A Body in Berkeley Square: A Regency Historical Mystery

A Body in Berkeley Square: A Regency Historical Mystery
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2011-07-19
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0989867757

Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars to begin solving crimes that go unnoticed by the Bow Street Runners, which take him from the mansions of Mayfair to the backstreets of London's rookeries in this USA Today Bestselling Mystery Series by Ashley Gardner (aka Jennifer Ashley). In April 1817, a Bow Street Runner summons Captain Gabriel Lacey to a Berkeley Square ballroom where a young dandy has been found stabbed to death during a society ball. The prime suspect: Lacey’s former commander, Colonel Brandon. Instead of denying the charges, Colonel Brandon allows himself to be arrested, and claims, to Lacey’s shock, that the lady he’d stayed protectively near at the ball is his mistress. Lacey realizes that he is the only person not convinced of Brandon’s guilt—all present, including Brandon’s wife, believe Brandon committed the murder. Colonel Brandon’s reticence to tell the truth proves to be Lacey’s greatest obstacle in his race against time to prove Brandon’s innocence. Lacey’s hunt for evidence uncovers dark secrets that go back to the Peninsular Wars and involve the origins of Lacey’s and Brandon’s own private war.

The Sudbury School Murders: A Regency Historical Mystery

The Sudbury School Murders: A Regency Historical Mystery
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2011-06-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0989867730

Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars to begin solving crimes that go unnoticed by the Bow Street Runners, which take him from the mansions of Mayfair to the backstreets of London's rookeries. Captain Lacey takes a post as a secretary at the Sudbury School in Berkshire, a school for sons of the wealthiest merchants and bankers in England. He discovers as soon as he arrives that he's been hired for more than his letter-writing skills—a series of disturbing pranks have kept the school in an uproar. The headmaster expects Lacey to discover the identity of the prankster—immediately. Problems intensify when a groom of the school's stables turns up dead in a lock of the nearby canal. A Romany is arrested for the murder, and Lacey is the only person who believes him innocent. As Lacey works to discover what happened, he gets drawn into the secrets of Marianne Simmons, the actress who'd lived upstairs from Lacey in London. Marianne swears Lacey to silence, which puts a new strain on his friendship with Grenville. Meanwhile the intrigue surrounding the murder becomes as murky as the waters of the canal itself and puts Lacey and Grenville into grave danger.

The Hanover Square Affair

The Hanover Square Affair
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2011-02-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0989867706

London 1816 Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars, burned out, fighting melancholia, his career ended. His interest is piqued when he learns of a missing girl, possibly kidnapped by a prominent member of Parliament. Lacey's search for the girl leads to the discovery of murder, corruption, and dealings with a leader of the underworld. At the same time, he struggles with his own transition from a soldier's life to the civilian world, redefining his role with his former commanding officer, and making new friends--from the top of society to the street girls of Covent Garden.

Murder in Grosvenor Square: A Regency Historical Mystery

Murder in Grosvenor Square: A Regency Historical Mystery
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2014-10-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1941229700

Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars to begin solving crimes that go unnoticed by the Bow Street Runners, which take him from the mansions of Mayfair to the backstreets of London's rookeries. Captain Gabriel Lacey begins Spring 1818 preparing for a duel. But while he focuses on the affair of honor, darkness, greed, and death stalk the streets of London and bring tragedy to a family Lacey has grown close to. With the aid of Lucius Grenville, London’s most famous dandy, and Brewster, a ruffian employed by an underworld criminal, Lacey explores the world of molly houses and the double lives some men of society lead. His investigation takes him from the elegant mansions of Grosvenor Square to the squalid lanes of Seven Dials, to taverns that practice a highly illegal trade, spelling ruin and possible hanging for those caught within. Lacey once again comes into the realm of James Denis, a crime lord, when what appears to be a simple crime of hatred becomes far more complex.

A Death in Norfolk

A Death in Norfolk
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2011-10-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1941229514

Book 7 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries September 1817: Captain Gabriel Lacey travels with Lady Breckenridge to his boyhood home in northern Norfolk only to discover mysterious happenings in and around the Lacey estate. A young woman, cousin of an old friend, has gone missing, strange objects appear in Lacey's ruined house, and the dark windmills on the marshes keep pulling Lacey to them. The underworld criminal, James Denis, uses Lacey's visit to Norfolk as an opportunity to have Lacey deliver a message to a local squire. A simple task--but one that lands Lacey squarely in international theft and murder. Lacey learns more about Denis's past, and finds himself joining forces with Denis to flush out a brutal killer and save the one person about whom Denis admits to caring.

The Custom House Murders

The Custom House Murders
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2020-11-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1951041291

James Denis gives Captain Lacey a task, to deliver a mysterious package to a man with an office near the Custom House on the bank of the Thames. Lacey, who has been drawn into danger delivering items for Denis before, opens the package to find a single chess piece, a white queen. The piece tells Lacey nothing, but he soon realizes it plays deeply into Denis’s ongoing battle for control of London’s underworld. Meanwhile Lacey encounters an old army friend just returned from Antigua, who is being accused of smuggling and possibly murder. Lacey decides to help the man, whom he considers honorable, to clear his name. But Lacey is drawn farther into the dark games of James Denis and his rival, until only his wits and memories from his past can save himself and his family from gravest danger. Book 15 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries

Murder in the Eternal City

Murder in the Eternal City
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2022-09-20
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1951041941

When I agree to visit Grenville in his villa near Rome, I scarcely imagine that I immediately will become embroiled in mystery and mayhem. James Denis has requested that I purchase an antique from a collector, one Conte de Luca. Before I can approach this count, I am recruited by a Roman a man to help rescue his daughter from a cool aristocrat, and then asked to solve the murder of an Englishman—by a man who is already dead. These tasks do not keep me from traveling to the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum and exploring to my heart’s content, but trouble follows me in the form of a man bent on killing me—for what reason I cannot fathom. All this is compounded by another murder back in Rome, and I am commanded by James Denis, as well as the aristocrat who stole my new Roman friend’s daughter, to find out who committed the deed and the secret of the man’s astonishing collection of rare and fine art. Probing these puzzles lead me to the past, present, and future troubles of the Italian peninsula, a beautiful but deadly place in the spring of 1820.

A Darkness in Seven Dials

A Darkness in Seven Dials
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2024-05-21
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1958798452

March 1820 When James Denis is arrested for murder and lands himself in Newgate, it falls to me to prove his innocence. I have nowhere to start but in a dark street in Seven Dials and the name of the unknown man Denis is supposed to have killed. I soon find myself beleaguered by enemies from Denis’s past, secret societies, and a host of people who want Denis to hang. In addition I receive word from a mysterious young woman I haven't heard from in years who now seeks my help.

The Alexandria Affair: A Regency Historical Mystery

The Alexandria Affair: A Regency Historical Mystery
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2016-05-17
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1941229263

Cavalry captain Gabriel Lacey returns to Regency London from the Napoleonic wars to become interested in solving crimes that go unnoticed by the Bow Street Runners, and take him from the mansions of Mayfair to the backstreets of London's rookeries. Captain Lacey accompanies famous dandy Lucius Grenville to Egypt, a land that Lacey has long anticipated visiting. Lacey travels there for more than a simple holiday, however—James Denis has tasked him with finding an "object" from ancient Alexandria and procuring it, whatever the cost. The task does not turn out to be so simple. Locating what Denis wants proves difficult, sending Lacey and Grenville exploring tombs along the Nile. Lacey must deal with treasure hunters, a shadow following him and his friends, murder, and missing his new family as he explores the fascinating country he has so longed to see. Book 11 in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series.

The Necklace Affair: A Regency Historical Mystery

The Necklace Affair: A Regency Historical Mystery
Author: Ashley Gardner
Publisher: Jennifer Ashley
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2011-07-10
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0989867749

London 1817: Captain Lacey agrees to help a society matron discover what has become of her expensive diamond necklace and to clear her maid, who has been arrested for its theft. Lady Clifford declares that the rival for her husband's affections has stolen the necklace, but Lacey soon realizes that the problem is not so simple. He quickly becomes enmeshed in scandal and past secrets, and recruits Grenville and Lady Breckenridge to assist him. As he investigates, he finds himself competing with the underworld criminal, James Denis, for the necklace's retrieval. The events in this novella occur between the end of The Sudbury School Murders and the beginning of A Body in Berkeley Square.