Inspector Ian Rutledge is quickly sent to investigate the sudden deaths of three members of the same eminent Cornwall family, but the World War I veteran soon realizes that nothing about this case is routine. Including the identity of one of the dead, a reclusive spinster unmasked as O. A. Manning, whose war poetry helped Rutledge retain his grasp on sanity in the trenches of France. Guided by the voice of Hamish, the Scot he unwillingly executed on the battlefield, Rutledge is driven to uncover the haunting truths of murder and madness rooted in a family crypt... Amazon.com ReviewWhen A Test of Wills, Charles Todd's first mystery about a shell-shocked World War I veteran, came out, it was such an original and successfully executed concept that readers were torn between wanting more and wondering how he could possibly pull off a sequel. Todd does it very simply: he pushes the gimmick sideways and makes his Scotland Yard detective, Ian Rutledge, much more personally involved in the death of one of the possible murder victims than he was in the first book. While the voice of Hamish, the Scottish soldier he executed for battlefield cowardice, still growls in his mind, Inspector Rutledge also feels very deeply about Olivia Marlowe, a supposed suicide in the Cornwall town of Borcombe. He knew her as O. A. Manning, a poet whose books, especially the love poems collected in Wings of Fire, were "light and warmth and beauty intermingled with such passion that they sang in the heart as you read them. Wings of Fire had touched him in ways that few things had." Olivia's death, along with that of two members of her family, have brought Rutledge from London to investigate. But, as a sharp local clergyman tells him, "Be sure your own ghosts don't infringe on your logical mind--don't rain havoc on Borcombe in search of your own absolution." From Publishers WeeklyIn a brilliant return after his introduction in A Test of Wills (1996), Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is dispatched to Cornwall to investigate three deaths?seemingly a double-suicide and an accident?that have occurred within weeks in the Trevelyan family. Still recovering from shell shock sustained while serving in France during WWI, Rutledge carries in his head the challenging voice of Hamish MacLeod, a Scottish soldier about whose battlefront death Rutledge experiences profound guilt. In the village of Borcombe, Rutledge learns that one of the apparent suicides, Olivia Marlowe, wrote as O.A. Manning, a poet whose work had uncannily captured both the misery of war and the passion and beauty of love. Olivia Marlowe and her devoted half-brother Nicholas Cheney died of poisoning within hours of each other. Another half-brother, Stephen FitzHugh, the only family member opposed to selling the family estate where Olivia and Nicholas lived, fell down the stairs to his death not long after the funeral. Searching for answers about the deaths and for an understanding of the poet, Rutledge finds himself on a decades-long trail of cleverly disguised murders. Todd's cast is sometimes hard to keep straight, but readers will find it hard to resist following Rutledge on this emotionally intense quest. Memorable characters, subtle plot twists, the evocative seaside setting and descriptions of architecture, the moors and the sea fully reward the attention this novel commands. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the author of the international bestseller The Quincunx Set in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. When his nation is invaded and occupied by a brutal enemy, a well-intentioned man persuades his wife that they should give temporary shelter to a young girl who is at school with their daughter. He has no idea that the girl belongs to a community against whom the invader intends to commit genocide. Days stretch into weeks and then months while the enemy's pitiless hatred of the girl's community puts all of the family in danger. Nobody outside the family can be trusted with the dangerous secret and the threat from outside unlocks a darkness that threatens to derail them all. From the bestselling author of The Quincunx (over one million copies sold worldwide), comes a deeply unsettling psychological novel about the hideous decisions that people are forced to make when living under tyrannical regimes. 

The next steamy historical romance from USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels.Imogen Huxley was already questioning her decision to seek out a lover at a notorious brothel, but never more so than after she witnesses a murder! She flees for her life and runs right into the arms of Oscar Fitzhugh, a mysterious club owner. She has no choice but to take his offer of protection while he tries to save her life. The passion that comes with that protection is just a bonus. Oscar Fitzhugh was at the brothel investigating the death of his former mistress. He's one of the infamous by-blows of the Duke of Roseford, but he cut himself off from that life long ago. Now he lives his life, trying desperately to keep everyone around him at arm's length. But Imogen is too intriguing not to protect and seduce. Danger is at every turn, pleasure in each touch. But as they circle ever closer to a future that could be everything they've ever needed, the...

Can this be the best mistake of his life? Laird Duncan Grant doesn't want his neighboring clans, the MacIntoshes and the MacPhersons, to form an alliance by the planned marriage between their offspring. It would make for a dangerous situation for his clan. Since he is in need of a wife, he decides to seize the bride on her way to the wedding and keep her for himself.But he takes the wrong lass.Lady Elsbeth Johnstone is tired of living in her twin sister's shadow. She loves her dearly, but it is time for her to have her own life. With no prospects for marriage, she decides a convent in Perth is the place for her.In the dead of night on her trek to Perth, she is dragged away from her escort by a band of men who think she is someone else. Furious at how her life is now out of her control again, she demands Laird Grant bring her to the convent in Perth.Angry at the mistake he made, he agrees, but he can't help but wonder if he could...

One artist. One student. One deadly mystery.When Regionalist painter Thomas Hart Benton's corpse is discovered behind the easels of Manhattan's famed art school, whispers in the art community say he had it coming. As Benton's list of enemies lengthens to include League instructors, Vietnam War protesters, and members of Andy Warhol's entourage, one art student is ultimately pinned for the crime. The only problem: the suspect has vanished.Why would an art student murder Benton? And if he were innocent, why would he run? When TJ Fitzgerald, son of Detective Juanita Diaz and Captain Brian Fitzgerald of the NYPD, discovers his classmate is the prime suspect, he uses his investigative skills to try and clear his name. But as TJ and his girlfriend work to unravel the clues, he begins to wonder if the police got it wrong and one secret may be the key to it all...

Amid the Jacobite uprising of 1715, an English heiress flees to the Scottish lowlands to stay with allies of her powerful family. But while castle walls may protect her from the enemy outside, a whirlwind of intrigue, shifting allegiances, and temptations of the heart lie within.

Fawn Heathcote has resisted the advances of her aunt's rakish half-brother, Captain Crispin Wolfe, for as long as she dared. Until the night he arrives to deliver a devastating message and Fawn realizes only her tormentor can save her. Her resistance to Crispin’s seduction gradually breaks down under his protection and she soon discovers a side to her captor that is loving--and one that is lethal.

In THE PYRATES, the author of the celebrated Flashman novels pays tongue-in-cheek homage to the swashbuckling books and movies that have always stirred his imagination. In these rollicking pages you'll find tall ships and desert islands; impossibly gallant adventurers and glamorous heroines; devilishly sinister cads and ghastly dungeons; improbably acrobatic duels and hair's-breadth escapes; and more plot twists than you can shake a rapier at. A deliriously entertaining combination of Errol Flynn action-adventure and Naked Gun pastiche.

Death comes for everyone. Deep in the Florida Everglades, the body of a woman is discovered in pieces, presumably ravaged by an alligator. Upon closer inspection, it's determined no animal could make such perfectly precise cuts. Only a blade could do that. Wielded by a human. Soon, dozens of oil drums emerge amid the river of grass. Each one packed to the brim with body parts. FDLE special agent Amy Larson and her partner, FBI special agent Hunter Forrest, share a bad feeling that extends beyond the horrifying nature of the grim discovery. They've seen this kind of sadistic killing before, and when a small beige horse is discovered at the bottom of one of the barrels, they know exactly what it means. The fourth horseman of the apocalypse rides a pale horse—and his name is Death. With so many bodies to identify, connecting one victim to the next is easier said than done. But finding a pattern in the chaos might be the only way Amy and Hunter can...

War imprisoned them. Friendship set them free. 'A beautiful, tender and fascinating story' Sinead Moriarty 'moving and utterly unforgettable' Cathryn Ryan Howard 'Beautiful ... warm, loveable characters who had me rooting for them all the way' Tracy Rees 'An absolute treat' Liz Nugent China, 1941. With Japan's declaration of war on the Allies, Elspeth Kent's future changes forever. When soldiers take control of the missionary school where she teaches, comfortable security is replaced by rationing, uncertainty and fear. Ten-year-old Nancy Plummer has always felt safe at Chefoo School. Now the enemy, separated indefinitely from anxious parents, the children must turn to their teachers – to Miss Kent and her new Girl Guide patrol especially – for help. But worse is to come when the pupils and teachers are sent to a distant internment camp. Unimaginable hardship, impossible choices and danger lie ahead. Inspired by true events, this is the unforgettable story of the life-changing...

Miss Alexandra Matthews is destitute after her father dies, and leaves her nothing to fend for herself. She is forced to seek employment and takes a position as a governess for the children of the Duke of Graystone.Damon Neverhartt, the Earl of Seville returns home after being out of the country for years. He is ready to take over his family estate and accept his role as an earl. Thanks to the Duke of Graystone's guidance the Seville estate is prosperous and his family home almost completely restored.He goes to Graystone Castle upon his return, and plans to stay there while Seville Manor's restoration is being finalized. He doesn't expect to find a temptation in the form of a governess. Damon knows he shouldn't want her, but he can't help how he feels. When she mistakes him as a worker on the estate he doesn't correct her assumption.Alex and Damon are drawn together, but after she realizes he's lied to her she doesn't think he can be trusted. Damon's...