"1834. Sophia Thompson wants nothing more than to be one of the famed Bow Street Runners, London's most elite corps of detectives. never mind that a woman has never before joined their -- and certainly never mind that her reclusive family has forbidden her from pursuing such an unladylike goal. She gets the chance to prove her capabilities when an urgent letter arrives from her frantic cousin Daphne, begging Sophia to look into the suspicious death of Daphne's brother. As Sophia begins to unravel the tangled threads of the case-- with the help of a charming young policeman -- she soon realizes that the murderer may be even closer to her family than she ever suspected"--Jacket flap.
"1833. A near-fatal carriage accident has deposited an unconscious young woman on the doorstep of Hardwick Manor and into the care of young Lord James Ellerby. But when she finally awakens, it is with no memory of who she is or where she came from. Beth, as she calls herself, has no identity; the only clue to her circumstances is a recurring nightmare of a hummingbird, blood dripping from its steel beak"--Jacket flap.
Kate Darby, a lady's maid, and Matt Harlow, a valet, become entangled in a yuletide counterfeiting scheme at Christmas time, 1817, as they try to stave off their feelings for one another.
In 1917 Kent, England, eighteen-year-old Imogene Chively's father has chosen Ernest Steeple as her future husband, but his younger brother, Benjamin, wins her heart while she is giving him drawing lessons, all while someone seeks to do them harm.
In 1800s London, a young heiress and her law clerk are caught up in a kidnapping plot to steal her fortune, but as their investigation delves deeper and their affections for each other grow, Lydia starts to wonder what she truly wants.
In the early 1800s, when her father sends her to London for a season, eighteen-year-old Juliana Telford, who prefers researching ladybugs to marriage, meets handsome Spencer Northam, a spy posing as a young gentleman of leisure.
