Society Mystery

Philip Gardiner has spent his life on a crusade uncovering the truth behind myths, legends and ancient mysteries. Author of the best selling Secrets of the Serpent and The Ark, the Shroud and Mary, the author now delves into another aspect of the human enigma with Secret Societies. In Secret Societies, Gardiner's quest is to uncover truths and secrets of the world's most powerful men in history.

Armed with Victorian etiquette, a fully loaded walking stick, and a dead husband, Beatrice Knight arrives in colonial Kenya desperate for a pot of tea and a pinch of cinnamon. But she'll need more than that if she's to unravel the mystery of the Ghosts of Tsavo without being eaten in the process. All this while surviving the machinations of her best friend's dashing godfather and the efforts of her safari guide to feed her to any lion willing to drag her away. What is a ghost-chasing widow to do?

Want to learn the secrets of secret societies? Have you or a family member been trapped in a secret society? Are secret societies really dangerous or just a group of like-minded people trying to accomplish something important for the betterment of the world? In this book, Notorious Secret Societies, you'll everything you want and need to know!

Nell Pratt, president of the Pennsylvania Antiquarian Society, has something to smile about thanks to a generous donation from a major Philadelphia developer who's willing to help update their museum. But renovations have barely begun when a man is struck by a car in front of the building and killed. The victim is a construction worker who found a curious metal object while excavating an old privy in the museum's basement. Nell thinks the death is somehow connected to the Society, and her suspicions are confirmed.

Conspiracy theories, and particularly the belief that elements of the world are secretly controlled by individuals or groups, have been around for as long as people have lived in groups. Perhaps that’s inevitable - after all, those who are excluded from power are very likely to be inclined to see their position not as an outcome of their own choices or situation but because of the secret machinations of shadowy groups.

Set in turn of the century London, The Friday Society follows the stories of three very intelligent and talented young women, all of whom are assistants to powerful men: Cora, lab assistant; Michiko, Japanese fight assistant; and Nellie, magician's assistant. The three young women's lives become inexorably intertwined after a chance meeting at a ball that ends with the discovery of a murdered mystery man. It's up to these three, in their own charming but bold way, to solve the murder....

The Illuminati dominates any discussion of secret societies. Search the web, spark up a conversation, or search through a library shelf, and soon enough you will encounter their name. They have become an ancient order and a modern sensation at the same time. At once a ubiquitous herald of the new world order and the people who market pop albums, trying to discern the truth about the organization can get lost amid the hail of noise that inevitably follows any mention of their name.

Daisy Mazlo faces a dilemma. She's met the man of her dreams in Cooper MacNeill, a gentleman in every sense of the word: tall, handsome, wealthy, witty, and very interested in her. But Daisy can't accept his love, so she runs away, moving back to Oakville, where she grew up, to sort out her feelings. Will the small, loving community of her past help her find herself? Will Cooper come after her? Will a letter be pivotal in resolving Daisy's dilemma?

Beatrice Knight has enough to contend with: A zebra is dead on her lawn, her horse is possessed, and a gentleman has arrived with the temerity to propose to her. To top it off, her dead husband, Gideon, has absconded with an automaton, threatening to return for his wife. The wife in question, however, soon has other issues, for a killer has moved into town with a nasty habit of carving up the victims. As luck should dictate, who should be the next target but Mrs. Knight herself?

Piper makes a gruesome discovery while remodeling the old farmhouse. The second location of their bakery must open in a month or risk losing all of their new customers. Can she solve this mystery in time?

Mary Gardner is a successful career-oriented woman with a passion for work and books. She is part of the Monday Mystery Society at Acorns, the local bookstore in Oakville. Her life is perfect, in her opinion, till she meets Stefan. Things start going downhill as he infiltrates her work, her life and her heart.

Benjamin Pratt’s school is about to become the site of a new amusement park. It sounds like a dream come true! But lately, Ben has been wondering if he’s going to like an amusement park in the middle of his town—with all the buses and traffic and eight-dollar slices of pizza. It’s going to change everything. And, Ben is not so big on all the new changes in his life....

This is a neo-Victorian romance of fine mysteries, upset stomachs, and torrential downpours. Julia can't handle people. Lara can't handle Julia. Neither of the two knows how to deal with the feelings they bring out in each other. When a shared love of Victorian mysteries bring these two mismatched girls together, can the matchmaking track record of the Monday Mystery Society remain unbroken in the face of overwhelming odds?

Janie is a confident, professional editor in her thirties, when she's not around men. The opposite sex sends her into frazzled and tongue-tied states of being. She prefers the company of her best friend Sharon Hall, or no company at all, and is largely alone. When she joins the Monday Mystery Society book club, she hopes to make connections with other Oakville residents through literature, especially Victorian mysteries. Little does she know that at the book club, there is a tendency to find love in unexpected places.

To the discerning few were revealed the esoteric, or spiritual, teachings, while the unqualified received only the literal, or exoteric, interpretations. In order to make simple the great truths of nature and the abstract principles of natural law, the vital forces of the universe were personified, becoming the gods and goddesses of the ancient mythologies. While the ignorant multitudes brought their offerings to the altars of Priapus and Pan, the wise recognized in these marble statues only symbolic concretions of great abstract truths.

Lily is a top-tier agent for the CIA, though her husband was told she’s an agricultural attaché to explain her overseas missions. Disturbing developments at the office foreshadow developing troubles. When she is suddenly sent on a strange mission starting in Afghanistan with a multinational mixed team, they subsequently are forced to fight for their lives, constantly on the run, chased across several continents. Aware of background players, she must cope without the normal support and resources at home.

Ivy and Maple have been best friends ever since they were born at exactly the same minute 12 years earlier. They're always on the look-out for a new adventure, but unfortunately Crowood Peak is officially the most boring town in the world. Or at least it was until children start to mysteriously disappear and, even stranger, none of the grown-ups seem to have noticed. It's up to the Double Trouble Society to work out what's going on. All the evidence points to the old mansion next door with strange green lights in the windows and a new owner who looks suspiciously like a witch!

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark. But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone.

Twelve-year-old Tessa was looking forward to baking cookies, relaxing, and spending time with her best friend Dennis in their clubhouse, but with the sudden arrival of Katie—her perfect gymnast cousin from the US—Tessa's plans change. Katie isn't very nice at the best of times, but now has turned downright hostile, and is threatening to ruin everyone's summer.

Join former sheriff Jessie Townsend as his journey takes him across a nation that is a mere shell of its former self after suffering numerous devastating blows from an orchestrated collapse and the attacks that followed.