historical mysteries 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 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 Gothic Mystery by J. C. Briggs

Following the success of the first three books in J. C. Briggs’ Gothic Mysteries series, we are thrilled to announce that we have signed the fourth instalment.

In Briggs’ words:

“I am delighted that Sapere Books have accepted my newest novel, The Prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall. This will be my fifteenth book to be published by Sapere, so many thanks to them for their continuing faith in my work.

“This new book is set in an isolated house in Yorkshire, in the fictional Ravendale, a remote dale surrounded by high fells and with few inhabitants. Nurse Catherine Sisley, not long returned from wartime duties, is engaged to nurse an elderly lady, the grandmother of a former patient, but all is not what it seems. Raven’s Gaze Hall harbours a dreadful secret, and its owner, Bennet Lestrange, has a future planned for Catherine from which only tragedy allows her to escape. When she returns ten years later, the terrible truth about the prisoner of Raven’s Gaze Hall is slowly revealed.”

To keep up with J. C. Briggs’ latest releases, visit her website and sign up to her newsletter.

How I Write by Angela Ranson

In this behind-the-scenes blog series, Sapere Books authors offer an intriguing insight into how, where and why they write.

Today, we are delighted to spotlight Angela Ranson, author of the Catrin Surovell Tudor Mysteries.

I write in my study, which doubles as a playroom for my two cats. I love having their energy and curiosity as the backdrop for my writing. This is especially true because I write about a world long dead — Tudor England — and try with every scene to bring it back to life.

My books centre around the early years in the reign of Elizabeth I (the 1560s), which I studied when I earned my doctorate in sixteenth-century English history. I live in York, within a stone’s throw of King’s Manor. This was the building where Henry VIII stayed in 1536, and his suite of rooms is now one of the University of York’s libraries. If you stand at the back of the building, you can see a tiny window that leads to nowhere: it originally let some light into Henry’s specially-made toilet, or garderobe.

I love that York has these little historical treasures; I go looking for them whenever I have the opportunity. That isn’t as often as I would like, because I write between the hours dedicated to two jobs at the university. Writing is what I do to relax, to escape from the trials of daily life. Thus, you’ll often see me writing while I eat my supper, or early on a Saturday morning when I’m still in my pyjamas. Turns out, those are the hours when dreams come true.

Sapere Books Sign a New Historical Mystery Series by Rose M Cullen

We are thrilled to announce that we have signed a series of historical mysteries by Rose M Cullen.

In Rose’s words:

“I am absolutely delighted at the prospect of working with Sapere Books on my series. Opening with Harlequin is Dead, the novels are set in London in the 1790s against the turbulent backdrop of the French Revolution across the Channel and feature playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan as my sometimes-hapless sleuth. As a historian and someone who has worked in the theatre, I have long had a fascination with Sheridan. He was a wonderfully rich and complex character who mixed in worlds both high and low — from the inner circles around the Prince of Wales and Houses of Parliament to the actors and entertainers of his theatre company and those living in the nearby slums. Sheridan had a keen interest in policing and trained in the law before embracing the stage. He was unquestionably brave, having survived a number of duels in his youth, and as a man with boundless curiosity and acuity, he seemed to me well placed to become embroiled in a series of mysteries.

“In Harlequin is Dead, we see him insist that his wife’s illegitimate child be recognised as his own, and he does everything he can to protect her from scandal. I enjoy peppering my fictional world with historical figures, and some of the most extraordinary characters in my novels are based on real people. Sheridan wrote rather wonderful comedies, and so I aim to weave a thread of humour into the books along with the murder and mayhem.

“Joining the Sapere Books family of authors has been a great pleasure. The team offer a supportive environment for my first traditional publications, and fellow authors are on hand with invaluable advice and encouragement.”