“Stephanie Laurens plays into readers’ fantasies like a master and claims their hearts time and again.” Romantic Times Magazine Praise for the works of Stephanie Laurens “Stephanie Laurens’ heroines are marvelous tributes to Georgette Heyer: feisty and strong.” Cathy Kelly “Stephanie Laurens never fails to entertain and charm her readers with vibrant plots, snappy dialogue, and unforgettable characters.” Historical Romance Reviews. A short novel of 39,000 words.Īn entry in The Casebook of Barnaby Adair series, the events in this short novel occur between the events described in the full-length Casebook novels, WHERE THE HEART LEADS and the upcoming THE MASTERFUL MR. Working parallel to Barnaby and Stokes, the would-be lovers hunt for a path through the maze of contradictory facts to expose the murderer, disperse the pall of scandal, and claim the love and the shared life they crave.Ī pre-Victorian mystery with strong elements of romance. Meanwhile, the threat of scandal grows ever more tangible for all those attending the house party – and the stakes are highest for Lord Finsbury’s daughter and the gentleman who has spent the last decade resurrecting his family fortune so he can aspire to her hand. The conundrums compound as our intrepid investigators attempt to make sense of this baffling case. The murdered gentleman had been thrown out of the house party days before, so why had he returned? And how and why did he come to have the fabulous Finsbury diamond necklace in his pocket, much to Lord Finsbury’s consternation? Most peculiar of all, why had the murderer left the necklace, worth a stupendous fortune, on the body? Yet what Barnaby and Stokes uncover only leads to more questions. When Barnaby is summoned to assist Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard in investigating the violent murder of a gentleman at a house party, Penelope, frustrated that she cannot participate, insists that she and Griselda, Stokes’s wife, be kept informed of their husbands’ discoveries. Penelope Adair, wife and partner of amateur sleuth Barnaby Adair, is so hugely pregnant she cannot even waddle. But as they unravel the mystery of the missing orphans, they uncover a trail leading to the upper echelons of society and a ruthless and clever criminal adept at pulling strings who, becoming aware of them and their efforts, is only too ready to destroy all they hold dear, including their newfound understanding of the intrigues of the human heart.#1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens brings you a tale of murder, mystery, passion, and intrigue – and diamonds! And as he's in dire need of an excuse to avoid said insipid misses, he accepts her challenge, never dreaming she and it will consume his every waking hour.Įnlisting the aid of Inspector Basil Stokes of the fledgling Scotland Yard, they infiltrate the streets of London's notorious East End.
Her bold beauty and undeniable brains make a striking contrast to the usual insipid ton misses.
Throwing caution to the wind, defying every rule for unmarried ladies, she appears on his doorstep late one night determined to recruit his talents.īarnaby is intrigued-both by her problem and her. Despite his skills-or perhaps because of them-he makes Penelope distinctly uncomfortable, but the stakes are too grave. His pedigree, relentless intelligence, and discretion make him a deadly avenger in an elegant guise. Handsome scion of a noble house, Adair has made a name for himself in certain circles where his powers of observation and deduction have seen him solve several serious and unsavory crimes within the ton. Desperate, Penelope turns to the one man she knows who might help her-Barnaby Adair. Yet Penelope is anything but a pretty face in a satin gown-forceful, willful, and blunt to a fault, she has for years devoted her considerable energy and intelligence to caring for the forgotten orphans of London's sooty and seamier streets.īut now her charges are mysteriously disappearing. Penelope Ashford, Portia Cynster's younger sister, has grown up with every advantage-wealth, position, and beauty. and Laurens pulls back the curtain that has hidden it from us-until now. But outside that glittering circle lay another world. especially the exclusive enclave of luxury in which the aristocracy lived in wealth and comfort. New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Laurens knows the world of Regency London.
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