Jane Moone is hired to identify the witch who cursed a sheep. But her client, Kate Grazier, has already decided who did it -- Dorcas Whiting, the hedge witch who happens to be Jane’s father’s sweetheart. Dorcas would never harm an innocent sheep and everyone knows it, but she’s arrested before Jane can credit the accusation. Now she has to persuade the poorest farmers in the district -- Dorcas’s patients -- to stand before the magistrate in Greenslade Hall and testify on the witch’s behalf. As if that weren’t enough trouble for one week, Jane hears stories about another old witch. She’s begging at kitchen doors and walking away angry as often as not. She flings curses everywhere she goes, most of them missing their mark. But some are truly dangerous. Jane and her father, a powerful wizard, must peer into the heart of a near-fatal curse and find the wandering witch before an innocent dies.

In the summer of 1588, Europe waits with bated breath for King Philip of Spain to launch his mighty armada against England. Everyone except Lady Alice Trumpington, whose father wants her wed to the highest bidder. She doesn't want to be a wife, she wants to be widow; a rich one, and the sooner, the better. So she marries an elderly viscount, gives him a sleeping draught, and spends her wedding night with Thomas Clarady, her best friend and Francis Bacon's assistant. The next morning, they find the viscount murdered in his bed and they're both locked into the Tower. Lady Alice appeals to the Andromache Society, the widows’ guild led by Francis Bacon's formidable aunt, Lady Russell. They charge Bacon with getting the new widow out of prison and identifying the real murderer. He soon learns the viscount wasn’t an isolated case. Someone is murdering Catholics in London and taking advantage of armada fever to mask the crimes. The killer seems to have privy information — from someone close to the Privy Council? The investigation takes Francis from the mansions along the Strand to the rack room under the Tower. Pulled and pecked by a coven of demanding widows, Francis struggles to maintain his reason and his courage to see through the fog of war and catch the killer.

Nature photographer Penelope Trigg has landed the job of her dreams: documenting the transformation of over-grazed rangeland into an eco-dude ranch and spa, owned by her boyfriend Tyler Hawkins. Then a body is found on the ranch and Ty is arrested. The victim was an aggressive real estate developer with his greedy eyes on Ty’s land and Ty’s sister Diana, who is almost engaged to the senior deputy sheriff. Clues put her at the center of the puzzle. Determined to prove Ty’s innocence, Penny stirs up Diana’s old flames, trying to shed enough light to develop an alternative suspect. She mainly learns how to lose friends and annoy people, until she realizes someone has been manipulating the evidence. But is Ty the framer or the framee? Penny uses her eye for detail and her camera's memory to put the picture together and reveal the killer.

London, 1593. An anonymous ballad calls for violence. The mayor offers 100 crowns for the author’s name. Thomas Clarady wants that money and drags Francis Bacon in to help. Then the authorities turn on two popular playmakers. One is tortured. Another is killed in a brawl. The official story seems plausible, but Tom doesn’t buy it. He refuses stop digging, uncovering a plot best left buried. Bacon and his team must hazard their lives to find the truth. Whether justice can be obtained is another matter.

It’s 1589 and England is embroiled in a furious pamphlet war between an impudent Puritan and London’s wittiest poets. When two writers are murdered, Francis Bacon is tasked with ending the tumult once and for all. But can he and his assistants stop the strangler without stepping on some very important toes? "A lively, clever story that will leave mystery fans delighted.” --Emilie Hancock, Mount Pleasant Regional Library, SC

Brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss -- and in danger. Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule. “Castle’s characters brim with zest and real feeling.” — Kirkus Starred Review. Don’t dally! Jump right into this first book in the award-winning Francis Bacon mystery series.

“Either my theater is haunted or someone’s trying to drive me into bankruptcy!” Professor Moriarty’s new client is the manager of a West End theater. He’s three weeks away from opening his Chistmas pantomime, the expensive spectacle that pays for the rest of the year. But after months of freak accidents and spooky incidents, the cast and crew are convinced the show is cursed. Worse, he’s out of money and the rent is due. The Moriartys leap to the rescue. Angelina takes on the leading role and James supplies the needed funds. While she works backstage uncovering secrets and grudges, he follows the money in search of a motive. Then someone sets Sherlock Holmes on their trail, trying to catch them crossing the line into crime. How far will Moriarty have to go to keep the show afloat? And will they all make it to opening night in one piece?