John Pickett Mysteries 6-10 box set

Book excerpt: Follow the further adventures of newlyweds John and Julia Pickett as they solve mysteries and struggle to make their unequal marriage work. “John Pickett…[is]…a little young, but wholly delectable.” —All About Romance FOR DEADER OR WORSE After a modest wedding ceremony at the home of his magistrate, John Pickett and his bride Julia depart London for Somersetshire, where Pickett faces his greatest challenge yet: meeting his in-laws. Sir Thaddeus and Lady Runyon are unimpressed with their new son-in-law, but the squire asks for his help nevertheless. Lady Runyon believes the house is haunted by the ghost of her elder daughter Claudia, who disappeared thirteen years earlier and whose body was never found. When Sir Thaddeus’s groom is discovered with his throat slit, Pickett decides to investigate on his father-in-law’s behalf. Then Claudia’s childhood sweetheart takes a hand, and it appears the distant past is not so distant, after all. MYSTERY LOVES COMPANY Back in London following his honeymoon, Bow Street Runner John Pickett finds it galling to be financially dependent on Julia, his aristocratic bride. When he’s summoned to Lady Washbourn’s town residence, Pickett discovers that he has something in common with the young countess: like himself, she has married above her station, and finds herself adrift in a world to which she does not truly belong. Now she fears her husband is trying to kill her—and when a maid dies during her masquerade ball, it appears she may be right. With a reward of fifty pounds sterling riding on his successful resolution of the case, the marriage Pickett saves just might be his own. PERIL BY POST Summoned to England’s scenic Lake District by an anonymous letter, Bow Street Runner John Pickett poses as a honeymooning tourist along with his wife, Julia. But Pickett’s contact is murdered before he can disclose the reason for the summons. And since Julia saw it happen, it appears she might be next on the killer’s list. INTO THIN EIRE Haunted by memories of his last case, in which an innocent woman was killed, Bow Street Runner John Pickett welcomes the distraction of a new challenge in England’s West Country—although he wishes his traveling companion might be his wife, Julia, instead of his Bow Street colleague Harry Carson. Then word reaches Pickett that Julia has been abducted, and it soon becomes clear that someone else remembers that last case—someone with a thirst for vengeance. BROTHER, CAN YOU SPARE A CRIME? When word reaches Bow Street of a child fleeing the scene of a botched robbery—a child bearing a striking resemblance to a certain Bow Street Runner—John Pickett realizes he has a half-brother running amok in the rookeries of London. When he discovers the boy has fallen in with a criminal gang, Pickett must work against one of his Bow Street colleagues before ten-year-old Kit is arrested and perhaps even hanged. But the price for obtaining the boy's freedom may prove to be higher than he can afford to pay…