Category Archives for Historical

An unputdownable drama from the bestselling author of The Girl With No Name.

Wynsdown, 1949. In the small Somerset village of Wynsdown, Charlotte Shepherd is happily married and now feels settled in her adopted home after arriving from Germany on the Kindertransport as a child during the war.

Meanwhile, the squire’s fighter pilot son, Felix, has returned to the village with a fiancée in tow. Daphne is beautiful, charming… and harbouring secrets. After meeting during the war, Felix knows some of Daphne’s past, but she has worked hard to conceal one that could unravel her carefully built life.

For Charlotte, too, a dangerous past is coming back in the shape of fellow refugee, bad boy Harry Black. Forever bound by their childhoods, Charlotte will always care for him, but Harry’s return disrupts the village quiet and it’s not long before gossip spreads.

The war may have ended, but for these girls, trouble is only just beginning.

What readers are saying about The Married Girls:

‘Thoroughly enjoyed this book’

‘Three words: wonderful, captivating and enthralling’

‘I am so pleased I found this author’

‘Diney Costeloe at her best.

It’s the summer of 1879, and Annie Fuller, a young San Francisco widow, is in trouble. Annie’s husband squandered her fortune before committing suicide five years earlier, and one of his creditors is now threatening to take the boardinghouse she owns to pay off a debt.

Annie Fuller also has a secret. She supplements her income by giving domestic and business advice as Madam Sibyl, one of San Francisco’s most exclusive clairvoyants, and one of Madam Sibyl’s clients, Matthew Voss, has died. The police believe his death was suicide brought upon by bankruptcy, but Annie believes Voss has been murdered and that his assets have been stolen.

Nate Dawson has a problem. As the Voss family lawyer, he would love to believe that Matthew Voss didn’t leave his grieving family destitute. But that would mean working with Annie Fuller, a woman who alternatively attracts and infuriates him as she shatters every notion he ever had of proper ladylike behavior.

Sparks fly as Anne and Nate pursue the truth about the murder of Matthew Voss in this light-hearted, cozy historical mystery set in the foggy gas-lit world of Victorian San Francisco.

Maids of Misfortune is the first book in M. Louisa Locke’s historical mystery series, see also, Uneasy Spirits, and Bloody Lessons, Deadly Proof, and Pilfered Promises, as well as the novellas, Violet Vanquishes a Villain, Kathleen Catches a Killer, and Dandy Delivers, and the short stories based on the characters from the novels, which can be found collected in Victorian San Francisco Stories.

History and legend combine in the gripping tale of Hakon Haraldsson, a Christian boy who once fought for the High Seat of a Viking realm.

It is 935 A.D. and the North is in turmoil. King Harald Fairhair has died, leaving the High Seat of the realm to his murderous son, Erik Bloodaxe. To solidify his claim, Erik ruthlessly disposes of all claimants to his throne, save one: his youngest brother Hakon.

Erik’s surviving enemies send a ship to Wessex, where the Christian King Athelstan is raising Hakon. Unable to avoid his fate, he returns to the Viking North to face his brother and claim his birthright, only to discover that victory will demand sacrifices beyond his wildest nightmares.

I was swept up in the action and enthralled by the descriptions of Hakon’s struggle. -Roundtable Reviews-
I highly recommend this historical fiction novel, both for its entertaining story and historical information. -Historical Fiction Review-

Michael Lindley’s first novel, THE SEASONS OF THE EMMALEE, has twice reached #1 for Amazon Kindle Historical Fiction Mystery and Suspense.

It was the summer of 1941, in a small Northern Michigan resort town when Jonathan McKendry first saw the beautiful new summer resident, Emily Compton, on the deck of her father’s magnificent yacht, the EmmaLee. He could never imagine the betrayal, death and heartbreak that were about to come into his life.

Jonathan is the son of a local boatyard owner. His small-town life seems in fine order with good friends, a local girl who loves him and bright hopes for the future. When he finds himself consumed with his infatuation for the Compton girl and he’s accused of a brutal murder, his dreams and relationships will be shattered.

In a parallel story in present day, Sally Thomason is a descendant of the Compton family who first owned the great ship, EmmaLee. When a new owner returns with the boat decades later, Sally is caught up in the overwhelming emotions of a past family tragedy and her attraction to the boat’s new owner, Alex Clark.

THE SEASONS OF THE EMMALEE plays out against a beautiful scenic backdrop and compelling historical context. It explores the deep and entangled emotions of class differences, family betrayal, unexpected love and shattered dreams. An ideal read for those who love historical fiction focused on love and relationships, mystery and suspense, and a staggering crime told in a family saga across multi-generations.

Praise for THE SEASONS OF THE EMMALEE

– “… a super summer read.” Traverse Magazine
– “… our book of the month and top seller for the season” Debra Lambers, The Book Nook
– “… EMMALEE reads elegantly and is artfully crafted.” Lisa Jensen, Editor, Michigan Blue Magazine

Amazon Five Star Reviews

– “…an absolute delight!”
– “…the perfect summer read!”
– “… beautifully written!”

Book 2 in the award-winning Anna Kronberg series.
“…provocative and original…” Peter Kavanagh, CBC Radio Producer
“…the new dream team of detective literature.” KrimiLese
“…a formidable dark-romantic conspiracy novel. A duel of two deduction monsters.” Die Welt
“Best Sherlock Holmes Mystery 2014” German Sherlock Holmes Society

London 1889. A dead man is found floating in the city’s waterworks. Fearing an epidemic, the Metropolitan Police call upon bacteriologist Dr Anton Kronberg to examine the body. All signs point toward cholera having killed the man…but for faint marks around wrists and ankles.

Evidence for a crime is weak, and the police lose interest in the case. But Kronberg suspects that the dead man’s final days had been steeped in cruelty. Soon, a second victim is found, and Kronberg gets embroiled in a web of abduction, abuse, and murder.

But catching a killer and staying alive would be easier if the doctor didn’t have secrets of…her own.

Warning: medical procedures are depicted without apology.

___________
If you enjoyed The Alienist by Caleb Carr, and dark mysteries and thrillers by David Penny, Anne Perry, Louise Penny, Jo Nesbo, Alex Grecian, Nelson DeMille, Daniel Silva, Lee Child, and Ken Follett, odds are you’ll enjoy my mystery & thriller series as well.

Book 1 of the Olivia Series “Historical fiction at its best” — D.Donovan, Senior eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

The Olivia series consists of:
Book 1 – Olivia, Mourning (Historical – 1840s)
Book 2 – The Way the World Is (Historical – 1840s)
Book 3 – Whatever Happened to Mourning Free? (Vintage Contemporary -1967 and Historical – 1840s)
Book 4 – The Summer of 1848 (Historical – 1840s)

The Historical Novel Society has selected Olivia, Mourning as one of its seven Editors’ Choice historical novels for 2015.

Book Description
Olivia wants the 80 acres in far off Michigan that her father left to whichever of his offspring wants to stake a claim. As Olivia says, “I’m sprung off him just as much as Avis or Tobey.”
The problem: she’s seventeen, female, and it’s 1841.
Mourning Free knows how to run a farm and Olivia has complete trust in him.
The problem: he’s the orphaned son of runaway slaves and reluctant to travel and work with a white girl. He especially fears the slave catchers who patrol the free states, hunting fugitive slaves.
Not without qualms, they set off together. All goes well, despite the drudgery of survival in an isolated log cabin. Incapable of acknowledging her feelings for Mourning, Olivia thinks her biggest problem is her unrequited romantic interest in their young, single neighbor.
Then her world falls apart.
Strong-willed, vulnerable, and compassionate, Olivia is a compelling protagonist on a journey to find a way to do the right thing in a world in which so much is wrong.

About the Author
Yael Politis grew up in Dearborn, Michigan, not far from Olivia’s farm. She spent years researching the backdrop for Olivia’s story and based many of the details (including how Mourning got his name) on letters and journals passed down through her family, over seven generations of lives lived in the American Midwest. She received a great deal of insight from her sister Martha, who lived in a modern log home, hunted her own land, and was as independent and stubborn as Olivia.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Politis moved to Israel, where before retirement worked as an agricultural laborer, secretary, librarian, Administrative Systems Analyst, Hebrew-English translator, editor, English teacher, technical writer, and proposal writer.

In a place she doesn’t belong, in a time that is not her own, a shattered woman risks everything for the one thing she’s never had—love.

When Kinley Chandler abruptly lands in medieval Scotland, there isn’t much she’s leaving behind. With her body shattered and her military career over, Kinley has resigned herself to death. But in the past, all that changes.

Lachlan McDonnel, the laird of a clan of immortal highlanders, can hardly believe his good fortune. Not only does the mysterious lass save his life, she awakens his heart in a way he’d thought no longer possible.

But the druid spells that allow Lachlan’s clan to live forever have a dark side as well. He and his men know all too well that the magic folk never give without taking. Though he is sworn to protect them, the price of his loyalty may finally be too high.

Lachlan is the first book in the Immortal Highlander series. If you love brawny heroes, a mystical world, and a heroine with courage, then you’ll love this sizzling series. Join the romantic realm of the Immortal Highlanders by picking up a copy of this book today. Mature readers comfortable with dark themes only please.

Book 1 of the award-winning Historical Fiction series The Troubadours Quartet
Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choice
Winner of the Global Ebooks Award for Best Historical Fiction
Finalist in the Wishing Shelf Awards and the Chaucer Awards
‘Believable, page-turning and memorable.’ Lela Michael, S.P. Review
1150: Provence
On the run from abuse, Estela wakes in a ditch with only her lute, her amazing voice, and a dagger hidden in her underskirt. Her talent finds a patron in Aliénor of Aquitaine and more than a music tutor in the Queen’s finest troubadour and Commander of the Guard, Dragonetz los Pros.
Weary of war, Dragonetz uses Jewish money and Moorish expertise to build that most modern of inventions, a papermill, arousing the wrath of the Church. Their enemies gather, ready to light the political and religious powder-keg of medieval Narbonne.
Set in the period following the Second Crusade, Jean Gill’s spellbinding romantic thrillers evoke medieval France with breathtaking accuracy. The characters leap off the page and include amazing women like Eleanor of Aquitaine and Ermengarda of Narbonne, who shaped history in battles and in bedchambers.
‘Historical Fiction at its best.’ Karen Charlton, the Detective Lavender Mysteries

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Watch the trailer youtube.com/watch?v=XZvFmOkD6Pc

Awarded an IndieBRAG Gold Medallion
Received a Discovered Diamond review, and Awarded Cover of the Month
Awarded Book of the Month by Chill With A Book Readers’ Award.
#2 – Best 1700s Historical Fiction (Listopia)

Following the death of their father, Beth’s brother Richard returns from the army to claim his share of the family estate. However, Beth’s hopes of a quiet life are dashed when Richard, dissatisfied with his meagre inheritance and desperate for promotion, decides to force her into a marriage for his military gain. And he will stop at nothing to get his way.
Beth is coerced into a reconciliation with her noble cousins in order to marry well and escape her brutal brother. She is then thrown into the glittering social whirl of Georgian high society and struggles to conform. The effeminate but witty socialite Sir Anthony Peters offers to ease her passage into society and she is soon besieged by suitors eager to get their hands on her considerable dowry. Beth, however, wants love and passion for herself, and to break free from the artificial life she is growing to hate. She finds herself plunged into a world where nothing is as it seems and everyone hides behind a mask. Can she trust the people professing to care for her?
The first in the series about the fascinating lives of beautiful Beth Cunningham, her family and friends during the tempestuous days leading up to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which attempted to overthrow the Hanoverian King George II and restore the Stuarts to the British throne.
Join the rebellion of one woman and her fight for survival in…
The Jacobite Chronicles.

Sir Law Kintour has returned from the war in France injured, broke, and in need of a patron. In desperation, he reluctantly accepts a commission to find a nobleman’s runaway wife. He enlists the help of a fellow Scot with whom he escaped after their defeat at the Battle of Verneuil. But his friend is murdered, and Law discovers he has been lied to. As the murders continue to mount, powerful interests come into play. When the Sheriff of Perth considers him a convenient scapegoat, it gives Law no choice but to untangle the lies and find the killer or hang for the murders.