Death Comes to the Rectory

Death Comes to the Rectory
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2021-01-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496723279

Murder casts a dark shadow over the christening of Lady Lucy and Major Sir Robert Kurland's daughter Elizabeth—even more so when Lucy's own father, the rector, falls under suspicion for the crime . . . Lucy and Robert’s joy in christening their new daughter, surrounded by extended family and loved ones who have gathered in the village of Kurland St. Mary, is only enhanced when Robert’s aunt Rose—now the second wife of Lucy’s father Ambrose—announces that she is with child. However, not everyone is happy about the news, in particular Rose's adult daughter Henrietta and her husband, who fear for their inheritance. Following the christening, Rose’s disagreeable son-in-law Basil Northam threatens to turn afternoon tea in the rectory into an unsightly brawl. The next morning, he is found in the rector’s study, stabbed through the heart with an antique letter opener, clutching a note that appears to implicate the rector himself. As the local justice of the peace, Robert has an obligation to remain unbiased in his investigation of the ghastly crime, even though his prime suspect is a man of the cloth and his wife’s father. But Lucy is under no such obligation. As snow traps the members of the christening party in Kurland St. Mary, she vows to clear her father’s name and bring the cold-blooded culprit to justice. Someone had better start saying their prayers . . .

Death Comes to Kurland Hall

Death Comes to Kurland Hall
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2015-11-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758287380

Murder mars a wedding in English village, and a squabbling couple must find the killer in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to London. Lucy Harrington has returned to Kurland St. Mary to help with her friend Sophia Giffin’s wedding. But her homecoming is made disagreeable by the presence of Major Robert Kurland, whose bungled proposal has ruffled Lucy’s composure, and a meddling widow who has designs on her father, the village rector. Wary of the cloying Mrs. Chingford from the start, Lucy has doubts about the busybody’s intentions with her father. But everyone else seems to think they make an ideal match—until the courtship is curtailed when Mrs. Chingford is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. It’s clear that it wasn’t an accident, and in hopes of finding the culprit, Lucy and Robert call a truce and begin scrutinizing the wedding guests. But the widow left behind plenty of enemies, and when one of them is the next to turn up dead, Lucy and Robert discover that the truth is far more scandalous than anyone could have imagined… Praise for Death Comes to Kurland Hall “A saucy tale of love and murder, Regency style.”—Kirkus Reviews

Death Comes to London

Death Comes to London
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2014-11-25
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0758287356

A season in London promises a welcome change of pace for two friends from the village of Kurland St. Mary--until murder makes a debut. . . With the reluctant blessings of their father, the rector of Kurland St. Mary, Lucy Harrington and her sister Anna leave home for a social season in London. At the same time, Lucy's special friend Major Robert Kurland is summoned to the city to accept a baronetcy for his wartime heroism. Amidst the dizzying whirl of balls and formal dinners, the focus shifts from mixing and matchmaking to murder when the dowager Countess of Broughton, the mother of an old army friend of Robert, drops dead. When it's revealed she's been poisoned, Robert's former betrothed, Miss Chingford, is accused, and she in turn points a finger at Anna. To protect her sister, Lucy enlists Robert's aid in drawing out the true culprit. But with suspects ranging from resentful rivals and embittered family members to the toast of the ton, it will take all their sleuthing skills to unmask the poisoner before more trouble is stirred up. . . Praise for Death Comes to the Village "[A] delightful debut. . .Readers will hope death returns soon to Kurland St. Mary." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Lloyd combines a satisfying mystery with plenty of wit and character development." --Booklist

Death Comes to the Nursery

Death Comes to the Nursery
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2020-01-28
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496723244

Delighted by the quiet uproar of raising their newborn, Lady Lucy and Major Sir Robert Kurland could not be more pleased at the prospect of welcoming another into their home. But their preparations are soon overshadowed by a baffling case of murder . . . Once known to all in her village as the rector’s daughter, Lucy is now a mother herself—to a wonderful eighteen-month-old son, Ned. Upon discovering that she is expecting a second child, Lucy and Robert are delighted. In anticipation of the new arrival, Lucy is set on expanding her nursery staff. When Agnes, her current nurse, recommends her cousin, it seems like the perfect solution. But trouble arrives along with the new nursery maid from London. Polly’s flirtations provoke fisticuffs in the servants’ hall and tumult in the village tavern, and on her afternoon off, she fails to return to the Kurland Estate. When a farmer finds her lifeless body in a drainage ditch, Lucy and Robert fear foul play. To their consternation, they learn their new nursery maid was not who they thought. As Lucy’s sister Anna leaves the rectory and moves in to watch over Ned, the couple’s search for the truth leads them to the London theater world, where aristocrats purchase their mistresses, and into danger. But the real threat strikes all too close to home . . .

Death Comes to Bath

Death Comes to Bath
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2018-12-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496702131

An English spa town is not beneficial to everyone’s health in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to the School. After Major Sir Robert Kurland’s injury from the battle of Waterloo begins troubling him again, his wife Lady Lucy insists they relocate from the village of Kurland St. Mary to Bath, along with her sister Anna, so that Robert can take the waters and recover. At the Roman baths, Robert befriends an elderly and pugnacious businessman, Sir William Benson, ennobled by the Crown for his service to industry. Their acquaintance is short-lived, however, when the man is found drowned in the baths. Robert vows to find his killer, with Lucy’s aid. The members of Sir William’s family seem the most obvious suspects to benefit from the wealthy man’s death, but his will has gone missing. To deduce who sent Sir William to a watery grave, Robert and Lucy must investigate with the utmost discretion—before they too find themselves in over their heads… Praise for Death Comes to Bath “Well-crafted…. The couple’s complementary investigative skills shine in a plot that balances colorful characters and lively action.”—Publishers Weekly “An amusing combination of Regency mores, romantic aspirations, and a clever mystery makes this one of Lloyd’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews

Death Comes to the School

Death Comes to the School
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington Books
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2017-12-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496702093

A trail of poison-pen letters lead to a dead teacher in this Regency-era mystery by the author of Death Comes to the Fair. Three years have passed since Major Sir Robert Kurland and Lucy Harrington, the rector’s daughter, became husband and wife. Having established a measure of contentment among the local gentry, the couple lately have found an unsettling distance grown between them. But when the small-village peace is disrupted by an anonymous letter accusing Lucy of witchcraft, her as yet unfulfilled desire to be a mother becomes the least of her worries, especially after she learns she is not the only one to have received such a malicious letter. Speculation only escalates when the village schoolteacher, Miss Broomfield, is discovered murdered at her classroom desk. Was the unlikeable teacher the letter writer, and if so, who killed her and why? Despite her husband’s objections, Lucy offers to help out at the school until a replacement can be found, hoping the children might inadvertently reveal a clue, but by doing so she may be putting her own life at risk . . . Praise for Death Comes to the School “A romance of married life intertwined with a murder puzzle featuring a heroine suitable for a Jane Austen novel.”—Kirkus Reviews “The liveliness of Lloyd’s many secondary characters and the marital tensions arising from Lucy’s fertility woes add richness to the well-plotted puzzle.”—Publishers Weekly

Death Comes to the Fair

Death Comes to the Fair
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2017-10-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496702069

It’s harvest time in the village of Kurland St. Mary as Lucy and Robert prepare to wed—but a murderer has taken an unseasonable vow of vengeance . . . As Miss Lucy Harrington, daughter of the village rector, and Major Sir Robert Kurland plan their nuptials, the major is beginning to wonder if he’ll ever hear wedding bells. He’s seen complex military campaigns that involved less strategy, and he’s finding Lucy’s meddling family maddening. When the body of Ezekiel Thurrock, the church verger, is discovered crushed by a gargoyle that has fallen from the bell tower, the wedding is delayed. But the evidence suggests this was no accident, and Lucy wonders if bad blood at the village fair had anything to do with the man’s mysterious demise, since there was much bitterness over Ezekiel’s prizewinning vegetables. As Lucy and Robert uncover long-standing village feuds, the town’s dark secrets begin to take their toll and the couple soon finds they too are in grave danger . . .

Slightly Married

Slightly Married
Author: Mary Balogh
Publisher: Dell
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2003-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0440241049

From New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh comes the first installment of the beloved Bedwyn saga. Meet the Bedwyns: six brothers and sisters—men and women of passion and privilege, daring and sensuality. Enter their dazzling world of high society and breathtaking seduction, where each will seek love, fight temptation, and court scandal—and where Aidan Bedwyn, the marriage-shy second son, discovers that matrimony may be the most seductive act of all. Like all the Bedwyn men, Aidan has a reputation for cool arrogance. But this proud nobleman also possesses a loyal, passionate heart—and it is this fierce loyalty that has brought Colonel Lord Aidan to Ringwood Manor to honor a dying soldier’s request. Having promised to comfort and protect the man’s sister, Aidan never expected to find a headstrong, fiercely independent woman who wants no part of his protection—nor did he expect the feelings this beguiling creature would ignite in his guarded heart. And when a relative threatens to turn Eve out of her home, Aidan gallantly makes her an offer she can’t refuse: marry him, if only to save her home. And now, as all of London breathlessly awaits the unveiling of the Lady Aidan Bedwyn, the strangest thing happens: With one touch, one searing embrace, Aidan and Eve’s “business arrangement” is about to be transformed—into something slightly surprising.

Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder

Miss Morton and the English House Party Murder
Author: Catherine Lloyd
Publisher: Kensington
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2022-05-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496723287

Bridgerton and Downton Abbey meet a mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie in the debut of a new Regency set series, when drastic circumstances compel Lady Caroline Morton to make an upstairs downstairs switch to become a lady’s companion, whose duties will soon entail solving a murder . . . The options for the penniless daughter of a deceased earl are few indeed in Regency England. So, following the suspicious death of her father, the Earl of Morton, and the discovery that she and her much younger sister have been left without income or home, Lady Caroline takes a post as a lady’s companion to the wealthy widow Frogerton. Just as Caroline is getting accustomed to her new position, her aunt, Lady Eleanor Greenwood, invites her and her employer to a house party in the countryside to celebrate her youngest daughter’s birthday. Mrs. Matilda (Matty) Frogerton sees this as an opportunity to introduce her own rather wild daughter, Dorothy, to the ton, and Caroline is eager to see her sister, who as a child lives with their aunt. But all is not well at the Greenwood estate. For one thing, Lady Caroline’s former fiancé, Lord Francis Chatham, is a guest and refuses to speak to her. Far worse, after a series of troubling harassments of the staff, an elderly family member is found stabbed by a knitting needle. As Caroline and an unexpected ally—Mrs. Frogerton—attempt to solve the chilling crime, they discover the culprit may be leaving bizarre clues as to who will be next in the nursery. But they must make haste, for this heartless killer is engaged in anything but child’s play . . .

Iron Axe

Iron Axe
Author: Steven Harper
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2024-09-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504096886

Death asks a half-troll and his friends to save the world in this epic fantasy series debut by the author of the Clockwork Empire series. Although Danr is the son of a human mother, his father was one of the hated Stanes, trolls from the mountains. Now the barrel-chested teenager is condemned to hard labor on a farm where he endures taunts of “Troll boy” from the others. Yet no matter how bad things get, he always remembers the advice of his recently departed mother: be gentle and do not unleash the monster inside. One of Danr’s few friends in the village, Aisa, was sold into slavery by her father and is now controlled by an abusive man. She keeps herself covered from head to toe and dreams of a better future. She and Danr hope to escape and make their way to freedom, but a series of dark events soon stirs up chaos. Strange creatures come down from the mountains, slaughtering villagers. Spirits of the dead haunt the land, terrifying those that are still alive. As rumors spread about the Stanes’ involvement, Danr decides to find out the truth, taking Aisa and an amnesiac new friend with him. Soon they are called up by Death herself to set things right. At Death’s request, the group sets out to recover the Iron Axe. Crafted by the dwarves, it is capable of restoring balance in the world—and destroying it, too. Along the way, Danr must call upon the monster within to face fierce and fantastic creatures while discovering truths that will change their lives forever. “[Turns] common tropes on their heads. . . . [Harper’s] reinterpretations of trolls, giants, and fae folk give this series opener a fresh feeling, while his nods to Norse mythology and folklore root it strongly in fantasy tradition.Readers will be eager to see what’s in store for Aisa and Danr.” —Publishers Weekly “Brought back fond memories of a classic fantasy book while still offering a wonderfully unique take on the genre. . . . Steven Harper created a world that I never got tired of exploring.” —The Qwillery “The story holds all of the adventure, magic, and mystery I have come to expect from the genre. . . .[It] follows a hero’s journey . . . with energy and artfulness.” —Wicked Little Pixie