Anna Castle

Brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss -- and in danger. Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule. “Castle’s characters brim with zest and real feeling.” — Kirkus Starred Review. Don’t dally! Jump right into this first book in the award-winning Francis Bacon mystery series.

Murder by Misrule

Thomas Clarady is recruited to spy on a group of radical Puritans at Cambridge University. Francis Bacon is his spymaster; his tutor in both tradecraft and religious politics. Their commission gets off to a deadly start when Tom finds his chief informant hanging from the roof beams. Now he must catch a murderer as well as a seditioner. His first suspect is volatile poet Christopher Marlowe, who keeps turning up in the wrong places. Dogged by unreliable assistants, chased by three lusty women, and harangued daily by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his very soul to catch the villains and win his reward.

A Francis Bacon Mystery

Death by Disputation

Francis Bacon must stop the murder of London's popular pamphleteers, but he and his intelligencers find themselves deceived - by their own desires.

Publish and Perish

What happens when the Internet service provider in a small town spies on his clients' cyber-lives and blackmails them for gifts and services? Murder; that's what happens. Penelope Trigg moves to Lost Hat, Texas to open a photography studio and find herself as an artist. Things are going great. She's got a few clients, some friends, even a hot new high-tech boyfriend. But when Penny submits some nude figure studies of him to a contest, she gets hit with a blackmail letter in her inbox. "Do what I want or your lover's nudie pix get splattered across the Internet." The timing couldn't be worse, so Penny is forced to submit to the blackmailer's demands. Then people start dying and all the clues point to her. She has to rattle every skeleton in every closet in Lost Hat to keep herself out of jail and find the real killer.

A Lost Hat, Texas Mystery

Black and White and Dead All Over

James and Angelina each take a case that looks simple. But as they start asking questions, things take a dark turn. A man is murdered, a friend blamed, and Sherlock Holmes sent to catch him. Now the Moriartys must work together to stop a cold killer and end a circle of loathsome crimes. "A witty series." Publisher's Weekly.

Moriarty Lifts the Veil

It’s 1591, Midsummer at Richmond Palace, and love is in the air — along with the usual political courtships and covert alliances. Secret trysts, daring dalliances, and a pair of pedigreed hounds keep Francis Bacon and his gallant team busy while trying to catch one devilishly daring murderer.

Let Slip the Dogs

Anthony Bacon returns after thirteen years in France to live in his brother’s house at Gray’s Inn. Though seldom strong enough to leave his rooms, his gouty legs never hinder his agile mind. He’s built the most valuable intelligence service in Europe. Now the Bacon brothers are ready to offer it to the patron with the deepest pockets. Then Francis finds a body lying near Anthony’s coach. The clues point to Anthony’s secretary. Worse, the murdered man had been spreading rumors that could destroy Anthony’s reputation. Francis thinks his brother did it. Assistant Thomas Clarady thinks the secretary did it. As they investigate, they hear one story after another about what happened. Which is the truth? Can they sort through the lies before disaster strikes?

The Spymaster's Brother

What happens when the Internet service provider in a small town spies on his clients' cyber-lives and blackmails them for gifts and services? Murder; that's what happens. Penelope Trigg moves to Lost Hat, Texas to open a photography studio and find herself as an artist. Things are going great. She's got a few clients, some friends, even a hot new high-tech boyfriend. But when Penny submits some nude figure studies of him to a contest, she gets hit with a blackmail letter in her inbox. "Do what I want or your lover's nudie pix get splattered across the Internet." The timing couldn't be worse, so Penny is forced to submit to the blackmailer’s demands. Then people start dying and all the clues point to her. She has to rattle every skeleton in every closet in Lost Hat to keep herself out of jail and find the real killer.

Black & White & Dead All Over

Photographer Penelope Trigg finds a body on boyfriend Tyler's ranch. When he's arrested, she's determined to prove his innocence. Mostly, she learns how to lose friends and annoy people until she realizes someone is manipulating the evidence. But is Ty the framer or the framee?

Flash Memory

It’s May Day, a time of joyful song and dance. But Jane Moone is called at sunrise to view a sorrowful sight — Lucy Quirk, strangled in the maypole’s tangled ribbons. Lucy came to Ayreford to re-unite with her long-lost father. The prominent cunning man is delighted to welcome her into his work, as well as his life. But Lucy has her own agenda and soon starts spilling secrets from his confidential patient notebooks. Jane and John Greenslade, local barrister, find plenty of conflict around Lucy’s death. The local Puritans wanted to stop May Day once and for all. Quirk wanted to stop his daughter’s gossip. Any number of townsfolk might have confided secrets worth killing to conceal. Worse, Jane’s every step is shadowed by troublesome fairies, especially the old river goddess protecting Quirk. But is she trying to help the investigation or hinder it? Jane risks her life to peel back the glamors confusing the case. She’s rescued in the end by the last person she ever expected to meet.

The Case of the Tangled Maypole

Sarah Woodbury

Libi Astaire

M. Louisa Locke

M. Ruth Myers

***Don't miss the next books in the series on sale for 99 cents and FREE this week only!*** Join amateur sleuths, private detectives, and feisty female protagonists in a journey through time with this anthology of historical mysteries spanning nearly a thousand years, from Medieval Wales to 1940s Ohio. This collection of eight novellas and short stories is the perfect introduction to five award-winning series in settings ranging from the back streets of Elizabethan and Regency London to the steep slopes of Victorian San Francisco. -- Libi Astaire, the Jewish Regency mystery series. -- Anna Castle, the Francis Bacon mystery series and the Professor & Mrs. Moriarty mystery series. -- M. Louisa Locke, the Victorian San Francisco mystery series. -- M. Ruth Myers, the Maggie Sullivan mystery series set in Depression-era Ohio. -- Sarah Woodbury, the Gareth & Gwen Medieval Mysteries.

Medieval to Modern: An Anthology of Historical Mystery Stories

Welcome to Ayreford in 1591, where cats can talk and fairies are real. Jane Moone leaves her thriving practice as a cunning woman in London to return to Ayreford to care for her aging father Amias. She’s scarcely settled in when her only client’s husband is murdered. The tailor is found in his workshop covered in red spots with a bottle of tonic from Moone’s apothecary near at hand. A rival cunning man accuses Amias of poisoning him and the old man is arrested. Jane knows her father is innocent. She joins forces with a handsome barrister to study the scene. They find evidence to support Amias, but each item is altered when a blackbird sings. That bird has been following them everywhere. Then things turn even more peculiar. Amias's ginger cat gives Jane wise counsel, a frog-pond fairy claims to know her long-lost mother, and a hedge witch shows Jane how to stop the malevolent fairy behind all the glamors. Either Jane is caught in a very strange dream, or Ayreford is thickly inhabited by the Fair Folk. Either way, Jane must do whatever she can, however bizarre, to save her father from hanging. Then she’ll get the truth from him -- or possibly his cat.

The Case of the Spotted Tailor

This collection of short stories ranges through time and space from the Yucatán peninsula in the early years of the Spanish conquest (The Broken Circle) to a bank office in late Victorian London (The Stockbroker’s Wife.) Most stories feature Francis Bacon and other characters from his milieu. You’ll read about Bacon’s first case (For Want of a Book) and Tom’s first solo investigation (In Walked a Lady.) You’ll find out how Trumpet wangled her year at Gray’s Inn (Artful Bargains) and what really happened to Captain Valentine Clarady (All Englishmen Look Alike.) Sir Walter’s Ralegh and two friends trade ghost stories on a stormy night (Dark Tales from the School of Night.) You’ll even travel through time by a most unusual method (The Sneeze.) A bonus story brings you into the present, but not quite the present you’re used to (Extinction.)

Bacon’s Dozen: Thirteen Historical Fiction Short Stories

In Murder by Misrule, Francis Bacon must catch a killer to regain Queen Elizabeth’s favor. He recruits handsome Thomas Clarady to chase witnesses from Whitehall to the London streets, where everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. In Death by Disputation, Francis Bacon sends Thomas Clarady to Cambridge to spy on radical Puritans. When Tom finds his tutor hanging from the rafters, his first suspect is the volatile poet, Christopher Marlowe. Chased by three lusty women and spurred by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his very soul to catch the criminals. London, 1588. The Widows Guild. Someone is turning Catholics into widows, masking the crimes under armada fever. Francis Bacon is charged with the investigation by a widows’ guild led by his formidable aunt. He must untangle multiple crimes driven by patriotism, greed, lunacy — or all three.

The Francis Bacon Mysteries: Books 1-3

Professor James Moriarty has one desire left in his shattered life: to stop the man who ruined him from harming others. Then he meets amber-eyed Angelina and his world turns upside down. Stalked by the implacable Sherlock Holmes, he's tangled in a web of murder and deceit. He'll have to lose himself to save his life and win the woman he loves.

Moriarty Meets His Match

It began as a harmless wager. Who could solve their case first? Professor and Mrs. Moriarty have a few weeks to kill before their theater opens. Happily, two small cases drop in their respective laps. Moriarty has what looks like a scheme to swindle Army veterans out of their discharge pay. Angelina must find a missing servant by winkling her way into a circle of officers’ wives. Neither case seems terribly challenging; just enough to provide an agreeable competition. But as soon as they start asking questions, things take an ugly turn. Moriarty discovers an army barracks riddled with corruption. Angelina uncovers a terrible secret at the heart of the circle of officers and wives. When Sherlock Holmes returns from a mission in India, he confirms her worst fears. Then a man is murdered, and a good friend is blamed. Scotland Yard sends Holmes to catch their suspect. The Moriartys must use all their courage and ingenuity to rescue their friend, stop a series of loathsome crimes, and put a cold killer behind bars.

Jane Moone is hired to identify the witch who cursed a sheep. But her client, Kate Grazier, has already decided who did it -- Dorcas Whiting, the hedge witch who happens to be Jane’s father’s sweetheart. Dorcas would never harm an innocent sheep and everyone knows it, but she’s arrested before Jane can credit the accusation. Now she has to persuade the poorest farmers in the district -- Dorcas’s patients -- to stand before the magistrate in Greenslade Hall and testify on the witch’s behalf. As if that weren’t enough trouble for one week, Jane hears stories about another old witch. She’s begging at kitchen doors and walking away angry as often as not. She flings curses everywhere she goes, most of them missing their mark. But some are truly dangerous. Jane and her father, a powerful wizard, must peer into the heart of a near-fatal curse and find the wandering witch before an innocent dies.

The Case of the Miscast Curse

“Either my theater is haunted or someone’s trying to drive me into bankruptcy!” Professor Moriarty’s new client is the manager of a West End theater. He’s three weeks away from opening his Chistmas pantomime, the expensive spectacle that pays for the rest of the year. But after months of freak accidents and spooky incidents, the cast and crew are convinced the show is cursed. Worse, he’s out of money and the rent is due. The Moriartys leap to the rescue. Angelina takes on the leading role and James supplies the needed funds. While she works backstage uncovering secrets and grudges, he follows the money in search of a motive. Then someone sets Sherlock Holmes on their trail, trying to catch them crossing the line into crime. How far will Moriarty have to go to keep the show afloat? And will they all make it to opening night in one piece?

Anna Castle

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