling spectral narrative passed on through a mysterious manuscript. Delivered...

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...

When she discovers the bank is involved in shockingly murky business dealings, Kat realizes she’s treading in dangerous waters. She turns to her confidante and handsome suitor, Daniel McAdam, for help. To exonerate Samuel, Kat and Daniel may have to expose the unseemly financial dealings of prominent aristocrats and government officials, and even those working to bring down the royal family. Kat will risk everything to protect the man who has sacrificed so much for her daughter, even if it means endangering herself and the friends she has come to love.

1885, London, England. When Violet's Aunt Adelia decides to abscond with her newest paramour, she leaves behind her role as the most popular Agony Aunt in London, Miss Hermione, in Violet's hands. And of course, the first letter Violet receives is full, not of prissy pondering, but of portent: Ivy Armstrong is in need of help and fears for her life. But when Violet visits the village from which the letter was posted, she finds Ivy dead. Soon Violet discovers that when you represent the best-loved Agony Aunt in Britain, both marauding husbands and murder are par for the course.

Matilda Hayward is determined to have a career. After all, it is 1888! While reporting for the Women’s Journal newspaper, Matilda is sent to cover the visiting Freak Show and interview Mrs Anna Tufton, a giantess. During the interview, the giantess slips a note to Matilda begging for her help to escape the show she is forced to do by her husband. But when the giantess’s husband is found murdered, the giantess is a likely suspect.

Can a rogue really change his ways? Lady Catherine is satisfied. Having managed to ensure a young lady came to no harm by the hand of the Earl of Rutherford, she is horrified to then discover the very same gentleman near death! With no choice but to come to his aid, both she and ‘The Shadows’ work tirelessly to discover who is trying to rob the earl of his life. Setting aside her dislike for him, she protects and supports Lord Rutherford and, in doing so, begins to discover the gentleman hiding underneath the roguish exterior. Stephen, the Earl of Rutherford, has always enjoyed the ...

“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 ...

It is March 1870. London is in the grip of fog and ice. But Scotland Yard's Inspector Ben Ross has more than the weather to worry about when the body of a young woman is found in a dustbin at the back of a Piccadilly restaurant. Ben must establish who the victim is before he can find out how and why she came to be there. His enquiries lead him first to a bootmaker in Salisbury and then to a landowner in Yorkshire.

London, 1866. Móirín Donnelly has spent the last five years working in the shadows for the Dread Penny Society, a secret fraternity of penny dreadful authors who use their profits, influence, and street smarts to protect the poor and vulnerable of Victorian London. But spending so much of her life in secret is taking its toll on her soul—and her heart. When members of the Dread Penny Society begin disappearing, Móirín turns to her friend Detective Constable Fitzgerald Parkington for help.

A Noble Hearts Regency Romance When danger entangles Maggie Winters and Maxwell Wilde into a treacherous game can they survive the darkness to embrace love’s light? A widow with a tragic past… Maggie Winters had everything she always wished for — betrothed to the man of her dreams, a loving home, and a new puppy. But it all changes when her parents die, and her new guardian sweeps Maggie from town and forces her to marry a stranger to pay his debts. When she suddenly finds herself a widow and free of an unhappy marriage, can she finally find the love she's dreamed of? A hero with a ...

The road to true love is made rocky with horse thieves, highwaymen, former fiances, and a very determined Bow Street Runner. "Melanie Jackson is a talent to watch." —WritersWrite.com With the letter breaking his engagement, Stephan Kirton's hopes for respectability and happiness went up in smoke. It was inevitable that his travels abroad and "interaction with the lower classes" would put him beyond the scope of polite society. That and he was born a bastard. Ormstead Park was a place for dancing and flirting, for drinking and gambling, and for less innocent sports. It was a place where he...

London, 1851. With the opening of the Great Exhibition at hand, interest in mounting in the engineering triumphs of the railways, but not everyone feels like celebrating. In an audacious attack, the London to Birmingham mail train is robbed and derailed, causing many casualties. Planned with military precision, this crime proves a challenge to Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck who fights to untangle a web of murder, blackmail and destruction.

Hannah Cameron was not well-liked, but who stabbed her in the back? To almost everyone, the answer was clear: she was killed by a burglar. This case is given to Inspector Nivens, so Mrs. Jeffries and the rest of the household must tiptoe around this case to find the real killer.

Will a shocking mystery lead Henrietta to her one true love? Henrietta is now Lady Chaucer and her life is about to become a whole lot worse. Lord Chaucer is cruel, hate-filled, and determined to shrink her life until he has complete control. Everything she has ever dreamed about is gone in a moment. Until she wakes up the next morning in a completely different house, finds out her husband is dead – and that she had the knife. Mr. Francis Newton knows he shouldn’t be falling for Lady Chaucer, but he cannot control his heart. To make matters worse, he is the one that he found her at the ...

Follow these lovely Daughters of Devonshire on their journey to discovering true love Books in this collection: Lady of His Dreams The Heart of a Lady A Lady's Melody Worthy of a Lady Author's Note: These are all clean short stories with a HEA.

A mysterious stranger carrying a swordstick walks the gaslit alleys and night houses of Victorian London.What is he seeking?London in 1853 - a mist-shrouded city where the grand houses of the wealthy lie a stone's throw from the vilest slums and rookeries of the poor.Who is this man so determined to fight for justice against all the wrongs of Victorian society? What are the origins of the mysterious William Quest?In a pursuit from the teeming streets of London to the lonely coast of Norfolk, Inspector Anders of Scotland Yard is determined to uncover the truth.To an explosive climax where ...