Charlie Hastings is astonished to find himself accused of murdering Viscount Sedbury. Admittedly, Charlie had two heated altercations with Sedbury in the hours preceding the man’s death, but as Charlie is quick to point out to Stokes – andto Barnaby and Penelope – there are a multitude of others in the ton who will be delighted to learn of Sedbury’s demise.
As Penelope, Barnaby, and Stokes start assembling a suspect list, Charlie’s prediction proves only too accurate. Yet the most puzzling aspect is who on earth managed to kill Sedbury. The man was a hulking brute, large, very strong, and known as a vicious brawler. Who managed to subdue him enough to strangle him?
As the number of suspects steadily increases, the investigators are forced to ask if, perhaps, one of their suspects hired a killer capable of taking Sedbury down. With that possibility thrown into the calculations, narrowing their suspect list becomes a futile exercise.
Their pursuit of the truth leads them to investigate the many shady avenues of Sedbury’s life, much to the consternation of Sedbury’s father, the Marquess of Rattenby. Rattenby does not want Sedbury’s distasteful proclivities exposed for all the world to see, further harming the other family members who Sedbury has taken great delight in tormenting for most of his life.
In the end, the resolution of the crime lies in old-fashioned policing coupled with the fresh twists Barnaby and Penelope bring to Scotland Yard’s efforts.
And when the truth is finally revealed, it raises questions that strike to the very heart of justice and what, with such a victim and such a murderer, true justice actually means.
A historical novel of 62,500 words interweaving mystery and murder with a touch of romance.
Click here to read an excerpt.
Buy & Read DEAD BESIDE THE THAMES
The eighth volume in
The Casebook of Barnaby Adair mystery-romances
THE MERIWELL LEGACY
#1 NYT-bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with her favorite sleuths to unravel a tangled web of family secrets and expose a murderer.
When Lord Meriwell collapses and dies at his dining table, Barnaby and Penelope Adair are summoned, along with Inspector Basil Stokes, to discover who, how, and most importantly why someone very close to his lordship saw fit to poison him.
When Lord Meriwell dies at his dining table, Nurse Veronica Haskell suspects foul play and notifies his lordship’s doctor, eminent Harley Street specialist Dr. David Sanderson. In turn, compelled by a need to protect Veronica who is at Meriwell Hall as David’s behest, David calls on his friends Barnaby and Penelope Adair for assistance.
However, as the fateful dinner was the first of a house party being attended by the local MP and his family, the Metropolitan Police commissioners also consider the Adairs’ presence desirable, and consequently, Barnaby and Penelope accompany Stokes to Meriwell Hall.
There, they discover a gathering of the Meriwell family intended to impress the visiting Busseltons so that George Busselton, local MP, will agree to a marriage between his daughter and Lord Meriwell’s eldest nephew, Stephen. But instead of any pleasant sojourn, the company find themselves confined to the hall and grounds while Stokes, Barnaby, and Penelope set about interviewing everyone and establishing facts, alibis, and the movements of those in the house.
To our investigators’ frustration, while determining the means proves straightforward, and opportunity reduces their suspect list, motive remains elusive, and their list of suspects stays stubbornly long.
Then the killer strikes again, but even then, the investigators are left with the same suspects and too many potential reasons for the second death.
What did the killer hope to gain?
More importantly, will he kill again?
At last, the investigators stumble on a promising clue, yet following it requires sending to London for information, and their frustration builds. As the clock ticks and they doggedly forge on, they uncover more and more facts, yet none allows them to identify which of their prime suspects is the murderer.
Will they get the breakthrough they need, one sufficient to exonerate the innocent?
When the answer arrives, they discover that the Meriwell family legacies are more far-reaching than anyone realized, and that the crimes involved and the motivation for the murders is far more heinous than anyone imagined.
A historical novel of 78,000 words interweaving mystery and murder with a touch of romance.
Click here to read an excerpt.
Buy & Read THE MERIWELL LEGACY
PREVIOUSLY RELEASED IN THE CASEBOOK OF BARNABY ADAIR NOVELS:
Read about Penelope’s and Barnaby’s romance, plus that of Stokes and Griselda, in
The first volume in
