Recommendations based on "A Dangerous Engagement An Amory Ames Mystery"

Calling upon his former governess, William Jones, gentleman, is startled when his knock is answered by an uncommonly beautiful servant, the soft-spoken Emma. Throughout his visit, William's eyes drift to the maid whenever she enters the room, and he contrives to meet Emma socially as she goes about her errands. But London society is a web of strict codes and divisions. For the son of a wealthy merchant, seeking out a working-class girl is simply not done! William's father plans for his son to marry into the peerage and elevate the Jones family to greater heights, but although William says and does what is expected of him, he longs only for Emma's company...

An all-female detective agency writing wrongs at the end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery to unmask a villain.

'Brooks writes with tremendous warmth, a natural knack for dialogue and such persuasive narrative skill that, travelling further into the cult's clutches, your brain feels insidiously sapped... It begs to be read; resists caricature; and has you fumbling, like its principal character, in a ragbag of knowledge, attempting to fend off that philosophical nonsense which marshmallows the brain' NEW STATESMAN When Lucy goes missing, her sister Carmen sets out to find her. The search leads Carmen into the closed world of an enigmatic religious cult and, in the week that follows. Carmen's induction into the society of ever-smiling, singing people with strangely vacant eyes leaves her raging, confused, exhausted and suspicious. Is this a dream of perfect love, or a sinister manipulation? Heavenly Deception is a remarkable and profoundly disturbing portrayal of fanaticism. 'A powerful study in psychic manipulation, and a well-aimed ana hard-hitting story' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS 'The sinister mind-bending practised by the Moonies is a serious subject, and Miss Brooks writes about it with a compelling, crusading energy that makes for a convincing, disturbing and valuable novel' DAILY TELEGRAPH.

She is a housewife—young, healthy, blissfully happy. He is an actor—charismatic and ambitious. The spacious, sun-filled apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side is their dream home—a dream that turns into an unspeakable nightmare. . . .Enter the chilling world of Ira Levin—where terror is as near as your new neighbors . . . and where evil wears the most innocent face of all. . . .

When Joss, an adopted child, discovers that her real mother has left the beautiful family home, Belheddon Hall, to her, she is thrilled, until she discovers that the Hall is haunted by a presence which will not tolerate husbands or sons living in the house. When Joss Grant inherits the beautiful old house on the East Anglian coast, it is a dream come true. Eager to begin a new life there with her husband and son, she is also impatient to find out about her newly discovered family who lived there for generations. But Joss begins to hears echoing voices and senses an invisible presence, watching her from the shadows. Are they spirits from the past? Or is it her imagination? As she learns, with mounting horror, of the house's tragic history, her fears intensify, for she realizes that both her family and her own sanity are at the mercy of a violent and powerful energy which seems beyond anyone's control. Despite the threat to her own husband and son, Joss is unable to break free, and, in a last desperate attempt, conjures up the presence to deal with 'it' once and for all.

The pleasant old brown shingle house was similar to many in Berkeley's Elmwood district, a home away from home for serious university students. There seemed to be no reason for the unnerving anonymous phone calls or the vicious mutilation of plants in the front yard. Mere random vandalism, perhaps. But what about the pipe bomb thrown through the window? Private investigator Jeri Howard, who for a brief while had been stepmother to one of the residents, is alarmed by the escalating violence directed at the house. Especially when she learns that any one of the five women who live there could be innocently attracting it. Marisol works at a counseling center for battered women. Rachel does escort duty at an abortion clinic. Vicki and Emily have both been harassed by a man who won't take no for an answer. And Sasha, who owns the house, is the outspoken president of the African American law students' organization. Intuition warns Jeri that there's more involved than simple hostility. On the cool bay breezes she catches a whiff of mortal danger. And from her own not-so-distant past, she remembers the pattern of a chilling madness, the approach of an evil that knows no limit and feels no remorse.

The nightmare is just beginning... A short story and prequel featuring DCI Matilda Darke, star of Michael Wood’s darkly compelling crime series. Perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Patricia Gibney. She invited the killer into her home... The body of a young woman is found in an apartment block in a Sheffield suburb. She was attacked at home, in a sudden moment of violence that sends shockwaves through the community. DCI Matilda Darke has no choice but to work with her rival, DI Ben Hales, as the investigation takes them undercover into the dark world of a serial rapist targeting innocent women on the streets of the steel city. But can Matilda and Ben finally put their grievances aside and work together? Or will this case be their last?

In this all-new Counterfeit Lady Novel from USA Today bestselling author Victoria Thompson, newlywed Elizabeth Miles must use her unlawful skills to expose a dangerous charlatan. Elizabeth Miles Bates has returned from her honeymoon with Gideon and is taking great pride in having completely forsaken her disreputable past. Then her friend Anna Vanderslice begs her to use her talents to save her widowed mother from an unscrupulous medium. Since the war and the flu epidemic left so many families in mourning, séances have come back into vogue as desperate families long to communicate with their loved ones.  Anna's mother has been attending séances in hopes of connecting with her son, David, who died of influenza. Anna had thought it a heartbreaking but harmless activity, but she's just learned that Mrs. Vanderslice is paying the medium ever-increasing sums of money in her eagerness to make contact. Since David's death has already caused Anna and her mother financial hardship, Mrs. Vanderslice's obsession is in danger of ruining them. Madame Ophelia is working with a group of con artists to fleece as many grieving New Yorkers as possible before moving on to another city. Several of Mrs. Vanderslice's friends, as well as some of Gideon's clients, have already been victims. Elizabeth knows that simply exposing the medium as a fraud will not be enough to recoup the stolen money; the only way is to con the medium and her cohorts. But will Elizabeth's family help her when it means betraying other con artists? Elizabeth recruits Gideon, her aunt Cybil, and her partner, Zelda, to lend a hand. Can Elizabeth and her gang of amateurs fool the professionals? Or will speaking to the dead lead to deadly consequences?  

Phoebe Wycherly was missing two months before her wealthy father hired Archer to find her. That was plenty of time for a young girl who wanted to disappear to do so thoroughly--or for someone to make her disappear. Before he can find the Wycherly girl, Archer has to deal with the Wycherly woman, Phoebe's mother, an eerily unmaternal blonde who keeps too many residences, has too many secrets, and leaves too many corpses in her wake.

'A beguiling author who interweaves past and present' The Times __________________ On a summer evening, Robert and Greta Gerdner are shot dead at their home in the Devon countryside. DI Wesley Peterson suspects the execution-style murders might be linked to Robert's past police career - until Robert's name is found on a list of people who've been sent tickets anonymously for a tour of Darkhole Grange, a former asylum on Dartmoor. Wesley discovers that other names on the list have also died in mysterious circumstances and, as he is drawn into the chilling history of the asylum, he becomes convinced that it holds the key to the case. When his friend, archaeologist Neil Watson, finds the skeleton of a woman buried in a sealed chamber dating back to the fifteenth century at his nearby dig, Wesley wonders whether there might be a connection between the ancient cell and the tragic events at Darkhole Grange. With the clock ticking, Wesley must solve the puzzle, before the next person on the list meets a terrible end . . . Whether you've read the whole series, or are discovering Kate Ellis's DI Wesley Peterson novels for the first time, this is the perfect page-turner if you love reading Ann Cleeves and Elly Griffiths. Praise for Kate Ellis . . . 'Clever plotting hides a powerful story of loss, malice and deception' Ann Cleeves 'Haunting' Independent 'The chilling plot will keep you spooked and thrilled to the end' Closer 'Unputdownable' Bookseller 'A fine storyteller, weaving the past and present in a way that makes you want to read on' Peterborough Evening Telegraph