Rannoch Fraser Mysteries Series by Tracy Grant

June 1815 As two countries prepare for war, the whirl of revelry hides unimaginable deceit. Amid the treachery of war and the whirl of revelry, no one is what they seem. . .Nights waltzing at candlelit balls…champagne-filled picnics on golden afternoons… Removed to Brussels in the wake of Napoleon's escape from Elba, Intelligence Agent Malcolm Rannoch and his wife, Suzanne, warily partake in the country's pleasures. They find the city, on the verge of war, seemingly bent on pleasure... moreJune 1815 As two countries prepare for war, the whirl of revelry hides unimaginable deceit. Amid the treachery of war and the whirl of revelry, no one is what they seem. . .Nights waltzing at candlelit balls…champagne-filled picnics on golden afternoons… Removed to Brussels in the wake of Napoleon's escape from Elba, Intelligence Agent Malcolm Rannoch and his wife, Suzanne, warily partake in the country's pleasures. They find the city, on the verge of war, seemingly bent on pleasure. But with the Congress of Vienna in chaos and the Duke of Wellington preparing for battle, the festivities are cut short when Malcolm is sent on a perilous mission that unravels a murderous world of espionage. . .But one night Malcolm slips away from one of the endless round of lavish balls to meet with a fellow spy. Gunfire interrupts their meeting and claims an unexpected victim.No one knows what Lady Julia Ashton, the demure wife of a British officer, was doing at the château where Malcolm and his fellow British spy are ambushed. But now her enigmatic life has ended in an equally mysterious death.As the conflict with Napoleon marches toward Waterloo, and Brussels surrenders to bedlam, Suzanne and Malcolm search for the truth. The secrets behind Lady Julia's life and death lead them into an intricate labyrinth of secrets and betrayals in which no one can be trusted…not even a spouse. less

March 1818In the elegant environs of Mayfair, Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch live a seemingly charmed life. Malcolm, a former diplomatic attaché and intelligence agent, is a rising Member of Parliament. Suzanne is fast becoming one of London’s most sought hostesses. But even their closest friends don’t know that the Rannoch’s marriage is still reeling from the revelation that Suzanne was a French spy when she met British agent Malcolm and that she married him to gather information on British plans... moreMarch 1818In the elegant environs of Mayfair, Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch live a seemingly charmed life. Malcolm, a former diplomatic attaché and intelligence agent, is a rising Member of Parliament. Suzanne is fast becoming one of London’s most sought hostesses. But even their closest friends don’t know that the Rannoch’s marriage is still reeling from the revelation that Suzanne was a French spy when she met British agent Malcolm and that she married him to gather information on British plans. Malcolm and Suzanne are hoping for private time to repair their marriage. But their peace is shattered by a late night visit from a Bow Street runner. The powerful Duke of Trenchard has been found murdered in the study of his St. James’s Square house. And Laura Dudley, governess to the Rannoch children, was standing over the dying duke. Malcolm and Suzanne are convinced the woman they trusted with their children is not a killer. To prove Laura’s innocence, they are drawn into an investigation that will test their wits and the fragile truce between them. But whether or not she murdered the Duke of Trenchard, Laura Dudley is certainly not what she seemed. Revelations about her identity cut dangerously close to Suzanne’s own past. Malcolm and Suzanne realize more is at stake than Laura’s life and liberty. The investigation into the Duke of Trenchard’s murder will either prove the resilience of their bond–or snap it in two. less

August 1818The secrets of Suzanne Rannoch’s scandalous past have forced Suzanne and her husband Malcolm — also a spy — to flee London's intrigues and ballrooms. Suzanne fears they will go mad from boredom in their gilded refuge on Lake Como. But before they even reach the villa, they are attacked by bandits who think the Rannochs possess a mysterious treasure... moreAugust 1818The secrets of Suzanne Rannoch’s scandalous past have forced Suzanne and her husband Malcolm — also a spy — to flee London's intrigues and ballrooms. Suzanne fears they will go mad from boredom in their gilded refuge on Lake Como. But before they even reach the villa, they are attacked by bandits who think the Rannochs possess a mysterious treasure. Are their past deeds catching up with them or were they mistaken for someone else? As they settle in at the lake, they encounter Italian revolutionaries, gun smugglers, an English nobleman living in self-imposed exile with a beautiful contessa, and Lord Byron and Percy and Mary Shelley, who have their own reasons for fleeing Britain. The exquisite beauty of the villas and gardens holds layers of deceit, tied to the very enemies the Rannochs sought to escape. When a golden afternoon on the lake turns crimson with murder, Malcolm and Suzanne realize that boredom is the least of their concerns…but they may have to fear for their lives and the lives of those closest to them... less

November 1819 With DAUGHTER OF THE GAME, Tracy Grant makes a stunning debut with a tale of nonstop adventure, dark mystery, and passionate romance. This novel lays bare the world of Regency London and explores the nature of good and evil, truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal...Set mainly in London just after the Napoleonic Wars, DAUGHTER OF THE GAME is a fast-paced and involving historical thriller... moreNovember 1819 With DAUGHTER OF THE GAME, Tracy Grant makes a stunning debut with a tale of nonstop adventure, dark mystery, and passionate romance. This novel lays bare the world of Regency London and explores the nature of good and evil, truth and lies, loyalty and betrayal...Set mainly in London just after the Napoleonic Wars, DAUGHTER OF THE GAME is a fast-paced and involving historical thriller. Charles and Melanie Fraser are the perfect aristocratic couple: handsome, wealthy, powerful, accomplished, they are the envy of their friends and the toast of London society. A London night: outside, a mist hovers over the cobblestones and yellow pools of lamplight glow with murky radiance. And inside the glittering mansions of society's finest families, lushly dressed ladies dance the night away with coolly elegant gentlemen... and the latest gossip is exchanged with a tilt of a fan. Surely in a world of such supreme confidence, no evil could touch those charmed lives.On this cloud-shrouded evening the unthinkable comes to pass: six-year-old Colin Fraser vanishes from the cocoon of his family's Berkeley Square home. His disappearance plunges his socially -- and politically -- prominent parents, Charles and Melanie Fraser, into a maze of intrigue, one that stretches back to the Napoleonic Wars.The Frasers' perfect jewel-box of a life is shaken to the core. Charles is a former intelligence agent and the grandson of a duke. And now Charles is a member of Parliament. He possesses a cool intellect and a burning sense of justice. Driven by the devastation he saw during the war and by his own family's sordid history, he is a man who will not rest until he discovers the truth. Melanie is a war refugee who charms London's "beau monde" at routs and receptions, all the while writing pamphlets on child labor and women's education. In a world where marriage is a matter of convenience and love is a game, their union is a model of constancy.As Colin's ransom, his captors demand a ring...not just any ring, but the legendary Carevalo Ring. Many people, it seems, are enticed by the gold and ruby ornament, but are they lured by its beauty or by the promise of power that surrounds it? And there are those, perhaps even elements in the British government, who would kill to possess it.Charles and Melanie's race against time to recover the ring and save their son becomes a dark and perilous game, where plot plays upon counterplot. Their hunt takes them to the Drury Lane Theatre and the debtors' prison in the Marshalsea, a London gaming hell and a Brighton racing stable, a gin-soaked brothel and a Thames-side villa. They uncover a chilling labyrinth of secrets, both personal and political, that binds them together in unexpected ways and threatens to destroy them.As layers of deception are stripped away, Charles and Melanie begin to question all that they believed in. In a world of spies, blackmail, and murder, no one is quite who they seem to be. Caught up in a tangled web of political and sexual intrigue going back many years, the Frasers can be sure of nothing. For the secret to finding Colin lies in the murky loyalties of war-torn Europe, in past sins and scandals. For no one is quite who they seem to be and deception and betrayal -- of a country, an ideal, a lover, a spouse -- come far more easily than truth and fidelity... less

London, 1820. Britain and Continental Europe teeter on the edge of upheaval, but Mélanie Rannoch tells herself she’s left behind the dangers of the spy game and the sometimes equally-perilous intrigues of London society as she prepares for the premiere of her first play.Until her children stumble upon the body of the Hon. Lewis Thornsby in the wings of the Tavistock Theatre... moreLondon, 1820. Britain and Continental Europe teeter on the edge of upheaval, but Mélanie Rannoch tells herself she’s left behind the dangers of the spy game and the sometimes equally-perilous intrigues of London society as she prepares for the premiere of her first play.Until her children stumble upon the body of the Hon. Lewis Thornsby in the wings of the Tavistock Theatre. Suddenly, Mélanie and her husband, Malcolm, plunge into an investigation that cuts closer to their former life of espionage than they would have thought possible. Thornsby, a seemingly guileless young man about town, was part of the Levellers, a secret group of reformers whose leader is a friend of the Rannochs. A paper on Thornsby’s body hints at a plot to assassinate a member of the royal family.Was Thornsby the would-be assassin or was he killed because he had learned too much? Is the plot genuine or an attempt to entrap and discredit the Levellers? As their investigation takes them from gin-soaked Covent Garden alleys to Mayfair drawing rooms, the Rannochs learn Lewis Thornsby was not at all what he seemed. Whether his death is tied to the assassination, the pretty young actress he was willing to give up his fortune for, or his unexpected links to the Continent, someone was very determined he take his secrets to the grave. And if Mélanie and Malcolm can’t uncover those secrets, their fate (along with that of their closest friends and Britain itself) may be in deadly peril. less