Anna Dean

1805. An engagement party is taking place for Mr Richard Montague, son of wealthy landowner Sir Edgar Montague, and his fiancee Catherine. During a dance with his beloved, a strange thing happens: a man appears at Richard's shoulder and appears to communicate something to him without saying a word. Instantly breaking off the engagement, he rushes off to speak to his father, never to be seen again. Distraught with worry, Catherine sends for her spinster aunt, Miss Dido Kent, who has a penchant for solving mysteries. Catherine pleads with her to find her fiance and to discover the truth behind his disappearance. It's going to take a lot of logical thinking to untangle the complex threads of this multi-layered mystery, and Miss Dido Kent is just the woman to do it.

Or, The Observations of Miss Dido Kent

Bellfield Hall

Miss Dido Kent is a woman who likes to be challenged. So when a neighbour dies suddenly, leaving her entire estate to her young nephew, Miss Dido can't help but be suspicious. But is her over-active imagination making her look for murder where there is none?

A Gentleman of Fortune

On a visit to the ruins of Madderstone Abbey, Penelope Lambe suffers a bad fall from the ancient stone steps. Before she slips into unconsciousness, Penelope manages to say, 'I saw her - It was her.' The Crockford sisters are sure that what made Penelope fall was that she saw the Grey Nun, the ghost that is reputed to walk the abbey's ruins. Miss Dido Kent is less convinced that this was the reason for the accident, and is determined to find the real cause. But events start to seem more sinister when a human skeleton is found at the abbey. The remains are identified as those of a Miss Elinor Fenn, and letters come to light which hint at the reason for her death. But how is Miss Lambe's accident connected to this discovery? Did she see a ghostly warning? Or is there a rational explanation? Everyone is relying on Dido to find out.

A Woman of Consequence

Refusing to believe that Penelope Lambe suffered a dangerous fall at an abbey ruin because of a ghost sighting, Miss Dido Kent uncovers a human skeleton at the scene and investigates clues linking the remains to Miss Lambe's accident. By the author of A Gentleman of Fortune. 25,000 first printing.

The Investigations of Miss Dido Kent

Belsfield Hall, 1805. The sudden disappearance of her niece's fiancé at their engagement ball leads Miss Dido Kent to worry that something sinister may have occurred. Before long, her fears are confirmed. Family secrets, long consigned to the darkest recesses of the past, begin to emerge as Dido attempts to unravel the strange happenings. But with the discovery of a body in the shrubbery, Mr Richard Montague's unexplained absence becomes all the more suspicious, and when she finally arrives at the startling truth, it is to change the lives of all involved for ever.

The irresistible historical whodunnit

A Moment of Silence

The inquisitive Miss Dido Kent returns in A Place of Confinement to elucidate the mysterious disappearance of a young woman in the fourth installment of Anna Dean's charming Regency era series The dependably sharp Miss Dido Kent is suffering her sister-in-law's attempts to marry her off to the ghastly clergyman Doctor Prowdlee. Dido, however, is determined to refuse him, as well as his abominable side whiskers. As punishment she is sent to accompany her hypochondriac—and quite wealthy—Aunt Manners on a trip to Charcombe Manor. The family hopes that revisiting her childhood home will keep Aunt Manners in good spirits, and Dido in her good graces. However, upon their arrival it's clear to Dido that there is much more at stake than her aunt's favor. The rich heiress Letitia Verney has disappeared while visiting Charcombe, and Mr. Tom Lomax is suspected of abducting her. Dido is inclined to believe in his innocence, but how is she to explain by what method a young lady could enter through the front door and not appear on the other side? And this isn't the only enigma that the Elizabethan manor holds: there is a deserted wing in which lights mysteriously appear at night, a crying ghost which keeps visitors awake, and memories of old family quarrels. When the senior Mr. Lomax comes to town to defend his son, the mystery intensifies—and so does Dido's romantic life. With lives and reputations on the line, it's up to Dido to put the pieces together to save the Lomaxes and find the vanished young Miss Verney. In this captivating fourth installment of the Dido Kent series, readers will find more of the rich characters, meticulous historical detail, and masterful suspense they've come to expect from Anna Dean.

Anna Dean

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