Showing titles in Historical

Late summer, 1270. Although the Simon de Montfort rebellion is over, the smell of death still hangs over the land. In the small priory of Tyndal, the monks and nuns of the Order of Fontevraud long for a return to routine. Their hopes are dashed, however, when the young and inexperienced Eleanor of Wynethorpe is appointed their new prioress. Only a day after her arrival, a brutally murdered monk is found in the cloister gardens, and Brother Thomas, a young priest with a troubled past, arrives to bring her a more personal grief.

On the face of it, representing a widow in an accidental death case should be routine. Sergeant Maynard, a Royal Air Force policeman, died in a simple motorcycle accident. The problem is, Mrs Maynard insists her husband was murdered. Sceptical at first, Charles realises she could be right; something much more frightening is happening at the airbase.

This audiobook is read by Justin Avoth and Sophie Roberts, and includes an Historical Note read by the author, Laura Shepherd-Robinson. This edition also features an audio-exclusive Q&A between Laura and Justin. 'An absolute treat of an historical crime novel. Sheer perfection' – Janice...

Avril 1834. On retrouve un homme assassiné dans le palais de la Bourse, l'un des lieux emblématiques de cette monarchie de Juillet qui a fait de l'argent son nouveau dieu. Sur le cadavre, un texte aux accents prophétiques, sur son front un symbole mystérieux gravé au fer rouge et dans sa bouche, du plomb fondu. L'affaire, d'autant plus délicate que la victime est un riche banquier, soutien du régime, est confiée à Valentin Verne. Ce meurtre semble s'inscrire dans une série d'assassinats commis dans des circonstances similaires.

She's an unconventional lady who has traveled the world, practices the art of self-defense most excellently, and has an interesting tattoo in—ahem—a very unusual place. He's a former member of the Metropolitan Police, now a private investigator, who grew up on the poverty-ridden streets of Edinburgh and has worked the dangerous back alleys of London's notorious East End. A vicious murder brings them together in a race against time that takes them from the sordid back streets of London into the elite private clubs of the powerful and rich.

It's 17 September 1944. The Allies launch the largest airborne offensive in history, delivering 36,000 troops by parachute and glider to the Dutch/German border. In nine days' time, half of them will be casualties of war. Among their number is Theo Trickey, a young paratrooper so dreadfully injured he is not expected to survive. Under the care of Medical Officer Captain Daniel Garland, Trickey is shipped to Germany as a prisoner of war.

When the Duke of Purbeck throws a house party to celebrate his daughter's 21st birthday and present her with a family heirloom, nobody expects that the weekend will end in murder. The fabled Belsingham pearls have a history steeped in blood and slaughter dating back more than a century - and now it seems they've claimed another life, when the interfering and opinionated Professor Coddington is found dead in the library with the pearls clutched in his hand.

Brought vividly to life by Louise Brealey's narration, this unabridged audiobook includes extra content read by the author, Kate Mosse. Set in the breathtaking landscape of Southern France, Labyrinth is Kate Mosse's historical mystery – sweeping from the 13th century wars between Catholics and...

It's 1194, and Sir Faucon de Ramis, the shire's newly appointed keeper of the pleas, must do his duty and make an official declaration of the cause of a miller's death. Saddled with a clerk who names Faucon his "penance", the shire's first crowner must thread the tangled relationships between the sheriff, the village of Priors Holston, and the priory that once ruled it. As a simple task takes a turn to the political, what seems obvious isn't, and what appears safe turns out to be more dangerous than he could imagine.

In the winter of 1924, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher travels to a school friend's house to witness the estate's famous Guy Fawkes celebration. But she gets more than the quiet weekend at the quaint family manse that she was originally hoping for. The home is the site of some severe family tension. The Viscount and head of the family is a strict and unyielding sort, insisting that everyone - especially his children - meet his own unreasonable expectations. On the evening of the Guy Fawkes celebration, the Viscount is found dead on the floor of his study, killed by his own hand.

September 1940. As the Blitz takes its nightly toll on London and Hitler prepares his invasion fleet just across the Channel in occupied France, Britain is full of talk about enemy agents. Suspicion is at an all-time high, and no one is sure who can be trusted. In Canning Town, rescue workers are unsettled when they return to a damaged street and discover a body that shouldn’t be there. When closer examination of the corpse reveals death by strangling, Detective Inspector John Jago is called upon to investigate.

Thomas atte Bridge, a man no one likes, is found hanging from a tree near Cowleys Corner. All assume he has taken his own life, but Master Hugh and Kate find evidence that this may not be so. Many of the town had been harmed by Thomas, and Hugh is not eager to send one of them to the gallows. Then he discovers that the priest John Kellet, atte Bridge’s partner in crime in A Corpse at St. Andrew’s Chapel, was covertly in Bampton at the time atte Bridge died.

It was 1921 when Lord Peter Wimsey first encountered the Attenbury emeralds. The recovery of the magnificent gem in Lord Attenbury's most dazzling heirloom made headlines - and launched a shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective. Now it is 1951. A happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane. Then the new young Lord Attenbury - grandson of Lord Peter's first client - seeks his help again, this time to prove who owns the gigantic emerald that Wimsey last saw in 1921.

October 1381. Brother Athelstan is summoned to the church of St Benet’s in Queenhithe to investigate the murder of a priest. Parson Reynaud has been found stabbed to death inside his own locked church. Other disturbing discoveries include an empty coffin and a ransacked money chest. Who would commit murder inside a holy church? Who would spirit away a corpse the night before the funeral - and who would be brave enough to steal treasure belonging to the most feared gang leader in London?

Cambridgeshire, September 1813: Detective Stephen Lavender and Constable Ned Woods are lured to an isolated estate in the deadly marshland surrounding Ely, to investigate a murder.

The latest puzzling mystery facing Jude Dee begins on the night of the Poo-yang dragonboat races in 699 A.D.: a drummer in the leading boat collapses, and the body of a beautiful young woman turns up in a deserted country mansion. There, Judge Dee—tribunal magistrate, inquisitor, and public avenger—steps in to investigate the murders and return order to the Tang Dynasty.

Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick. Mesmerising and haunting, Emma Flint's Other Women is a devastating story of fantasy, obsession inspired by a murder that took place almost a hundred years ago. 'A pitch-perfect historical mystery' – The Guardian 'Bloody brilliant' – Dinah Jefferies...

Prague, 1588 The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, wants to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and his court is a haven for scientists, astrologers and alchemists. His abiding passion is the elusive hunt for the philosopher’s stone and thus immortality. The Catholic Church fears he has pushed too far – into the forbidden realm of heresy – while the greatest powers in Christendom are concerned about the imperial line of succession. 

When German intelligence officer Captain Reinhardt is reassigned to a new branch of the military police, his position separates him from the allies he has made. This includes a circle of fellow dissenting Germans who formed a resistance cell against the Nazis. Reinhardt witnesses a massacre of civilians in Yugoslavia, only to discover there is more to the incident than anyone believes. When five mutilated bodies turn up, he knows the stakes are growing more important - and more dangerous....

In a case that will push their relationship to breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her husband Sherlock Holmes's past - a personal defeat that still has the power to sting.

From suicides at Stonehenge to a bizarre religious cult, Russell will find herself on the trail of a killer more dangerous than any she's ever faced - a killer Sherlock Holmes himself may be protecting....