historical murder mystery Archives

The Thirteenth Apostle is Published Today!

Congratulations to R. M. Cullen, whose page-turning historical murder mystery, The Thirteenth Apostle, is published today!

The Thirteenth Apostle is the Richard Brinsley Sheridan Mysteries: eighteenth-century crime thrillers set in London at a time of Revolution.

1793

England is at war with France and London is teeming with spies and agents.

Pitt’s Government has become increasingly repressive and poses a threat to liberal reformers like the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Meanwhile, other terrors stalk the night streets of the city. There is a killer abroad, targeting homosexual men. Each victim has been marked with an arcane symbol carved into their brow.

When one of Sheridan’s actors, Andrew, is found murdered in a Covent Garden bagnio the playwright is drawn into the murky world of hidden lives and secret liaisons as he tries to apprehend the assassin.

And as the number of victims begin to mount and someone in Sheridan’s inner circle comes under attack, the need to stop the ruthless killer becomes more urgent.

Can Sheridan advocate for the victims who are scorned by most of society? Will he find justice for their untimely deaths?

Or will this new London prove the perfect breeding ground for murderous fanatics…?

The Lost Girls is Published Today

Congratulations to Donna Gowland, whose page-turning historical mystery, The Lost Girls, is published today!

The Lost Girls is the second book in the Mary Shelley Investigations series: Gothic murder mysteries with a tenacious literary heroine working as a female sleuth.

1815, London

After triumphantly solving a murder case in Paris, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin and Percy Shelly return to London penniless.

As Percy is still married to his estranged wife, he and Mary are shunned from polite society for living together out of wedlock.

Isolated and trapped in squalid lodgings, Mary finds herself alone while Percy escapes to the tavern. But one evening when she goes looking for him, she stumbles upon a body.

She leaves to fetch help and when she returns the dead girl is gone…

When she receives a note from an old friend and discovers another girl is missing, Mary wonders if the crimes are connected.

What happened to the body? Was it taken by the murderer?

Can Mary and Percy come together to solve another tricky case…?

Death’s Long Shadow is Published Today

Congratulations to R. M. Cullen, whose twisty murder mystery, Death’s Long Shadow, is out now!

Death’s Long Shadow is the second instalment in the Richard Brinsley Sheridan Mystery Series: eighteenth-century crime thrillers set in London at a time of Revolution.

1792

Playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s retreat to the country is interrupted when he stumbles upon a body during a woodland stroll.

The man is identified as Edward Stretton, cousin to Earl Cannock who Sheridan is residing with.

Stretton had a reputation as a scoundrel and seducer and was heavily in debt at the time of his death.

He had been poisoned, and when the Earl’s servants are questioned, unusual evidence puts one man in custody.

But Sheridan is not convinced of his guilt. And one another man is murdered, he suspects there may be a connection.

Can Sheridan uncover the link? Could he save an innocent man from death?

Or will this case prove too complex for this amateur sleuth…?

The Missing Wife is Out Now!

Congratulations to Donna Gowland, whose absorbing murder mystery, The Missing Wife, is out now!

The Missing Wife is the first book in the Mary Shelley Investigation series.

1814, London

It isn’t easy being the daughter of the great Mary Wollstonecraft, harder still to navigate life without her. 16-year-old Mary Godwin is desperate for excitement and trapped in a family she feels stifled in, under the watchful, disapproving glare of her stepmother Mary, she is constantly battling for her father’s attention and approval.

So when the young Romantic poet, Percy Shelley, comes blazing into her life, she falls quickly and deeply in love with him. But Percy has plenty of demons. He is already married with a second child on the way, and he turns up to the Godwin family home with a bottle of laudanum, declaring he will end his life if he cannot be with Mary.

William Godwin forbids contact between them, but Mary’s heart aches for the man she believes to be her soulmate. And so she agrees to elope to Paris.

The excitement of the journey soon wears off and they arrive in the city weary, travel-sick and penniless, though luck finally seems to be on their side when they meet a man who offers them money to find his missing wife.

But with Mary becoming increasingly homesick and concerned for her future, will her love affair with Percy be all she had hoped for? Could the search for the missing wife set her on a new course of self-discovery?

Or will her first daring adventure prove to be her downfall…?

Sapere Books Sign New Master Mercurius Mystery by Graham Brack

We are thrilled to announce that we have signed the ninth book in the Master Mercurius Mysteries series by Graham Brack.

Set in seventeenth-century Europe, the series follows the adventures of a gifted cleric-turned-sleuth.

In Graham’s words:

“After eight adventures, Mercurius is very keen that there should not be a ninth. He wants a peaceful life surrounded by his books, and perhaps now that the Stadhouder is King of England he can have it. So long as William III is in England, and Mercurius stays in Leiden, he should be quite safe.

“The long vacation is approaching, and Mercurius decides to make doubly sure by not being in Leiden either. He is planning a tour of great German cathedrals, something that he has long wanted to do. He has even been learning some German in preparation.

“But then comes an invitation he cannot refuse. An old friend would like some advice on buying books for a library. It will take the whole summer, but then those cathedrals will still be there next year, and he has always wanted to spend someone else’s money on books…

“And while he is there, a baffling crime is committed — or is it?

“The Mercurius stories are a delight to write and I am grateful to Sapere Books for showing such faith in them. If he were alive today, I am sure Master Mercurius would love to see his name on the covers. After all, his multi-volume Commentary on the Nicomachean Ethics is rarely read these days, but his memoirs continue to find readers, for which I am very grateful.”

Congratulations to David Field!

Congratulations to David Field, whose twisty Victorian thriller, The Retirement Murder, is out now!

The Retirement Murder is the ninth instalment in the Esther and Jack Enright Mystery Series – a traditional British detective series set in Victorian London and packed full of suspense.

London, 1898

The time has finally come for Percy Enright to retire from Scotland Yard. His nephew, Jack, is sad to lose a partner in the force, but Jack’s wife Esther is glad Percy won’t be getting her husband into any further scrapes.

It seems Esther’s relief might be short lived, though, when a senior officer collapses at Percy’s farewell ceremony.

It soon becomes clear that the officer was poisoned, and Percy delays retirement to help Jack track down the culprit.

It’s a daunting task that involves trawling through all the murdered officer’s recent cases in the search for someone who may still bear him a grudge.

But when it becomes clear the dead man may not have been the intended target, the investigation suddenly turns in a new direction.

Why are the police being targeted? Can Percy make one final arrest before he retires?

Or will the murderer outwit the Enrights in their latest case…?

The Body on the Beach is Out Now!

Congratulations to Laura Martin, whose absorbing Regency-era mystery, The Body on the Beach, is out now!

The Body on the Beach is the fourth book in the Jane Austen Investigation series: thrilling historical murder mysteries with a tenacious literary heroine working as a female sleuth.

1798, Dorset, England

Jane Austen is on holiday with her parents and her sister, enjoying time at the seaside in Lyme Regis.

But one morning, while out on an early stroll, her peace is shattered.

There is someone lying at the bottom of the cliffs.

After rousing her father and sister, she hurries along the beach to find a young woman, dead.

It is clear to Jane that the young woman has been strangled. There is bruising about her neck and marks of discolouration on her face, yet the magistrate and doctor are quick to dismiss her concerns.

As Jane starts to investigate further, she discovers there have been two other young women found dead on the beach between Charmouth and Lyme Regis in the last five months.

Jane and Cassandra are certain the deaths are connected, but why is no one else looking for their killer?

Were the women known to each other? Are they connected in some way?

Can the Austen sisters unravel the mystery?

Fall Of A Scribe is Published Today

Congratulations to Keith Moray, whose absorbing Egyptian thriller, Fall Of A Scribe, is out now!

Fall Of A Scribe is the second book in the Ancient Egypt Mystery series: historical thrillers set in Alexandria and featuring Overseer of the Police, Hanufer.

275 BC, Alexandria

Hanufer of Crocodilopolis, the captain of the Medjay police is being plagued by nightmares. Strange shadows haunting him in the night that are not banished by the gods he prays to.

He is worried it is a sign of evil to come.

And when two separate murder cases land at his door, he fears he is right.

Two prostitutes have been brutally slain in separate incidents, pointing towards a serial killer.

And a Necropolis guard has been stabbed through the eye by one of his colleagues – the murderer rambling about an evil spirit.

Things are complicated further when Hanufer is summoned to court by the High Priest to investigate rumours of a witch manipulating the Pharoah and his queen.

As his shadowy nightmares intensify, Hanufer struggles to unravel all the threads.

Are the crimes all related? Is some evil force infecting the city? Or are these foul deeds the work of man….?

Happy Publication Day to Laura Martin!

Congratulations to Laura Martin, whose gripping historical murder mystery, Death of a Lady, is published today!

Death of a Lady is first book in the Jane Austen Investigation series: thrilling Regency-era murder mysteries with a tenacious literary heroine working as a female sleuth.

1795, Hampshire, England

Jane Austen and her family are delighted to be attending Lord Wentworth’s ball. The event has been at the centre of village gossip after it was announced Wentworth was holding a ball to celebrate the return of his brother, who went missing in India many years earlier and had been declared dead.

At the ball an old friend, Emma Roscoe, bumps into Jane and tells her she saw something she shouldn’t have. She asks Jane to meet her at ten o’clock in the library to discuss it.

Delayed by dancing with the charming Mr Tom Lefroy, Jane is late to meet to her friend.

But when she arrives, she finds the body of Emma Roscoe lying on the floor with a dagger sticking out of her chest.

Distraught and feeling horribly guilty, Jane is determined to help with the investigation into Emma’s murder.

Was it a coincidence that the murder happened on the night of Lord Wentworth’s brother being reintroduced to society? What did Emma see that was worth killing her over?

And could more people be in danger?

With the help of her sister Cassandra, Jane must use her wit and intelligence to get to the heart of the mystery.