Showing results by author "C.J. Archer" in All Categories

When the celebrated biographer of the infamous pirate Blackheart takes a suite at the Mayfair Hotel to live out his final months, Goliath the porter is desperate to ask the one question that has haunted treasure hunters for decades: Where is the loot buried? Forbidden to disturb a guest, he instead visits the man writing the author’s own life story, only to discover him dead at his desk. Accused of the crime, Goliath turns to Cleo and Harry to clear his name.

December 1899. After the death of her beloved grandmother, Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxury hotel owned by her estranged uncle in the hopes of putting hardship and loneliness behind her. But the poisoning of a guest on Christmas eve throws her new life, and the hotel, into chaos. Cleo quickly realizes no one can be trusted, not Scotland Yard and especially not the hotel’s charming assistant manager.

A waif, her abductor and a twist you won't see coming. For five years, Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man. Charlie hasn't raised a spirit since she first discovered she could do so five years ago. That time, her father banished her. This time, she brings even more trouble upon herself. People are now hunting Charlie all over London, but only one man succeeds in capturing her.

When Gavin travels to Edinburgh with his good friend Oscar Barratt, he’s eager to acquire a centuries-old book on witchcraft for the soon-to-open Glass Library. Even with ruthless railroad magnate John J. Defoe in the bidding, the victory comes easily. Perhaps too easily. Hours later, the book is stolen. A single clue links the theft to the recent abduction of two women, both magicians.

Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary woman who loves books. She seeks answers from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.

When a notorious cad is bludgeoned to death with a candlestick in the library at the most important ball of the London social season, Cleo finds herself in the prime position to solve the crime. After all, she stumbled across the body soon after the victim’s demise and is a witness to the evening’s events.

December 1899. After the death of her beloved grandmother, Cleopatra Fox moves into the luxury hotel owned by her estranged uncle in the hopes of putting hardship and loneliness behind her. But the poisoning of a guest throws her new life, and the hotel, into chaos. Cleo quickly realizes no one can be trusted, not Scotland Yard and especially not the hotel’s charming assistant manager. With the New Year’s Eve ball approaching fast and the hotel’s reputation hanging by a thread, Cleo must find the killer before the ball, and the hotel itself, are ruined.

This boxed set contains the first three books in C. J. Archer's popular Ministry of Curiosities series. Titles in the set include The Last Necromancer, Her Majesty's Necromancer, and Beyond the Grave. Description of The Last Necromancer: For five years, Charlotte (Charlie) Holloway has lived as a boy in the slums. But when one theft too many gets her arrested, her only means of escape lies with a dead man.

Cold, ruthless Lord Warhurst needs to distance himself from scandal if he's to marry an heiress and save his decaying estate. But with his unwed sister falling pregnant, and his father's past indiscretions still haunting Leo, scandal threatens to erupt in an explosive way. Especially when he begins to desire strong-willed and low-born Alice Croft, the seamstress to Lord Hawkesbury's Players and the woman helping him spy on his sister's lover. If anyone finds out, Leo's chance of marrying well will be ruined.

When the husband of the king’s mistress is poisoned, Josie must pretend he died of natural causes, or risk putting her own life in danger. It’s yet another secret she must learn to keep, yet another intrigue whispered about in the gilded halls of King Leon’s mysterious palace. With her enemies intent on ruining her, Josie needs all the friends she can get. Friends that include the captain of the guards, a man determined to find out about his past before he gives in to desire.

Glancia is plunged into perilous times, but it's the events in her village that worry Josie more. A terrible fire puts the lives of those she loves at risk and threatens to shatter the uneasy peace. Josie and the captain investigate the cause of the blaze, but powerful enemies try to stop them. As the dangers grow more intense, so do the feelings between Josie and the captain. With nobles circling and plotting, new arrivals in the village cause a stir, for they recognize one of the servants.

On their journey south to Freedland, Josie, Dane, and their friends sense that someone is following them. Hiding in the twin cities of Merrin Fahl seems like their best course of action - until they’re recognized by strangers. With this tantalizing hint to their pasts within reach, Dane is suddenly arrested and thrown in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. In a desperate attempt to free him, Josie promises the king of Vytill the gem and sorcerer’s wishes, neither of which she possesses.

It’s customary for Gothic romance novels to include a mysterious girl locked in the attic. Hannah Smith just wishes she wasn’t that girl. As a narcoleptic and the companion to an earl’s daughter with a strange affliction of her own, Hannah knows she’s lucky to have a roof over her head and food in her belly when so many orphans starve on the streets. Yet freedom is something Hannah longs for. She did not, however, want her freedom to arrive in the form of kidnapping.

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her–an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

When Charlie returns to Lichfield, she steps into chaos. The killer is still on the loose, Lady Harcourt's secret is out, Seth and Gus are gone, and Lady Vickers has come to stay. But nothing compares to the chaos inflicted on Charlie's heart by seeing Lincoln every day. Despite their frequent clashes, Lincoln and Charlie manage to work together to narrow their list of suspects. No one can be trusted, especially not the members of the committee who are not what they seem. Long buried pasts are dug up as Charlie and Lincoln attempt to restore peace to Lichfield.

With the social season just around the corner, the women in Cleo’s family are having new outfits made by the most sought-after designer in the city. Madame Poitiers is bold, self-absorbed, and not French, despite her claims. When Cleo stumbles on her dead body in the salon, she is in a unique position to gather clues and speak to witnesses. But she doesn’t expect to find Harry Armitage’s business card in Madame’s possession. What is the alluring private detective’s connection to the victim? And why is he avoiding Cleo?

The king's magnificent palace was built in a matter of weeks. No one saw the builders, no villagers are allowed beyond the gilded gate, and only one servant has ever left. The haunted look in her eyes as she was recaptured by the palace guards is something Josie, daughter of the village doctor, has never forgotten. For Josie, the palace is a mystery that grows more intriguing after she meets the captain of the guards, a man known only as Hammer, as mysterious and captivating as the palace itself. Whispers of magic fuel Josie's desire to uncover the truth, but an ordinary girl like her can only dream of ever being invited inside.

Finding an old manuscript in the attic has always been a fantasy of Sylvia’s. She just never expected the fantasy to come true, or for it to lead her to answers about her mysterious family.

The medical profession’s faith in electric shock therapies for treating female nervous conditions is shaken after a patient dies while connected to one such device. Harry Armitage is hired by the doctor arrested for her murder, and he invites Cleo to help him uncover the truth. After all, the doctor is the same one who tried—and failed—to treat Cleo’s aunt. As they dig deeper, it becomes apparent the doctor has failed other patients too, and those patients’ loved ones want revenge.

Weakened and fading fast, the ghost of Jacob Beaufort is determined to save Emily from a bleak and uncertain future. With her family facing financial ruin and the Otherworld in chaos, he knows her only hope is to wed Theo. As lives and afterlives hang in the balance, Emily is forced to make the ultimate sacrifice or lose everything she loves.