The Vanished Bride

Before they became legendary writers, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë were detectors in this charming historical mystery... Yorkshire, 1845. A young wife and mother has gone missing from her home, leaving behind two small children and a large pool of blood. Just a few miles away, a humble parson’s daughters—the Brontë sisters—learn of the crime. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are horrified and intrigued by the mysterious disappearance. These three creative, energetic, and resourceful women quickly realize that they have all the skills required to make for excellent “lady detectors.” Not yet published novelists, they have well-honed imaginations and are expert readers. And, as Charlotte remarks, “detecting is reading between the lines—it’s seeing what is not there.” As they investigate, Charlotte, Emily, and Anne are confronted with a society that believes a woman’s place is in the home, not scouring the countryside looking for clues. But nothing will stop the sisters from discovering what happened to the vanished bride, even as they find their own lives are in great peril...

“Move over, Jane Austen, for the latest literary ladies who snoop in this... lively series debut.”—Kirkus Reviews on The Vanished Bride Haworth Parsonage, February 1846: The Brontë sisters— Anne, Emily, and Charlotte—are busy with their literary pursuits. As they query publishers for their poetry, each sister hopes to write a full-length novel that will thrill the reading public. They’re also hoping for a new case for their fledgling detecting enterprise, Bell Brothers and Company solicitors. On a bitterly cold February evening, their housekeeper Tabby tells them of a grim discovery at Scar Top House, an old farmhouse belonging to the Bradshaw family. A set of bones has been found bricked up in a chimney breast inside the ancient home. Tabby says it's bad doings, and dark omens for all of them. The rattled housekeeper gives them a warning, telling the sisters of a chilling rumour attached to the family. The villagers believe that, on the verge of bankruptcy, Clifton Bradshaw sold his soul to the devil in return for great riches. Does this have anything to do with the bones found in the Bradshaw house? The sisters are intrigued by the story and feel compelled to investigate. But Anne, Emily, and Charlotte soon learn that true evil has set a murderous trap and they've been lured right into it...

'I love this witty and inventive series steeped in the Gothic mystery that the Brontës adored.' - Sara Sheridan 'Teeming with details of the Brontës, of the times and the city, this is such a pleasurable read' - NB Magazine 'Captivating' - Crime Monthly 'Filled with twists, turns and Gothic touches, and a strong feminist streak' - Bradford Telegraph The Brontë sisters' first poetry collection has just been published, potentially marking an end to their careers as amateur detectors, when Anne receives a letter from her former pupil Lydia Robinson. Lydia has eloped with a young actor, Harry Roxby, and following her disinheritance, the couple been living in poverty in London. Harry has become embroiled with a criminal gang and is in terrible danger after allegedly losing something very valuable that he was meant to deliver to their leader. The desperate and heavily pregnant Lydia has a week to return what her husband supposedly stole, or he will be killed. She knows there are few people who she can turn to in this time of need, but the sisters agree to help Lydia, beginning a race against time to save Harry's life. In doing so, our intrepid sisters come face to face with a terrifying adversary whom even the toughest of the slum-dwellers are afraid of . . . The Red Monarch. Praise for Bella Ellis and the series: 'Evocative and utterly enchanting' Sarah Hilary 'Bella Ellis is a very special talent' Angela Clarke 'Brilliantly entertaining and original' C.L. Taylor 'More heart-warming than blood-chilling' Sunday Express 'Ellis's writing flows beautifully' Yorkshire Magazine 'Elegant, witty and compulsively readable - I think the Brontë sisters would have been delighted' Rosie Walsh 'A breath-taking concept . . . Fun, charming and intriguing' Araminta Hall 'A delight' Wall Street Journal

Includes the novels Jane Eyre, Villette, Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

'Reader, I buried him.' So begins Sherri Browning Erwin's affectionate, funny and brilliantly clever monster mash-up of everyone's favourite literary classic. Mrs Reed and her children are vampires, Lowood is run by a voodoo headmaster who is turning his pupils into the walking dead, Mr Rochester's first wife is a werewolf, and Jane must learn to embrace her destiny as a slayer of evil before she can win her heart's desire. What's not to love? Jane Slayreis the one classic which can give Pride and Prejudice and Zombiesa run for its money, and Sherri Browning Erwin's masterful take on a timeless tale will delight monster fans and lovers of Charlotte Bronte alike.

The Prize: Lacey's Folly-- a charming manor house, shrouded in magic and mystery, haunted by tales of hidden treasure, and legends of a bride who vanished 100 years ago on her wedding day. The Lovers: Chloe Hartsell-- a lonely and passionate woman, ripe for falling in love, and suddenly denied the promised inheritance of her beloved home. Gideon Stone-- the rakehell artist is intent on selling his windfall inheritance-- until he learns he must find a husband for Chloe. The Legend: One hundred years before, a beautiful woman vanished on her wedding night, along with a fortune in jewels. Now her lovely portrait and baffling disappearance haunt Gideon's dreams. The Lost Bride: Thrown together by fate, drawn together by passion, Gideon and Chloe are separated by his pride-- and her secret. Then a woman appears-- the very image of the bride lost to the night a century ago. Gideon must choose between his dream image and the flesh-and-blood woman who can teach him the true meaning of love. And Chloe must risk everything, to win all she holds dear.

Charlotte Holmes, Lady Sherlock, is back solving new cases in the Victorian-set mystery series from the USA Today bestselling author of The Hollow of Fear. As "Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective," Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork—or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas. But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old friend recover those secrets and Charlotte finds herself involved in a fever-paced scheme to infiltrate a glamorous Yuletide ball where the painting is one handshake away from being sold and the secrets a bare breath from exposure. Her dear friend Lord Ingram, her sister Livia, Livia's admirer Stephen Marbleton—everyone pitches in to help and everyone has a grand time. But nothing about this adventure is what it seems and disaster is biding time on the grounds of a glittering French chateau, waiting only for Charlotte to make a single mistake...

A rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries. In a squatter camp on the outskirts of Johannesburg, seventeen-year-old Zodwa lives in desperate poverty, under the shadowy threat of a civil war and a growing AIDS epidemic. Eight months pregnant, Zodwa carefully guards secrets that jeopardize her life. Across the country, wealthy socialite Ruth appears to have everything her heart desires, but it's what she can't have that leads to her breakdown. Meanwhile, in Zaire, a disgraced former nun, Delilah, grapples with a past that refuses to stay buried. When these personal crises send both middle-aged women back to their rural hometown to heal, the discovery of an abandoned newborn baby upends everything, challenging their lifelong beliefs about race, motherhood, and the power of the past. As the mystery surrounding the infant grows, the complicated lives of Zodwa, Ruth, and Delilah become inextricably linked. What follows is a mesmerizing look at family and identity that asks: How far will the human heart go to protect itself and the ones it loves?

Only a month before her fairy-tale wedding to the third richest man in the second largest city in Ohio, Lily Blair is beset by doubts. Should she plunge headfirst into the security of country club life or follow her career dreams to New York?

A rapturous novel of star-crossed love in a time of war—from the international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds. During the last moments of calm in prewar Prague, Lenka, a young art student, and Josef, who is studying medicine, fall in love. With the promise of a better future, they marry—only to have their dreams shattered by the imminent Nazi invasion. Like so many others, they are torn apart by the currents of war. Now a successful obstetrician in America, Josef has never forgotten the wife he believes died in the war. But in the Nazi ghetto of Terezín, Lenka survived, relying on her skills as an artist and the memories of a husband she would never see again. Then, decades later and thousands of miles away, an unexpected encounter in New York leads to an inescapable glance of recognition, and the realization that providence has given Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the occupation to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and our capacity to remember.