The new mystery novel in the evocative Victorian crime series starring the charming March Middleton and the most curmudgeonly private detective in London, Sidney Grice. Gower Street, London: 1883. March Middleton is the niece of London's greatest (and most curmudgeonly) private detective, Sidney Grice. March has just discovered a wealthy long-lost relative she never knew she had. When this newest family member meets with a horrible death, March is in the frame for murder—and only Sidney Grice can prove her innocence. Grice agrees to investigate (for his usual fee) but warns that he is not entirely convinced of her innocence. If he were in her position, he might have been tempted. But the more he uncovers, the more all the clues point to Grice himself . . .

The first in a charming, evocative, and sharply plotted Victorian crime series starring a detective duo to rival Holmes and Watson. After her father dies, March Middleton has to move to London to live with her guardian, Sidney Grice, the country’s most famous private detective. It is 1882 and London is at its murkiest yet most vibrant, wealthiest yet most poverty-stricken. No sooner does March arrive than a case presents itself: a young woman has been brutally murdered, and her husband is the only suspect. The victim’s mother is convinced of her son-in-law’s innocence, and March is so touched by her pleas she offers to cover Sidney’s fee herself. The investigations lead the pair to the darkest alleys of the East End: every twist leads Sidney Grice to think his client is guilty; but March is convinced that he is innocent. Around them London reeks with the stench of poverty and gossip, the case threatens to boil over into civil unrest and Sidney Grice finds his reputation is not the only thing in mortal danger.

The latest mystery in the popular Victorian crime series featuring the ever-curmudgeonly private detective, Sidney Grice, and the charming March Middleton. London, 1884. 125 Gower Street, the residence of Sidney Grice, London's foremost personal detective, and his ward March Middleton, is at peace. Midnight discussions between the great man and his charge have led to a harmony unseen in these hallowed halls since the great frog disaster of 1878. But harmony cannot last for long. A knock on the door brings mystery and murder once more to their home. A mystery that involves a Prussian Count, two damsels in distress, a Chinaman from Wales, a gangster looking for love, and the shadowy ruin of a once-loved family home, Steep House . . .

The new novel in the atmospheric Gower Street Detective series introduces a chilling locked room mystery to Detective Sidney Grice and his precocious ward March Middleton. London, 1883. All is quiet at 125 Gower Street. Private detective Sidney Grice is studying up on the anatomical structure of human hair whilst his ward, March Middleton, sneaks upstairs for her eighth secret cigarette of the day. The household is, perhaps, too quiet. So, when a beautiful young woman turns up at the door, imploring London's foremost private detective to solve the mystery of her father's murder, Grice can barely disguise his glee. Mr. Nathan Garstang was found slaughtered in his bed, but there is no trace of a weapon or intruder. A classic locked-room case. But what piques Grice's interest is the crime's link to one of London's most notorious unsolved murders. Ten years ago, Nathan's uncle aunt and servants were murdered in their sleep in the very same house. Now, it seems, the Garstang murderer is back . . .

The much-anticipated second novel in the charming, sharply plotted Victorian crime series starring a detective duo to rival Holmes and Watson.

Fresh, funny crime series for fans of Jasper Fforde and M.C. Beaton. 'Delightful and original... A series that could well become a cult' DAILY MAIL. 125 Gower Street, 1883. Sidney Grice is London's foremost personal detective. Called away to Yorkshire, he leaves his ward, March Middleton, to run his house. But hearth and home hold little charm for March, who harbours dreams of becoming London's foremost, and first, lady detective. So, when a mysterious letter arrives from her long-lost uncle, she accepts his invitation to stay at the palatial Saturn Villa. Her new Uncle Tolly is sweet, eccentric and – come the morning – very, very dead. But March is not called upon to solve the case, instead she's in the frame for murder. Praise for DEATH DESCENDS ON SATURN VILLA: 'Think Lemony Snicket meets Neil Gaiman for tea in Dracula's castle' BOOKLIST. 'Packed full of delicious dialogue and many laugh-out-loud moments. My adoration of Sidney and March remains unshaken' HISTORICAL NOVELS SOCIETY. Read the whole series: THE MANGLE STREET MURDERS THE CURSE OF THE HOUSE OF FOSKETT DEATH DESCENDS ON SATURN VILLA THE SECRETS OF GASLIGHT LANE DARK DAWN OVER STEEP HOUSE.

A morally profound chamber piece, A Legend of the Future is a critique of morality. It takes place inside a spaceship after a crash takes place during a failed mission to Titan, one of the Saturn moons. The journey home forces the crew to face its innermost fears while coexisting with each other in a state of desperation. This mesmerizing novel, recalling Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: Space Odyssey, is a roman a clef about the intense pressures—economic, ideological, psychological—inside Socialist Cuba. Praise for A Legend of the Future "The best science fiction writer in Cuba; the only possible debate is which of his works is the best.... His trilogy of Spiral, A Legend of the Future, and Year 200 is still the best of Cuban science fiction.... With a very refined style and well-established scientific-social background, Agustín’s work surprises through its humanistic content. His concerns surrounding the meaning of life and the evolution of human beings put him in a privileged place among national writers.” —Cuenta Regresiva "The best and most popular novelist of this genre that the Island has ever given.... He is considered one of the principal exponents of Cuban science fiction, and he was undoubtedly the one who knew how to best combine solid scientific formation as plots and attractive characters with a confidence well-based in humanity’s socialist future.” —Yoss "One of the best science fiction writers in Cuba—and, until [his death], one of the best Cuban story tellers alive.... Today Agustín de Rojas’ work, from Spiral through Catharsis and Society, is admired by cult readers, pro-government thinkers, and elitists alike." —Félix Luis Viera, Cubaencuentro "The most elevated figure in Cuban science fiction." —Axxón Agustín de Rojas (1949-2011) is the patron saint of Cuban science fiction. A professor of the history of theater at the Escuela de Instructores de Arte in Villa Clara, he is the author of a canonical trilogy of novels: Espiral (Spiral, 1982), for which he was awarded the David Prize; La leyenda del futuro (The Legend of the Future, 1985) and El año 200 (The Year 200, 1990), all scheduled for publication in English translation by Restless Books. While influenced by Ray Bradbury and a translator of Isaac Asimov into Spanish, he aligned himself with the Soviet line of socialist realism defined by the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky as well as by Ivan Antonovich Yefremov, author of The Andromeda Nebula, made into a movie directed by Yevgeni Sherstobitov and admired by de Rojas. In Cuban literature, he is said to have begun writing after reading Miguel Collazo’s El viaje (The Journey). After the fall of the Soviet Union, de Rojas stopped writing science fiction and embraced other themes such as Christianity, about which he wrote a novel called El publican (1997), about the disciples of Jesus Christ, that was awarded the Dulce María Loynaz Prize. He spent his last years persuaded—and persuading others—that Fidel Castro did not exist. Nick Caistor is a British journalist, non-fiction author, and translator of Spanish and Portuguese literature. He has translated Cesar Aira, Paulo Coelho, Eduardo Mendoza, Juan Marsé, and Manuel Vázquez Montalban, and he has twice won the Valle-Inclán Prize for translation. He regularly contributes to Radio 4, the BBC World Service, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Guardian. He lives in Norwich, England.