The
Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to
highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.
The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Rhys Bowen's Book: The Tuscan Child.
Author Rhys Bowen is the New York
Times bestselling writer of the Molly Murphy Mysteries and A Royal Spyness
Mystery series.
Rhys will be at the Tucson Festival of Books (TFOB) March 10 – 11, 2018 on the University of Arizona Campus between 9:30am to 5:30pm.
Her schedule for the Festival:
Saturday
Murder a Between the Wars, panel with Charles and Caroline Todd 10-11
1-2 signing Mostly Books
Sunday
10-11 writing historical mysteries, a workshop
1-2 signing Clues Unlimited
2:30 - 3:30 Famous Folk and Fictional Crimes, panel
The Tuscan Child
Author: Rhys Bowen
AVAILABLE
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
From New York Times bestselling author Rhys Bowen comes a haunting novel about a woman who braves her father’s hidden past to discover his secrets…
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal.
Nearly thirty years later, Hugo’s estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father’s funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.
Still dealing with the emotional wounds of her own personal trauma, Joanna embarks on a healing journey to Tuscany to understand her father’s history—and maybe come to understand herself as well. Joanna soon discovers that some would prefer the past be left undisturbed, but she has come too far to let go of her father’s secrets now…
Excerpt from The Tuscan Child
He opened his eyes to see someone standing over him. He sat up with a start, his gloved hand reaching for his service weapon and realizing that it was not loaded anyway. He remembered the knife, stowed on the inside of his boot. Again completely useless to him. Why hadn’t he thought ahead, prepared to defend himself?
As his eyes focused he reacted with horror. A thin hooded, faceless figure, garbed in black. The grim reaper. Death come for him. As he attempted to get up the figure gave a little gasp and stepped back. Then Hugo saw that it was a woman, dressed entirely in black, her head and shoulders covered in a big black shawl. She was carrying a basket, which she now held in front of her, as if to defend herself.
“Are you a German?” she asked in her native Italian, then added “Deutch?”
“No. I’m not German. I’m English,” he replied in Italian, grateful that his year studying in Florence had made him reasonably fluent in the language. “My plane just—“ he searched for the words crashed or was shot down and found neither. They weren’t the sort of vocabulary he had had to use before the war. “My plane went down.” He emphasized this with a gesture of a plane crashing.
The woman nodded. “We heard it,” she said. “The explosion. We didn’t know what it was. We were afraid the Germans were blowing up something again.”
He found her hard to understand, afraid that he had forgotten all the Italian he had learned then realized she was speaking with the strong Tuscan dialect he had heard among country people. And her hand gestures confirmed what she was saying.
“Are there still Germans in this area?”
She nodded again, glancing around her as if expecting them to appear at any moment.
“Many of them. It is not safe for you to stay here. You must get away to the south. That way.” She pointed. “That is where the Allies are advancing. We hear that they might be coming soon.”
“I can’t walk,” he said. “I think I’ve been shot in the leg. I need a place to hide until I can treat the wound and see what needs to be done.”
She glanced up again. “I can’t take you to my village,” she said. “The Germans come through all the time. They demand lodging and they take our food. You would not be safe. Word would get out and there are those among us who would willingly sell information for food or cigarettes.”
“I wouldn’t dream of putting you in any danger,” he said. Actually that was what he wanted to say but could only produce, “I will not make dangerous for you.”
She spread her hands wide. “If it was just me, I would say yes. I will take this risk. But I have my baby son and my husband’s grandmother living with me. I must protect them.”
“Of course. I understand. You must not have danger from me.”
She was frowning at him now. “How is it that you speak my language?” “I lived in Florence once when I was a young man. I was there for a year to study art.”
“You are an artist?” she asked.
“I wanted to be a painter before the war. Now I’ve been flying planes for five years.”
“This war has robbed us all of what we loved,” she said and looked away.
He nodded. “If you could just help me up, I’ll be on my way,” he said. “Any moment I could be discovered and you would be in trouble for talking to me.”
“I don’t think anybody would come in this direction now.” She looked around cautiously as she spoke, as if not quite trusting her words. “The olive harvest is over. I myself came to see if any olives still lie among the trees, or maybe there are mushrooms or chestnuts in the forest. We eat what we can find these days. The Germans take what we have.”
The mention of Germans had made her face grow pinched and fearful again. She pulled the shawl more tightly around her. “You cannot walk at all?”
“I could try if you would support me. Just as far as the trees up there. Then I would be hidden.”
“The monastery,” she said with sudden emphasis. “I will take you to the monastery. You will be safe there.”
“Monastery?” Hugo reacted with the protestant’s suspicion of all things Catholic, especially monks. “Are you sure that would be a good idea?”
“It is a ruin,” she said. “Nobody goes there now. But it would be a place to shelter, if you can make it that far.”
“Then let’s try. Maybe you could help me up.”
She put down her basket, and lifted him under his armpits. She was remarkably strong for her frail appearance. He stood, sweating with pain as his wounded leg tried to take his weight.
“Come,” she said. “Put your arm around my shoulder. I will support you.
Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Website: Rhys Bowen
Twitter: @RhysBowen
E-Mail: authorrhysbowen@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Google+: Check Out Google+
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Post with Profile + Interview: HBS Author's Spotlight
Amazon Author Profile
Author Description: Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as the #1Kindle bestseller In Farleigh Field. Rhys was born in Bath, England and educated at London University but now divides her time between California and Arizona. Her books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won fourteen of them to date.
She currently writes two historical mystery series, each very different in tone. The Molly Murphy mysteries feature an Irish immigrant woman in turn-of-the-century New York City. These books are multi-layered, complex stories with a strong sense of time and place and have won many awards including Agatha and Anthony. There are 16 book so far in this series plus three Kindle stories, The Amersham Rubies, Through the Window and The Face in the Mirror--a great way to introduce new readers to Molly's spunky personality.
Then there is Lady Georgie, Rhys's latest,and very popular, heroine. She's 35th in line to the throne of England, but she's flat broke and struggling to survive in the Great Depression. These books are lighter and funnier than Molly's adventures. They poke gentle fun at the British class system--about which Rhys knows a lot, having married into an upper class family rather like Georgie's, with cousins with silly nicknames,family ghosts and stately homes. The eleventh book in the series, On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service, will be published August 2017. Two books in the series have won the Agatha award for best historical mystery.
The series received the Readers Choice Award for favorite mystery series and Rhys was nominated for career achievement. It was also voted one of Goodreads top 10 cozy mysteries. The books have been translated into many languages and brought Rhys fans from around the world.
Her most recent achievement was the big World War 2 stand-alone novel, In Farleigh Field. It has enjoyed impressive sales world-wide and brought Rhys many new readers.
As a child Rhys spent time with relatives in Wales. Those childhood experiences colored her first mystery series, about Constable Evans in the mountains of Snowdonia. 10 books including the Edgar nominee Evan's Gate. She has lived in Austria, Germany and Australia, but has called California her home for many years. She now escapes to a condo in Arizona during those cold California winters. When she's not writing she loves to travel, sing, hike, paint and play the Celtic harp.
Author's Book List
On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service
- A Royal Spyness Mystery Book 11Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, Darcy, and her mother. But it’s all in a day’s work when you’re thirty-fifth in line to the British Crown.
When Darcy runs off on another secret assignment, I am left to figure out how to travel to Italy sans maid and chaperone to help my dear friend Belinda, as she awaits the birth of her baby alone. An opportunity presents itself in a most unexpected way—my cousin the queen is in need of a spy to attend a house party in the Italian lake country. The Prince of Wales and the dreadful Mrs. Simpson have been invited, and Her Majesty is anxious to thwart a possible secret wedding.
What luck! A chance to see Belinda and please the queen as I seek her permission to relinquish my claim to the throne so I can marry Darcy. Only that’s as far as my good fortune takes me. I soon discover that Mummy is attending the villa party and she has her own secret task for me. Then, Darcy shows up and tells me that the fate of a world on the brink of war could very well depend on what I overhear at dinner! I shouldn’t be all that surprised when one of my fellow guests is murdered and my Italian holiday becomes a nightmare…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
iTunes Store
Audible
In Farleigh Field
- A Novel of World War IIWorld War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham’s middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret: she has taken a job at Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking facility.
As Ben follows a trail of spies and traitors, which may include another member of Pamela’s family, he discovers that some within the realm have an appalling, history-altering agenda. Can he, with Pamela’s help, stop them before England falls?
Inspired by the events and people of World War II, writer Rhys Bowen crafts a sweeping and riveting saga of class, family, love, and betrayal.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
The Ghost of Christmas Past
- Molly Murphy MysteriesSemi-retired private detective Molly Murphy Sullivan is suffering from depression after a miscarriage following her adventure in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. She and her husband, Daniel, are invited for Christmas at a mansion on the Hudson, and they gratefully accept, expecting a peaceful and relaxing holiday season. Not long after they arrive, however, they start to feel the tension in the house’s atmosphere. Then they learn that the host couple's young daughter wandered out into the snow ten years ago and was never seen again. Molly can identify with the mother's pain at never knowing what happened to her child and wants to help, but there is so little to go on. No ransom note. No body ever found. But Molly slowly begins to suspect that the occupants of the house know more than they are letting on. Then, on Christmas Eve, there is a knock at the door and a young girl stands there. "I'm Charlotte," she says. "I've come home."
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
The Edge of Dreams
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 14Molly Murphy Sullivan's husband Daniel, a captain in the New York City police force, is stumped. He's chasing a murderer whose victims have nothing in common--nothing except for the taunting notes that are delivered to Daniel after each murder. And when Daniel receives a note immediately after Molly and her young son Liam are in a terrible train crash, Daniel and Molly both begin to fear that maybe Molly herself was the target.
Molly's detective instincts are humming, but finding the time to dig deeper into this case is a challenge. She's healing from injuries sustained in the crash and also sidetracked by her friends Sid and Gus's most recent hobby, dream analysis. And when Molly herself starts suffering from strange dreams, she wonders if they just might hold the key to solving Daniel's murder case.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
City of Darkness and Light
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 13Molly and Daniel Sullivan are settling happily into the new routines of parenthood, but their domestic bliss is shattered the night a gang retaliates against Daniel for making a big arrest. Daniel wants his family safely out of New York City as soon as possible. In shock and grieving, but knowing she needs to protect their infant son Liam, Molly agrees to take him on the long journey to Paris to stay with her friends Sid and Gus, who are studying art in the City of Light.
But upon arriving in Paris, nothing goes as planned. Sid and Gus seem to have vanished into thin air, and Molly's search to figure out what happened to them will lead her through all levels of Parisian society, from extravagant salons to the dingy cafes where starving artists linger over coffee and loud philosophical debates. And when in the course of her search she stumbles across a dead body, Molly, on her own in a foreign country, starts to wonder if she and Liam might be in even more danger in Paris than they had been at home.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
The Family Way
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 12Molly Murphy--now Molly Sullivan--is a year into her marriage, expecting her first child, and confined to the life of a housewife. She's restless and irritable in the enforced idleness of pregnancy and the heat of a New York summer in 1905. So when a trip to the post office brings a letter addressed to her old detective agency asking her to locate a missing Irish serving maid, Molly figures it couldn't hurt to at least ask around, despite her promise to Daniel to give up her old career as a detective. On the same day, Molly learns that five babies have been kidnapped in the past month.
Refusing to let Molly help with the kidnapping investigation, Daniel sends her away to spend the summer with his mother. But even in the quiet, leafy suburbs, Molly's own pending motherhood makes her unable to ignore these missing children. What she uncovers will lead her on a terrifying journey through all levels of society, putting her life--and that of her baby--in danger.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Hush Now, Don't You Cry
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 11In the latest in Rhys Bowen's award-winning historical series, Molly Murphy is supposed to give up sleuthing now that she's married, but the murder of an alderman puts her on the trail of a killer.
Molly Murphy, now Molly Sullivan, and her husband Daniel, a captain in the New York Police department, have been invited to spend their honeymoon on the Newport, RI, estate of Alderman Brian Hannan in the spring of 1904. Molly doesn't entirely trust the offer. Hannan--an ambitious man--has his eye on a senate seat and intentions of taking Tammany Hall to get it. When Hannan is found dead at the base of the cliffs that overlook the Atlantic, Molly's suspicions are quickly justified, and as much as she wants to keep her promise to Daniel that she won't do any more sleuthing now, there isn't much she can do once the chase is on. Rhys Bowen's brilliant wit and charm are on full display in Hush Now, Don't You Cry, another outstanding addition to her Agatha and Anthony award-winning historical series.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Bless the Bride
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 10With Molly Murphy’s wedding to NYPD Captain Daniel Sullivan quickly approaching, the Irish sleuth heads to the Westchester County countryside, where his mother can lend her a hand and advise her on a bride’s proper place. And shockingly, Molly seems to be agreeing. She has already promised that she’ll close up her PI business and settle down after marrying, but she isn’t a married woman yet. So, when she gets word of a possible case, she sneaks back into the city to squeeze in a little more sleuthing before the wedding bells can ring.
A wealthy Chinese immigrant wants her to find his missing bride, and Molly---sure she isn’t getting the whole story---suspects that his bride ran off. But where could she go? The only Chinese women in early-twentieth-century New York are kept under lock and key, and Molly can’t help but wonder if she’s saving the woman from the streets or helping to lock her away for good.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
The Last Illusion
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 9Irish immigrant and PI Molly Murphy is thrilled to have a ticket to the theater to see a trio of illusionists that are all the rage. Indeed, headlining is Harry Houdini, the most sensational of them all; he has just returned from entertaining European kings and queens for a brief run on Broadway.
But before Houdini can even take the stage, the opening act goes horribly wrong and to the crowd’s shock the illusionist saws into his assistant. In the aftermath, the stunned performer accuses Houdini of tampering with the equipment he keeps under lock and key. And he’s not the only one critical of “The King of Handcuffs.” Risking his life every night, Houdini has raised the stakes to such a perilous level that he’s putting lesser acts out of business.
With everyone on edge, Houdini’s wife hires Molly to be part investigator/part bodyguard, but how can she protect a man who literally risks his life every night? And how is she going to uncover whether these masters of illusion are simply up to their tricks or if there truly is something much more treacherous going on.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
In a Gilded Cage
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 8Irish immigrant Molly Murphy and her New York City P.I. business are in the midst of a sweeping influenza epidemic and a fight for women's suffrage that lands her in jail. Her betrothed, Police Captain Daniel Sullivan, finds her, but he hardly has time to bail her out, what with Chinese gangs battling for control of a thriving opium trade. The only consolation Molly can take from her vexing afternoon in the clink is that it made her some new friends among the Vassar suffragists---and brought her a pair of new cases.
For the first, Emily Boswell is convinced her miserly uncle stole her inheritance and wants Molly to uncover the truth behind her parents' lives and deaths. Second, Emily's college roommate Fanny Poindexter wants Molly to find proof of her husband's philandering so that she can leave him without one red cent. But when Fanny dies and her husband claims she's a victim of the epidemic, it's more than Molly's conscience can take.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Tell Me, Pretty Maiden
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 7It’s wintertime in New York, and for the first time since Irish immigrant Molly Murphy started her early-twentieth-century detective agency, she is completely snowed in with work. While she’s proving to be quite the entrepreneur and is very much in demand by some of Broadway’s brightest stars and Fifth Avenue’s richest families, she has to grudgingly admit that if she’s going to work more than one case at a time, then she’s going to need some help. Molly’s beau, the recently and wrongly suspended police captain Daniel Sullivan, would make an ideal associate, but before they can agree on the terms of his employment, they stumble upon a young woman lying unconscious in the middle of a snow-covered Central Park. When the woman wakes up she is disorientated and has and lost her ability to speak, the authorities are about to pack her off to an insane asylum when Molly can’t help but step in and take on yet another case.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
In Dublin's Fair City
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 6Molly Murphy's beau Captain Daniel Sullivan may be out of jail on bail, but he's still a ways from clearing his name, and his foul mood has Molly in search of a little breathing room when providence steps in in the form of a proposition from New York City's renowned theatrical impresario Tommy Burke. America has been very good to Tommy, and now that he's getting on in years, he'd like to pass some of that good fortune on to his family back in Ireland. That's, of course, if Molly can find the long-lost baby sister his family left in the care of a parish priest when they fled the famine and avoid the warrant out for her arrest that forced Molly to flee herself. Tempted by the prospect of going home for the first time in years and putting her fledging detective agency on firm financial ground, Molly throws caution to the wind and climbs aboard the White Start Liner Majestic with hopes of sneaking on and off the isle without raising a peep. But even before Molly lands on the other side of the Atlantic, Broadway's leading actress, Oona Sheehan, has gone missing from the ship, and her maid is found dead in her cabin.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Oh Danny Boy
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 5In turn-of-the-century New York City, Irish immigrant Molly Murphy is contemplating giving up PI work for something a little less complicated, less exciting. Molly has had quite enough excitement recently, thank you very much. Especially from the handsome but deceptive NYPD captain Daniel Sullivan, whom she'd like to avoid completely. But when Daniel is accused of accepting bribes and lands himself in the Tombs, the notorious city jail, he begs Molly to help prove he was framed, and after everything they've been through, she cannot turn him down.
As she finds herself drawn further and further into the case, she begins to fear that Daniel's trouble is related to one of his investigations---catching the Eastside Ripper, a serial killer who is targeting prostitutes.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
In Like Flynn
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 4Fledgling private investigator Molly Murphy's latest assignment gives her the opportunity to escape the typhoid epidemic sweeping across New York City in the summer of 1902 for the lush Hudson River Valley. And it comes from an unlikely source-Captain Daniel Sullivan, a New York City police detective and erstwhile beau of Molly's. She has vowed to keep him at arm's length until he can rid himself of his socialite fiancée, but she can't pass up the chance to take advantage of his offer of a real detective job.
Daniel hires Molly to go undercover inside the country household of Senator Barney Flynn, in Peekskill, New York. Flynn's wife, Theresa, has become the latest devotee of a pair of spiritualists known as the Sorensen Sisters. The frail Theresa is desperate to use the sisters' alleged abilities to hold a séance to contact her infant son, who was kidnapped five years ago and never found; the accused kidnapper was killed before he could tell police where the boy was being held. But the police are sure the women are frauds.
When Molly allows herself to be distracted from the Sorensen Sisters and the members of the Flynn household by the unsolved kidnapping, it is a race against time to find out what's really going on before it's too late.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
For the Love of Mike
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 3Molly Murphy is starting to think the cards are stacked against her. She's determined to be a private detective, but hampering her investigations is the fact that she's finding many places in turn-of-the-century New York City where women are not welcome, something that's as frustrating to her fiery Irish pride as it is to her rapidly emptying pocketbook.
Then two business opportunities pop up simultaneously. An aristocratic family in Dublin fears their daughter has fled to the New World with her unsavory boyfriend, and they hire Molly to track the two down and send the young woman back home. Before she has time to consider her good luck, she's asked to go undercover as a piece worker in the garment business and investigate a potential case of industrial espionage. Now if she can only solve both cases without the help of Daniel Sullivan, the police captain who claims he loves her but who is engaged to someone else...
Full of the rich detail of New York's teeming immigrant community and the colorful historical personalities of the age,
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Death of Riley
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 2Molly Murphy has finally begun to forget the unpleasant murder of a would-be rapist back in Ireland, not to mention her investigation into the murder of a fellow recent Irish immigrant, and is finally free to begin her life in New York City. Given her experiences so far in the New World, Molly has decided that her first order of business is to become a private investigator, a people finder of sorts, working for families in Europe who've lost touch with relatives in America. Not only might this put some food on her table, but her second order of business is to hook the handsome NYPD police captain Daniel Sullivan, and she envisions lots of opportunities to "seek his counsel" in her new profession.
Paddy Riley is a tough old Cockney p.i. who specializes in divorce work, and with a little persuasion he's ready to take on Molly as an apprentice. It's not exactly what she imagined, but she plans to make the most of it. That is, until she comes in to work one day to find her new world turned upside down and all expectations for her professional life suddenly up in the air.
Before long, Molly has set off on a journey that will take her through the back alleys of Manhattan and into the bars and lounges of the literary scene, where she spends time with writers, actors, poets, and musicians. It's quite an eye-opening turn for innocent young Molly, but she's resolute in her decision to find out exactly what happened that day in the office of Paddy Riley. Armed with nothing more than her fiery will and matching wild red hair, Molly has no idea of the danger her pursuit may bring in this fascinating, well-researched, and suspenseful second novel in Rhys Bowen's Agatha-award winning series.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Murphy's Law
- Molly Murphy Mysteries Book 1From the creator of the much-loved Constable Evan Evans mysteries comes a colorful new series set in turn-of-the-century New York City. When spirited redhead Molly Murphy was growing up a peasant on the coast of Ireland she always imagined there was something more in store for her. She couldn't have known how right she was until the day she became a murderer, albeit in self-defense. Under drastic circumstances, Molly is forced to strike out into a new world. With the police right behind her, Molly's only chance at escape is a false identity and a steamship that will take her far, far away: to America.
When her ship sails into New York Harbor, with the majestic figure of the Statue of Liberty providing comfort and inspiration, Molly is sure her whole life is in front of her. But she's got one last hurdle to clear: Ellis Island. She is just one among thousands of immigrants on the tiny island, awaiting their fate with anxiety and hope. Unfortunately for Molly, before she is able to leave the island a man is brutally murdered, his throat cut from ear to ear, and coincidence and fate make her a suspect in a crime she didn't commit. Under a cloud of suspicion, and due largely to a growing mutual attraction between Molly and the handsome police captain in charge of the case, she is allowed to leave Ellis Island for Manhattan. Unfortunately, she's got a mission she couldn't have anticipated: clear her own name of murder. Alone in a new country with no one to lean on, Molly hits the vibrant streets of New York intent on finding out what really happened. After all, if she can't, she'll be sent back to Ireland, where the dreaded gallows await.
With the sweeping skyline of 19th century New York and the gritty, pulsating underworld of recently arrived immigrants forming a vivid backdrop, Rhys Bowen transports readers back in time to America's not-so-distant past. The first entry in the Molly Murphy series is a fascinating look at our immigrant history as well as an intensely absorbing page-turner.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Crowned and Dangerous
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 10Lady Georgiana Rannoch knows nothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, but her upcoming marriage proves to be the ultimate complication in the tenth mystery in the New York Times bestselling Royal Spyness series.
As Lady Georgiana's beloved Darcy drives her out of London, she soon discovers that he isn’t planning to introduce her to the pleasures of sinning in secret—as she had hoped—but to make her his wife!
Of course, she'll need special permission from the king to marry a Roman Catholic. Though he will inherit a title, Darcy is as broke as Georgie. Even his family’s Irish castle has been sold to a rich American who now employs his father.
Nothing will deter them from their mission—except perhaps the news that Georgie's future father-in-law has just been arrested for murdering the rich American. With the elopement postponed, they head for Ireland, where the suspect insists he’s innocent, and it’s up to them to prove it—for better or worse.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
iTunes Store
Audible
Malice at the Palace
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 9Lady Georgiana Rannoch won’t deny that being thirty-fifth in line for the British throne has its advantages. Unfortunately, money isn’t one of them. And sometimes making ends meet requires her to investigate a little royal wrongdoing.
While my beau Darcy is off on a mysterious mission, I am once again caught between my high birth and empty purse. I am therefore relieved to receive a new assignment from the Queen—especially one that includes lodging. The King’s youngest son, George, is to wed Princess Marina of Greece, and I shall be her companion at the supposedly haunted Kensington Palace.
My duties are simple: help Marina acclimate to English life, show her the best of London and, above all, dispel any rumors about George’s libertine history. Perhaps that last bit isn’t so simple.
George is known for his many affairs with women as well as men—including the great songwriter Noel Coward. But things truly get complicated when I search the Palace for a supposed ghost only to encounter an actual dead person: a society beauty said to have been one of Prince George’s mistresses.
Nothing spoils a royal wedding more than murder, and the Queen wants the whole matter hushed. But as the investigation unfolds—and Darcy, as always, turns up in the most unlikely of places—the investigation brings us precariously close to the prince himself.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Queen of Hearts
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 8My mother, the glamorous and much-married actress, is hearing wedding bells once again—which is why she must hop across the pond for a quickie divorce in Reno. To offer my moral support, and since all expenses are paid by her new hubby-to-be, Max, I agree to make the voyage with her.
Crossing the Atlantic, with adventure in the air and wealthy men aboard, Mother meets movie mogul Cy Goldman who insists on casting her in his next picture. Meanwhile, I find myself caught up in the secret investigation of a suspected jewel thief. Lucky for me, the lead investigator happens to be my dashing beau, Darcy!
Mother’s movie and Darcy’s larceny lead everyone to Cy’s Hollywood home, where the likes of Charlie Chaplin are hanging about and there’s enough romantic intrigue to fill a double feature. But we hardly get a chance to work out the sleeping arrangements before Cy turns up dead. As if there wasn’t enough drama already…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Heirs and Graces
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 7As thirty-fifth in line for the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch knows her table manners. It’s forks on the left, knives on the right—not in His Grace, the duke’s back…
I have been entrusted by Her Majesty with grooming Jack Altringham—the duke’s newly discovered heir fresh from the Outback of Australia—for high society. The upside is I am to live in luxury at one of England’s most gorgeous stately homes. But upon my arrival, my dearest Darcy has been sent to fetch Jack, leaving me stuck in a manor full of miscreants displeased with the discovery of my new ward.
No sooner has the lad been retrieved than the duke announces he wants to choose his own heir. Then after quite the hubbub, Jack’s hunting knife somehow finds its way into the duke’s back. Eyes fall, backs turn, and fingers point to the young heir. As if the rascal weren’t enough of a handful, now he’s suspected of murder. Jack may be wild, but I’d bet the crown jewels it wasn’t he who killed the duke…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
The Twelve Clues of Christmas
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 6She may be thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but Lady Georgiana Rannoch cannot wait to ring in the New Year—before a Christmas killer wrings another neck…
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me—well, actually, my true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending a feliz navidad tramping around South America. Meanwhile Mummy is holed up in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel Coward! And I’m snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling brother, Binky, and sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig.
So it’s a miracle when I contrive to land a position as hostess to a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The village is like something out of A Christmas Carol! But no sooner have I arrived than a neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie, falls out of a tree dead. On my second day, another so-called accident results in a death – and there’s yet another on my third. Perhaps a recent prison break could have something to do with it…that, or a long-standing witch’s curse. But after Darcy shows up beneath the mistletoe, anything could be possible in this wicked wonderland.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Naughty In Nice
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 5Lady Georgiana Rannoch has once again been called into service by Her Majesty the Queen. This time she's sent to Nice on a secret assignment that's nothing to sneeze at-recover the Queen's stolen snuff box.
As much of an honor as it is to be trusted by Her Majesty, an even greater honor awaits Georgie in Nice-as Coco Chanel herself asks Georgie to model her latest fashion. But when a necklace belonging to the Queen is stolen on the catwalk, Georgie has to find two priceless items-and solve a murder. How's a girl to find any time to go to the casino?
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Royal Blood
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 4Penniless and thirty-fourth in line to the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch finds herself in a truly draining state of affairs. To escape her hateful brother, Georgie accepts an invitation from the Queen to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. But at the macabre- looking castle, Georgie finds the bride with blood running down her chin, and a wedding guest is poisoned. Now it's up to Georgie to save the nuptial festivities before the couple's vows become: to love and to cherish, till undeath do them part…
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Royal Flush
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 31930's London: Poor Lady Georgiana-thirty-fourth in line to the throne- has been sent home due to a little scandal. Now she must keep the entirely unsuitable Mrs. Simpson from seducing the Prince of Wales-and help Scotland Yard by preventing someone from shooting the Prince of Wales instead of quails.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
A Royal Pain
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 21930s London. Poor Lady Georgiana—thirty-fourth in line to the throne—has nothing to serve her Bavarian princess houseguest, even though the Queen of England has requested that she entertain her. Then there’s the matter of the body in the bookshop and the princess’s unwitting involvement with the Communist party. It’s enough to drive a girl mad.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Her Royal Spyness
- The Royal Spyness Series Book 1Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, 34th in line for the throne, is flat broke. She’s bolted Scotland, her greedy brother, and her fish-faced betrothed for London. The place where she’ll experience freedom, learn life lessons aplenty, do a bit of spying for HRH—oh, and find a dead Frenchman in her tub. Now her new job is to clear her long family name.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store
Audible
Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
Indie Author’s Corner
Mystery Reader’s Circle
Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.
No comments:
Post a Comment