A Francis Bacon Mystery Series

Brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss -- and in danger. Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray's Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon's powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man's legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule. "Castle's characters brim with zest and real feeling." — Kirkus Starred Review. Don't dally! Jump right into this first book in the award-winning Francis Bacon mystery series.

London, 1588. Someone's turning Catholics into widows... ... and masking the crimes under cover of Armada fever. Francis Bacon is charged with identifying the murderer by the Andromache Society, a widows' guild led by his formidable aunt. Thomas Clarady and Lady Alice Trumpington help investigate while struggling to keep themselves out of hot water. Bacon must free his friends from the Tower, track an exotic poison, and untangle several crimes to determine if the motive is patriotism, greed, lunacy — or a mix of all three. Longlisted for the 2017 Historical Novel Society Awards. Get the third thrilling tale in the award-winning Francis Bacon historical mystery series today!

Someone's killing London's wittiest pamphleteers. It's 1589 and England is embroiled in a furious pamphlet war between an impudent Puritan calling himself Martin Marprelate and publishing's brightest wits. The archbishop wants Martin to hang. The Privy Council wants the tumult to end. But nobody knows who Martin is or where he's hiding his illegal press. Then two writers are strangled, mistaken for Thomas Nashe, the pamphleteer who is hot on Martin's trail. Francis Bacon is tasked with stopping the murders — and catching Martin, while he's about it. But the more he learns, the more he fears Martin may be someone dangerously close to home. Can Bacon and his band of intelligencers stop the strangler before another writer dies, without stepping on Martin's possibly very important toes? Honorable Mention for Mysteries, Library Journal's 2017 Indie Book Awards. Buy the fourth adventure in the award-winning Francis Bacon historical mystery series today!

Thomas Clarady risks his life, his eternal soul — and his chastity! Tom is recruited to spy on a group of radical Puritans at Cambridge University with Francis Bacon as his spymaster -- his tutor in tradecraft and politics. Their commission gets off to a deadly start when Tom finds his chief informant hanging from the roof beams. Now he has to catch a murderer as well as a seditioner. His first suspect is the volatile poet Christopher Marlowe, who keeps turning up in the middle of Tom's investigations. Dogged by unreliable assistants, chased by lusty women, and harangued daily by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his heart and soul to stop the villains and win his reward. First In Category for the 2015 Chaucer Awards Elizabethan/Tudor period. Get this second exciting adventure in the Francis Bacon historical mystery series today!

Anthony Bacon returns after thirteen years in France to live in his brother's house at Gray's Inn. Though seldom strong enough to leave his rooms, his gouty legs never hinder his agile mind. He's built the most valuable intelligencing service in Europe. Now the Bacon brothers are ready to offer it to the patron with the deepest pockets. Then Francis finds a body lying near Anthony's coach. The clues inside point to Anthony's secretary. Worse, the victim had been spreading rumors that could destroy Anthony's reputation. Francis thinks his brother did it. Assistant Thomas Clarady thinks the secretary did it. As they investigate, they hear one story after another about what happened. Which is the truth? Can they  sort through the lies before disaster strikes?

Secret trysts. Daring dalliances. And a body in the orchard. It's Midsummer, 1591, at Richmond Palace, and love is in the air. Gallant courtiers sport with great ladies while Tom and Trumpet bring their long-laid plans to fruition at last. Everybody's doing it — even Francis Bacon enjoys a private liaison with the secretary to the new French ambassador. But the Queen loathes scandal and will punish anyone rash enough to get caught. Still, it's all in a summer day until a young man is found dead. He had few talents beyond a keen nose for gossip and was doubtless murdered to protect a secret. But what sort — romantic, or political? They carried different penalties: banishment from court or a traitor's death. Either way, worth killing to protect. Bacon wants nothing more than to leave things alone. He has no position and no patron; in fact, he's being discouraged from investigating. But can he live with himself if another innocent person dies? "Characters that leap off the page." — Karen Harper, NY Times best-selling author. Get ​the fifth book in the award-winning Francis Bacon historical mystery series!

Spring, 1593. A ballad is posted in the heart of London inciting violence. The Lord Mayor offers one hundred crowns for the name of the author. Thomas Clarady wants that money and drags Francis Bacon into the game. At first it's just a riddle to be solved. Tom talks to poets, while Francis analyzes the verse.   Things take a dangerous turn when the authorities focus on two popular playmakers. One is cruelly tortured. Another is killed in dubious circumstances. Did he start a brawl that ended in tragedy? Or was he murdered by his dinner companions? The official story seems plausible, at first. But Tom doesn't buy it. Distraught at the death of his friend, he refuses stop digging, uncovering a plot he should have left buried.   Francis Bacon and his team hazard their lives and reputations to determine the truth. Whether justice can ever be obtained is another matter.

The most corrupt court in Elizabethan England has turned deadly.   Francis Bacon's clerk, Thomas Clarady, has finally passed the bar. Now it's time to sue for his livery in the Court of Wards. Alas, nothing is simple in the most corrupt institution in Tudor England. The attorney tries to wring a bribe from Tom, who refuses in threatenting terms. When the attorney turns up dead, Tom's the most likely suspect. He goes into hiding, leaving Bacon and Lady Dorchester to find out who really did the deed.   Every ward has reasons aplenty to hate the court and its officers. Some guardians have been keeping dark secrets from their wards. That attorney had other targets closer to home. As Tom's wits unravel, Francis and Trumpet must take on his roles in the investigation as well as their own. Clues lead them in circles. The best ones lead straight back to Tom. Can they catch the villain before the sheriff grows tired of waiting?

Three award-winning historical mysteries in one convenient package! Francis Bacon reluctantly puts down his books to solve crimes in Elizabethan London, aided by Thomas Clarady, a privateer's son who will do anything to climb into the gentry — or up to a lady's bedchamber. In Murder by Misrule, Francis Bacon must catch a killer to regain Queen Elizabeth's favor. He recruits handsome Thomas Clarady to chase witnesses from Whitehall to the London streets, where everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. In Death by Disputation, Bacon sends Clarady to Cambridge to spy on radical Puritans. When Tom finds his tutor hanging from the rafters, his first suspect is the volatile poet, Christopher Marlowe. Chased by three lusty women and spurred by the exacting Bacon, Tom risks his very soul to catch the criminals. London, 1588. The Widows Guild. Someone is turning Catholics into widows, masking the crimes under armada fever. Francis Bacon is charged with the investigation by a widows' guild led by his formidable aunt. He must untangle multiple crimes driven by patriotism, greed, lunacy — or all three. But wait - there's more! A bonus short story, Mustard on Velvet: Agnes Merrythought, laundress for Gray's Inn, has to cope with two perplexing problems in one busy morning.