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Historical Mysteries My historical mysteries take place in the waning years of the Regency and early Victorian period in England and revolve around the fictitious Second Sons Inquiry Agency. Second Sons Inquiry Agency Series ~
Every mystery series has an underlying
concept and Second Sons is no exception.
Second Sons,
Discreet Inquiries, is a
fictional Regency-period inquiry agency, founded by Knighton Gaunt in 1814.
Knighton is a “second son” who elects to become an inquiry agent
rather than choosing one the more acceptable careers in the church or
military after his Knighton is nearly hung for his father's murder.
The experience left him determined to find the truth for others facing
similar, horrific circumstances.
And he is not the only “useless second son” who decides that making inquiries is more a more interesting choice. The agency continues to grow as new inquiry agents are hired and their adventures are added to the series. As a unifying
element, The Second Sons inquiry agency allows for a broader mixture of
characters, while still maintaining a common thread throughout this series
and even connects it to the Archer Family Regency Series on occasion.
The combination of familiar characters such as Knighton Gaunt and the
Archer family, creates a Regency milieu with interconnected, familiar
faces across a broad spectrum from high-born dukes to commoners. Since the
stories take place before Peel’s revision of the laws and official formation
of a modern police force in the U.K., the use of private inquiry agents in a
murder investigation would not have been out of the question.
And there is the element of conflict with society for the high-born
men who chose this line of work, and perhaps women, as well.
The agents elect to “lose their place” in polite society in order to
dedicate their lives to finding the truth—but every such decision carries
with it a personal cost the characters must reconcile. Despite the interconnected threads, each book in the series stands alone. Readers need never fear that they will miss something when they pick up a book. And each story presents a mystery as the main plot, with a romance as a subplot. Reading previous books may add depth to the characters, but it is never a necessity for understanding the story.
Timeline: Sometimes it is nice to see how an author's books are related. I've included a timeline so readers can see how my historical mysteries and romances are related. The Second Sons Inquiry Agency series has "bifurcated" into two branches with one branch following the adventures of Knighton Gaunt and Prudence Barnard and the second branch following the adventures of various other inquiry agents. Historical Mystery - Second Sons Inquiry Agency series
(5) Pru and Knighton's honeymoon turns deadly when a fellow traveler is murdered.
Historical Mystery - Second Sons Inquiry Agency series
(4) Murder brings Captain Ainsley into the morass of jealousy and intrigue surrounding the life of a dead earl...
Historical Mystery - Second Sons Inquiry Agency series
(3) Was the dead man’s view of the maze at the heart of the mystery or simply the killer’s ruse to suggest suicide?
Historical Mystery - Second Sons Inquiry Agency
Series (2) An earl becomes enmeshed in a deadly game where the only clues are roses when his uncle is accused of murder.
Historical Mystery - Second Sons Inquiry Agency
Series (1) An inquiry agent is called to a séance to prove fraud only to discover murder.
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