Victorian Suspense

Florida, 1884. It's a new year and Cassie Gwynne is determined to be done with the unseemly business of murder. Unfortunately, fate has other plans . . . The very next day, she happens upon the body of a newcomer to town—customs collector Chester Pence—floating beneath the boardwalk. Never one to shy away from a puzzle, Cassie can't resist getting involved in the investigation. It's no secret that Chester made a number of enemies in his short time in Fernandina: confiscating a beleaguered bride's wedding dress and a bossy businessman's cigars among many other mean acts.

Juniper has escaped her past, can she protect her future? Its the dawn of a new century and a vampire war threatens England. Juniper has finally made it to London but old dangers await her. With the help of the demon hunter Tom Constantine, she creates a new identity. She used to help vampires, but now she hunts them. It isn't her only mission. She has until summer to fulfill a prophecy that will change the world. Every demon in London would kill to stop her. Juniper crafts an intricate scheme to succeed with a team of allies including a brilliant detective, brave scholars, and even Harry ...

Lady Caroline had always been aware that her dearest friend, Lady Harriet’s twin brothers, Lord Dundee and Lord Erasmus, were handsome, but seeing them for the first time in years when she visits their father’s state for the summer, left her feeling overwhelmed. Even more so when Lord Dundee pays her more attention than usual. Lady Caroline knows of his reputation as a rake, but is drawn in by his charms. Lord Erasmus had admired and adored Lady Caroline from afar for a very long time, and is furious when she leaves her intellectual ways for frivolous shenanigans with Lord Dundee, but ...

This short story in the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series features one of the most beloved characters in the series, as well as giving the listener a tour of the boardinghouse itself. Chronologically, this story come soon after the events in Scholarly Pursuits, so if you don't like spoilers, you might want to wait to listen to it until you have finished that book.

Life in 1881 San Francisco is difficult if you are a poor widow like Mrs. O’Malley, especially when you have seven children and are forced to live in one of the crowded neighborhoods South of Market. Late one night, as she sat at the window of her crowded flat, sewing and worrying, she noticed something strange going on across the street. Her decision to investigate will have unexpected consequences.

The flat-cart rattled and bumped along the dirt road, the donkey moving at a sedate walk, in as little hurry as myself, apparently, to come to Innismore. I sat huddled on the boards, hands clasped and eyes roving the marshlands and bogs on either side of me, wondering what had possessed me to leave Dublin and come west into Connemara, this wild and rocky country that seemed as inhospitable as an Englishman’s musket. Seamus McCarty, he of the black scowl and the curious gray eyes, who drove the flat-cart and glanced at me from time to time with a quirking of his bushy eyebrows, was almost ...

An ill-fated grave-robbery unearths a corpse with a most disturbing symbol on it. The very same sign is daubed in blood on the walls of Edinburgh's lunatic asylum, on the night that one of the patients is murdered. The mark in question? The mark of the devil. The prime suspect: Amy McGray, the asylum's most infamous inmate, a young woman who has grown up behind bars after she killed her parents many years ago. Her brother, Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray, knows the evidence is stacked against her. To prove her innocence, he needs the help of an old friend.

April 1865. Having been an eyewitness to the assassination of President Lincoln, Matthew Grand, a former captain of the 3rd Cavalry of the Potomac, has come to London on an undercover assignment to hunt down the assassin's coconspirators. Ambitious young journalist Jim Batchelor has been charged with writing a feature article on the visiting American. Both men are distracted from their missions by the discovery of a body in London's Soho district.

This sequel to Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera begins just after Christine and Raoul leave the Phantom in his lair in the basement of the Opera House. After faking his own death to escape the Paris authorities, the Phantom sets out to find Christine again, eventually following her and Raoul to London. When a crazed maniac begins his killing spree not far from Christine's home, her life maybe in danger... In the ultimate test, will the Phantom put his life and his freedom at risk for his love?

1876, Victorian London. Minnie Ward, the feisty scriptwriter for the Variety Palace Music Hall, is devastated when her best friend is found brutally murdered. She enlists the help of private detective Albert Easterbrook to help her find justice, even though he already has his hands full trying to catch the notorious Hairpin Killer. Together they navigate London, from its high-class clubs to its murky underbelly. But as the bodies pile up, Albert's burgeoning feelings for his amateur partner start to interfere.

When Muriel Carew attends a lavish society party, the last person she expects to bump into is her ex-fiancee Henry Jekyll, a man she's not seen for many years. When Jekyll turns out to be investigating a series of missing persons in London, Muriel is intrigued. But Jekyll is not working alone, and if Muriel wants to aid in the investigation, she must work with both Henry and his partner, the monstrous and uncouth Mr Hyde.

Lord Hector Guthrie has a troubled past. A past that forced him to leave London, to hide his disgrace from everyone but himself. Finally, years later, he has returned, only to find himself saddled with a friend’s ward, promising to find her a suitable match. Determined to keep his past a secret, he tries to push his growing feelings for her aside. Miss Sophia Newton is perturbed by her sudden change in circumstances but soon finds Lord Guthrie to be more than amiable. However, one thing she did not expect is to find herself desperate for Lord Guthrie’s heart, battling against her sudden...

Spring, 1890. The long New York winter is over, the buds are blossoming, and romance is in the air. But not all’s right in Gilded-Age Manhattan. Genevieve, a society journalist, and her fiancé, Daniel, are working with photographer Dagmar Hansen on an investigation into the House of Refuge, a children’s workhouse, inspired by Daniel’s near incarceration when he was young. Genevieve is also working on her own piece for the Globe about the Sunflower Mission House, which burned down in a suspicious fire.

Claire and Mel follow a clue to the local Victoriana Fun Fair, which seems to be a little bit funny…
Fully illustrated.

A Victorian Mystery 2 of 4

Miss Lane is puzzled by Jasper Jesperson's interest in what seems a very minor theft - possibly even a prank - from the storerooms at the British Museum. But London in the 1890s is rife with secret organisations, cults and individuals eager to acquire some of the legendary magic of ancient Egypt. The deeper the two detectives dig, the more hidden crimes they uncover, and the higher the death toll mounts. And at the centre of it all is the 'Mystery Mummy' recently acquired by the museum. Are the deaths and madness truly caused by a mummy's curse? Or is there a living villain to be apprehended?

Marian Halcolmbe finds and marries her true love, Theo Camlet. But when Theo’s first wife, who everyone believed to be dead, reappears, Marian and her brother-in-law, Walter, must delve into the darkest and most dangerous corners of London to save Theo from accusations of bigamy and murder, as well as the hangman’s noose. Victorian literature's most exciting heroine, Marian Halcombe, stars in Brenda Clough’s thrilling and romantic sequel to Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White.

London, 1833. Doctress Hester Reeves has been offered a life-changing commission. But it comes at a price. She must leave behind her husband and their canal-side home in Kings Cross and move to Tall Trees—a dark and foreboding house in Fitzrovia. If Hester can cure the ailing health of its owner, Gervaise Cherville, she will receive payment that will bring her everything she could dream of. But on arriving at Tall Trees, Hester quickly discovers that an even bigger task awaits her.

Miss Calamity Calloway is the epitome of efficiency as long as she’s typing travel reports, but when she’s out in the world, the troubles start. Tripping over laces, bumping into people on the street, and tumbling into awkward situations is the order of her days, and unfortunately, her handsome neighbor is usually a witness. All she longs for is a bit of trouble-free adventure.

Ariana Caldwell has grown up in the shadow of a secret family tragedy, at the heart of which lay Trenton Kingsley. Forced to marry a man she had been led to hate-and fear-Ariana is helplessly caught in the renewed fury of an ancient feud. But despite the danger, her husband's unaccountable torment only draws Ariana closer, and her instincts will not allow her to retreat. Caught between Trenton's brooding desire and her brother's imperious demands, Ariana is on an odyssey for the truth . . . consumed by the promise of a passionate, overwhelming love.

England, 1883. Recovering from a devastating loss, Evelyn has become determined to use her powers to save other gifted people from those who would study and oppress them. But when her rescue of a young telekinetic girl goes terribly wrong, Evelyn finds herself involved with a secret society devoted to recruiting and protecting people like Evelyn and her friends. Like magic, Evelyn's problems start to disappear. Her reputation is repaired, her friends are provided for, and her parents are thrilled at all her new suitors.