"In Victorian London, valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must help the man she loves solve the murder that will finally uncover his mysterious past, from the New York Times bestselling author of A Silence in Belgrave Square.
Kat Holloway’s beau, Daniel McAdam, has always had a past shrouded in mystery. He knows nothing about his origins, only that a kind man rescued him from the streets all those years ago. So when a man claiming he knows where Daniel comes from turns up dead moments before meeting with them, Daniel goes on the hunt for the killer. It soon becomes clear that to see justice served, Daniel will have to figure out who he truly is and where he came from. When Daniel asks Kat for her assistance, she readily complies, knowing she’ll do whatever it takes to protect the man she’s come to love.
The quest takes Kat and Daniel deep into the East End, where they face dangerous foes from Daniel’s rugged past, many of whom aren’t happy that Daniel now works with the police and will stop at nothing to keep Kat and Daniel from uncovering their secrets. As Kat begins to learn things about Daniel’s history she’s not certain she wants to know, she fears that the darkest secret—his true name and lineage—will tear apart the tender bonds they’ve begun to form."
"This audio anthology brings together three shorter mysteries in the Captain Lacey series: The Necklace Affair, The Gentleman's Walking Stick, and The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald.
The Necklace Affair: In the spring of 1817, I agree to track down the missing necklace of a society matron and prove the innocence of her maid, who has been arrested for the theft. The matron in question declares that the rival for her husband’s affections has stolen the necklace, but I soon realize that the problem is not so simple.
I quickly become enmeshed in scandal and past secrets and find myself competing with the underworld criminal James Denis for the necklace's retrieval.
The Gentleman's Walking Stick. I am asked by an old friend to retrieve a forgotten walking stick, little realizing that the errand will embroil me in an affair of theft, deception, and betrayal.
The Disappearance of Miss Sarah Oswald: In 1817’s London, I hunt for a missing young woman, learning more about a family's sordid secrets than I wanted to know."
"1816
When I, cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey, return to London from the Napoleonic Wars, I am exhausted and fighting melancholia, my army career ended.
My interest is piqued when I learn of a man’s missing daughter, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. My search for her uncovers murder and corruption beneath glittering Mayfair society and to dealings with a leader of the underworld.
I also must deal with transitioning from a soldier’s life to the civilian world, redefining my role with my former commanding officer and making new friends and enemies, from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden."
"When I stop to assist a young woman in the market at Covent Garden in the summer of 1817, I realized to my shock that is my daughter, Gabriella, whom I haven’t seen many years. I then discover that my estranged wife and her paramour, a French officer, have journeyed to London at the invitation of James Denis to dissolve her marriage to me.
Meanwhile, a Bow Street Runner and a man from the Thames River Police have asked me to help them look into the disappearances of “game girls” from Covent Garden. The magistrates aren’t interested in their fate, but they believe that I might learn a thing or two.
But when the goings-on in Covent Garden put my daughter in grave danger, my crusade turns personal. I will do anything, and call in any favors from anyone, in order to protect my own Gabriella."
"Returning home through a London night in July 1816, I am surprised to spy a well-dressed, elegant woman stride to the middle of an unfinished bridge. Following her in curiosity, I’m on hand to rescue her from an attack by a footpad.
I learn that she is one Lydia Westin, wife of Colonel Roehampton Westin, who has recently been accused of murdering an English officer in Portugal during the Peninsular War. Before he could come to trial, however, Colonel Westin was found dead at the foot of the staircase in his own house.
Mrs. Westin, to my amazement, declares he was murdered and that she knows the culprits’ identities. Intrigued, I begin to investigate, and soon delve into scandals past and present, with a journalist dogging my steps, and a murderer determined to kill all involved, including Lydia and myself.
I learn more about battles in the Peninsular War than I’d ever known, and what terrible secrets Colonel Westin took to his grave."
"In April of 1817, a Bow Street Runner summons me to a Berkeley Square ballroom where a young dandy had been stabbed to death during a society ball the previous night. The prime suspect: my former commander, Colonel Brandon.
Instead of denying the charges, Colonel Brandon allows himself to be arrested, and claims, to my amazement, that the lady he’d stayed protectively near at the ball all night is his mistress. It soon becomes clear that I am the only person not convinced of Brandon’s guilt–all present, including Brandon’s wife, believe he committed the murder.
Colonel Brandon’s reticence to tell the truth proves to be the greatest obstacle in my race against time to prove the stubborn man’s innocence.
The hunt for evidence to clear him uncovers dark secrets that go back to the Peninsular War and the origins of the private battle Brandon and I have waged on each other for some time."
"In the spring of 1817, I take a post as a secretary at the Sudbury School in Berkshire, a school for sons of the wealthiest merchants and bankers in England. However, as soon as I arrive, I discover that I’ve been hired for more than letter-writing skills.
A series of disturbing pranks have kept the school in an uproar, and the headmaster expects me, to my dismay, to discover the identity of the prankster.
The problems intensify when a groom of the school’s stables turns up dead in a lock of the nearby canal. A Romany is arrested for the murder, and I become the only person who believes him innocent.
As I work to discover what happened, I become drawn into the secrets of Marianne Simmons, the actress who’d lived upstairs from me in my tiny lodgings in London. Marianne swears me to silence, which puts a new strain on my friendship with Grenville.
Meanwhile the intrigue surrounding the murder becomes as murky as the waters of the canal itself and plunges me and everyone I care for into deadly danger."
"On a cold January night in 1817, I’m summoned by a Bow Street Runner to the banks of the Thames to identify the body of a young woman. It turns out I do not know her, but discover that she is the wife of a Middle Temple barrister, as well as dear to one of Grenville’s friends, who begs me to find out who killed her.
My search for the murderer takes me to Whitechapel and a place called The Glass House, a sordid gaming hell that attracts gentlemen of the haut ton and plays a large part in the victim’s past.
As I uncover secrets from the highborn and the low, I become drawn deeper into the schemes of the crime lord James Denis and explore my tentative new friendship with Lady Breckenridge.
But someone does not want me to expose the secrets of the Glass House and takes steps to silence me forever.
"
"In June, 1820, I travel to Lyon to attend a wedding, looking forward to sunny strolls on the city’s two rivers and sampling the region’s food. Instead, I soon spy a man from my past who stirs painful and enraging memories.
I find the same man bent over a corpse on one of the city’s bridges one morning, holding a blood-soaked knife, but he insists he is innocent of the murder. I’d like him to be responsible, but my experience investigating problems of this sort tells me he is not.
Suspicion, unfortunately, falls on the family my daughter is about to marry into, whose high standing and respect from the townspeople will not help them against the gendarmes determined to solve the crime.
When I look into the matter, I dredge up dark things from that family’s past that they will do anything to keep me from discovering …"
"Valiant cook and amateur sleuth Kat Holloway must uncover the secrets of Victorian London’s most elite noblemen to save the man she loves, from the New York Times bestselling author of Speculations in Sin.
Kat Holloway knows that her beau and confidante Daniel McAdam has a talent for dangerous work as a Scotland Yard agent. At long last though, Daniel’s coldhearted boss has promised that after a final mission, his debt will be repaid, and he’ll finally be free. However, Daniel must risk his life one last time, masquerading as a secretary to an elderly viscount who could be the mastermind behind the recent plots against the Queen and her government.
Using her contacts throughout London, Kat discovers several of her friends and colleagues have been victims of vicious blackmail. They’ll do anything to protect their scandalous secrets, even conform to the blackmailer’s political agenda. If Kat and Daniel wish to save each other and the Crown, they must prove the blackmailer’s identity and evade those who will stop at nothing to eliminate them."
"December 1882
When cook Kat Holloway is blamed when a dinner guest mysteriously takes ill after eating one of her meals, she sets out to prove she had nothing to do with the gentleman’s sickness. She discovers a whole host of people who might wish to do away with the man, and she and her friends—Daniel McAdam, Lady Cynthia, Mr. Thanos, and various members of the household staff—begin to hunt for the would-be killer.
Simultaneously tasked with crafting the perfect Christmas feast, including the pièce de résistance, the Christmas plum pudding, Kat frantically works to finish all, fearing she’ll have to choose between stopping a murderer and cherishing her few precious Christmas moments with her daughter."
"When Kat Holloway approaches Lady Bobby Perry and Judith Townsend to help her discover what a young aristo is getting up to in a gentleman’s club, Bobby quickly accepts, coaxing a promise of Mrs. Holloway’s stupendous lemon cake in return.
But the investigation quickly turns into more than a simple spy mission, forcing Judith to confront a painful part her past. Both Judith and Bobby must bring their own unique skills to help Kat solve the tricky and dangerous problem."
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