Nothing is what it seems in the City of Lorr...Just ask Pola Drach, Independent Eye. In a city founded by refugees from a dying earth long ago, she pursues dark secrets and exposes the shadowy underbelly of society. Who killed the ambitious model? And was that who she really was? Who's forcing shopkeepers to buy worthless stock, and circulating funny money? Why is the youngest scion of one of the city's richest families suddenly a target?Most important for Pola—Who wants he...

By the English seaside, two literary legends team up to find a young lady who has disappearedOnce a playground for the British nobility, by the mid-1880s Brighton has become a haven for middle-class vacationers. Shabbier than it was, and darker around the edges, it is nonetheless a fitting place for a young doctor's honeymoon. But no sooner has Arthur Conan Doyle stepped off the train than he encounters a mystery. A teenage girl has vanished from the railway termina...

Nothing is what it seems in the City of Lorr...Just ask Pola Drach, Independent Eye. In a city founded by refugees from a dying earth long ago, she pursues dark secrets and exposes the shadowy underbelly of society. Who killed the ambitious model? And was that who she really was? Who's forcing shopkeepers to buy worthless stock, and circulating funny money? Why is the youngest scion of one of the city's richest families suddenly a target?Most important for Pola—Who wants he...

There are too many Eyes on the prize.It was a simple job—find the naive outlander's lost journal, lost during a liaison with a local "joyboy". It sounded liked her client was even more worried about the way he lost his book than he was about the book.But then the joyboy winds up dead, followed shortly thereafter by her client; and it's clear she's not the only one who wants that missing book. Worse, whoever it is, is prepared to kill her to make sure she doesn't find it.

No job is ever as simple as it seemsHalvar Danske, known as the Hireling, has come to Manatas to determine whether there’s fraud afoot in the Feria. His master, the Al-Andalusian Calif Don Felipe, has had a letter from an old friend named Leon di Vicenza claiming part of the calif’s share of the Feria’s revenues is being funneled into unauthorized pockets.It’s more than an omen when Halvar stumbles on a brutally murdered man his first morning in Manatas, an...

The creators of Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland unite to solve a sea captain's murder in a historical mystery "that will appeal to Anne Perry fans" ( Booklist).The reverend Charles Dodgson comes to Portsmouth hoping for rest, relaxation, and a few days' peace in the company of his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, physician and aspiring author of mysteries. But within a minute of their reunion, Doyle is talking about murder. One of his patients, a...

It started simply enough—a missing young woman. Granted, there's no love lost between Pola and Captain Sara Atterson, but that's irrelevant. A job is a job. This one takes her deep into the world of artists and the theater, which is a different experience from digging in the closets of the wealthy. She's not impressed.Audra Martino was an innocent, drawn to causes to "save things", as one fellow apprentice said. What happened to her after she left the gallery where her work was exhi...

Halvar Danske, known as the Hireling, has come to Manatas to determine whether there's fraud afoot in the Feria. His master, the Al-Andalusian Calif Don Felipe, has had a letter from an old friend named Leon di Vicenza claiming part of the calif's share of the Feria's revenues is being funneled into unauthorized pockets.It's more than an omen when Halvar stumbles on a brutally murdered man his first morning in Manatas, and the day goes downhill from there. Is the corpse really Leon...

A vicious newspaperman is murdered, and every scribe in the office is a suspectIt is winter in London, and the coal is running short. The chill on Fleet Street is so severe that the men who run the presses for Youth's Companion are too cold to work. Despite the freeze, their editor—the vile Mr. Bassett—will not spare a shilling for coal. He is behind on paying his employees, has been accused of stealing his writers' ideas, and refuses to hire any up-and-com...

It started simply enough—a missing young woman. Granted, there’s no love lost between Pola and Captain Sara Atterson, but that’s irrelevant. A job is a job. This one takes her deep into the world of artists and the theater, which is a different experience from digging in the closets of the wealthy. She’s not impressed.Audra Martino was an innocent, drawn to causes to “save things”, as one fellow apprentice said. What happened to her after she left the gallery where her work was exh...

Who killed the captain?It's not bad enough that Halvar is stuck in Manatas while Don Felipe is off exploring the New World. Now he's got a dead ship captain on his hands, a nobleman and his virago wife complaining about their living accommodations, and an enemy from his past who claims to be just passing through.The bodies, though, seem to keep piling up, while the clues continue to be elusive. There's something rotten going on, but finding out exactly what it is and whose ...

The end is in sight. Or not.As the fall Feria comes to a close, Halvar is ready to snatch Leon di Vicenza from the fratery and head back to Al-Andalus.No such luck.An Afrikan merchant dies of poisoning, and there are enough suspects to populate half of Manatas. Then a Bretain student is also murdered, and the Calif's Hireling is once again up to his boot tops in mystery.