Downton Abbey Meets Agatha Christie in This Sparkling Mystery Drew Farthering loves a good mystery, although he generally expects to find it in the pages of a novel, not on the grounds of his country estate. When a weekend party at Farthering Place is ruined by murder and the police seem flummoxed, Drew decides to look into the crime himself. With the help of his best friend, Nick Dennison, an avid mystery reader, and Madeline Parker, a beautiful and whip-smart American debutante staying as a guest, the three try to solve the mystery as a lark, using the methods from their favorite novels. Soon, financial irregularities at Drew's stepfather's company come to light and it's clear that all who remain at Farthering Place could be in danger. Trying hard to remain one step ahead of the killer--and trying harder to impress Madeline--Drew must decide how far to take this game.

When a celebrated ACTOR IS FOUND MURDERED IN HIS DRESSING ROOM, all signs point to Drew's old flame. But behind the curtains nothing is what it seems and this quickly becomes his MOST puzzling case YET. Just as Drew Farthering thinks his life has calmed down some, Fleur Landis, a former girlfriend, reappears, in dire need of his help. She's married now, no longer an actress--but the lead actor in her former troupe's production of The Mikado has been murdered, and Fleur is the police's number one suspect. Drew would rather focus on his fiancée, Madeline Parker, and their upcoming wedding, but he can't leave Fleur and her family in the lurch--even if she did break his heart once. As Drew, Nick, and Madeline begin investigating, they discover more going on behind the scenes of the theater troupe than could ever have been imagined. It seems nearly everyone had a motive, and alibis are few and far between. Both the murder case and the presence of the beautiful, exotic Fleur put a heavy strain on Drew and Madeline's relationship. Will their still-young romance survive the pressure? "Deering gives us an enchanting mystery set around an England country estate in the 1930s... Rules of Murder is a wonderful, inspirational novel for those of you who love a good murder mystery."--Fresh Fiction

The Daisy Dalrymple series continues in Heirs of the Body—when one of four potential claimants to the title of Lord Dalrymple dies a sudden, nasty death, the question on everyone's mind is, "was it murder"? In the late 1920's in England, The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is recruited to help her cousin Edgar—i.e. the Lord Dalrymple. About to turn fifty, Lord Dalrymple decides it is time to find out who would be the heir to the viscountcy. With the help of the family lawyer, who advertises Empire-wide, they have come up with four potential claimants. For his fiftieth birthday, Edgar invites those would-be heirs—along with Daisy and the rest of the family—to Fairacres, the family estate. In the meantime, Daisy is asked to be the family's representative at the lawyer's interviews with the claimants. Those four are a hotelier from Scarborough, a diamond merchant from South Africa, a young mixed-raced boy from Trinidad, and a sailor from Jamaica. However, according to his very pregnant wife, the sailor has gone missing. Daisy and Alec must uncover a conspiracy if they are going to stop the killing in the latest from the accomplished master of the genre, Carola Dunn.

Samantha's only friends were characters in books, but her real life takes an extraordinary turn when a mysterious "Mr. Knightley" offers her a full journalism scholarship—on the condition that she write to him regularly. Will their long-distance friendship unlock her heart? Sam is, to say the least, bookish. An English major of the highest order, her diet has always been Austen, Dickens, and Shakespeare. The problem is that both her prose and conversation tend to be more Elizabeth Bennet than Samantha Moore. But life for the twenty-three-year-old orphan is about to get stranger than fiction. An anonymous, Dickensian benefactor calling himself Mr. Knightley offers to put Sam through Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. There is only one catch: Sam must write frequent letters to the mysterious donor, detailing her progress. Sam’s letters to Mr. Knightley become increasingly confessional as she begins to share everything from her painful childhood memories to her growing feelings for eligible novelist Alex Powell. While Alex draws Sam into a world of warmth and literature that feels like it’s straight out of a book, old secrets are drawn to light. And as Sam learns to love and trust Alex and herself, she learns once again how quickly trust can be broken. Reminding us all that our own true character is not meant to be hidden, Katherine Reay’s debut novel follows a young woman’s journey as she sheds her protective persona and embraces the person she was meant to become. Praise for Dear Mr. Knightley: “Katherine Reay’s Dear Mr. Knightley kept me up until 2:00 a.m.; I simply couldn’t put it down.”—Eloisa James, New York Times bestselling author of Once Upon a Tower “Sprinkled with classic literary references and filled with poignant characterizations, Katherine Reay’s modern retelling of Jean Webster’s Daddy-Long-Legs is both reverently crafted and delightfully surprising.”—Lauren Ann Nattress, Austenprose.com “Katherine Reay’s touching debut novel made me cry in all the right places. For joy.”—Laurie Viera Rigler, author of Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict Sweet, stand-alone contemporary romance Includes discussion questions for book clubs, a Q&A with the author, and Sam’s reading list

Dark Forces Have Gathered and the Final Battle for Illustra Has Begun Their journey to Merakh should have made Errol and his companions heroes of the realm. Instead, they've been branded enemies of the kingdom. In the wake of the king's death, Duke Weir is ruling the country--and he intends to marry Adora to bring an heir from the royal line. With Errol and the others imprisoned and the identity of the rightful heir to the throne still hidden in secrecy, Illustra is on the verge of civil war--and threatened by hostile forces gathering on every side. A dangerous mission to free Errol is attempted, but the dangers facing the kingdom mount with every passing moment. The barrier has fallen, ferrals are swarming toward the land, and their enemies draw ever closer. Will the discovery of the true heir turn back the tide of Illustra's destruction? Praise for The Staff and the Sword series "This fast-paced fantasy debut set in a medieval world is a winner. Both main and secondary characters are fully drawn and endearing...Fans of epic Christian fantasies will enjoy discovering a new voice." Library Journal (starred review) on A Cast of Stones "The adrenaline level remains high..." Publishers Weekly on The Hero's Lot "The Hero's Lot is a spellbinding, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that will leave you breathless and reeling from the truly masterful and immensely pleasurable writing of Patrick W. Carr." Radiant Lit

In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship. Then a bomb explodes in a London suburb. The brilliant but politically compromised Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is assigned the case. What he finds leads him to a conspiracy of peers and communists, of staunch King-and- Country patriots and hardened IRA gunmen, to murder Britain's Prime Minister and his new ally, Adolf Hitler. Against a background of increasing domestic espionage and the suppression of Jews and homosexuals, an ad-hoc band of idealists and conservatives blackmail the one person they need to complete their plot, an actress who lives for her art and holds the key to the Fuhrer's death. From the ha'penny seats in the theatre to the ha'pennies that cover dead men's eyes, the conspiracy and the investigation swirl around one another, spinning beyond anyone's control. In this brilliant companion to Farthing, Welsh-born World Fantasy Award winner Jo Walton continues her alternate history of an England that could have been, with a novel that is both an homage of the classic detective novels of the thirties and forties, and an allegory of the world we live in today. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, her beau, and her mother in this mystery in the Royal Spyness series. When royal sleuth Georgie Rannoch receives a letter from her dearest friend Belinda, who's in an Italian villa awaiting the birth of her illegitimate baby, she yearns to run to her side. If only she could find a way to get there! But then opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way—her cousin the queen asks her to attend a house party in the Italian Lake Country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited, and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding. What luck! A chance to see Belinda, even if it is under the guise of stopping unwanted nuptials. Only that's as far as Georgie's fortune takes her. She soon discovers that she attended finishing school with the hostess of the party—and the hatred they had for each other then has barely dimmed. Plus, she needs to hide Belinda's delicate condition from the other guests. And her dashing beau, Darcy's (naturally) working undercover on a dangerous mission. Then her actress mother shows up, with a not-so-little task to perform. With all this subterfuge, it seems something is bound to go horribly wrong—and Georgie will no doubt be left to pick up the pieces when it does.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Room, a young French burlesque dancer living in San Francisco is ready to risk anything in order to solve her friend’s murder—but only if the killer doesn’t get her first. Summer of 1876: San Francisco is in the fierce grip of a record-breaking heat wave and a smallpox epidemic. Through the window of a railroad saloon, a young woman named Jenny Bonnet is shot dead. The survivor, her friend Blanche Beunon, is a French burlesque dancer. Over the next three days, she will risk everything to bring Jenny's murderer to justice—if he doesn't track her down first. The story Blanche struggles to piece together is one of free-love bohemians, desperate paupers, and arrogant millionaires; of jealous men, icy women, and damaged children. It's the secret life of Jenny herself, a notorious character who breaks the law every morning by getting dressed: a charmer as slippery as the frogs she hunts. In thrilling, cinematic style, Frog Music digs up a long-forgotten, never-solved crime. Full of songs that migrated across the world, Emma Donoghue's lyrical tale of love and bloodshed among lowlifes captures the pulse of a boomtown like no other. "Her greatest achievement yet . . . Emma Donoghue shows more than range with Frog Music—she shows genius." —Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life.

An extraordinary modern novel in the Victorian tradition, Charles Palliser has created something extraordinary—a plot within a plot within a plot of family secrets, mysterious clues, low-born birth, high-reaching immorality, and, always, always the fog-enshrouded, enigmatic character of 19th century—London itself. “So compulsively absorbing that reality disappears . . . One is swept along by those enduring emotions that defy modern art and a random universe: hunger for revenge, longing for justice and the fantasy secretly entertained by most people that the bad will be punished and the good rewarded.”—The New York Times “A virtuoso achievement . . . It is an epic, a tour de force, a staggeringly complex and tantalizingly layered tale that will keep readers engrossed in days. . . . The Quincunx will not disappoint you. It is, quite simply, superb.”—Chicago Sun-Times “A bold and vivid tale that invites the reader to get lost in the intoxicating rhythms of another world. And the invitation is irresistible.”—San Francisco Chronicle “A remarkable book . . . In mood, color, atmosphere and characters, this is Charles Dickens reincarnated . . . It is an immersing experience.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “To read the first pages is to be trapped for seven-hundred odd more: you cannot stop turning them.”—The New Yorker “Few books, at most a dozen or two in a lifetime, affect us this way. . . . For sheer intricacy and ingenuity, for skill and clarity of storytelling, it is the kind of book readers wait for, a book to get lost in.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer

Welcome to the gripping world of "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, a timeless masterpiece of Russian literature that delves deep into the complexities of human psychology, morality, and redemption. Prepare to be enthralled by the riveting tale of a young man's descent into darkness and his journey towards spiritual awakening and redemption. Follow the compelling story of Rodion Raskolnikov, a troubled former student who wrestles with his own inner demons as he navigates the harsh realities of life in 19th-century St. Petersburg. As Raskolnikov grapples with poverty, despair, and moral ambiguity, you'll find yourself drawn into a world of moral ambiguity and psychological intrigue. Explore the rich tapestry of characters that populate Dostoevsky's world, from the enigmatic Raskolnikov himself to the colorful cast of friends, family, and acquaintances who shape his destiny. Through their interactions and experiences, you'll gain insight into the complexities of human relationships and the eternal struggle between good and evil. Themes of guilt, redemption, and the nature of justice permeate the narrative, inviting readers to confront their own moral beliefs and wrestle with the consequences of their actions. As Raskolnikov grapples with the consequences of his crime and seeks absolution for his sins, you'll find yourself pondering the nature of forgiveness and the possibility of redemption. The overall tone and mood of "Crime and Punishment" are imbued with a sense of darkness and despair, as Dostoevsky's evocative prose and vivid descriptions transport you to the gritty streets and dimly lit alleys of St. Petersburg. From the bustling markets to the squalid tenements, you'll experience the full spectrum of human emotion and experience. Critically acclaimed for its psychological depth, philosophical insight, and masterful storytelling, "Crime and Punishment" has earned its place as a classic of world literature. Its enduring relevance and universal themes continue to resonate with readers of all ages, inspiring them to confront their own inner demons and seek redemption in the face of adversity. Whether you're a fan of classic literature, a student of human nature, or simply someone looking for a compelling story that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page, "Crime and Punishment" promises to captivate and inspire. Its timeless exploration of guilt, morality, and the human condition will leave you pondering the mysteries of existence and the nature of redemption. Don't miss your chance to experience the power of "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Secure your copy now and discover why this timeless masterpiece continues to captivate readers around the world.