In the tradition of Arianna Franklin and C. J. Sansom comes Samuel Thomas’s remarkable debut, The Midwife’s TaleIt is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.Bridget joins forces with Martha Hawkins, a servant who’s far more skilled with a knife than any respectable woman ought to be. To save Esther from the stake, they must dodge rebel artillery, confront a murderous figure from Martha’s past, and capture a brutal killer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. The investigation takes Bridget and Martha from the homes of the city’s most powerful families to the alleyways of its poorest neighborhoods. As they delve into the life of Esther’s murdered husband, they discover that his ostentatious Puritanism hid a deeply sinister secret life, and that far too often tyranny and treason go hand in hand.

This locked-room mystery, "solid proof for the unreliability of circumstantial evidence" will have readers "give thanks" for the British crime classic (Kirkus Reviews). A long line of people stand outside a London West End Theatre, hopeful to nab standing room tickets for one of the last performances of an acclaimed actress. The crowd surges forward eagerly, all except for one man, who sinks to the ground, dead. The silver stiletto dagger plunged in his back sends a ripple of horror through the spectators, none of whom managed to spot the killer. It's up to Insp. Alan Grant of Scotland Yard to solve the puzzle of how a man was targeted among so many potential witnesses—an investigation that will have the astute detective tracking clues from London to the Scottish highlands, all in the name of bringing a murderer to justice.

Death pays a visit to Sarah Kelling's Boston boardinghouse in this cozy mystery from the bestselling author of the Peter Shandy series. Though the inheritance from her dearly departed Alexander was meant to set Sarah Kelling up for life, it vanishes quickly in the face of hounding from charitable organizations and the IRS. Facing the loss of her stately Back Bay brownstone, Sarah opens her home to lodgers—deciding she prefers a boardinghouse to the poorhouse. Soon she's cooking meals and serving tea for a cast of quirky residents, a cozy little family that would be quite happy were it not for the unpleasant presence of a certain Barnwell Augustus Quiffen—a man so rude that no one really minds when he's squashed beneath a subway car. Sarah replaces her lost boarder quickly, and the family dynamic is restored. But when another lodger dies suddenly, the boardinghouse appears to be cursed. Now it'll take more than a glass of sherry to soothe Sarah's panicked residents, and she must turn to detective Max Bittersohn for help before her boarders bolt."The epitome of the 'cozy' mystery" (Mostly Murder), award-winning author Charlotte MacLeod's Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries have charmed readers the world over.

Mixing Mystery and Romance in a Fizzy 1930s Cocktail!A desperate girl. A dead matron. A detective with secrets of his own.It’s Chicago, 1935, and ever since the Crash and her father’s subsequent suicide, Henrietta Von Harmon has been left to care for her antagonistic mother and seven younger siblings. In desperation, Henrietta takes a job as a taxi dancer at a local dance hall. Just as she’s beginning to find her footing, however, the floor matron turns up dead. When the aloof Inspector Clive Howard arrives to investigate, he persuades Henrietta to go undercover—plunging her deeper into Chicago’s gritty underworld.As Henrietta and the impenetrable Inspector reluctantly join forces, they find themselves drawn to each other in ways they didn’t expect. But will their growing attraction—along with the misplaced efforts of a lovestruck neighborhood boy—thwart their hunt for the real killer before it’s too late?Perfect for readers who enjoy clever historical mysteries featuring an age-gap romance, class-divide love story, undercover investigations, a working-class heroine, and a wounded war veteran hero with a protective streak.Fans of Downton Abbey who love a good mystery—with plenty of romance and a dash of 1930s atmosphere—will devour this series.