Useful Woman Mysteries

Rosalind Thorne's quick wits and discretion have proved invaluable to London's haut ton. Success has at last brought her financial stability and a new home, which she shares with her best friend, Alice Littlefield. But now trouble has infiltrated Rosalind's sanctuary, and the reputations in danger include her own. Alice has formed a tender attachment to Amelia, the maid in their employ, and her affection is returned. But before meeting Alice, Amelia was involved with Cate Levitton, daughter of a well-respected family. The scandalous liaison caused the Levittons to banish Cate to the house of her widowed cousin. Amelia has no expectation of seeing Cate again-until she stumbles upon her in the marketplace, looking deathly ill. The women bring Cate to their home with the help of Bow Street officer Adam Harkness, who deduces that Cate's sickness may in fact be arsenic poisoning. But who had motive, or means? As Rosalind and Adam work side by side, their suspicions grow-as does the bond between them. Rosalind knows that both her blossoming relationship with Adam and her increasing independence would be frowned upon by society. Poison, politics, jealousy and jewel thieves combine in Rosalind's most complex case yet. But to solve this dangerous puzzle, Rosalind must also decide where her heart and her future lie...

King George IV is petitioning Parliament for a divorce from his queen on the grounds of her adultery. But rumor has it that the king secretly married Maria Fitzherbert-long before he married the queen. Now Mrs. Fitzherbert has been robbed-and she's frantically calling on Rosalind for help. Because what those thieves took is proof that she and King George did really marry. That single piece of paper could destroy Mrs. Fitzherbert and her family-or it could prove the king guilty of bigamy. Rosalind races to investigate. With her is ex-Bow Street officer, Adam Harkness, with whom Rosalind shares a complex and rapidly intensifying bond. But a case of theft soon turns to murder . . . Josiah Poole, a disreputable attorney specializing in helping debtors-and who was seen entering Mrs. Fitzherbert's house-is found brutally murdered. Mrs. Fitzherbert has debts. Could she have staged the theft, and employed Mr. Poole to sell the marriage certificate? Or is the truth even more complicated? With suspicious coincidences mounting, and more danger encroaching, Rosalind and Adam must move quickly to unravel a history-making mystery that might just lead them straight to the palace itself . . .