A Miss Morton Mystery Series

In Victorian England, Bath is the destination to restore a lady’s health. But after accompanying Mrs. Frogerton to the spa town, a poison-pen campaign and a locked-room murder lead lady’s companion Caroline Morton into troubled waters…

On the advice of her doctor, Mrs. Frogerton has arranged a visit to Bath to take the waters and regain her health and good spirits. While she reflects on her own next steps in light of her changing circumstances, Caroline goes with her to ensure the good lady’s well-being. Daily life in Bath takes on a routine of its own, with visits to the spa interspersed with social occasions and new acquaintances, including a group of women who live on Queen Square and gather to drink tea, play cards, and gossip.

When it comes to light that some of the ladies are recipients of poison pen letters, a rejuvenated Mrs. Frogerton offers to help. Sorting through the social dynamics of the group for motive and opportunity, she talks with the ladies while Caroline questions their companions.

The situation becomes more grave when Lady Greatmere, the oldest and most unpleasant of the ladies, is discovered strangled in her own locked drawing room, a half-finished epistle on her dressing table suggesting she might be the author of the poison pen letters. As Lady Greatmere’s companion falls under the suspicion of the Bath constabulary, Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton attempt to read between the lines to force the killer to come clean . . .

Society in England is most unforgiving of a reversal of fortune, as Miss Caroline Morton, left penniless after her father’s suspicious death, knows all too well. Once a lady, now a lady’s companion, she is still enmeshed in the settling of the earl’s estate—and soon murder as well—in this “charming cross between a Regency romance and a well-constructed detective story” (Kirkus Reviews) for of Victoria Thompson, C.S. Harris, and Deanna Raybourn.

Distraught over her younger sister Susan’s decision to leave for America and weary of shepherding her employer Mrs. Frogerton’s daughter in her relentless pursuit of marrying a peer, Caroline is dealt another blow when her family solicitors indicate they may have found the lost heir to the Morton earldom.

Possible heir Thomas, his mother Mrs. Scutton, and her widowed daughter Mary all descend on Mrs. Frogerton’s home on Half Moon Street. The air inside the house is soon thick with family tension and the near palpable presence of avarice. But things go from tense to tragic following the appearance of Mary’s dead husband—very much alive and recently released from debtors’ prison. Unseen by Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton, a fight breaks out upstairs, leaving Mary fatally stabbed and her mother wounded.

The manhunt is on for Mary’s husband, led by Inspector Ross. But both Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton begin to suspect that all is not as it seems The Scuttons have brought more than trouble into the home—they may be harboring secrets that could put Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton’s very lives at risk . . .

Social standing is everything in Regency England, and no one knows better than Miss Caroline Morton, the daughter of a disgraced earl, now gainfully employed as a lady’s companion—along with a sideline in sleuthing. But when she has a chance to claim what’s rightfully hers, the one obstacle in her way is a dangerous murder mystery . . .

Miss Caroline has doubts when she receives an urgent invitation from a London law firm to discuss her late father’s estate. After all, the dishonored Earl of Morton died without a pound sterling to pass on to his two daughters. But while immersing herself in helping Mrs. Frogerton’s capricious daughter navigate the high social season, Caroline meets with a cagey lawyer, Mr. Smith, who shares life-altering news—the earl composed a second will, leaving behind an undisclosed fortune.

Mrs. Frogerton, however, is thoroughly unimpressed with the firm’s conduct and suspicious of their true motives. Her instinct proves right when the two ladies find the office ransacked, staff in turmoil, and Mr. Smith missing. The full weight of the situation doesn’t sink in until Mr. Smith dies following a brutal attack on the street—discovered with an empty envelope bearing Caroline’s name in his pocket.

With a connection forming between two deaths at the firm, Caroline can’t imagine why anyone would kill twice over the contents of a will. Further complicating matters is the amorous Mr. DeBloom—who claims his mother goaded the earl into making bad investments and promises to link Caroline to her inheritance—and the disappearance of Susan, her younger sister. As Caroline unwittingly becomes the center of both a criminal case and a sordid love triangle, she must tread with caution while seeking the truth . . . because someone is waiting to reduce her to nothing more than a signature on a dotted line.

Set against the timelessly intriguing backdrop of 1830s high-society London, this delightful historical mystery series features Miss Caroline Morton, daughter of a disgraced earl, now gainfully employed as a lady’s companion—along with a sideline in sleuthing . . .

Lady Caroline is happy to be back amid the swirl of London society, guiding her employer’s daughter, Dorothy Frogerton, through her first Season. Declared “an original” by a patron of the exclusive social club, Almack’s, Dorothy is sifting through potential suitors. Mrs. Frogerton, meanwhile, finds her own diversions, including spiritualist gatherings at the home of Madam Lavinia, and begs Caroline to come along.

Caroline is skeptical of Madam’s antics and faux French accent—until she slips a note into Caroline’s hand, which contains intimate family knowledge. Even as Caroline tries to discern whether the spiritualist’s powers are real, a much darker mystery presents itself: Madam Lavinia is found lifeless in her chair, a half-empty glass of port at her elbow. In her desk is a note addressed to Caroline, entreating her to find her murderer.

Caroline needs no psychic abilities to determine a motive, for it seems that Madam was blackmailing clients and has left a trail of aggrieved aristocrats behind. But as Caroline and Mrs. Frogerton investigate further, they find other suspects, and deceptions, some very close to home. Now Caroline must keep all her wits about her if she is to stop others from joining Madam Lavinia in the afterlife . . .

Bridgerton and Downton Abbey meet a mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Christie in the debut of a new Regency set series, when drastic circumstances compel Lady Caroline Morton to make an upstairs downstairs switch to become a lady’s companion, whose duties will soon entail solving a murder . . .

The options for the penniless daughter of a deceased earl are few indeed in Regency England. So, following the suspicious death of her father, the Earl of Morton, and the discovery that she and her much younger sister have been left without income or home, Lady Caroline takes a post as a lady’s companion to the wealthy widow Frogerton.

Just as Caroline is getting accustomed to her new position, her aunt, Lady Eleanor Greenwood, invites her and her employer to a house party in the countryside to celebrate her youngest daughter’s birthday. Mrs. Matilda (Matty) Frogerton sees this as an opportunity to introduce her own rather wild daughter, Dorothy, to the ton, and Caroline is eager to see her sister, who as a child lives with their aunt.

But all is not well at the Greenwood estate. For one thing, Lady Caroline’s former fiancé, Lord Francis Chatham, is a guest and refuses to speak to her. Far worse, after a series of troubling harassments of the staff, an elderly family member is found stabbed by a knitting needle.

As Caroline and an unexpected ally—Mrs. Frogerton—attempt to solve the chilling crime, they discover the culprit may be leaving bizarre clues as to who will be next in the nursery. But they must make haste, for this heartless killer is engaged in anything but child’s play . . .