Stories by @devahutiraichaliha

Royal Escape

Dispossessed of crown and kingdom, crushed and routed at the grim Battle of Worcester, the young Charles II is forced to flee for his life. Out of the heat of battle, the outlaw King and his tiny party must journey across Cromwell's England to a Channel port and a ship bound for France and safety. But the King, with his love of adventure, his irrepressible humour and his unmistakeable looks, is no easy man to hide...

Penhallow

Old patriarch, Adam Penhallow, yet ruling his family and his Cornish roost with an iron hand from his sickbed. The death of the menacing old man, on the eve of his birthday, seems at first to be by natural causes. He was elderly after all. But Penhallow wasn't well liked. Tyrannical Penhallow had ruled over his estate with an iron will and sharp tongue, playing one relative against another. He was so bad tempered and mean that both servants and kin cause to hate him for his cruel and vicious nature. It soon transpires that far from being a peaceful death, Penhallow was, in fact, murdered, poisoned. And there are more than a dozen prime suspects. With his entire family had assembled for his birthday celebration, and servants that both feared and despised him, there are more than a dozen prime suspects. Every one of them had the ways and means to commit the crime. But which one of them turned hatred into murder? As accusation and suspicion turn in one direction, then another, the claws and backstabbing come out, and no one is exempt from the coming implosion.

The Conqueror

The story of William the Conqueror, who became King of England in 1066, and his queen Matilda, the high-born noblewoman who at first scornfully spurned him. William was an illegitimate child of a nobleman, who won his dukedom through force of will, and went on to bring European feudalism to England, along with a program of building and fortification that included the building of the Tower of London.

Simon the Coldheart

In the year 1400 14-year-old Simon the illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Malvallet fends for himself after his mother's death. He forces himself into the service of Fulk of Montlice – his natural father's most hated foe. Simon works his way up from Fulk's Page until he is on equal footing with Montlice's son & heir, his friend Alan. He meets Geoffrey of Malvallet, the legitimate son of Simon's father. Alan, Geoffrey and Simon become great friends both to each other and to the Prince of Wales (later Henry V). When Simon is sent to Belremy, it seems he is faced with an impossible task. First besieging the city, then by attacking the actual city, Simon is able to take the town, but not the castle, where the regal Lady Margaret resides. On finding out that Alan has been taken prisoner, Simon goes up to the castle himself, and after threatening the lady's life, her cousin Victor is forced to make a submission. On hearing this, Margaret declares that she will never submit to the English and tries to fling herself on Simon's dagger. Simon is too quick for her though and takes her prisoner. Later Margaret obtains a dagger, but finds herself unable to kill Simon...

Duplicate Death

London is the scene for a card party given by a social-climbing hostess. Suddenly, the seemingly civilized game of Duplicate Bridge is interrupted by a double murder, both victims murdered by the same sinister method, strangled with picture wire. The crimes seem identical, but were they carried out by the same hand? And, what was the connection between the first, a mysterious man of the world, and the second, an ambitious widow? Inspector Hemingway has his work cut out for him, and the odds of solving this crime are stacked up against him...

Detection Unlimited

Slumped on a seat under an oak tree is old Sampson Warrenby, with a bullet through his brain. When the upstart solicitor is killed and everyone -- who at one time or another wanted him out of the way -- feels panic stricken. His body is discovered by his anxious niece, who is just one of ten people in the village in the running for chief suspect, having cause to dislike Warrenby intensely. Everybody in the village is ready to tell Chief Inspector Hemingway who did it. Could the murderer have been the dead man's niece? Or perhaps it was the other town solicitor? The couple at the farm had a guilty secret-what was it? And why is it someone else actually wants to be the prime suspect? Add to this the fact that Warrenby was blackmailing someone. Only Hemingway can uncover which of the ten has turned hatred into murder, but has his work cut out for him...

A Blunt Instrument

When Ernest Fletcher is found bludgeoned to death in his study, everyone is shocked and mystified: Ernest was well liked and respected, so who would want to kill him? Enter Superintendent Hannasyde who, with consummate skill, begins to uncover the complexities of Fletcher's life. It seems the real Fletcher was far from the gentleman he pretended to be. There is, in fact, no shortage of people who wanted him dead. And then the killer struck again... Devahutian word of warning: Her other mystery novels are better - with this one, you can guess the murderer from the outset. Entertaining characters throughout, though!

No Wind of Blame

Want to know how to shoot a man without being near the murder weapon when it is fired? If you do (and no doubt you have your own very good reasons for wanting to know such a fiendish trick), you'll find the answer in this masterly detective novel!

They Found Him Dead

It is the morning after wealthy Silas Kane's sixtieth birthday party - a celebration that brings to light a number of familial controversies. When Kane is found dead at the foot of a cliff, the assumption is that he simply lost his way in the fog and fell by accident. But the subsequent death of his nephew and heir and threats on the life of the third Kane, the newest heir, raises obvious suspicion, and the redoubtable investigative skills of Superintendent Hannasyde prove critical once again...

Beauvallet

During her return to Spain with her father, the lovely Dona Dominica de Rada y Sylva is horrified when their ship is set upon by pirates. Far worse is her discovery that their captor isn't just any pirate: he is the notorious Sir Nicholas Beauvallet, an Englishman with a scandalous reputation for plundering Spanish ships. But Dominica's pride braces her determination to be no one's hostage . . . I should have been easy for Sir Nicholas. It was, after all, just another ship. But instead, Sir Nicholas finds himself captivated by Dominica's dark beauty and indomitable courage. After returning his captives to their homeland, Sir Nicholas vows to win the heart of the Spanish beauty. It could be his riskiest venture yet and one that promises a treasure greater than any other...

Pistols For Two

Affairs of honour between bucks and blades, rakes and rascals; and affairs of the heart between heirs and orphans, beauties and bachelors; romance, intrigue, escapades and duels at dawn: all the gallantry, villainy and elegance of the age that Georgette Heyer has so triumphantly made her own are exquisitely revived in these eleven stories of the Regency.

Behold, Here's Poison

When Gregory Matthews, patriarch of the Poplars is found dead one morning, imperious Aunt Harriet blames it on the roast duck he ate for supper. After all, she had warned him about his blood pressure. But a post-mortem determines the cause of death as murder by poison. Suspicion falls immediately amongst his bitter, quarrelsome family. Each has a motive; each, opportunity. It falls to the quietly resourceful Inspector Hannasyde to sift through all the secrets and lies and discover just who killed Gregory Matthews. He faces the deadliest test of his career when members of the wealthy Matthews clan begin to die, one by one. With motives everywhere, it is no easy case for the inspector to solve in time to spare the next victim...

Envious Casca

Resigned to spending Christmas at Lexham Manor, Mathilda Clare wasn't sure what she dreaded most--the foul temper of Nat Herriard, the filthy-rich old Scrooge who owned the place, or the sweetness-and-light of his brother, Joseph. Joseph had concocted a guest list brilliantly headed for mayhem... acid-tongued young Stephen, his sly sister Paula, and Nat's sharp-dealing partner, with a finger in some strange pies. "There'll be murder before we're through," Mathilda laughed. And she was absolutely right. This it is no ordinary Christmas, when the holiday party takes on a sinister aspect when the colorful assortment of guests discovers there is a killer in their midst. The owner of the substantial estate, that old Scrooge Nathaniel Herriard, is found stabbed in the back, and the six holiday guests find themselves the suspects of a murder enquiry...

Why Shoot a Butler?

On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her; at least until he gets drawn into the mystery, and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up. In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth...

Powder and Patch

Cleone Charteris's exquisite charms have made her the belle of the English countryside. But Cleone yearns for a husband who is refined, aristocratic and who is as skilled with his wit as he is with his dueling pistols.... Everything Philip Jettan is not. As much as she is attracted to the handsome squire, Cleone finds herself dismissing Philip and his rough mannerisms. With his father's encouragement, Philip departs for the courts of Paris, determined to acquire the social graces and the airs of the genteel — and convince Cleone that he is the man most suited for her hand. But his transformation may cost him everything, including Cleone...

The Unfinished Clue

Everyone had a reason to hate the late Sir Arthur Billington-Smith. His arrogance and abrasive manner had alienated his wife, her sister, his house guests, his wayward son, even a desperate friend. Of course, his attentions to one attractive young guest in plain view of her husband simply multiplied the possible suspects in his murder.

Footsteps in the Dark

Locals claim the Priory is haunted and refuse to put a single toe past the front door. Left empty for years, even their deceased uncle chose to live in a different house, far away from this particular property. But the ramshackle old house, with its rambling charm is the perfect setting for a much-needed holiday for siblings Peter, Celia and Margaret, who have inherited it from their uncle. It wasn't the lack of modern conveniences that made a summer spent at the ancient priory mansion such an unsettling experience. It was the supposed ghost... or whatever was groaning in the cellars and roaming the countryside around Framley Village after dark. But when a murder victim is discovered in the drafty Priory halls, the once unconcerned trio begins to fear that the ghostly rumors are true and they are not alone after all! But traditionally ghosts don't commit murder. And in this case, the things which go bump in the night are deadly. With a killer on the loose, will they find themselves the next victims or will they uncover the true in time? Does the key to the crime lie in the realm of the supernatural? Or is the explanation much more down to earth with a more corporeal culprit of flesh and blood?

The Foundling

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, Adolphus Gillespie Vernon Ware ("Gilly"), the seventh Duke of Sale, sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke."

Death in the Stocks

Beneath a sky the colour of sapphires and the sinister moonlight, a gentleman in evening dress is discovered slumped in the stocks on the village green - he is dead. Superintendent Hannasyde's consummate powers of detection and solicitor Giles Carrington's amateur sleuthing are tested to their limits as they grapple with the Vereker family - a group of outrageously eccentric and corrupt suspects

False Colours

Something is very wrong, and the Honourable Christopher "Kit" Fancot can sense it. Kit returns to London on leave from the diplomatic service to find that his twin brother Evelyn has disappeared and his extravagant mother's debts have mounted alarmingly. The Fancot family's fortunes are riding on Evelyn's marriage to the self-possessed Cressy Stavely, and her formidable grandmother's approval of the match. If Evelyn fails to meet the Dowager Lady Stavely in a few days as planned, the betrothal could be off. When the incorrigible Lady Fancot persuades her son to impersonate his twin (just for one night, she promises) the masquerade sets off a tangled sequence of events that will greatly affect everyone involved.