Historical Fiction

A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

21 June, 1815. London may be cheering the news of Napoleon's surrender at Waterloo, but Lady Petra Forsyth has little to celebrate after discovering that the death of her viscount fiancé three years earlier was no accident. Instead, it was murder, and the man responsible is her handsome, half-Scottish secret paramour Duncan Shawcross-yet the scoundrel has disappeared, leaving only a confusing riddle about long-forgotten memories in his wake. So what's a lady to do when she can't hunt down her traitorous lover? She concentrates on a royal assignment instead.

London, 1924. Following several months abroad, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to intercept a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She-the Watson to his Holmes-along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable "dragon-taming" mace. The mace's owner is a lovely Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G.

Just before Christmas 1799, Elma Sands slips out of her Quaker cousin's boarding house--and doesn't come home. Has she eloped? Run away? No one knows--until her body appears in the Manhattan Well. Her family insists they know who killed her. Handbills circulate around the city accusing a carpenter named Levi Weeks of seducing and murdering Elma. But privately, quietly, Levi's wealthy brother calls in a special favor.... Aaron Burr's legal practice can't finance both his expensive tastes and his ambition to win the 1800 New York elections.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson's family. Twelve years later, she's ready for retribution. Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family's downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of thirteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who've wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served. But Anna's plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers.

In Grim Wolds, England, Winifred Notty takes on the role of governess at Ensor House, where she must navigate the twisted dynamics of the dysfunctional Pounds family while suppressing her own violent past; as Christmas approaches, she plans sinister gifts for her charges, revealing her true nature.

When Sam's plane crashes catastrophically over the Atlantic, it defies all odds for Sam to be the sole survivor. But it seems impossible that she's rescued by a warship in 1805. With a dashing sea captain as her guide, she begins to find her footing in a world she'd only seen in movies. Then Sam is betrayed. At the mercy of the men and morals of the time, and without the means to survive on her own, she's left with no choice but to throw herself on the charity of the captain's sisters. She resigns herself to a quiet life of forever hiding her true self.

Paris, 1774 ... With Sophie Twisden's grandmother laid up with an illness, causing them to withdraw from the Paris social scene, the pompous Sheldon Cholmsley appoints himself as Sophie's "protector." Protector? Ha! More like tormentor. So when her new friend Basile Gervain offers her the protection of his name and promises he will not allow harm to come to her reputation when she breaks their sham betrothal and returns to London, she has little hesitation in accepting.

When Sam's plane crashes catastrophically over the Atlantic, it defies all odds for Sam to be the sole survivor. But it seems impossible that she's rescued by a warship in 1805. With a dashing sea captain as her guide, she begins to find her footing in a world she'd only seen in movies. Then Sam is betrayed. At the mercy of the men and morals of the time, and without the means to survive on her own, she's left with no choice but to throw herself on the charity of the captain's sisters. She resigns herself to a quiet life of forever hiding her true self.