Autumn, 1394, and all is not well at Swyne Priory. Dissension has arisen amongst the nuns. The new novices whisper in corners, spreading malicious rumours and sharing dark secrets. The Prioress gives Hildegard an order: search out the cause of this unrest, and put a stop to it. But before Hildegard can investigate, she’s forced […]
Too Good to Hang by Sarah Hawkswood
It’s April, 1145, and Thorgar the ploughman is found by the bloodied body of Father Edmund, a village priest in Ripple, and is summarily hanged for being caught in the act, despite his pleas of innocence. When his sister goes to Worcester to seek justice for Thorgar, the lord Sheriff sends Hugh Bradecote, with Serjeant […]
A Thief’s Justice by Douglas Skelton
London, 1716. The city is caught in the vice-like grip of a savage winter. Even the Thames has frozen over. But for Jonas Flynt – thief, gambler, killer – the chilling elements are the least of his worries… Justice Geoffrey Dumont has been found dead at the base of St Paul’s cathedral, and a young […]
The Crimson Child by RN Morris
Spring 1880 in St Petersburg. While on an outing with his family in a leafy park, a retired general encounters a mysterious child dressed in red. The child leads him to a secluded spot. And a violent death. The shocking crime, committed in broad daylight against a respected member of the establishment, strikes terror at […]
Rivers of Treason by K J Maitland
London, 1607, and as dawn breaks, Daniel Pursglove rides north, away from the watchful eye of the King and his spies. He returns, disguised, to his childhood home in Yorkshire — with his own score to settle. The locals have little reason to trust a prying stranger, and those who remember Daniel do so with […]
Parting fools from their money in the brothels and gaming houses of the 1600s
Innocent new arrivals in London were preyed on by brothel owners and gaming houses, says KJ Maitland, author of Rivers of Treason. Here she looks at the kinds of establishments that reeled so-called pigeons and plump virgins into trugging houses and nunneries (low- and high-class brothels) and rigged gaming tables where fools and their money […]
Murder under a Red Moon by Harini Nagendra
When new bride Kaveri Murthy reluctantly agrees to investigate a minor crime during the blood moon eclipse to please her domineering mother-in-law, she doesn’t expect to stumble upon a murder — again. With anti-British sentiments on the rise, a charismatic religious leader growing in influence, and the fight for women’s suffrage gaining steam, Bangalore is […]
A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into […]