Historical Mystery

Rome, 65 AD. Someone - or something - is killing prominent citizens in a brutal and violent way. Investigating the murders on behalf of the elite Eighth Cohort of Police, Quintus Julius Marcellus finds himself in a mesh of palace intrigue, and having to placate the paranoid Nero, protecting his Christian friends against the suspicion that focuses on them.

Having returned from his trip to Britain, Falco takes up employment with Africanus and Italicus, preparing an affidavit for the trial of a senator. The prosecution is successful, but a month later the senator is dead, apparently by suicide.  Book 15 of series.

At a Christmas house party on Dartmoor in 1935, Raymond Gentry's dead body is discovered in a locked room. Obviously not a suicide, so how was the murder committed? One of the guests, crime writer Evadne Mount, is on hand to investigate.

Over one hundred years ago in Sardinia a young man was accused of theft and murder, and found guilty in absentia. To the courts and police this was an open and shut case, but the advocate wanted to test the evidence against the facts. To do this his only recourse was to set a trap of his own!

You might be able to explain the necklace and antique pistol being stolen, but the body in the lake is a different matter. It isn’t going to be easy working out who killed whom. Will Inspector Wilkins be able to solve the mystery?  Book 1 of series.

The Earl of Burford throws a party. Guests include a fading Hollywood actor, his producer, an Italian actress, a writer, a painter and an Olympic athlete. A murder takes place in the night, and Inspector Wilkins is called in to investigate.  Book 2 of series.

Understandably, Lord Burford had some misgivings about hosting another house party at Alderley, his beautiful country mansion. It didn't take long for things to start to go wrong. When one of the guests was found dead, Lord Burford had never been so relieved to see Chief Inspector Wilkins - again!  Book 3 of series.

1922. When Lady Emily Fitzallan returns to Leysmorton Manor where she spent her childhood, it brings back many memories. But the disturbing discovery of a soldier’s skeleton at the base of an ancient Yew tree brings the past shockingly into the present. Could the man’s untimely death have its roots in her sister Clare’s disappearance, which occurred almost half a century ago . . .?

For Marcus Didius Falco, Alexandria holds fascination and a hint of fear. Beautiful and historic, the great city wears Roman rule lightly. While his wife, Helena Justina, wants to see the Lighthouse and the Pyramids, Falco has a mission at the Great Library.  Book 19 of series.

Ruth Seabright , governess to Lester Ballard’s son, finds the dead body of her employer, clad in strange attire. Her charge is missing and someone has been searching through her room.

The death of a beautiful New York socialite whose body is pulled from the sea off the small town of Amagansett on the coast of Long Island was apparently accidental, but the new deputy police chief is not convinced. Set in the post-WW2 era this literary crime novel describes a community whose way of life is disappearing.

Set in England in 1819, Thomas Shield is a master at a school near London attended by a young American boy and his friend, Charles Frant. Thomas, drawn to Frant's beautiful mother, is caught up in her family's deadly tangle of sex, money, murder and lies. At the heart of all this is the American boy, but what is the secret about him?

On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street. Maisie is invited into Scotland Yard's elite Special Branch as an adviser on the case and becomes involved in a race against time to find a man who proves he has the knowledge, and will, to murder thousands of innocent people.

During the annual Sherlock Holmes festival in Meiringen, Switzerland, novelist Gustav Slavorigin is murdered. None of the festival guests are above suspicion. Even amateur sleuth Evadne Mount is unprepared for the twists and turns of the investigation which climaxes at Meiringen’s principal tourist attraction, the Reichenbach Falls.

Inspector Archie Penrose has invited Josephine Tey to his family home in Cornwall. But death clouds the holiday when the local theatre proves to be a stage for real-life tragedy. Archie and Josephine must confront the violent reality which lies beneath a seemingly idyllic community...

In 1363, when people start dying in strange circumstances the common link seems to be herbal remedies dispensed by Nicholas Wilton. Owen Archer is sent to York to solve the mystery.

Devilish, debonair rogue, Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar, robs from within prison, leaves its walls with ease, steals priceless diamonds from the rich and outwits the greatest detective of all: Sherlock Holmes. These eight dazzling short stories display some of Lupin’s greatest thefts and escapes.

The King of England has ordered his Mistress of the Art of Death, Adelia Aguilar, to accompany 10-year-old Princess Joanna on her journey to marry the King of Sicily. But one traveller has been watching Adelia all too closely. He wants Adelia dead ...but he wants her to suffer first.

Gilbert de Rideford, Knight of the Temple of Solomon, claims to have come into possession of a secret that could shake Christendom to its foundations. He asks for Crowner John's help to escape from the secretive order of warrior monks. Swept into a world of religious intrigue and dangerous politics, Crowner John finds himself undertaking a mission to the Island of Lundy - inhabited by notorious pirates - until finally the awful secret itself is revealed.

New Orleans, 1919. A dark serial killer - The Axeman - stalks the city, and three individuals set out to unmask him. As Michael, Luca and Ida each draw closer to discovering the killer's identity, the Axeman himself will issue a challenge to the people of New Orleans: play jazz or risk becoming the next victim. And as the case builds to its crescendo, the sky will darken and a great storm will loom over the city…

In nineteenth-century Istanbul, a Polish prince has been kidnapped, but little do the kidnappers realise that their revolutionary cell has been penetrated by their enemies. As Yashim, the Ottoman detective, draws closer to the prince's whereabouts, he finds himself in the most treacherous situation of his career.

Balmoral Castle, 1905. For Rose McQuinn, a cottage on the Royal estate promises a summer of unaccustomed luxury. But the holiday takes a darker turn when Rose is warned not to interfere in two deaths that occur soon after her arrival. When the sinister tide of events threatens her own family, Rose is determined to track down the killer lurking among the sportsmen - a killer whose aim is to bring down more than just the game birds.

Theatre troupe Westfield's Men take on a new actor, Francis Quilter, after reaching new heights of success. But with the new member, brings new trouble. Quilter's father, Gerard, is on trial for the murder of an enemy, but he denies the charge and Nicholas Bracewell sets about proving his innocence. However, Bracewell's loyalty to Francis drives a wedge between the players. Who will clear the Quilter family name? On their quest for the truth, they stumble across an unlikely ally, who may just hold the answers they're looking for.

When Gregory Matthews, patriarch of the Poplars is found dead one morning, imperious Aunt Harriet blames it on the roast duck he ate for supper. After all, she had warned him about his blood pressure. But a post-mortem determines that the cause of death is much more sinister. Murder. By poison. Suspicion falls immediately amongst his bitter, quarrelsome family. Each has a motive; each, opportunity. It falls to Superintendent Hannasyde to sift through all the secrets and lies and discover just who killed Gregory Matthews, before the killer strikes again...  Book 5 of series.

When the famous jockey, Fred Archer (known as the Tinman) shoots himself the verdict is suicide, but the Prince of Wales is suspicious. He decides to use his extensive knowledge of horse-racing to help him investigate the death.

May 1915. With thousands of Britons fighting in the trenches, a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the Home Front safe. Scotland Yard is already overstretched when the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots and arson attacks.

Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein, found dead in his burnt-out shop. Initially Jacob's killing appears to be the tragic excess of wartime hysteria - but when it transpires that Jacob had been stabbed, his safe ransacked, and his daughter Ruth raped, the possibility that these assaults were long-premeditated crimes becomes unavoidable.

Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups and contradictions and track down Jacob's killer and Ruth's assailants.

London, 1867. A woman lies murdered in Green Park. Allegra Benedict was the beautiful Italian wife of an art dealer. As Inspector Ben Ross of Scotland Yard begins his investigation, his wife Lizzie looks into Allegra's private life and uncovers more than one reason why someone might want her dead...  Book 3 of series.

Called in to investigate the disappearance of a rich man's 18-year-old daughter, Maisie discovers there are many reasons why the young woman might have left home. Maisie feels the daughter is safe, but is suddenly confronted by a murder scene.

Norman Birkett KC (1883-1962) was a real-life Rumpole - a distinguished and highly skilled lawyer who had numerous successes in the courtroom during his long career. This collection covers some of his most famous cases of the inter-war years, including the dramatic trial of Buck Ruxton; the notorious Dennistoun affair; and the peculiar events surrounding the mysterious cyclist Ronald Light.

Norman Birkett and the Case of the Coleford Poisoner - The celebrated advocate defends a woman accused of murdering her husband with arsenic.

Birkett and the Blind Soldier - When a blind First World War veteran is charged with killing his wife, Birkett takes on his defence.

Birkett and the Green Bicycle - Appearing for the prosecution, the brilliant barrister deals with a case involving death by gunshot, pacifism and chocolate...

Birkett and the Red Stains on the Carpet - The renowned KC defends a doctor accused of murdering and dismembering his wife and maid.

Birkett and the Naked Toreador - Norman Birkett takes on the case that made his name in this extraordinary saga of blackmail, snobbery, society scandal and bullfighting...

David Haig and Neil Dudgeon star as Birkett, with Alison Pettitt and Bonnie Engstrom as his wife, Billie, and Alun Raglan as his clerk, Edgar.

In 1905 railwayman Jim Stringer is driving summer visitors to Blackpool, one of Europe's busiest stations, when he hits a huge millstone on the track. Who wanted to derail the train, and why? As he investigates, his list of suspects just gets longer.

London, summer 1927. Frederick Rowlands, a First World War veteran who was blinded at Ypres, is working as a switchboard operator in the City when an over-heard telephone conversation draws him into a murder case.

From then on, his safe and conventional life, painstakingly reconstructed after the horrors he experienced in the trenches, is shaken to its very foundation. As Fred is drawn deeper into a web of lies and half-truths, he must rely on his remaining senses, as well as his remarkable memory, to uncover the shocking truth about the murder which threatens to undermine everything he holds dear.

First published as Line of Sight under A. C. Koning. Book 1 in The Blind Detective series.

On the eve of Elizabeth II's coronation, DI Stephens and Max Mephisto uncover an anarchist plot and a ticking bomb at the same time as solving the murder of a man close to them.  Book 3 of series.

August 1144. Osbern de Lench is known far and wide as a hard master, whose temper is perpetually frayed. After his daily ride to survey his land, his horse returns to the hall riderless, and the lifeless body of the lord is found soon after. Was it the work of thieves, or something closer to home?

With an heir who is cast in the same hot-tempered mould, sworn enemies for neighbours and something amiss in the relationship between Osbern and his wife, undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, the wily Serjeant Catchpoll and his apprentice Walkelin have suspects aplenty.

Book 8 in the Bradecote & Catchpoll mystery series.

London, 1856: A deadly act of terror on the Thames leads William Monk into a treacherous world where the powerful seek to buy justice, and no one is safe. It is a time of progress, with the Empire's interests expanding and the Suez Canal nearing completion. Many people stand to gain - and to lose - as the world rapidly changes.

In 1932, John Maddon, a retired police inspector is enjoying his new life with his family when a series of murders force him to take on one more case.

1812: Matthew Hawkwood, soldier turned spy, is stranded behind enemy lines, in America, a country at war with Britain. Heading for the safety of the Canadian border, with Major Douglas Lawrence, the two men uncover an American plot to invade Canada. If it is successful, the entire continent will be lost. The British authorities must be warned...