Books like 'Playing it Safe'
Readers who enjoyed Playing it Safe by Ashley Weaver also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery heroine sleuth suspense military
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The Dance Teacher of Paris by Suzanne Fortin
Rated: 4.52 of 5 stars · 24 ratings'But how will I look after them? Where can I hide them?' She looked up at me and didn't try to stop the tears from falling. 'I'm begging you. Please, save our children.'Paris, 1942. As the Germans occupy the city she calls home, Adele Basset is determined to keep her pupils' spirits up. Their dance class offers a moment of solace in the dark days of occupation... -
The Lantern's Dance by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsMary Russell and Sherlock Holmes are caught up in a case that turns intensely personal, shining light on a past that even Holmes himself did not suspectAfter their recent adventures in Transylvania, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes look forward to spending some time getting to know Holmes' son, the artist Damian Adler, and his family... -
The Girl from Guernica by Karen Robards
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsInspired by Picasso’s great masterpiece Guernica, New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards returns with a riveting story of love, intrigue, deception and bravery in the face of war…On an April day in 1937, the sky opens and fire rains down upon the small Spanish town of Guernica. Seventeen-year-old Sibi and her family are caught up in the horror... -
The Art of Inheriting Secrets by Barbara O'Neal
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 48 ratingsWhen Olivia Shaw’s mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she’s inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime... -
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A Deadly Game by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsLondon, 1890:It's a New Year, but murder never takes a holiday.The past reaches out to the unlikely investigative team of Angus Brodie and Mikaela Forsythe when a man Mikaela was once engaged to seeks her assistance to find his young runaway son... -
Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsBONUS: This edition contains excerpts from Laurie R. King's The God of the Hive and Pirate King.En route to San Francisco to settle her family’s estate, Mary Russell, in the company of husband Sherlock Holmes, falls prey to troubling dreams—and even more troubling behavior. In 1906, when Mary was six, the city was devastated by a catastrophic earthquake... -
Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes a gripping new novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country... -
A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson
London 1889 — Murder, mystery, and two people in a most unlikely partnership.She's an unconventional lady who has traveled the world, practices the art of self defense most excellently, and has an interesting tattoo in, ahem... a very unusual place... -
Taken to the Grave by Cara Devlin
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsThe Bow Street Duchess Mystery series comes to a thrilling conclusion in the seventh and final book, Taken to the Grave.As Audrey Sinclair reaches the end of her mourning period, she and Hugh Marsden, the Viscount Neatham, are at long last looking toward their future together — and hoping for a respite from the dangerous criminal investigations they’ve found themselves entrenched in... -
The Stationmaster's Cottage by Phillipa Nefri Clark
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsChristie is happy in her life... or so she tells herself. Despite the tragedy in her childhood, she has a satisfying career, a city apartment, and a long-term relationship. But deep down she yearns for a simpler life. Family. A garden. And a place to heal her heart.The decision to attend a funeral in a town she's never heard of throws her safe world into disarray, exposing the holes in her life... -
A Singular Woman by Sarah F. Noel
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsWolf had hoped he could put his thief-taking life behind him when he unexpectedly inherited an earldom. Wolf, the new Earl of Pembroke, against his better judgment, finds himself sucked back into another investigation. He knows better than to think he can keep Tabitha out of it... -
Deadly Lies by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA young woman has been murdered at the prime of her life, striking fear into the hearts of women across London and anguish into the heart of her dear fiancé.There are no answers, only a single red rose left on the young woman’s body, the calling card once used for a cold-blooded killer who left a trail of dead women across the East End years ago... -
Southern Storm by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsSequel to the #1 best-selling Cape Refuge First a dead stranger. Now a missing Police Chief. Did Chief Cade run off to elope . . . or has he met with foul play? The body in the morgue had no ID. No one knew who he was or where he came from when he walked out in front of Cade s car. And when Cade learns he had a gunshot wound before he was struck, finding his identity becomes even more urgent... -
The God of the Hive by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 36 ratingsIn Laurie R. King’s latest Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes mystery, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author delivers a thriller of ingenious surprises and unrelenting suspense—as the famous husband and wife sleuths are pursued by a killer immune from the sting of justice... -
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Deadly Betrayal by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"Ghosts of the past…The very case that made Brodie leave the Metropolitan Police returns to jeopardize his private inquiry business, his relationship with Mikaela Forsythe, and perhaps even his life.Ten years earlier, after Brodie refused to divulge the name of his source in a murder case, Chief Inspector Abberline threatened to have charges brought against him for withholding evidence... -
Distortion by Terri Blackstock
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen Juliet Cole’s husband of fifteen years is gunned down in a dark parking lot before her eyes, she thinks it was a random shooting. Devastated and traumatized, she answers hours of questioning. When she’s finally allowed to return home to break the news to her boys, she hears a voicemail that takes the situation from a random shooting to a planned, deliberate attack. ‘Mrs... -
Nature of the Crime by Cara Devlin
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Bow Street Duchess Mystery series continues in January 2024 with the sixth Audrey Sinclair and Hugh Marsden investigation...When a fellow passenger is found dead on Audrey’s packet ship from France, a mysterious note on the body points to her as the killer... -
Murder Makes Waves by Anne George
Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsThose hilarious southern sisters, who prove that sibling rivalry never ends, are heading for a vacation at the beach... -
Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsThe beloved author returns with a remarkable novel of both raw suspense and lyric beauty— the story of a lost pilot and a wartime photographer that will leave its mark on your soul... -
The Forgotten Life of Arthur Pettinger: absolutely heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction by Suzanne Fortin
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 11 ratings'This story has great depths of emotion, highs and lows, and I found it utterly gripping!' Christina Courtenay'A deeply moving story of love in all its forms – I adored it' Mandy BaggotThe secrets of the past won't remain hidden forever...Arthur Pettinger's memory isn't what it used to be. He can't always remember the names of his grandchildren, where he lives or which way round his slippers go...Categorized as:
heroine sleuth mystery military suspense historical victorian 20th century length-long -
The Game by Laurie R. King
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsIt’s only the second day of 1924, but Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, find themselves embroiled in intrigue. It starts with a New Year’s visit from Holmes’s brother Mycroft, who comes bearing a strange package containing the papers of an English spy named Kimball O’Hara—the same Kimball known to the world through Kipling’s famed Kim... -
Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Nicole Edwards comes the tenth installment in her Brantley Off the Books series.During the two years since they created the Off the Books Task Force, Brantley Walker and Reese Tavoularis have had their share of difficult cases, but their next one hits close to home. Too close... -
A Deadly Scandal by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMurder is such a nasty business…Mikaela Forsythe has returned from safari in Africa with her great aunt, and Lily.The continent survived, but not so the victim in a new murder investigation that she is asked to undertake – that agreement she made with Sir Avery of the Special Services Agency to save Brodie’s life... -
Evidence of Evil: Victorian Historical Romance Mystery by Mary Lancaster
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPursuing murder and fighting love… Several weeks after they parted company, courtesan Constance calls on the wealthy business-man Solomon Grey to request his help solving another mystery. Her old friend Elizabeth, now the wife of respected magistrate Sir Humphrey Maule, is being accused of murder... -
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Murder at Kingscote by Alyssa Maxwell
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFor fans of HBO’s The Gilded Age, explore the dark side of the alluring world of America’s 19th century elite in this gripping series of riveting mysteries… In late nineteenth-century Newport, Rhode Island, journalist Emma Cross discovers the newest form of transportation has become the newest type of murder weapon . . -
The Dagger Dance by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsLady Fan returns in another twisty murder case! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen.Can Lady Fan unravel another mystery…?1793, EnglandAfter a not-so-relaxing holiday in Tunbridge Wells, Lady Ottilia and Lord Francis Fanshawe have returned to their home with a young orphaned girl, Pertesia ‘Pretty’ Brockhurst... -
Deadly Curse by Carla Simpson
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe British Museum gets one more corpse than they bargained for as doors open for their new Egyptian exhibit.Excitement is palpable among London Society as the opening of the exhibit draws near... -
The Forgotten Village by Lorna Cook
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 27 ratingsA timeless story of love and sacrifice, perfect for fans of Rachel Hore, Tracy Rees and Kate Morton. 1943: The world is at war, and the villagers of Tyneham are being asked to make one more sacrifice: to give their homes over to the British army. But on the eve of their departure, a terrible act will cause three of them to disappear forever... -
A Lark's Release: A Regency Cozy by Lynn Messina
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsIt is hardly surprising Verity Lark can’t sleep at night with all the thoughts darting through her her recent stay in Newgate, her debt to Colson Hardwicke, the horrible abuse suffered by the children at Fortescue’s that her reporting on the orphan asylum several years earlier had failed to uncover... -
A Deceptive Composition by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsLady Kiera Darby and her dashing husband, Sebastian Gage, hope they’ve finally found peace after a tumultuous summer, but long-buried family secrets soon threaten to unravel their lives . . .October 1832. Kiera is enjoying the slower pace of the English countryside... -
Anchor in the Storm by Sarah Sundin
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne Plucky Female Pharmacist + One High-Society Naval Officer = Romance--and Danger For plucky Lillian Avery, America's entry into World War II means a chance to prove herself as a pharmacist in Boston. The challenges of her new job energize her. But society boy Ensign Archer Vandenberg's attentions only annoy--even if he "is" her brother's best friend... -
Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver
The fourth instalment in the delightful series following safecracker Electra McDonnell fighting Nazis at every turn as World War II looms over London... -
The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsSusan Wiggs wrote her way into readers' hearts with stories of every woman's hopes and dreams. Now rediscover this touching tale of secrets and sacrifice, loss and redemption…and a love too powerful to be denied.Never get attached—Private nurse and protected witness Claire Turner lives by this motto. Fleeing a treacherous past, she knows no other way... -
The Vengeance Trail by Elizabeth Bailey
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJoin Lady Fan in her most dangerous case yet! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen.Is someone from her past trying to kill Lady Fan…?1796, EnglandWhen Lady Ottilia Fanshawe finds herself launched into a river and fighting for her life, she becomes convinced someone pulled her under the water... -
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Murder in Chelsea by Victoria Thompson
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 23 ratingsSarah Brandt is shattered when she learns that a woman has inquired at Hope’s Daughters Mission for Catherine, the abandoned child she has taken as her daughter. The woman claims she was Catherine’s nursemaid, now acting on behalf of the girl’s mother to reunite them. Unwilling to simply hand Catherine over to a complete stranger, Sarah asks Malloy to investigate... -
Beyond a Doubt by Colleen Coble
Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsNothing seems beyond a doubt when Bree opens a cold-case file with clues too close for comfort. Arson. Theft. Murder. When Bree Nichols discovers a corpse in her own basement, a whirlwind investigation ushers an unbidden danger to all she holds dear... -
The Last Restaurant in Paris by Lily Graham
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsParis 1944. To save her people, she served the enemy.In enemy-occupied Paris, as the locals go to bed starving and defeated by the war, music and laughter spills through the door of a little restaurant, crowded with German soldiers. The owner Marianne moves on weary feet between its packed tables, carrying plates of steaming, wholesome food for the enemy officers... -
An Indomitable Woman by Sarah F. Noel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Investigative Countess, Rapier Sharp Logic paired with Great Insight and Boldness. A Private Inquiry Agent.When the dowager countess receives her first assignment as a private inquiry agent from Tuchinsky, an East End gangster, she immediately throws herself into the case with gusto... -
A Discerning Woman by Sarah F. Noel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt seems Christmas will be anything but peaceful this year! Tabitha and Wolf are hoping to spend a quiet Christmas at Glanwyddan Hall, the Pembroke estate in Wales. However, before they even leave London, they receive unsettling news of disturbing pranks happening on the estate... -
Murder in Moonlight by Mary Lancaster
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA house of secrets, an impossible attraction On a personal quest, Constance Silver, who runs Mayfair’s most exclusive brothel, has lied her way into Greenforth Manor, home of respectable and charismatic provincial banker, Walter Winsom. She feels quite safe from recognition until Solomon Grey joins the party... -
Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsAll is far from quiet on the home front in national bestselling author Anna Lee Huber's captivating mystery series, in which former Secret Service agent Verity Kent receives a visitor—who is being trailed by a killer...November 1919. A relaxing few weeks by the seaside with her husband, Sidney, could almost convince Verity Kent that life has returned to the pleasant rhythm of pre-war days... -
Murder in Montparnasse by Kerry Greenwood
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsMiss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, now streaming on Netflix, starring Essie Davis as the honourable Phryne Fisher "A most charming, sexy, independent, and candid heroine; clever, literate dialog; and closely woven plotting will win immediate fans for this debut series... -
The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsA priceless relic has been delivered to the Emerson home overlooking the Nile. But more than history surrounds this golden likeness of a forgotten king, for it is said early death will befall anyone who possesses it. The woman who implores the renowned family of archaeologists and adventurers to accept the cursed statue insists the ill-gotten treasure has already killed her husband... -
A Stroke of Malice by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsLady Kiera Darby and her husband Sebastian Gage are looking forward to relaxing with new friends at an exciting yearly soiree, but they soon learn that murder never takes a holiday in the latest riveting installment in this national bestselling series. Scotland 1832... -
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Flight Patterns by Karen White
The New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels tells the story of a woman coming home to the family she left behind—and to the woman she always wanted to be.... Georgia Chambers has spent her life sifting through other people’s pasts while trying to forget her own... -
A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsNew parents Lady Kiera Darby and Sebastian Gage look forward to introducing Sebastian’s father to his granddaughter, but instead find themselves investigating an attempt on his life...Yorkshire, England. August 1832. Relations between Sebastian Gage and his father have never been easy, especially since the discovery that Lord Gage has been concealing the existence of an illegitimate son... -
Tomb of the Golden Bird by Elizabeth Peters
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsConvinced that the tomb of the little-known king Tutankhamon lies somewhere in the Valley of the Kings, eminent Egyptologist Radcliffe Emerson and his intrepid wife, Amelia Peabody, seem to have hit a wall. Having been banned forever from the East Valley, Emerson, against Amelia's advice, has tried desperately to persuade Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter to relinquish their digging rights... -
Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsIn post-WWII London, the matchmakers of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau are involved in yet another murder.In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture—The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous—and never discussed—past in British intelligence and Mrs... -
A Ruse of Shadows by Sherry Thomas
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsCharlotte Holmes is accustomed to solving crimes, not being accused of them, but she finds herself in a dreadfully precarious position as the bestselling Lady Sherlock series continues.Charlotte’s success on the RMS Provence has afforded her a certain measure of time and assurance. Taking advantage of that, she has been busy, plotting to prise the man her sister loves from Moriarty’s iron grip... -
Crowned and Dangerous by Rhys Bowen
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 40 ratingsNothing is simple when you’re thirty-fifth in line for the British crown, least of all marriage. But with love on their side, and plans to elope, Lady Georgiana Rannoch and her beau Darcy O’Mara hope to bypass a few royal rules..
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