Victorian English Mystery

"The good old days" aren't all they're cracked up to be...at least in Jeanne M. Dams's turn-of-the-century novels. Her woman on the spot, Hilda Johansson, a maid in the Studebaker household in South Bend, sees what's going on among the rich, suffers what's going on among the less fortunate...and has no trouble telling it like it is.

Jem Barbary spent most of his early life picking pockets for a wily old crook named Sarah Pickles - until she betrayed him. Now Jem wants revenge, but first he needs a new job. Luckily Alfred the bogler, the man who kills the child-eating monsters that hide in the shadows of Victorian London, needs a new apprentice.

The Welsh borders, 1870s. On the cusp of adulthood, Eliza Mace is battling for her independence. Stuck in a crumbling manor house on the fringe of a small town, she is thwarted by powers that conspire to protect, control and deceive her. But when her father goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Eliza’s determination to uncover the truth is unstoppable. Joining forces with the charismatic new police constable, Dafydd Pritchard, she sets out to solve the case, but that’s no easy task. Her father has run up debts in town and beyond, and there are many who bear him a grudge.

1887, the Cornwall coast. For years, rumors have flown through the village of Suttonsbury about Ashthorne Hall—that its occupants hoard pirate treasure, that a ghost walks its halls—but botanist Hyacinth Bell only cares about the estate’s extensive one-of-a-kind orchid collection. As an independent woman, she is eager to focus on her career, even if it means waiting to pursue a romantic relationship. After all, love—like an orchid—must be nurtured and tended before it can bloom. What she doesn’t expect is to be swept away by Lucas Harding, the manor’s caretaker, upon their first meeting.

On a dark, brooding evening on the Isle of Wight, Agnes Raybould and her companion find themselves an empty first-class compartment on the train. But before long a middle-aged man, clearly in high spirits after dining at his club, joins them, and begins a conversation. His name is Edwin Blanchard – and within moments of the train leaving the station, Agnes and her accomplice strangle him.

Manchester, England, 1857. When the largest art exhibition ever to be held in Manchester opens, Rosanna Hawkins—one of Manchester’s finest artists to reproduce “parlor versions” of classic masterpieces with near-perfect precision—attends, excited by the chance to sketch such famous works. When she meets the handsome Detective Martin Harrison, who is head of security for the exhibition, she is immediately intrigued. But the couple’s blossoming summer romance takes a strange turn when Rosanna recognizes her own works on display in the exhibition hall.

A country house retreat with friends like Benjamin Maker should be exactly the relaxation Amethyst Forester needs. But this country house comes with unbearable snobbery and a missing person. Needing support, Amethyst calls Inspector Jenson to come and investigate. As jealousies and hatred threaten both Maker and Amethyst, Jenson becomes their greatest ally. Amethyst’s inventions are increasing her fortunes, both good and bad, making her a target. Already off-kilter after an unexpected proposal, Amethyst finds something she believed lost forever.

Steamy regency romance. Redeeming a rake can be so satisfying. Four complete novels. Each filled with intrigue, danger, and true love.

Maisie Thomas spends every summer at Grange House, a hotel on the coast of Maine ruled by the elegant Miss Grange. In 1896, when Maisie turns 17, her visit marks a turning point. On the morning after her arrival, local fishermen make a gruesome discovery: drowned lovers, found clasped in each other's arms. It's only the first in a series of events that casts a shadow over Maisie's summer. As she considers the attentions of two very different young men, Maisie also falls under the gaze of Miss Grange, who begins to tell her disturbing stories of her past.

London, 1890. Mina Murray once lived an adventurous life, but after a tragedy in the forests of Transylvania, she left it all behind. Now she has settled into a quiet routine as a schoolteacher in London, engaged to the respectable solicitor Jonathan Harker, attempting to fit into the stuffy upper class London society to which he belongs. But when vampires abduct Jonathan, her dark past comes careening into her present.

London, 1897: Lady Christiana Harker once committed a grave sin against her kind when she saved Inspector Elijah Drexler's life by turning him into a vampire. Christiana's bold act has only driven Elijah deeper into an impenetrable darkness, fueled by morphine, nightmares, and a constant thirst for blood. Elijah has no room left in his heart for anything but his quest for vengeance against his childhood tormentor, a quest that he fully expects to end with his own death.

When a brutal attack leaves Agatha DeLacey blind, she and the Artful Dodger find themselves at the mercy of an experimental biomech surgery. Though the procedure restores Aggie’s sight, her new eyes come at an unnerving cost, and the changes in Dodger are even more alarming - instead of seeing Aggie as the girl he fancies, he now views her as a potential threat.

Cassandra Northrup had believed Nathaniel dead - until now. Once she had loved him, given herself to him in the hidden depths of the snow-covered Pyrenees. But then she had betrayed him. Relief at the sight of Nathaniel turns to darkest shame as Cassie sees the hate in his eyes.

The Secret Agent was one of the first espionage novels ever written, and it is certainly one of the finest in the oeuvre of Joseph Conrad. The story concerns the attempt by a group of back-alley revolutionaries to destroy one of London's most famous landmarks and thereby set off a revolution.

As a young medical student at Edinburgh, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle took classes with the remarkable Dr. Joseph Bell in forensic medicine. Dr. Bell exhibited many of the characteristics that Doyle would later synthesize into the personage of Sherlock Holmes: complete faith in human reason, meticulous powers of observation, and encyclopedic knowledge of the activities and methods of the criminal classes.

The year is 1873, and Sybil Ingram has come to a crossroads. Once she was the toast of the London stage, but now that she's 28 years old - very well, nearly 30 - her draw isn't what it used to be, and her theater troupe is foundering. When her trusted mentor asks her to take the blame for his financial misdeeds, Sybil sees no choice but to retire from the life she loves and move to America to marry New York City hotel magnate Alcott Lammle.

April 1831, her grace Corinne Monroe wants her widowed son, Lord Julian, to marry her best friend’s daughter, Miss Sophie Wilkie. Julian last saw Sophie when she was twelve years old, silent, skinny, and always staring at him. However, his mother is nothing if not persuasive, and Julian reluctantly accompanies her to London to meet the young lady. And he knows that whatever happens isn’t going to be good. Lord Devlin Monroe, Julian’s nephew, is very fond of his intriguing reputation in society: he delights, he frightens, he brings on delicious shudders. He’s enjoying a pleasant bachelor life....

When womanizer Sal Terranova meets Lulu Johansson, he's captivated by the beautiful, exciting brunette. Their romance is fiery and consuming, but can the joy of the Christmas season see them through?

When famous bounty hunter Thad McIntyre and lonely widow Jessie Alderman meet, a fiery romance flares between them, but terrible events threaten their happiness. A mysterious stranger also arrives in Echo Canyon. Is he friend or foe?

Revolutionary terrorists, a dead British agent, a man-eating tiger, and the Commander of the British Army cavorting with a Russian spy. Now it's a national emergency. Monarchies are collapsing daily and the world is on the brink of revolution, but most importantly--the game is afoot!