Mrs Charles Bryce: 7 books

The room looked very cool in the afternoon light. A few bowls of white roses that were arranged about it seemed to lend it an aspect of more than usual specklessness. To Madame Querterot, a person of no taste, who made no pretension of being fastidious, and who had, moreover, little sympathy with...

The society doyenne Mrs. Vanderstein is known far and wide for her vast collection of breathtaking jewelry. On one trip to the opera, she bedecks herself in a staggering array of finery in order to impress the Queen, who is also rumored to attend -- and she falls prey to a nefarious scheme. Fans of classic detective tales will appreciate this tightly constructed mystery.

Contents The Ashiel mystery: A Detective Story Mrs. Vanderstein's jewels The Ashiel mystery: A Detective Story- "It is the difficulty of the Police Romance, that the reader is always a man of such vastly greater ingenuity than the writer." - Robert Louis Stevenson.

Sir Arthur Byrne returns to London from the Black Sea, suffering an illness that has sapped his energy and appetite. When he meets the widow Meredith, his passions are reignited. Satisfying them means entering a world of disguises, secret passages, and hidden identities.

What starts as a new beginning for British diplomat Sir Arthur Byrne soon turns into a tragedy with mysterious overtones. In the aftermath of his new wife's fatal illness, Byrne is prepared to accept responsibility for her adopted daughter Juliet. But a little digging into Juliet's background and identity raises more questions than it answers.

When Sir Arthur Byrne fell ill, after three summers at his post in the little consulate that overlooked the lonely waters of the Black Sea, he applied for sick leave. Having obtained it, he hurried home to scatter guineas in Harley Street; for he felt all the uneasy doubts as to his future which a...