"December AD 192 The oldest bonds are the hardest severed.
When Fabio’s aunt Lucretia flexes her match-making muscles, he seeks escape from a marriage to shy, bored Adriane. Luckily, his friend Petros needs help investigating a possible rebellion in Vademlutra. All Fabio has to do is pretend to be poor and keep his wits about him.
Certain there’s nothing to investigate, Fabio settles down for a week in the tavern until a lost young woman in the woods captivates him. Where is she from and why is she so keen to die? Unaware of Fabio’s whereabouts,
Lucretia has her own reasons for being in Vademlutra. Hoping to enjoy a little flirting and a lot of money-making, she’s about to meet her match on both fronts and must scheme more than ever if she has any chance of keeping what’s rightfully hers.
As the town is cut off by snow, Dun the erstwhile grave-robber becomes convinced that diversifying was a bad idea.
But it takes an unexpected death to reveal a decades-old web of deceit and manipulation which threatens to engulf the whole town and make Adriane find enough courage to become involved. Who is behind the rebellion? And if they have blood on their hands, who is the next victim?
As Roman Saturnalia passes and the darker traditions of winter solstice approach, Fabio, Petros, Adriane and Dun must put aside their differences and work together to save not only another life but the whole town from Roman retribution."
"November 1913: Staff wanted. Prospects excellent. Death - or worse - a certainty.
London 1913. One foggy November evening, fourteen-year-old Rosie is knocked down by a car and admitted to Dorcas Free Hospital.
Dr Margaret Demeray suspects she's escaped kidnappers masquerading as an employment agency. But the police are more interested in the cold-blooded murder of a respectable man than Rosie, and Rosie won’t talk, other than to beg Margaret and Fox to stop her friend Violet being caught by the same people.
Digging deeper reveals more than Margaret and Fox bargained for. The procurers may be doing more than simply traffic young people. Rescuing Violet may be the only way they can shut the operation down. But where is she? And is it possible that both perpetrators and victims may be closer than they thought?"
"190 AD Pecunia: an insignificant town in west Britain. Romano-Briton Lucretia is determined that her get-rich-quick scheme will not be undermined by minor things like her husband’s death, dubious imposters or her married daughter’s fascination with a celebrity gladiator. But when the bodies start to mount up, wise-woman Tryssa starts to ask questions. Certain that a forgotten goddess cannot be blamed, Tryssa needs to uncover the truth before another life is lost."
"AD 191. An ancient grove, broken promises, a lost keepsake. Rich Lucretia is on the way to the town of Durnovaria. The last time she saw it she’d just rejected an arranged teenage marriage, but now she's back to claim an inheritance, taking the local wise-woman Tryssa as a companion. Unknown to anyone, two hapless grave-robbers have been seeking ancient treasures in a stone circle nearby, without any idea that what they've found will open up old wounds from a more recent past. With Lucretia’s family busy arguing about money, any possibility that an old ring bought in the forum might be important is pushed aside until Lucretia’s cousin is poisoned and the local magistrate Amicus starts to raise questions. As the past starts to catch up with the present, Tryssa must help Amicus discover who would kill rather than reveal long-buried truths... and what those truths actually are."
"June 1910. Fighting her corner in a man’s world, Dr Margaret Demeray works as a pathologist in a London hospital for the poor. Suppressing her worry that she’s breaching confidentiality, Margaret gives a stranger called Fox information about a dead down-and-out, in the hope he’ll use it to raise awareness of bad working conditions. But when a second man appears to die the same way, Margaret starts to wonder why the enigmatic Fox keeps turning up to ask ever more complex questions. She decides to work alone, uncertain of his motives and wary of her attraction to him. Once she starts investigating however, her home is burgled, she’s attacked in broad daylight and a close friend becomes distant. Fox offers the chance to forge an alliance, saying he knows why the men have died but needs her to find out what is killing them and who is behind it. Yet how come the closer she gets to him the more danger she faces? And how can a memory she’d buried possibly be linked to the deaths? Margaret must discover the truth before someone - known or unknown - silences her for good."
"Does the camera ever lie? 1911: After the violent murder of three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. Can Margaret Demeray and Fox find out which potential enemy is behind a threat to the capital before it’s too late? In the shadow of violence in the East End, just as Dr Margaret Demeray starts to gain recognition for her pathology work, a personal decision puts her career at the hospital under threat. Needing to explore alternative options, she tries working with another female doctor in Glassmakers Lane. But in that genteel street, a new moving-picture studio is the only thing of any interest, and Margaret’s boredom and frustration lead to an obsessive interest in the natural death of a young woman in a town far away. Meanwhile intelligence agent Fox is trying to establish whether rumours of a major threat to London are linked to known anarchist gangs or someone outside Britain with a different agenda. When another mission fails and he asks Margaret to help find out who provided the false intelligence that led him in the wrong direction, she can’t wait to assist. But enquiries in wealthy Hampstead and then assaults in Whitechapel backstreets lead unexpectedly back to Glassmakers Lane. How can such a quiet place be important? And is the dead young woman Margaret can't forget a critical link or a coincidental irrelevance? Margaret and Fox need to work together; but both of them are independent, private and stubborn, and have yet to negotiate the terms of their relationship. How can Margaret persuade Fox to stop protecting her so that she can ask the questions he can’t? And even if she does, how can they discover is behind the threat to London when it’s not entirely clear what the threat actually is?"
"How can a long dead traitor destroy the man who uncovered his crimes?
London Summer 1912. Busy with the pressures of work and new motherhood, Margaret Demeray wonders if she will ever be free to help Fox again. When she hears of an unlikely spy plot, she expects Fox to be incredulous, but something reminds him of a case from 1902, and he decides to investigate.
Just as they decide the allegation is nonsense, a young woman is found dead and evidence at the scene links Fox to her murder. If he has any hope of avoiding arrest, he and Margaret must work out the links to that earlier investigation, when a traitor in the Boer War drowned on Fox’s watch.
Is there someone now seeking revenge? Or is someone using knowledge of it to cover up the selling of military secrets? With London crippled by a series of strikes, Margaret and Fox struggle to try discover the truth, but as the net closes in on Fox, Margaret finds herself fighting not just for her family’s safety but for his reputation… and ultimately his life.
Exactly how far is Margaret prepared to go to protect him?"
"Would you betray a friend to save a country? Would you betray a country to avenge a friend?
London May 1913.
Angry about the treatment of suffragettes, and a supporter’s murder, Dr Margaret Demeray’s friend Maude urges their suffrage group towards violent militancy.
But Margaret is conflicted when a parcel bomb brings casualties to her hospital. And what is the risk to a fragile peace treaty which is about to be signed, and to Fox who’s tracking down stolen diplomatic documents?
Fox thinks someone is hiding behind suffrage militancy to detract from his search. Margaret thinks the murders and the missing documents are intrinsically linked, and Maude might be the next victim.
If she’s wrong, then one of her fellow suffragettes is a murderer. But if she’s right, then someone else is trying to find the documents and is prepared to kill to get them.
Time is running out. If someone finds the person with the documents before Fox does, that person might not survive. If the documents are published, Europe might be catapulted into war before any of its nations are ready to fight.
Margaret and Fox need to move fast before one more person is silenced."
