The Murder At Mandeville Hall

#1 NYT-bestselling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of unexpected romance that blossoms against the backdrop of dastardly murder. On discovering the lifeless body of an innocent ingénue, a peer attending a country house party joins forces with the lady-amazon sent to fetch the victim safely home in a race to expose the murderer before Stokes, assisted by Barnaby and Penelope, is forced to allow the guests, murderer included, to decamp. Well-born rakehell and head of an ancient family, Alaric, Lord Carradale, has finally acknowledged reality and is preparing to find a bride. But loyalty to his childhood friend, Percy Mandeville, necessitates attending Percy’s annual house party, held at neighboring Mandeville Hall. Yet despite deploying his legendary languid charm, by the second evening of the week-long event, Alaric is bored and restless. Escaping from the soirée and the Hall, Alaric decides that as soon as he’s free, he’ll hie to London and find the mild-mannered, biddable lady he believes will ensure a peaceful life. But the following morning, on walking through the Mandeville Hall shrubbery on his way to join the other guests, he comes upon the corpse of a young lady-guest. Constance Whittaker accepts that no gentleman will ever offer for her—she’s too old, too tall, too buxom, too headstrong…too much in myriad ways. Now acting as her grandfather’s agent, she arrives at Mandeville Hall to extricate her young cousin, Glynis, who unwisely accepted an invitation to the reputedly licentious house party. But Glynis cannot be found. A search is instituted. Venturing into the shrubbery, Constance discovers an outrageously handsome aristocrat crouched beside Glynis’s lifeless form. Unsurprisingly, Constance leaps to the obvious conclusion. Luckily, once the gentleman explains that he’d only just arrived, commonsense reasserts itself. More, as matters unfold and she and Carradale have to battle to get Glynis’s death properly investigated, Constance discovers Alaric to be a worthy ally. Yet even after Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard arrives and takes charge of the case, along with his consultants, the Honorable Barnaby Adair and his wife, Penelope, the murderer’s identity remains shrouded in mystery, and learning why Glynis was killed—all in the few days before the house party’s guests will insist on leaving—tests the resolve of all concerned. Flung into each other’s company, fiercely independent though Constance is, unsusceptible though Alaric is, neither can deny the connection that grows between them. Then Constance vanishes. Can Alaric unearth the one fact that will point to the murderer before the villain rips from the world the lady Alaric now craves for his own? A historical novel of 75,000 words interweaving romance, mystery, and murder. Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens “Stephanie Laurens’ heroines are marvelous tributes to Georgette Heyer: feisty and strong.” Cathy Kelly “Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.” Historical Romance Reviews “Stephanie Laurens plays into readers’ fantasies like a master and claims their hearts time and again.” Romantic Times Magazine Praise for The Murder at Mandeville Hall “Stephanie Laurens never fails to delight with her tales of romance, mystery, and adventure set against the elegant, glittering backdrop of British high society.” Irene S., Proofreader, Red Adept Editing “A shared passion for justice turns into a shared passion for much, much more in this clever whodunit from Stephanie Laurens.” Angela M., Line Editor, Red Adept Editing “(The investigators) must sort through layers of intrigue and family pride to find the killer. At posh and proper Mandeville Hall, even murderers mind their manners." Kim H., Proofreader, Red Adept Editing

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of mysterious death, feuding families, star-crossed lovers—and shoes to die for. With her husband, amateur-sleuth the Honorable Barnaby Adair, decidedly eccentric fashionable matron Penelope Adair is attending the premier event opening the haut ton’s Season when a body is discovered in the gardens. A lady has been struck down with a finial from the terrace balustrade. Her family is present, as are the cream of the haut ton—the shocked hosts turn to Barnaby and Penelope for help. Barnaby calls in Inspector Basil Stokes and they begin their investigation. Penelope assists by learning all she can about the victim’s family, and uncovers a feud between them and the Latimers over the fabulous shoes known as Lady Latimer’s shoes, currently exclusive to the Latimers. The deeper Penelope delves, the more convinced she becomes that the murder is somehow connected to the shoes. She conscripts Griselda, Stokes’s wife, and Violet Montague, now Penelope’s secretary, and the trio set out to learn all they can about the people involved, and most importantly the shoes, a direction vindicated when unexpected witnesses report seeing a lady fleeing the scene—wearing Lady Latimer’s shoes. But nothing is as it seems, and the more Penelope and her friends learn about the shoes, conundrums abound, compounded by a Romeo-and-Juliet romance and escalating social pressure…until at last the pieces fall into place, and finally understanding what has occurred, the six intrepid investigators race to prevent an even worse tragedy. A pre-Victorian mystery with strong elements of romance. A novel of 76,000 words. An entry in The Casebook of Barnaby Adair series, the events in this novel occur between the events described in the Casebook novels, THE MASTERFUL MR. MONTAGUE and the upcoming LOVING ROSE: THE REDEMPTION OF MALCOLM SINCLAIR. Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens “Laurens’s writing shines.” Publishers Weekly “Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.” Historical Romance Reviews. Praise for Where the Heart Leads: Volume 1 in the Casebook of Barnaby Adair "A satisfying blend of mystery and romance." Publishers Weekly "In an Amanda Quick-style suspense/romance, Laurens never loses touch with her characters' deep emotions or the haunting mystery." Romantic Times

Rhode Island's Washington County hides a dark past riddled with macabre crimes and despicable deeds. In 1890, an argument over wages turned deadly when former hotelier George Kenyon shot and killed his carpenter on the grounds of the Gilbert Stuart House in Saunderstown. Senator Charles Burdick was shot and left for dead at his Charlestown home in 1930. Even the peaceful village of Woodville has a veritable rap sheet of thieving maids, speakeasies and murderously jealous wives. From chilling acts by the KKK to physicians practicing under the influence of narcotics, author Kelly Sullivan Pezza's collection of articles from the Chariho Times uncovers the violence and vices of Washington County.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of murder, mystery, passion, and intrigue – and diamonds! Penelope Adair, wife and partner of amateur sleuth Barnaby Adair, is so hugely pregnant she cannot even waddle. When Barnaby is summoned to assist Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard in investigating the violent murder of a gentleman at a house party, Penelope, frustrated that she cannot participate, insists that she and Griselda, Stokes’s wife, be duly informed of their husbands’ discoveries. Yet what Barnaby and Stokes uncover only leads to more questions. The murdered gentleman had been thrown out of the house party days before, so why had he come back? And how and why did he come to have the fabulous Finsbury diamond necklace in his pocket, much to Lord Finsbury’s consternation. Most peculiar of all, why had the murderer left the necklace, worth a stupendous fortune, on the body? The conundrums compound as our intrepid investigators attempt to make sense of this baffling case. Meanwhile, the threat of scandal grows ever more tangible for all those attending the house party – and the stakes are highest for Lord Finsbury’s daughter and the gentleman who has spent the last decade resurrecting his family fortune so he can aspire to her hand. Working parallel to Barnaby and Stokes, the would-be lovers hunt for a path through the maze of contradictory facts to expose the murderer, disperse the pall of scandal, and claim the love and the shared life they crave. A pre-Victorian mystery with strong elements of romance. A short novel of 39,000 words. An entry in The Casebook of Barnaby Adair series, the events in this short novel occur between the events described in the full-length Casebook novels, WHERE THE HEART LEADS and the upcoming THE MASTERFUL MR. MONTAGUE. Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens “Laurens’s writing shines.” Publishers Weekly “Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.” Historical Romance Reviews. “Stephanie Laurens plays into readers’ fantasies like a master and claims their hearts time and again.” Romantic Times Magazine Praise for Where the Heart Leads: Volume 1 in the Casebook of Barnaby Adair "A satisfying blend of mystery and romance." Publishers Weekly "In an Amanda Quick-style suspense/romance, Laurens never loses touch with her characters' deep emotions or the haunting mystery." Romantic Times

The story of the 'society murders' that rocked a family, a class and a city to its very core.

#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.