Jerry Delfont leads an aimless life in Calcutta, struggling in vain against his writer's block, or 'dead hand,' and flitting around the edges of a half-hearted romance. Then he receives a mysterious letter asking for his help. The story it tells is disturbing: A dead boy found on the floor of a cheap hotel, a seemingly innocent man in flight and fearing for reputation as well as his life.Before long, Delfont finds himself lured into the company of the letter's author, the wealthy and charming Merrill Unger, and is intrigued enough to pursue both the mystery and the woman. A devotee of the goddess Kali, Unger introduces Delfont to a strange underworld where tantric sex and religious fervor lead to obsession, philanthropy and exploitation walk hand in hand, and, unless he can act in time, violence against the most vulnerable in society goes unnoticed and unpunished.An atmospheric and masterful thriller from "the most gifted, the most prodigal writer of his generation"-Jonathan Raban.

The winter of 1353 brings new confusion to the people of Cambridge. Torrential rains spread fever to the poor, and make travelling hazardous along the town’s outlaw-infested roads. Then three members of the University die by drinking poisoned wine. Is this an attack by one College against another, or a new period of hostility between town and gown?The flasks of poisoned wine are circulating through both knowing and innocent hands. Matthew Bartholomew would rather not get involved in the investigation, but when his own life is threatened, he realises he has become a target for people who have more than robbery on their minds. As he is drawn deeper in to his enquiries, he stumbles upon criminal activities that not only implicate his relatives, friends and colleagues, but also mix commercial greed and academic intrigue into a deadly brew of evil intent …

Nick Zuliani hails from Venice, though his mother is English. Estranged from his father, he has become a bit of a wheeler-dealer and conman. An unfortunate incident (told in one of my short stories) results in him fleeing the Serene Republic. But, as bodyguard to Friar Alberoni, he ends up at the heart of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century where he has to solve some unusual murder cases.BOOK TWO: A DEADLY INJUSTICEA Nick Zuliani Mystery set in Kubilai Khan's court – Cathay, 1268. Nick Zuliani and Lin Chu-Tsai are sent to a provincial town to investigate the case of a young Chinese girl condemned to death for murder. They encounter an acting troupe, and a soon-to-be-famous playwright who is keen to see Mongol justice being taken to task. Zuliani and Lin are faced with a dilemma. Do they confirm the girl's guilt in the face of contrary evidence in order to save themselves? Or stand up to the local Mongol governor, and risk the wrath of the Great Khan?

Short story. A Death tells the story of Jim Trusdale, not the sharpest tool in the shed, who is accused of killing 10-year-old Rebecca Cline on her birthday and stealing her silver dollar. The story is set in 1889 in the Dakotas, before it became part of the United States, as referenced in the story. It’s not a scary story, but one can be filled with horror at the thought of how justice worked in the Old West.

The new twisting mystery from CWA Historical Dagger 2014 winner Antonia Hodgson.Late spring, 1728, and Thomas Hawkins has left London for the wild beauty of Yorkshire – forced on a mission he can't refuse. John Aislabie, one of the wealthiest men in England, has been threatened with murder. Blackmailed into investigating, Tom must hunt down those responsible – or lose the woman he loves forever.Arriving at the grand estate of Studley Royal, Tom realises that the threats to Aislabie and his family must be connected to someone in the house itself. Could one of the servants be responsible? And what of the mysterious Mrs Fairwood, the young widow who claims to be Aislabie's lost daughter?Far from the ragged comforts of home, Tom and his ward, Sam Fleet, enter a world of elegant surfaces and hidden danger. Someone is determined to punish John Aislabie – and anyone who stands in the way. As the violence escalates and shocking truths are revealed, Tom is dragged inexorably towards the darkest night of his life.Inspired by real characters, events and settings, A Death at Fountains Abbey is a gripping stand-alone historical thriller. It also continues the story that began with the award-winning The Devil in the Marshalsea and The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins.

Lady Emily Ashton is back in her third episode of romantic suspense set in the Victorian world of mannerly gentlemen, conniving mothers, and scandals behind closed doors. Forced to join a group of socialites at the home of formidable and odious Lord Fortescue, whom she loathes (and whose daughter covets Emily’s fiancé, Colin Hargreaves), Emily and others in the party feel little regret when Fortescue is murdered. Unfortunately, her best friend’s husband, Robert, is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower, after witnesses confirm his fight with the victim. Resolved to exonerate Robert, Emily heads for Vienna on the killer’s trail. Austria proves rich with intrigue, and this portion of the story really shines as readers take a tour of nineteenth-century Vienna—its parties and its cafés—in the wintertime, shadowed by decidedly evil characters. Emily’s sparkling wit makes up for the somewhat convoluted plot and large cast of characters who move from England to the Continent and back at the slightest provocation. This is a captivating addition to the adventures of an irresistible Victorian iconoclast.

The Owen Archer Series #14October, 1376. Owen Archer is summoned by sheriff Sir Ralph Hastings regarding a stripped and bloodied body discovered on the road north to York. Could it be connected to an attack on a carter and his labourers who were transporting stone destined for St Clement's Priory? The carter fled, but his men stayed to fight and are now missing. Is the victim one of them?At first Owen believes the catalyst for murder and menace in York is the arrival of the political pariah William Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester. But he soon suspects that a formidable and skillful adversary from his past has arrived in the city, thrusting him and his family into grave danger, and his investigation becomes a race to uncover the truth before his old nemesis destroys all he holds dear.

The Owen Archer Series #6Through the wet spring of 1369 Owen Archer and Geoffrey Chaucer while carrying out a mission for the Duke of Lancaster in Wales are also escorting Owen’s father-in-law and the archbishop’s secretary on a pilgrimage to the sacred city of St. David’s.England and France are at war, and the southern coast of Wales is vulnerable to invasion – Owen and Geoffrey are to recruit archers for the duke’s army and inspect his Welsh fortifications on the coast, while quietly investigating whether the duke’s steward at Cydweli Castle is involved in a French plot to incite rebellion in Wales.But trouble precedes them in the cathedral city of St. David’s. On Whitesands Beach beyond the city a young man is beaten and left for dead, then spirited away by a Welsh bard. Shortly afterward a corpse clothed in the livery of the Duke of Lancaster is left at the city gate, his shoes filled with white sand. Meanwhile, at Cydweli Castle, a chain of events begun by the theft of money from the castle’s exchequer ends in a violent death of the priest and the disappearance of the steward’s beautiful young wife. Owen and Geoffrey begin to see connections linking the troubles in city and castle, and learn they must unravel the complex story of betrayed love and political ambition to prevent more deaths.