Glittering chandeliers reveal dark secretsFormer spies and London society favorites Malcolm and Mélanie Suzanne Rannoch are back home, and delighted that their dear friends, Raoul O'Roarke and Laura Tarrington, are finally free to marry. But what should be an occasion for joy is soon/quickly marred by a blackmail attempt. To aid an old friend, the Rannochs must resume a life of espionage and adventure, facing an attack at the London docks and infiltrating a Mayfair ball in disguise to retrieve stolen letters. They soon realize the stolen documents they seek could upend the British government—and the secrets Malcolm and Mélanie uncover hit unexpectedly—and dangerously—close to home..."Shimmers like the finest salons in Vienna." —Deborah Crombie"Meticulous, delightful, and full of surprises." —Tasha Alexander"Glittering balls, deadly intrigue, sexual scandals. . .the next best thing to actually being there!"— Lauren...

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the life of a former spy cannot remain quiet for long.London, December 1820. Former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch are hosting a small party and looking forward to an intrigue-free holiday season when their friend, Thomas Thornsby, turns up dripping wet on the doorstep of their Berkeley Square house.Not only is Thomas clearly overwrought, his arrival is particularly awkward. Thomas is newly betrothed to an heiress. Edith Simmons, the woman he wished to marry — if not for lack of fortune — is one of the Rannochs' guests that evening. But Thomas says he had no one else to turn to. His fiancée, the decorous Marianne Schofield, has vanished without a trace from a Mayfair holiday ball.Always willing to help a friend, the Rannochs don evening attire and join the elegant gathering. Amidst the holiday revelry they find that Thomas's seemingly perfect betrothed has secrets of her own. As they uncover layers of...

Every spy has a past. But Mélanie Suzanne Rannoch is not prepared to meet her husband Malcolm's past literally walking towards them across a candlelit Mayfair ballroom in the person of brilliant, stunning Katelina Ashford, Malcolm's first love. Nor is she prepared to find that Kitty is a former agent herself, who has come to London seeking Malcolm's help. Mélanie, who misses her own past as a spy, always relishes the intrigue of espionage. But even as Kitty's secret mission unsettles London society, it leaves Mélanie questioning her own assumptions about the man whose name and bed she has shared for seven years.The quest that has brought Kitty to London began in Spain in the tumult of the Napoleonic Wars, but it stretches into some of Britain's most powerful families. From the gritty bustle of Bow Street to the scandalous grottos of Vauxhall, the Rannochs find themselves involved in a search for a mysterious operative known as the Goshawk, a painting that holds the key to...

The Rannoch Fraser Mysteries #18London, December, 1819. After their recent adventures, former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch are looking forward to spending a quiet holiday season with friends and family. The greatest danger seems to be Mélanie's scandalous debut in a Christmas pantomime, which has shocked Mayfair's elite. But when an old friend smuggles a fugitive from the Continent into the theatre on opening night, the Rannochs find themselves facing both government agents and a mysterious assassin. As they infiltrate secret meetings, intercept coded documents, and reunite estranged lovers, they quickly realize nothing is quite what it seems. At least, as Mélanie tells her husband, they are spending the holidays with those closest to them—even if they aren't sure they can trust their nearest and dearest..."Shimmers like the finest salons in Vienna." —Deborah Crombie"Glittering balls, deadly intrigue, sexual scandals. . .the next best...

June 1820. Britain's former prince regent, now George IV, is determined to divorce his estranged wife, Queen Caroline, and the coming trial is the talk of London, from Mayfair to Westminster to Seven Dials, dredging up scandalous details and pitting Whigs against Tories in a battle for power. When former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch learn their enemies in the mysterious Elsinore League are trying to sell letters that could prove key at the trial, the Rannochs are determined to intercept these vital papers before they can be used against Queen Caroline.The exchange is to take place in the candlelit splendor of Carfax House, at the first ball Malcolm and Mélanie's friends Julien and Kitty are giving in their new roles as Lord and Lady Carfax. But Malcolm and Mélanie aren't the only ones determined to intercept the letters. Amidst a night of champagne and waltzing, Mélanie and Malcolm find themselves entrapped in an intrigue that may be as deadly as any they faced in...

London, 1820. Britain and Continental Europe teeter on the edge of upheaval, but Mélanie Rannoch tells herself she's left behind the dangers of the spy game and the sometimes equally-perilous intrigues of London society as she prepares for the premiere of her first play.Until her children stumble upon the body of the Hon. Lewis Thornsby in the wings of the Tavistock Theatre. Suddenly, Mélanie and her husband, Malcolm, plunge into an investigation that cuts closer to their former life of espionage than they would have thought possible. Thornsby, a seemingly guileless young man about town, was part of the Levellers, a secret group of reformers whose leader is a friend of the Rannochs. A paper on Thornsby's body hints at a plot to assassinate a member of the royal family.Was Thornsby the would-be assassin or was he killed because he had learned too much? Is the plot genuine or an attempt to entrap and discredit the Levellers? As their investigation takes them from gin-soaked...

Former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Suzanne Rannoch return to Dunmykel Castle in Scotland in response to a secret summons from Malcolm's grandfather, the Duke of Strathdon. The duke has a plan that will allow the Rannochs to resume their former life in Britain. Malcolm, worried that Mélanie could face treason charges for her past as a French spy, wants nothing more than to take his family safely back to Italy. But when Malcolm's sister Gisèle disappears from Dunmykel, Malcolm instead find himself doing the one thing he didn't want to do—risking a return to London in search of his missing sister. Meanwhile in Scotland, Mélanie uncovers information that connects her own shadowy past with Gisèle's disappearance, which sends Mélanie off on a quest of her own. As they unravel the tangled threads, Malcolm and Mélanie learn Gisèle's disappearance is part of a dangerous game involving two old enemies and the highest reaches of Britain's government. The stakes rise still higher when...

In the glittering world of Regency London, where gossip is exchanged—and reputations ruined—with the tilt of a fan, Mélanie Fraser is the perfect wife. Devoted to her husband, Charles, the grandson of a duke, she is acknowledged as society's most charming hostess. But just as the elegant façade of Regency London hides a dark side, Mélanie is not what she seems. She has a secret: one that could destroy her perfect jewel-box life forever . . . and the cost to keep it is an exquisite heirloom ring surrounded by legend and power. The search for it will pull Mélanie and Charles into a gritty underworld of gin-soaked brothels, elegant gaming hells, and debtors' prisons. In this maze of intrigue, deception is second nature and betrayal can come far too easily . . .

A Malcolm & Suzanne Rannoch Historical Mystery Book 11On a moonlit London night, Suzanne Rannoch slips away from a glittering Mayfair party to assist a wounded man who has escaped Paris one step ahead of Royalist pursuit. In fever-wracked delirium, the man warns Suzanne of a plot to rescue Napoleon Bonaparte: A plot that could bring chaos to Suzanne's world, for though now married to the grandson of British duke, she was once an agent for Bonaparte...Before she can ask more questions, the mysterious man disappears into the London night.That same evening, Suzanne's husband Malcolm, himself a former spy for Britain, is summoned to the warehouse of a shipping company where a thief has been knifed to death. Beside the body is a secret compartment, but whatever the compartment contained is gone.These two seemingly unconnected incidents prove to be the opening gambit in a deadly game that will test the Rannochs' skill, strain their divided loyalties to Britain...

Book Description: Adam Durward is an outsider in both his mother's India and his father's England. Too much of an outsider for his childhood sweetheart, Caroline, who turned her back on their forbidden love to marry the wealthier, safer Jared Rawley. Taught a bitter lesson about not belonging, Adam left England as a diplomat and spy in the Peninsular War. But even then he could not escape Caroline. When he learned her husband, Jared, had betrayed crown and country, he exposed Jared as a traitor despite Caroline's pleas.   Sheltered, pampered Caroline grew up and found unexpected courage in the wake of her husband's disgrace. She left her decorous life in England and followed Jared into war-torn Spain. Now a widow with a young daughter, she is trapped behind enemy lines. Adam sets out to rescue the woman who still haunts his dreams. In a landscape set with treachery and intrigue, Adam and Caroline's only hope of survival is to rely on each other. They brave bandits, enemy soldiers, and harsh terrain, but the greatest danger they face may be navigating the web of love and betrayal that still binds them together.   About the Author: Tracy Grant has been making up stories as long as she can remember and writing them down since third grade when she was assigned writing a story and realized she had a wealth of characters and plots inside her head. She studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late fifteenth century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is on the board of the Merola Opera Program, a training program for professional opera singers, coaches, and stage directors. For more information about her books, please visit her website at http://tracygrant.wordpress.com.  

Book Description: A Malcolm & Suzanne Rannoch Historical Mystery Novella A year and a half after entering her unusual marriage of convenience to British attaché and intelligence agent, Malcolm Rannoch, Suzanne Rannoch pays her first visit to her husband's home. England: the country her husband fled for reasons she does not fully understand; the country Suzanne has secretly spent the last five years fighting against as a French spy. The trip takes Suzanne and her husband to the heart of London society—the world Malcolm grew up in. A glamorous labyrinth of unwritten rules and unvoiced codes. Yet the glittering ballrooms of London are not free of the intrigues of the Napoleonic Wars. The search for stolen papers that could tip the international balance of power pits Malcolm and Suzanne against each other. Suzanne faces a stark choice between her loyalty to her cause and her love for the man she married—in order to spy on him. "Shimmers like the finest salons in Vienna." —Deborah Crombie "Meticulous, delightful, and full of surprises." —Tasha Alexander "Glittering balls, deadly intrigue, sexual scandals. . .the next best thing to actually being there!"—Lauren Willig "A superb storyteller."—Deanna Raybourn About the Author: Tracy Grant studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late-fifteenth-century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her young daughter and three cats. In addition to writing, Tracy works for the Merola Opera Program, a professional training program for opera singers, pianists, and stage directors. Her real life heroine is her daughter Mélanie, who is very cooperative about Mummy's writing time. She is currently at work on her next book chronicling the adventures of Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch. Visit her on the Web at www.tracygrant.org

Book Description:A Malcolm & Suzanne Rannoch MysteryIn the elegant environs of Mayfair, Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch live a seemingly charmed life. Malcolm, a former diplomatic attaché and intelligence agent, is a rising Member of Parliament. Suzanne is fast becoming one of London’s most sought hostesses. But even their closest friends don’t know that the Rannoch’s marriage is still reeling from the revelation that Suzanne was a French spy when she met British agent Malcolm and that she married him to gather information on British plans. Malcolm and Suzanne are hoping for private time to repair their marriage. But their peace is shattered by a late night visit from a Bow Street runner. The powerful Duke of Trenchard has been found murdered in the study of his St. James’s Square house. And Laura Dudley, governess to the Rannoch children, was standing over the dying duke.Malcolm and Suzanne are convinced the woman they trusted with their children is not a killer. To prove Laura’s innocence, they are drawn into an investigation that will test their wits and the fragile truce between them. But whether or not she murdered the Duke of Trenchard, Laura Dudley is certainly not what she seemed. Revelations about her identity cut dangerously close to Suzanne’s own past. Malcolm and Suzanne realize more is at stake than Laura’s life and liberty. The investigation into the Duke of Trenchard’s murder will either prove the resilience of their bond–or snap it in two. "Shimmers like the finest salons in Vienna." —Deborah Crombie"Meticulous, delightful, and full of surprises." —Tasha Alexander"Glittering balls, deadly intrigue, sexual scandals. . .the next best thing to actually being there!"—Lauren Willig"A superb storyteller."—Deanna Raybourn About the Author: Tracy Grant studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late-fifteenth-century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her young daughter and three cats. In addition to writing, Tracy works for the Merola Opera Program, a professional training program for opera singers, pianists, and stage directors. Her real life heroine is her daughter Mélanie, who is very cooperative about Mummy's writing time. She is currently at work on her next book chronicling the adventures of Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch. Visit her on the Web at www.tracygrant.org