Victorian Suspense

It is the summer of 1871 when Scotland Yard's Inspector Ben Ross pays a visit to Jacob Jacobus, the old rogue of Limehouse: infamous antiquarian, friend to villains, and informer to the police. Ben hopes to glean information about any burglaries that might take place now that the wealthiest echelons of society are back in London for the season.

Mail-order-bride-to-be Heather Stanford dreads the day the matron of the St. Louis bridal agency finds her a husband and sends her west. Heather actually has no desire to marry; she just wants to free her struggling family from the financial burden of another mouth to feed. Still, she holds true to her plan when the fateful day arrives and Mrs. Seymour sings the praises of her prospective groom.

Lord Lindale wants the truth. Lady Ellen wants to keep her family’s secret hidden. One lady intrigues the new Marquess of Lindale. He is interested in getting to know Lady Ellen. However, Lord Lindale does not believe she is entirely trustworthy. He even believes that she stole something of great importance from his house. *** Lady Ellen does not trust anybody who holds the Marquess of Lindale title. How could the new marquess be any different from his late uncle? When Ellen does the unthinkable and steals from Lord Lindale, she believes it will right the Lindale line's wrongs. What she ...

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...

Can Emily find the courage to save herself and give her heart to the man she truly loves? Miss Emily Smythe has loved Viscount Wickton ever since she set eyes on him. Having always been a quiet wallflower, she lacks the courage to tell Lord Wickton the truth about how she feels. However, Lord Wickton does not appear to be at all interested in her and, despite her sorrow, Emily decides that she will have to allow Lord Davenport to pursue her instead. Lord Arthur Wickton has always appreciated Miss Smythe’s acquaintance but has never allowed himself to consider his heart. When witnessing ...

Lady Marion is most displeased. Her father, Lord Audley, is determined that she should marry a gentleman of his choice. However, when his favored suitor is one Lord Haddington, Marion finds herself bitterly disappointed. Alexander, the Earl of Haddington, finds himself quite caught up with Lady Marion. Determined that he will not allow himself to feel anything for her, he seeks to court her but holds his emotions back. However, a sudden illness begins to strike Alexander down each time he draws close to Lady Marion. Weak and confused, he does his best to find a remedy but finds himself ...

Christopher Cynster has finally accepted that to have the life he wants, he needs a wife, but before he can even think of searching for the right lady, he’s drawn into an investigation into the distribution of counterfeit banknotes. London born and bred, Ellen Martingale is battling to preserve the fiction that her much-loved uncle, Christopher’s neighbor, still has his wits about him, but Christopher’s questions regarding nearby Goffard Hall trigger her suspicions. As her younger brother attends card parties at the Hall, she feels compelled to investigate.

Anastasia is a completely average almost-eleven-year-old. That is, UNTIL her parents die in a tragic vacuum-cleaner accident. UNTIL she's rescued by two long-lost great-aunties. And UNTIL she's taken to their delightful and, er, "authentic" Victorian home, St. Agony's Asylum for the Criminally Insane. But something strange is going on at the asylum. Anastasia soon begins to suspect that her aunties are not who they say they are. So when she meets Ollie and Quentin, two mysterious brothers, the three join together to plot their great escape!

The sole survivor of his family’s gruesome murder years earlier, poor little Ned Lawton has struggled to put the dark events behind him. So, when a brash New York detective darkens his doorway demanding an interview, the wealthy young gentleman immediately shuts him out. But a rash of murders in America are mirroring of the London killings, and Patrick Kelly knows Ned might be the key to stopping the bloodshed.

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 ...

Viscount Simon Thackery has never really been interested in marriage. Of course, he will have to marry one day but he’s rather reluctant to find himself a suitable wife in among the ton. Unfortunately, he’s agreed to host his cousin, Sophia, for the Season but when she appears with her companion, Miss Clara Dynes, Simon can sense there is trouble brewing. Miss Dynes is young, beautiful and certainly not old enough to be anyone’s companion! So why is she hiding with the wallflowers instead of searching for a husband of her own? What is it that she’s so afraid of? And when things turn...

Why do the fallen women in The Magdalen House refuge continue to die mysteriously? A devastating fire at Danvers’s ancestral home induces Charles to accept his brother Frederick’s plea for help with his work among fallen women and impoverished orphans in York. Charles soon finds himself struggling to identify a ruthless murderer while Antonia helps feed the women and children living in the asylum Frederick runs. The trial of notorious poisoner William Dove leads to surprising discoveries and sets legal precedent still followed today.

Crime-scene photographers Sarah, Hugh, and Mick are summoned to the goriest crime scene they've ever encountered. A pub owner named Harry Warbrick has been found hanged. His murder becomes a sensation because he was England's top hangman. Sir Gerald, owner of the Daily World, announces that they‚ meaning Sarah and her friends‚ will investigate and solve Warbrick's murder before the police do. She and her friends discover a connection between Warbrick's murder and the most notorious criminal he ever executed: Amelia Carlisle.

Samuel Black must make a decision: to be a spy like his father or follow his heart. Either is likely to give his mother chest pains.

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.

A betrayal...a secret baby….an unknown imposter…will Tess survive the wagon train journey to Sunset Hills, Oregon after her life is threatened? And if so, what will she do once she gets there? 1855. Tess Findlay can’t wait to be reunited with her beau who went out west three months ago to mine for gold, saying he’d send for her soon. Even though she hasn’t heard from him, she’s discovered she’s with child and decides to join a wagon train to travel to Oregon to surprise him with the news. When a band of robbers holds up the caravan, Tess is shocked to recognize her beau as one...

Stacie - Lady Eustacia Cavanaugh - is adamant marriage is not for her. Wealthy and well-born, she needs for nothing, and with marriage off the table, to give her life purpose, she embarks on a plan to further the careers of emerging local musicians by introducing them to the ton via a series of musical evenings. Yet despite her noble status, Stacie requires a musical lure to tempt the haut ton to her events, and only one musician commands sufficient cachet - the reclusive and notoriously reluctant Marquess of Albury.

Phoebe Atkinson is what society might call unconventional. Instead of marrying well like other women born to wealth, she chose to be a schoolteacher. Not to mention she lives in a leaky flat in an unfashionable part of town rather than stay in her parents’ mansion. But when her most promising pupil goes missing she has only one option: beg her sister’s best friend, the powerful Duke of Ellis, for help.

Charlotte Pitt's sister, Emily, has been accused of murdering her wayward but wealthy husband. Now Charlotte and police inspector Thomas Pitt must breach a formidable uppercrust barrier to prove Emily's innocence. Anne Perry's Victorian mysteries are rich and suspenseful journeys into a world filled with impeccable manners and intrigue.

It is San Francisco in the summer of 1882, and Annie and Nate Dawson have finally found a good balance between the demands of family and work. Nate has an interesting legal case defending a young woman who has been left out of her mother’s will. Annie is looking into whether the financial difficulties facing the Potrero Woolen Mills are caused by bad management or bad luck.