A nursery rhyme leads Ellery Queen to a killer in this classic by a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master."Ellery Queen is the American detective story." —Anthony Boucher, author of Nine Times NineEllery Queen was raised in New York City, but his heart belongs to the village of Wrightsville. An idyllic New England hamlet, it was the site of some of the world-famous detective's most remarkable investigations. After years of solving murder cases in Wrightsville's coziest parlors, Queen was sure the community did not have any further mysteries to offer. But an anonymous letter draws him back to the most dangerous small town in America.Luke MacCaby's sagging old Victorian mansion sits on the edge of a respectable Wrightsville district as a fading reminder of the area's long-vanished heyday. When the owner—a seemingly impoverished hermit—passes away, the town is shocked to learn that he was a partner in the local dye works and left behind a fortune worth millions. To find MacCaby's killer, Queen must peel away the surface of the place he so dearly loves.

A reluctant lady sleuth finds she's investigating her own family.1881, Sussex. With a drowned husband—the second love lost—an overbearing family, no longed-for child, and the responsibility of a huge baroque mansion, it's not surprising Lady Helena Whitcombe is overwhelmed. When attractive, mysterious, French physician Armand Fortier disturbs her first weeks of mourning with his theory of murder, Helena's reluctant and ineffective attempts at investigation are hardly life-changing—until the resulting revival in her long-abandoned herbalist studies bring her into confrontation with her past and her family's.Can Lady Helena survive bereavement the second time around? Can she stand up to her six siblings' assumption of the right to control her new life as a widow? And what role will Fortier—who, as a physician, is a most unsuitable companion for an earl's daughter—play in her investigations?Every family has its secrets. The Scott-De Quincy family has more than most.

When a controlling old woman is murdered, her caretaking daughter is the prime suspect: "Miss Silver is marvelous" (Daily Mail). Althea Graham might have had a life of her own, had it not been for her mother. But when her father died she inherited her bitter, temperamental parent along with the house, and she has borne that burden ever since. She nearly escaped once, but her engagement to Nicholas Carey caused her mother to fall into illness, convincing Althea to keep living with her until the sickness claimed her life. That was five years ago, and Mrs. Graham is as fit as ever. Althea's gloom lifts when Nicholas returns, and it appears that love may bloom again. Mother clings as tightly as ever, of course, but Althea has hope once more. Then murder comes to their household, and the young woman's last chance at happiness is dashed forever—unless Maud Silver, the gentlewoman detective, can save the day.

In a city haunted by fear, some secrets refuse to stay buried—and it may be safer to forget them.London, 1888Byron Constantine is a detective with amnesia—his mind is fractured. He lives day-to-day, desperately fighting to hold onto his memories, only for them to slip away as he sleeps.Mira Blayse is determined to uncover the truth behind her parents’ deaths. With an artist’s eye, she notices what others miss—but her investigations thus far have led nowhere. One morning at a café, she sketches a mysterious stranger, unaware that she is capturing the features of the man who will help her solve the case once and for all.Memory or not.Assuming the role of his secretary, Mira’s sharp eye for detail is the perfect complement to Byron’s deductive genius. More than an assistant, she bridges the gaps in his memory. Together, they tackle a case from Scotland Yard: the suspicious death of airship operator Clement Pennington.With the Whitechapel murders dominating London, they uncover hidden schemes and shadows of a secret society that may hold answers about Mira’s own mystery. As the danger closes in, their partnership deepens—and Byron realizes there may be one memory he cannot afford to lose.The first book in a gripping historical mystery series best enjoyed in order.