A Sinister Establishment

The former Beatrice Hyde-Clare is having a little trouble adjusting to her new situation. Now installed as the Duchess of Kesgrave in elegant splendor in Berkeley Square, she is confounded by the stately residence's seemingly endless array of rooms and every time one of the maids addresses her as "your grace," she flinches. And the butler! Oh, yes, that imposing servant holds her in utter contempt and has no qualms about sharing his opinion with the rest of the staff. It's all so wretched. But just as Bea begins to despair-a bright spot. A neighboring house has suffered a ghastly tragedy, and although the constable deems it an inadvertent decapitation, she can't believe anyone could be so careless as to accidentally lose his head. Determined to discover the truth, the new duchess pays her first social call. Because even if she can't find her way around her palatial home, she certainly knows her way around a murder.

The former Beatrice Hyde-Clare is having a little trouble adjusting to her new situation.Now installed as the Duchess of Kesgrave in elegant splendor in Berkeley Square, she is confounded by the stately residence's seemingly endless array of rooms and every time one of the maids addresses her as "your grace," she flinches. And the butler! Oh, yes, that imposing servant holds her in utter contempt and has no qualms about sharing his opinion with the rest of the staff. It's all so wretched. But just as Bea begins to despair-a bright spot.A neighboring house has suffered a ghastly tragedy, and although the constable deems it an inadvertent decapitation, she can't believe anyone could be so careless as to accidentally lose his head. Determined to discover the truth, the new duchess pays her first social call.Because even if she can't find her way around her palatial home, she certainly knows her way around a murder.

Breaking 170 years of secrecy, this intriguing exposÉ takes a behind-the-scenes look at Yale's mysterious society, the Order of the Skull and Bones, and its prominent members, numbering among them Tafts, Rockefellers, Pillsburys, and Bushes. Explored is how Skull and Bones initiates have become senators, judges, cabinet secretaries, spies, titans of finance and industry, and even U.S. presidents, including George W. Bush. This book reveals that far from being a campus fraternity, the society is more concerned with the success of its members in the postcollegiate world. Included are a verified membership list, rare reprints of original Order materials revealing the interlocking power centers dominated by Bonesmen, and a peek inside the Tomb, their 140-year-old private clubhouse.

Despite suffering a few initial setbacks, the former Beatrice Hyde-Clare has settled into her new position nicely.Thanks to Lady Abercrombie's machinations, she has secured the admiration of society and finally earned the respect of her staff. Even the lessons in defending herself, which her husband, the Duke of Kesgrave, insists she take if she wants to continue in her dangerous avocation, are going well. Save for the dreaded pineapple chunks chef André insists on putting in her beloved rout cakes, everything is perfect.But then she learns from a most unlikely source that Kesgrave's malevolent uncle is scheming to destroy her happiness. Determinedly, she resolves to meet the threat head on-a plan that immediately goes awry when the duke asks her to allow him to handle the matter.Stand idly by while dark forces muster?Well, no, Bea can't possibly do that-especially not when the villainous relation winds up bludgeoned to death with a candlestick.

A trip to Staffordshire for Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid, Eva Huntford, leads to murder in a famed pottery works . . . Following the devastation of the Great War, England's noble class takes comfort in honoring tradition. To celebrate their grandparents' wedding anniversary, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her siblings travel to Staffordshire to commission a china service bearing the Wroxly coat of arms from the venerated Crown Lily Potteries, a favorite of Queen Mary. The two leading designers at the illustrious china manufacturer offer competing patterns. But when one of them is found dead—his body crushed in a grinding pan and his design pattern book missing—his rival is immediately suspected. The police are also suspicious of the dead designer's resentful young son, a schoolmate of Phoebe's fifteen-year-old brother Fox. When Fox gets involved to help his friend, Phoebe begins to investigate the rival artist. At the same time, Eva is enlisted to go undercover at the works so she can gain the confidence of the female employees, who are only allowed to paint, not design, which may have led to a grudge against the victim. Pursuing a killer who has no compunction about using a kiln as a coffin, Phoebe and Eva take their lives into their hands to discover the shattering truth . . .

Having inexplicably nabbed the Duke of Kesgrave, twenty-six-year-old spinster Beatrice Hyde-Clare is determined to marry him at once. And no amount of handwringing from anxious family members, worried friends and well-meaning acquaintances will convince her to delay. Except...maybe she is a littleswayed by her uncle's efforts to make amends for treating her with cold indifference during her childhood. While her aunt's concern about the growing scandal around her unfortunate habit of unmasking murderers in the middle of society events isn't entirely unfounded. Then there's the truly unfathomable appearance on her doorstep of the former Miss Brougham, the spiteful heiress whose cruel taunts derailed Bea's social career. Remarkably, the society matron has a mystery to solve and knows Bea is the only person who can help her. A dead grandfather, a missing jewel, a cryptic letter, an opportunity to condescend to her archnemesis-the case seems simple enough. And yet somehow it all goes terribly, horribly wrong.

You can survive the "kitchen wars"—and live in peace with your family "My sisters-in-law couldn't stand me. I was really hurt when my kids weren't mentioned in their grandmother's obituary because they weren't 'full-blooded' family." "My mom is always giving advice, always telling me to do such and such when she doesn't do it herself. If my husband and I have a fight, she takes his side!" "My sister did call me a week later to apologize but proceeded to tell me everything that was wrong with me, my husband, and my children." Sound familiar? There's nothing new or unusual about conflict between mothers, sisters, and other female family members—but that doesn't make it any less painful or destructive. Adding to the hurt of relational abuse within the family is the permanent nature of the relationship: you can sever relations with an abusive friend, but you can't stop being the sister/daughter/niece of an abusive relative. Does that mean that there's no way out? In Forced to Be Family, you'll discover how to determine whether a female family member is being abusive, recognize the sources of that abuse, and break the vicious cycle that keeps the abuse alive. You don't have to choose between accepting abuse and "making a scene." This insightful, reassuring guide gives you the strategies and understanding you need to reestablish warm and loving relationships with the women who will always be closest to you.