Best Selling Books by Anne Perry

A royalist out to save Louis XVI from the guillotine is murdered in this mystery set in revolutionary France by a New York Times–bestselling master. Célie Laurent stands in the convention hall of the French Republic, watching the deputies vote one by one. Most of them have just one word to say: “Death.” As the night wears on, the outcome of the vote moves beyond doubt, and Louis XVI is condemned to the guillotine. Célie will have just four days to save the king’s life. As the Revolution reaches a fever pitch, Célie falls in with a group of royalists who are willing to do whatever it takes to keep France from killing its king. Their plan is daring, but just might work—until the group’s leader is murdered in cold blood. Somewhere among the royalists lies a traitor, and Célie and her friends must find him soon, lest they lose their heads before Louis loses his. From the New York Times–bestselling author of the William Monk and Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series, acclaimed for her atmospheric historical settings, The One Thing More is a fascinating tale of suspense.

Not since the bloody deeds of Jack the Ripper have Londoners felt such terror as that aroused by the gruesome beheadings in Hyde Park. And if newly promoted Police Superintendent Thomas Pitt does not quickly apprehend the perpetrator, he is likely to lose his own head, professionally speaking. Yet even with the help of Charlotte Pitt’s subtle investigation, the sinister violence continues unchecked. And in a shocking turn of events that nearly convinces the pair of sleuths that they have met their match, the case proves to be Pitt’s toughest ever.

With this latest entry in a bestselling series that evokes all the passion and heroism of history’s most heartbreaking conflict–the war that was meant to end all wars–Anne Perry adds new luster to her worldwide reputation. Angels in the Gloom is an intense saga of love, hate, obsession, and murder that features an honorable English family–brothers Joseph and Matthew Reavley and their sisters, Judith and Hannah. In March 1916, Joseph, a chaplain at the front, and Judith, an ambulance driver, are fighting not only the Germans but the bitter cold and the appalling casualties at Ypres. Scarcely less at risk, Matthew, an officer in England’s Secret Intelligence Service, fights the war covertly from London. Only Hannah, living with her children in the family home in tranquil Cambridgeshire, seems safe. Appearances, however, are deceiving. By the time Joseph returns home to Cambridgeshire, rumors of spies and traitors are rampant. And when the savagely brutalized body of a weapons scientist is discovered in a village byway, the fear that haunts the battlefields settles over the town–along with the shadow of the obsessed ideologue who murdered the Reavleys’ parents on the eve of the war. Once again, this icy, anonymous powerbroker, the Peacemaker, is plotting to kill. Perry’s kaleidoscopic new novel illuminates an entire world, from the hell of the trenches to the London nightclub where a beautiful Irish spy plies her trade; from the sequestered laboratory where a weapon that can end the war is being perfected to the matchless glory of the English countryside in spring. Steeped in history and radiant with truth, Angels in the Gloom is a masterpiece that warms the heart even as it chills the blood.

The tragic death of a railway magnate in a sleazy brothel leads amnesiac private investigator William Monk on a journey that will revive memories and a past almost impossible to bear.

An ancient scroll draws a bookseller into a chilling mystery. Monty Danforth finds the tin buried beneath a shipment of leather-bound classics. Inside is a millennia-old vellum manuscript written in an unfamiliar but unmistakably ancient language. Danforth tries to photocopy and photograph it, but he ends up with blank images, as though the ink were made of something impervious to modern technology. As the scroll’s mystery enchants him, this hapless bookseller falls into a cutthroat conspiracy that he may never escape. Soon a dead-eyed old man and his granddaughter come calling for the scroll. Danforth refuses to sell them the manuscript, but they will not be the last to demand it. Powerful forces crave the secrets locked within this ancient document, and Danforth will survive only if he can master its power. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

On a sunny afternoon in late June 1914, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley learns that his parents have died in an automobile crash. Joseph’s brother, an officer in the Intelligence Service, reveals that their father had been en route to London with a mysterious secret document– allegedly possessing the power to disgrace England and destroy the civilized world. Now, that explosive paper has vanished, and Joseph is left to wonder: How had it fallen into the hands of his father, a quiet countryman? But Joseph is soon burdened with a second tragedy: the shocking murder of his most gifted student, who was loved and admired by everyone. Or so it appeared. And as England’s seamless peace begins to crack, the distance between the murder of an Austrian archduke and the death of a brilliant student grows shorter every day.

Someone on posh Callander Square will kill to keep a secret in this “superior” mystery from the New York Times–bestselling author of Twenty-One Days (The San Diego Union-Tribune). When two dead infants are dug up in the Callander Square gardens, the upper-class residents dismiss the burials as the desperate act of a low-born girl and resent the intrusion of Inspector Thomas Pitt into their well-ordered lives. Pitt is not convinced that the case should be so easily dropped. Also intrigued by the mystery, Pitt’s well-born wife, Charlotte, pursues her own investigation into places Thomas would never have access—the parlors and inner chambers of the mansions on the fashionable square. With her sister Emily, Lady Ashworth, who lives on Callander Square, she delves into the lives and secrets of the residents. Thomas and Charlotte, now expecting their first child, form the perfect sleuthing couple. Elegant closets soon spill their skeletons exposing long-hidden secrets—secrets that could lead even the most upright aristocrat to kill. But will Pitt’s keen investigative skills and Charlotte’s insights into the workings of high-class society solve the mystery in time to save the innocent residents of Callander Square from the murderer among them? Callander Square is the 2nd book in the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novels, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order. /DIV

A mystery set in Victorian England by the New York Times–bestselling author whose “novels attain the societal sweep of Trollope or Thackeray” (Booklist, starred review). When her mother asks her help in finding a lost locket with a compromising picture, neither Charlotte Pitt, nor her mother, has any idea that the locket may be at the center of a bizarre chain of events leading to murder. Arriving at her mother’s home at Rutland Place, Charlotte discovers that other residents of the exclusive neighborhood have also suffered similar small thefts. It all appears quite mild as crimes go—a light-fingered servant, perhaps. That is, until Mina Spencer-Brown, a woman known for her prying, is poisoned and dies. Inspector Thomas Pitt quickly surmises that Mina’s snooping might have led to her murder, but what secrets had she stumbled upon? And whose? As Pitt patiently struggles to break down the protective silence of high-born neighbors, Charlotte works behind the closed doors of society’s drawing rooms to help unravel a mystery that reveals sordid secrets and the chilling, dark corners of human behavior.

Here are two holiday mysteries set in remote, snow-covered regions of Victorian Britain–where the nights are indeed silent but all is not calm, and where some will sleep in eternal peace. A CHRISTMAS BEGINNING While spending Christmas on the island of Anglesey off the coast of Wales, Superintendent Runcorn of Scotland Yard, a lonely bachelor, stumbles upon the lifeless body of the vicar’s younger sister in the village churchyard. Everyone insists that only a stranger to the island could have committed the heinous crime, but the evidence proves otherwise. Intending to uncover the identity of the ruthless killer, Runcorn never dreams that the case may also, miraculously, open the door to a new future for himself. A CHRISTMAS GRACE With Christmas just around the corner, Thomas Pitt’s sister-in-law, Emily Radley, is suddenly called from London to be with her dying aunt on the western coast of Ireland. Emily soon discovers that painful memories of an unsolved murder haunt the lonely Irish town and sets out to unmask the culprit. When a lone shipwreck survivor washes up onshore, he brings with him not only the key to solving the terrible crime but the opportunity for the townspeople to make peace with the past–and with one another.

Kriminalroman fra victoriatidens England med Thomas Pitt og hans kone Charlotte som detektiver.

Anne Perry’s Victorian Christmas novels have attracted as many faithful readers as her two New York Times bestselling series featuring investigators Thomas Pitt and William Monk. A Christmas Promise is the seventh in Perry’s holiday series, and it will surely bring joy to this special season. Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London’s East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters Minnie Maude Mudway, who is only eight, alone, and determined to find her friend Charlie. However Charlie is no ordinary companion: He is a donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude’s Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it. Now, come hell or high water, Minnie Maude means to rescue Charlie–and Gracie decides to help. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart were not just the usual bits of worn silver and china but also, the children are told, a dazzling golden box. What its contents may have been no one can say, for, like Charlie and the cart, it too has vanished. Uncertain where their four-legged friend may be, the children are drawn into an adult world far beyond their innocent imaginings. And in a shop gleaming with beautiful objects, they recruit an unexpected ally: Mr. Balthasar, who warns them that the shining prize may be a Pandora’s box of evil. Set in the Victorian world where Anne Perry reigns supreme, A Christmas Promise culminates in a radiant finale that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.

“Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat.”—The Wall Street Journal In this intriguing, uplifting holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry, an orphan boy investigates a woman’s kidnapping—and discovers there’s more at stake than a disappearance. It wouldn’t quite be Christmas without a holiday mystery decorated with all the Victorian trimmings, as only New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry can render it. Now the tradition continues as mayhem is once again found under the mistletoe, and intrigue stalks the cobblestone streets and gaslit parlors of old London Town. Formerly a river urchin living on the banks of the Thames, nine-year-old Worm has never experienced a family Christmas. But thanks to a job at Hester Monk’s clinic in Portpool Lane, he’s found a makeshift family in kindly volunteer Miss Claudine Burroughs and curmudgeonly old bookkeeper Squeaky Robinson. When Worm witnesses the abduction of a beautiful woman by a pair of ruffians just days before Christmas, he frantically turns to Squeaky for help. A one-time brothel owner, Squeaky knows the perils of interfering in nasty business, but he can’t bear to disappoint Worm—or leave the boy to attempt a rescue on his own. What neither of the would-be saviors expects, however, is that the damsel in distress already has her dilemma well in hand . . . and is taking steps to bring her captors to justice for crimes far worse than kidnapping. But the rogues, as cunning as they are deadly, are not to be underestimated. The aid of cynical old Squeaky and hopeful young Worm just might make the difference between a merry triumph over evil and a terrible yuletide tragedy.

The murder of a prostitute named Ada McKinley in a bedroom on decrepit Pentecost Alley should occasion no stir in Victoria’s great metropolis, but under the victim’s body, the police find a Hellfire Club badge inscribed with the name “Finlay Fitzjames”—a name that instantly draws Superintendent Thomas Pitt into the case. Finlay’s father—immensely wealthy, powerful, and dangerous—refuses to consider the possibility that his son has been in Ada McKinley’s bed. The implication is clear: Pitt is to arrest someone other than Finlay Fitzjames for Ada’s demise. But Thomas Pitt is not a man to be intimidated, and with the help of his quick-witted wife, Charlotte, he stubbornly pursues his investigation—one that twists and turns like London’s own ancient streets.

When a group of powerful Irish Protestants and Catholics gather at a country house to discuss Irish home rule, contention is to be expected. But when the meeting’s moderator, government bigwig Ainsley Greville, is found murdered in his bath, negotiations seem doomed. Unless Superintendent Thomas Pitt and his wife, Charlotte, can root out the truth, simmering hatreds and passions may again explode in murder.

For Superintendent Thomas Pitt, the sight of the dead man riding the morning tide of the Thames is unforgettable. The corpse lies in a battered punt drifting through the early mist, clad in a torn green gown and bestrewn with flowers. Pitt’s determined search for answers to the victim’s identity leads him deep into London’s bohemia—to the theatre where beautiful Cecily Antrim is outraging society with her bold portrayal of a modern woman, and into studios where masters of light and shadow are experimenting with the fascinating new art of photography. But only Pitt’s masterly investigative skills enable him to identify the wildfire passions raging through this tragedy of good and evil, to hunt down the guilty and protect the innocent.

Some bodies just won’t stay buried . . .“For readers longing to be in 1890s London, Perry’s tales are just the ticket” (Chicago Tribune). Lord Fitzroy-Hammond of Resurrection Row has been dead and buried three weeks when he turns up sitting atop a hansom cab. Grave robbing, though a crime, isn’t Inspector Thomas Pitt’s usual fare. But when the macabre joke is repeated, and the man’s corpse is found sitting in the family pew the Sunday following his second interment, Pitt begins to wonder if perhaps there’s some message in it. The case grows increasingly bizarre as other disinterred bodies appear. A new mother, Charlotte Pitt only takes a cursory interest in the grave robbing case until she hears Thomas mention the name of her late sister’s husband, Dominic Corde, as a possible suspect. As Pitt follows leads into the slums and rookeries, Charlotte, too, is drawn into the politics and horrors of greed and exploitation. For Pitt and Charlotte, what begins as a mysterious case of musical corpses, becomes a deadly pursuit through the London underworld of pornographic photographers, brothels, and sweatshops.

Two holiday novels provide the perfect combination of mystery and murder mixed with a generous helping of Yuletide cheer. A CHRISTMAS GUEST When her daughter and son-in-law plan a Christmas vacation to Paris sans hers truly, Grandmama Mariah Ellison travels to the chilly, windswept Romney Marshes to spend the holiday with old friends. But when the body of a fellow guest is found lifeless in bed, Grandmama senses foul play and takes it upon herself to assume the role of amateur detective–uncovering startling truths about the victim . . . and herself as well. A CHRISTMAS SECRET Dominic Corde is thrilled to “fill the robe” as substitute vicar in the village of Cottisham while the Reverend Wynter is away on a Christmas holiday. Upon arrival, Dominic and his wife, Clarice, wonder how they will be received by the congregation. But the Cordes soon discover that they have more dire matters to worry about. It turns out that the Reverend Wynter isn’t on holiday at all–and that something very sinister has transpired.

When the distinguished Mr. Justice Stafford dies of opium poisoning, his shocking demise resurrects one of the most sensational cases ever to inflame England: the murder five years before of Kingsley Blaine, whose body was found crucified in Farriers’ Lane. Amid the public hysteria for revenge, the police had arrested a Jewish actor who was soon condemned to hang. Police Inspector Thomas Pitt, investigating Stafford’s death, is drawn into the Farriers’ Lane murder as well, for it appears that Stafford may have been about to reopen the case. Pitt receives curiously little help from his colleagues on the force, but his wife, Charlotte, gleans from her social engagements startling insights into both cases. And slowly both Thomas and Charlotte begin to reach for the same sinister and deeply dangerous truth.

A New York Times Bestseller Thomas Pitt, of Her Majesty's Special Branch, is summoned to Connaught Square mansion where the body of a junior diplomat lies in a wheelbarrow. The shadow of suspicion falls on the tenant of the house, the beautiful and notorious Ayesha Zakhari. But Pitt's orders, from the top, are to protect at all costs the good name of the third person in the garden: senior cabinet minister Saville Ryerson.

Anne Perry’s magnificent Victorian mysteries established her as one of the world’s best known and loved historical novelists. Now, in her vividly imagined World War I novels, Perry’s talents “have taken a quantum leap” (The Star-Ledger), and so has the number of her devoted readers. We Shall Not Sleep, the final book in this epic series featuring the dedicated Reavley family, is perhaps the most memorably enthralling of all Perry’s novels. After four long years, peace is finally in sight. But chaplain Joseph Reavley and his sister Judith, an ambulance driver on the Western Front, are more hard pressed than ever. Behind the lines, violence is increasing: soldiers are abusing German prisoners, a nurse has been raped and murdered, and the sinister ideologue called the Peacemaker now threatens to undermine the peace just as he did the war. Then Matthew, the third Reavley sibling and an intelligence expert, suddenly arrives at the front with startling news. The Peacemaker’s German counterpart has offered to go to England and expose his co-conspirator as a traitor. But with war still raging and prejudices inflamed, such a journey would be fraught with hazards, especially since the Peacemaker has secret informers everywhere, even on the battlefield. For richness of plot, character, and feeling, We Shall Not Sleep is unmatched. Anne Perry’s brilliantly orchestrated finale is a heartstopping tour de force, mesmerizing and totally satisfying.

CHRISTMAS COMES TWICE THIS YEAR WITH A PAIR OF DELICIOUS VICTORIAN MYSTERIES SET ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC. A Christmas Hope “Very much recommended . . . a wonderful story.”—Historical Novel Review Claudine Burroughs dreads the holiday season. She feels she has nothing in common with her circle of wealthy, status-minded friends, and the only time she’s remotely happy is when she is volunteering at a women’s clinic, a job her husband strongly disapproves of. When Claudine meets a charming poet at a Yuletide gala, her spirits are finally lifted—until he is accused of killing a fellow guest. Believing in his innocence, Claudine vows to do her utmost to help. But it seems that hypocritical London society would rather send an innocent man to the gallows than expose the shocking truth about one of their own. A New York Christmas “A perfect present for [Anne Perry’s] readers.”—RT Book Reviews Jemima Pitt, the daughter of Thomas Pitt, head of Britain’s Special Branch, is crossing the Atlantic for the first time. Her companion, Delphinia Cardew, is to marry in a grand Manhattan affair that will join together two fabulously wealthy families. But a shadow darkens the occasion: Missing from the festivities is Delphinia’s disgraced mother—and the groom’s charismatic brother has asked Jemima to help him find her and forestall the scandal that will surely follow if the prodigal parent turns up at the wedding. From Hell’s Kitchen to Fifth Avenue, from the Lower East Side to Central Park, Jemima trudges through snowy streets, asking questions but getting few answers—and never suspecting that she is walking into mortal danger.

While on patrol near the Waterloo Bridge, Inspector William Monk and his men witness the deaths of a young couple, but as Monk tries to investigate the deaths, he stumbles upon a conspiracy with ties to the highest levels of government.

Charlotte Pitt defends her own sister against a murder charge in Victorian England, in a novel “suffused with atmosphere, emotion, and suspense” (Booklist). As Inspector Thomas Pitt works to resolve the case of a dismembered woman, his womanizing brother-in-law, George March, Lord Ashworth, is poisoned with his morning coffee at the country estate of his cousins. The primary suspect? Charlotte’s sister, Emily, the murdered man’s wife and Pitt’s sister-in-law. Charlotte and Pitt take on the March clan with the help of Great-aunt Vespasia, their formidable relative and a member of the clan, to break through the wall of deceit and silence. When Sybilla March, George’s suspected paramour, is found strangled by her hair and Emily is the one who found her, the case would seem hopeless—for anyone but the indomitable Pitts. Their pursuit of the truth takes them down a path of corruption, depravity, and murder, from the elegant townhouses lining fashionable Cardington Crescent to the horrifying slums of London.

General Carlyon is killed in what first appears to be a freak accident. But the general's wife readily confesses that she did it. With the trial only days away the counsel for defense work feverishly to break down the wall of silence.

Anne Perry's new fantasy epic finds the Empress of Sihinabar spreading the teachings of a mystical book to prepare mankind for the inevitable battle with the Great Enemy.

Inspector Pitt is charged with murder in this “gripping and highly satisfying” entry in the New York Times–bestselling Victorian mystery series (Publishers Weekly). At the behest of his superior, Thomas Pitt reopens a case gone cold. Three years prior, Robert York, an important member of the British Foreign Office, was murdered in his home in London’s exclusive Hanover Close. Pitt has been advised to handle the situation with the utmost discretion, given the compromising circumstances of the crime: a distinguished victim from a powerful family, whispered rumors of treason, and the unimpeachable reputation of the widow, whose imminent marriage to a high-level diplomat could be cause for concern. One of Pitt’s first leads, a York family housemaid, seems innocent enough, but shortly after his interrogation, the woman is found dead. To make matters worse, Pitt is accused of the crime and thrown into prison. Now, only Charlotte and her recently widowed sister, Emily, Lady Ashworth, stand between one of Victorian England’s most adept private investigators and the gallows. From the upstairs drawing rooms to the servants’ downstairs quarters, Charlotte and Emily play a deadly game—and it may be only a matter of time before a killer gets the best of both of them.

For the first time in one cozy volume: Anne Perry’s first two Christmas novels–yuletide offerings full of holiday magic . . . and murder A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY “One of the best books to brighten the joyous season.” –USA Today “This brief work has an almost Jamesian subtlety. . . . [A] powerful message of responsibility and redemption.” –The Wall Street Journal In the Berkshire countryside, family and guests have gathered for a delicious weekend fête surrounded by roaring fires and candlelight. It’s scarcely the setting for misfortune, and no one–not even that clever budding sleuth Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould–anticipates the tragedy that is to darken this holiday house party. A CHRISTMAS VISITOR “Satisfyingly dark and suspenseful.” –Entertainment Weekly “Wondrous . . . a welcome entry to the seasonal thriller.” –Richmond Times-Dispatch At the Dreghorn family reunion, the tranquility of a snowbound English estate is shattered by what an apparently accidental death. The victim’s distraught wife summons her godfather, the distinguished mathematician and inventor Henry Rathbone, to the scene. And questions about the tragic event soon turn into whispers of murder.

Inspector Thomas Pitt's wife Charlotte helps her husband scout society's drawing rooms for clues to the appalling murders of Sir Lockwood Hamilton and his colleague.

The stylish gentlemen of London’s Paragon Walk are suspects in a novel that “combines murder with a profile of the morals and manners of Victorian society” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution). When innocent Fanny Nash of exclusive Paragon Walk dies in the arms of her exquisite sister-in-law, Jessamyn, Inspector Pitt is assigned to investigate her rape and murder. Every man of Paragon Walk is under suspicion, even Pitt’s brother-in-law, Lord George Ashworth, who was the last to have seen her. Could it be the charming, enigmatic Frenchman? Fanny’s cruel brother? Wealthy Dilbridge, who hosts wild, decadent parties? As Pitt digs deeper into the mystery, Paragon Walk’s aristocratic haughtiness gives way to fear, its calm to hatred. To keep her sister Emily, Lady Ashworth, company in this difficult time, inquisitive Charlotte once again finds herself in the midst of a deadly mystery. In the drawing rooms of her sister’s neighbors, Charlotte engages in witty and sharp-edged conversations that reveal unsavory intrigues and bitter rivalries. On Paragon Walk, Charlotte’s probing despite Thomas’s warnings may prove fatal.

Violent crime was hardly rare in the slums of London in 1887. But sexual mutilations was--and Inspector Pitt was shocked to find four men so murdered. With his wife Charlotte, he pursued clues from the depths of the slums to the heights of high society. Martin's.

Deep in London’s dangerous slums, Victorians transact their most secret and shameful business. For a price, a man can procure whatever he wants. But for one such man, the price he pays is his life. In sunless Water Lane, respected solicitor Leighton Duff lies dead, kicked and beaten to death. Beside him is the barely living body of his son, Rhys. The police cannot fathom these brutal assaults until shrewd investigator William Monk, aided by nurse-turned-sleuth Hester Latterly, uncovers a connection between them and a series of rapes and beatings of local prostitutes. But then the case takes an even more shocking turn.

A shocking stabbing leads Monk to an astonishing solution... In the second novel to feature William Monk and Hester Latterly, New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry weaves a gripping mystery in A Dangerous Mourning, as the death of a young woman leads the pair into the upper echelons of society and the secrets that lie there. Perfect for fans of C. J. Sansom and Ann Granger. 'Perry [has two] strengths: memorable characters and an ability to evoke the Victorian era with the finely wrought detail of a miniaturist' - Wall Street Journal No breath of scandal has ever touched the aristocratic Moidore family. London's wealthiest and most influential can often be found taking tea or dining in the opulent family mansion of Sir Basil Moidore in Queen Anne Street. Now Sir Basil's beautiful widowed daughter has been stabbed to death in her own bed, a shocking and incomprehensible tragedy. Inspector William Monk is ordered to find her killer without delay - and in a manner that will give least pain to her family. Handicapped by his inept supervisor and the lingering traces of amnesia, Monk gropes warily through the silence and shadows that obscure the case. But with the intelligent help of Hester Latterly, he begins to approach the astonishing solution, step by dangerous step. What readers are saying about A Dangerous Mourning: 'Great period atmosphere, excellent story with a good twist at the end' 'Excellent background, interesting protagonists and fascinating insight into historical period' 'Historical fiction at its best'

A smitten woman is about to marry a dangerous man—unless Detective Hooper and his new wife, Celia, can prevent it—in this wickedly tangled holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry. Detective John Hooper, William Monk’s right-hand man at the Thames River Police, is blissfully happy in his new marriage to Celia, the cousin of a victim in one of the river police’s recent murder cases. Celia wants the same happiness for her good friend Clementine, who’s just announced her engagement to Seth Marlowe, a member of her church. Christmas is nearing, and this should be extra cause for celebration, but when Marlowe begins receiving threatening letters about his first wife’s death, it becomes clear that he is far from the devout man Clementine thought he was. In his rage, Marlowe accuses Celia of sending the letters, claiming she wants to ruin his engagement to Clementine. At a loss as to how to defend herself, Celia enlists Hooper to investigate the letters’ claims, and what he finds makes her desperate to show Clementine the truth about her soon-to-be husband. But Celia herself has not always been truthful, especially not during the murder trial following her cousin’s death. How can she be believed now, when she lied on the stand? Especially when Marlowe knows that she did, and could use it against her. This Yuletide season finds love and faith put to the test—and Celia’s and Clementine’s lives on the line.

When investigator William Monk is asked to locate a young man's runaway fiancee, he discovers a brutal murder that may be linked to the young girl.

Exiled from her palace by a bloody coup, an empress travels the dangerous wilds of her kingdom in search of enlightenment—and righteous vengeance The empress Tathea is awakened by the sounds of insurrection. The army, the aristocracy, and the royal guard have all turned against her husband, and stained the palace with his blood. Were she an ordinary ruler, she might follow him to the grave, but Tathea is a child of the wild lands. She comes from the desert, so to the desert she flees. Across the kingdom she travels, searching for shelter, friendship, and an explanation for the tragedy that destroyed her old life. As she fights to stay alive, she finds a book whose message might tip the scales in the battle between good and evil, changing the world forever. If her life is to have meaning, Tathea will have to spread the word. Tathea is the first book in the Tathea series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

’Tis the season for a pair of Christmas novels that add a dash of murder to the Yuletide spirit. “Perry’s Victorian-era holiday mysteries [are] an annual treat.”—The Wall Street Journal A CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING “Could have been devised by Agatha Christie . . . [Anne Perry is] a modern master.”—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Charlotte Pitt’s mother, Caroline, is spending the holiday with her young husband, Joshua Fielding, in Whitby, the fishing village where Dracula first touches English soil in Bram Stoker’s sensational novel. Joshua has arranged to produce a stage adaptation of Dracula, written by the daughter of millionaire Charles Netheridge, but tempers flare after a disastrous first read-through of the script. As wind and snow swirl around Netheridge’s lonely hilltop mansion, a black-cloaked stranger emerges from the storm. At the same time, a brooding evil makes itself felt, and instead of theatrical triumph, there is murder—shocking and terrifying. A CHRISTMAS GARLAND “In Anne Perry’s gifted hands, the puzzle plays out brilliantly.”—Greensboro News & Record The year is 1857, soon after the violent Siege of Cawnpore, and India is in the midst of rebellion. In the British garrison, a guard is killed, a prisoner escapes, and a luckless medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when the crimes were committed. Though chosen to defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try very hard. His superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired by a simple Christmas garland, and his own stubborn faith in justice, Narraway is determined to figure out the truth, despite the appalling odds. In an alien world haunted by massacre, he is the accused man’s only hope.

Inspector Thomas Pitt is shocked. The body of a boy, clearly from the upper classes, has been found in the filthy sewers of Bluegate Fields, one of London's most dangerous slums. What's more, the unfortunate boy had been violated before he was murdered. So vile a case is hardly a topic for drawing-room conversation. But when the Waybournes, the boy's family, refuse to answer the police's questions, Inspector Pitt begins to wonder what secrets they are trying to hide. Pitt's wife and helpmeet, Charlotte, is determined to find out-even if it means tearing down the facades of an oh-so-proper family.