Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated ...

Welcome to Ayreford in 1591, where cats can talk and fairies are real.Jane Moone leaves her thriving practice as a cunning woman in London to return to Ayreford to care for her father Amias, who has grown quite peculiar in the years since she left home. Before she can find out what’s troubling him, her only client’s husband is murdered. The tailor is found in his workshop covered in red spots with a bottle of tonic from Moone’s apothecary near at hand. A rival cunning man accuses A...

A man lies in an empty house with a damaged face, wearing only a richly embroidered shirt. Francis Bacon and his law students must identify him from the shirt and use that single clue to find the killer.

All Francis Bacon wants is a book, but when he reaches his favorite bookshop, the printer drags him into a murder investigation.

Welcome to the imaginary worlds of award-winning author Anna Castle.This collection of short stories ranges through time and space from the Yucatán peninsula in the early years of the Spanish conquest (The Broken Circle) to a bank office in late Victorian London (The Stockbroker’s Wife.) Most stories feature Francis Bacon and other characters from his milieu. You’ll read about Bacon’s first case (For Want of a Book) and Tom’s first solo investigation (In Walked a L...

Three award-winning historical mysteries in one convenient package!Francis Bacon reluctantly puts down his books to solve crimes in Elizabethan London, aided by Thomas Clarady, a privateer’s son who will do anything to climb into the gentry — or up to a lady’s bedchamber.In Murder by Misrule, Francis Bacon must catch a killer to regain Queen Elizabeth’s favor. He recruits handsome Thomas Clarady to chase witnesses from Whitehall to the London stree...

Agnes Merrythought, laundress for Gray's Inn, has to cope with two perplexing problems in one busy morning. First, she catches her daughter coming out of a barrister’s house, which can only lead to trouble. Then she learns that her no-good husband already had a wife when she married him. Luckily, there are advantages to washing clothes for a society of lawyers.

Melody Mockingbird, investigator for the Austin Druidic Detective Agency, must solve the murder of a beloved jazz singer before all memory of both the woman and the crime are extinguished.

Professor James Moriarty has but one desire left in his shattered life: to stop the man who ruined him from harming anyone else. Then he meets Angelina Gould and his world turns upside down.At the International Exhibition, an exploding steam engine kills a man. When Moriarty tries to figure out what happened, he encounters Sherlock Holmes, sent to investigate by Moriarty’s old enemy. Holmes finds evidence that points at Moriarty, who now must either solve the crime or swing it for ...

Thomas Clarady, Francis Bacon’s clerk, tackles a case on his own.When a beautiful young woman comes looking for Bacon’s special services, Tom offers himself as a ready substitute. He needs the money and Bacon would probably say no. But as the day progresses, he finds matching wits with the lady and her equally alluring sister to be trickier than he expected.

Nature photographer Penelope Trigg has landed the job of her dreams: documenting the transformation of over-grazed rangeland into an eco-dude ranch and spa, owned by her boyfriend Tyler Hawkins. Then a body is found on the ranch and Ty is arrested. The victim was an aggressive real estate developer with his greedy eyes on Ty’s land and Ty’s sister Diana, who is almost engaged to the senior deputy sheriff. Clues put her at the center of the puzzle.Determined to prove Ty’s innocence,...

Professor Moriarty commits a small fraud to expose a larger one.A young stockbroker brings a dilemma to the Moriartys which can best be solved by a quiet substitution. Professor Moriarty will turn up for the new position at the dubious investment bank, while the stockbroker spends his days in Russell Square. Moriarty uncovers a dastardly scheme, but the stockbroker's wife, alarmed by her husband's altered behavior, hires Sherlock Holmes to investigate. The two rivals confront one a...