Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Historical

When Edmund Ibbs, a young lawyer, defends a woman accused of shooting her husband dead, he finds himself drawn into a web of conspiracy and murder. Soon, Ibbs himself is accused of complicity in a killing, when a corpse unexpectedly appears as part of a magic act in a crowded theatre. Also present is Joseph Spector, former illusionist turned highly respected amateur sleuth. Spector begins to investigate the mystery, but when a second body is discovered later the same night, all the evidence points to Ibbs being guilty.

The American West in the early 1960s appears to be a pastoral paradise: golden wheat fields, mist-filled canyons, frolicking animals. Aspiring novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has observed it from the open door of a boxcar, riding the rails for both inspiration and odd jobs. Jumping off in Denver, he finds work on a farm and meets Joanne McDuffy, an articulate and fierce college student and gifted painter. Their soul connection is immediate, but their romance is complicated by Joanne's involvement with a shady professor who is mixed up with a drug-addled cult.

1828: Matthew Hervey of the Sixth Light Dragoons has been urgently recalled to South Africa. The stability of the Cape Colony has been threatened by Xhosa tribesmen who have been making incursions across the borders. When Hervey is told by his old friend, Sir Eyre Somervile, that the Zulu warrior king, Shaka, is about to make war on neighbouring tribes, he knows that matters are perilous indeed.

The prime minister is resisting growing calls for parliamentary reform, provoking scenes of violent unrest. Against this inflammable backdrop, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey, recently returned from an assignment in the Balkans, takes command of his regiment, the 6th Light Dragoons. His fears that things might be dull are quickly dispelled by the business of vexatious officers and difficult choices over which NCOs to promote, not to mention the incendiarists on the doorstep of the king himself.

AD 264 - The Roman Empire is torn in two. The latest blazing novel in the Warrior of Rome series. The western provinces - Gaul, Spain and Britain - have been seized; to the east, on the plains of northern Italy, armies muster. War is coming. Everyone must choose a side. Ballista must journey the Amber Road to the far north to Hyperborea, back to his original home and the people of his birth. Yet not all welcome Ballista’s return. Does treachery pose the greatest danger?

The Powder of Death opens with a returned envoy to China meeting an English scholar in Oxford in the mid-13th century; their purpose is to share a deadly secret. They vow that the knowledge of gunpowder must die with them. The audiobook tells the story of its rediscovery, one man's obsession with the powder of death, and Edward III's determination to use it to his advantage. The nature of warfare is changed forever, and the world hears the death knell of knightly chivalry.

It's not that Verity Kent doesn't sympathise with those eager to make contact with lost loved ones. After all, she once believed herself a war widow. But now that she's discovered Sidney is alive, Verity is having enough trouble connecting with her estranged husband, never mind the dead. Then Verity attends a séance, where she encounters the man who still looms between her and Sidney - and a medium who channels a woman Verity once worked with in the Secret Service.

London, 1873. Madeleine Brewster's marriage to Dr. Lucius Everley was meant to be the solution to her family's sullied reputation. After all, Lucius is a well-respected collector of natural curiosities. His 'Small Museum' of bones and specimens in jars is his pride and joy, although firmly kept under lock and key. His sister Grace's philanthropic work with fallen women is also highly laudable. However, Maddie soon finds herself unwelcome in what is meant to be her new home.

London, 1851. Restless and bored after a long hot summer, apothecary and poison expert Jem Flockhart decides to redesign her physic garden. But plans are thrown into confusion when a man's skeleton is unearthed from beneath the deadly nightshade, a smaller, child-like skeleton curled at its feet. The body bears evidence of knife wounds to its ribs and arms, and is accompanied by a collection of macabre objects: a brass bowl, a curious coin-like token, a set of tiny ivory sculls.

As the weather turns bitterly cold in the dark days of November 1941, fewer pigeons are being conscripted for missions into occupied Europe and Olive fears her covert program may be dropped altogether. In fact, the new CO of the Baker Street intelligence operation at Brickendonbury Manor, Major Blighty, has expressed his doubts regarding her birds—not to mention Olive herself—and assigned her to a far more insignificant role: escort to a visiting officer of the Royal Navy Intelligence Special Branch.

The death of his wife has left Michael Keats bereft; the subsequent discovery of her adultery devastates him. Michael resolves to discover the identity of her lover. That journey leads him to northern Italy where he becomes embroiled in a story of passion and treachery amongst the Partisans and villagers during the darkest days of World War II. As Michael gets closer to the truth he realizes that some secrets should never be told.

Will Flemyng, originally trained as a spy, is now British ambassador to Washington. Meanwhile, his older brother Mungo is recuperating from a heart attack in their beloved Scottish highland family home, and Abel, the youngest of the three, has died mysteriously in America. Abel's unexplained death sets in motion an unstoppable chain of events, beginning with an unexpected glimpse of a face at his funeral. Soon Will finds himself on a dangerous journey into his clandestine past, from conflict in Ireland to the long shadows of the Cold War.

For Kay, living on her husband Bror's country estate, the Nazi invasion is a time of uncertainty. Bror is desperate to preserve the legacy of his home, even if it means co-existing with the enemy; Kay cannot do the same. She is lured by British Intelligence into a world of resistance. Tasked with protecting an SOE agent, Kay learns the art of subterfuge. Caught on opposing sides, will Kay and Bror find their way back to one another?

Paris, October 1999. CIA agent Claire Saylor is looking after low-level surveillance ops. Her career has stalled after a misguided dalliance with her handler Paul Bridger - so when Bridger asks Claire to join a team, she prepares herself for a stint on tea duties. But in fact, he's finally put her back in the game. She'll be going undercover as the wife of Professor Winston Armitage - an expert in the Quran and its translations. He's presenting his controversial new theory on the fabled promise of 72 virgins for each martyr and needs protection.

In 1953, Dr. Charles Wilson, a government scientist, died when he 'jumped or fell' from the ninth floor of a Washington hotel. As his wife and children grieve, the details of the incident remain buried for 22 years. With the release of the Rockefeller Commission report on illegal CIA activities in 1975, the Wilson case suddenly becomes news again. Wilson's family and the public are demanding answers, especially as some come to suspect the CIA of foul play and agents in the CIA, FBI and White House will do anything to make sure the truth doesn't get out. Enter agent Jack Gabriel.

Flavia is enjoying the summer, spending her days punting along the river with her reluctant family. Languishing in boredom, she drags a slack hand in the water - and catches her fingers in the open mouth of a drowned corpse. Flavia needs to put her super-sleuthing skills to the test to investigate the murder of three gossips in the local church and to keep her sisters out of danger.

Barely half of the Bomber Command's aircrews survive a full tour, but wireless operator Billy Angell has beaten the odds and completed his 30th - and final - mission. Now, Billy is due two-weeks leave, a posting to a training squadron and a six-month exemption from active duty. Except that MI5 need an airman to drop into Nazi-occupied France. MI5 are interested in Hélène Lafosse, a Frenchwoman keeping unusual company in her small family château in the depths of the Touraine.

Walking through London's West End after a night at the theatre, Amory Ames and her husband, Milo, run into old friends, the wealthy investor and former actor Gerard Holloway and his wife, Georgina. When Holloway invites them to the dress rehearsal of a new play he is directing, Amory readily accepts. However, she is shocked to learn that Holloway has cast his mistress, actress Flora Bell, in the lead role.

Dr Thomas Bond, Police Surgeon, is still recovering from when Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of London - and a more malign enemy hid in his shadow. Bond and the others who worked on the gruesome case are still stalked by its legacies, both psychological and tangible. Now the bodies of children are being pulled from the Thames, and Bond is about to become inextricably linked with an uncanny, undying enemy.

London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he'd known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labor Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders?or are they next in line as victims?