Edgar Award-shortlisted author Ashley Weaver returns with the fourth installment in the Amory Ames mystery series. The Essence of Malice is filled with her trademark style, wit and clever plotting, sure to delight and charm traditional mystery fans. "In this highly enjoyable and engrossing mystery, Ashley Weaver—with her sure touch for evoking elegance and glamour—wafts her appealing and determined heroine Amory into the world of perfumers, family secrets and the heady whiff of murder. I loved the evocation of scents, skilful shifts of suspicion and the satisfying conclusion." —Frances Brody “The scent of murder and betrayal fills the Paris air . . . The climactic surprise makes this the best of her mysteries to date.” —Kirkus Reviews “For pity’s sake, darling, let me finish my coffee before you begin concocting schemes.” When Amory Ames’s husband Milo receives a troubling letter from his childhood nanny, Madame Nanette, the couple travel to Paris where they become embroiled in a mystery surrounding the death of a famous parfumier. Helios Belanger died suddenly, shortly before the release of his new, highly anticipated perfume, and Madame Nanette, who works for his family, is convinced that her employer’s death was not due to natural causes. The more Amory and Milo look into the motives of industry rivals and the Belanger heirs who are vying for control of his perfume empire, the more they are convinced that Madame Nanette may be right. When secrets unfold and things take a dangerous turn, Amory and Milo must work quickly to uncover the essence of the matter and catch a killer before the scent goes cold. Also out now in the Amory Ames mysteries: Murder at the Brightwell, Death Wears a Mask and A Most Novel Revenge

Edgar Award-shortlisted author Ashley Weaver returns with Death Wears a Mask, the witty and stylish next installment in the delightful 1930s Amory Ames mystery series “Amory Ames and her rakish husband Milo might just be the new Nick and Nora Charles.” —Deborah Crombie It was amazing, really, what murder had done for my marriage . . . Following the murderous events at the Brightwell Hotel, Amory Ames is looking forward to a tranquil period of reconnecting with her reformed playboy husband, Milo. She hopes a quiet stay at their London flat will help mend their relationship. However, Amory soon finds herself drawn into another investigation when an old friend of her mother’s asks her to look into the disappearance of valuable jewelry snatched at a dinner party. Amory agrees to help lay a trap to catch the culprit at a lavish masked ball. But when one of the illustrious party guests is murdered, she is pulled back into the world of detection, caught up in both a mystery and a set of romantic entanglements where nothing is as it seems. Also out now in the Amory Ames mysteries: Murder at the Brightwell and A Most Novel Revenge

Edgar Award-shortlisted author Ashley Weaver returns with the fifth installment in the Amory Ames mystery series. An Act of Villainy is an a gem, set in 1930s London and filled with style, banter, and twists that traditional mystery fans will positively relish. "So you've gotten yourself involved with another murder, have you?" Walking through London’s West End after a night at the theater, Amory Ames and her husband Milo run into wealthy investor and former actor Gerard Holloway. Holloway and his wife Georgina are old friends of theirs, and when Holloway invites them to the dress rehearsal of a new play he is directing, Amory readily accepts. However, Amory is shocked to learn that Holloway has cast his mistress, actress Flora Bell, in the lead role. Furthermore, the casual invitation is not what it seems—he admits to Amory and Milo that Flora has been receiving threatening letters, and he needs their help in finding the mysterious sender. Despite Amory’s conflicting feelings—not only does she feel loyalty to Georgina, but the disintegration of the Holloways’ perfect marriage seems to bode ill for her own sometimes delicate relationship—her curiosity gets the better of her, and she begins to make inquiries. It quickly becomes clear that each member of the cast has reason to resent Flora—and with a group so skilled in the art of deception, it isn’t easy to separate truth from illusion. When vague threats escalate, the scene is set for murder, and Amory and Milo must find the killer before the final curtain falls. Also out now in the Amory Ames mysteries: Murder at the Brightwell, Death Wears a Mask, A Most Novel Revenge, and The Essence of Malice.

An exquisite seaside resort, an eccentric group of British aristrocrats on holiday, and rich 1930's detail lay the setting for this stupendous debut mystery of manners by a young librarian

Amory and Milo Ames “channel Nick and Nora Charles” (Booklist) in the latest installment in this Edgar-nominated charming traditional mystery series set in 1930s England.

Does true love break curses or begin them? The dark sorceress of “Sleeping Beauty” reclaims her story in this sequel to Malice. “Fans of reimagined fairy tales and LGBTQ+ themes will be delighted with the conclusion of this fantasy duology.”—Booklist (starred review) The Dark Grace is dead. Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, Alyce wreaks her revenge on the kingdom that made her an outcast. Once a realm of decadence and beauty, Briar is now wholly Alyce’s wicked domain. And no one will escape the consequences of her wrath. Not even the one person who holds her heart. Princess Aurora saw through Alyce’s thorny facade, earning a love that promised the dawn of a new age. But it is a love that came with a heavy price: Aurora now sleeps under a curse that even Alyce’s vast power cannot seem to break. And the dream of the world they would have built together is nothing but ash. Alyce vows to do anything to wake the woman she loves, even if it means turning into the monster Briar believes her to be. But could Aurora love the villain Alyce has become? Or is true love only for fairy tales? Book Two of the Malice Duology