Perfect for fans of C. S. Harris and Will Thomas, the murder of a wealthy financier unleashes a torrent of deadly secrets in pre-Civil War New York society in S. M. Goodwin's second book in the Lightner and Law mysteries.Albert Beauchamp disappeared just before Christmas in 1856. When he reappears more than a year later, he's in several pieces, packed in salt in a shipping crate in New Orleans. NYC inspectors Jasper Lightner and his partner, Hieronymus Law, are called in to investigate—but the further they dig into the wealthy financier's background, the dirtier the story gets. On the surface, Beauchamp had a lot of friends. But, as they discover, each had a good reason to hate him.Beauchamp's last will and testament—stashed away in a safety deposit box, along with a king's ransom in jewels—yields few clues, but Jasper and Hy discover something even more valuable: a little black book filled with names, dates, and a cache of damning details. Following a...

A string of grisly murders in Gilded Age New York propels an unlikely pair of detectives into a deadly tinderbox in S. M. Goodwin's debut novel, a sure hit for fans of Will Thomas and C. S. Harris.Jasper Lightner is a decorated Crimean War hero and the most admired inspector in London's Metropolitan Police. Along with a chest full of medals, he's got a head injury that's left large chunks of his memory missing. But Jasper's biggest problem is his father, the Duke of Kersey, who, enraged by a series of front-page newspaper stories extolling Jasper's exploits, decides he's had enough of the embarrassment and uses his political connections to keep his son out of the headlines—and off the police force.Jasper is sent packing to New York City on a year-long assignment to train detectives, and discovers a police department hovering on the brink of armed conflict. Assigned to investigate the murder of philanthropist and reformer Stephen Finch, Jasper joins...