Captain Lacey Series by Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley

Winter 1818As Captain Gabriel Lacey prepares to leave for his upcoming wedding, he's interrupted by his former neighbor, Marianne Simmons, concerned about an actress friend of hers who's gone missing. Lacey agrees to help look for the actress, little realizing that the search will bring him up against dangerous men who think nothing of abduction and blackmail, or indeed of sending incendiary devices to the innocent... moreWinter 1818As Captain Gabriel Lacey prepares to leave for his upcoming wedding, he's interrupted by his former neighbor, Marianne Simmons, concerned about an actress friend of hers who's gone missing. Lacey agrees to help look for the actress, little realizing that the search will bring him up against dangerous men who think nothing of abduction and blackmail, or indeed of sending incendiary devices to the innocent.Lacey's compassion tells him to help the actress who is in true danger, but his personal life is changing, and his time for investigation is frequently and frustratingly interrupted. He is also commanded to assist Bow Street in bringing down James Denis, a criminal with whom Lacey now has complicated ties, or risk hanging with him.The search for the actress takes Lacey from the assembly rooms of the upper classes to behind the scenes at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, where he finds darkness in all corners. Lacey's life and honor are constantly challenged as his circumstances change, and he realizes he can follow no code but his own.Book 8 in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries. This is a full-length novel of 80,000 words, twenty-four chapters. less

Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries, Book 9. This is a full-length novel of 86,000 words (32 chapters). Captain Gabriel Lacey begins Spring 1818 preparing for a duel. But while he focuses on the affair of honor, darkness, greed, and death stalk the streets of London and bring tragedy to a family Lacey has grown close to... moreCaptain Lacey Regency Mysteries, Book 9. This is a full-length novel of 86,000 words (32 chapters). Captain Gabriel Lacey begins Spring 1818 preparing for a duel. But while he focuses on the affair of honor, darkness, greed, and death stalk the streets of London and bring tragedy to a family Lacey has grown close to. With the aid of Lucius Grenville, London’s most famous dandy, and Brewster, a ruffian employed by an underworld criminal, Lacey explores the world of molly houses and the double lives some men of society lead. His investigation takes him from the elegant mansions of Grosvenor Square to the squalid lanes of Seven Dials, to taverns that practice a highly illegal trade, spelling ruin and possible hanging for those caught within. Lacey once again comes into the realm of James Denis, a crime lord, when what appears to be a simple crime of hatred becomes far more complex. less

Captain Lacey is asked by Peter Thompson of the Thames River Police to help him investigate a cold case–the murder of a woman found near the docks Thompson patrols. The investigation was sidelined, considered unsolvable, but Thompson has long wished to find her killer. Captain Lacey joins him in the hunt, entering a part of society that is closed to outsiders... moreCaptain Lacey is asked by Peter Thompson of the Thames River Police to help him investigate a cold case–the murder of a woman found near the docks Thompson patrols. The investigation was sidelined, considered unsolvable, but Thompson has long wished to find her killer. Captain Lacey joins him in the hunt, entering a part of society that is closed to outsiders. Meanwhile, he must deal with his daughter’s debut and more developments in his new domestic life, including a anonymous blackmailer who’s out to ruin Lacey any way he can. Book 10 of the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series. This is a full-length novel. less

Captain Gabriel Lacey accompanies famous dandy Lucius Grenville to Egypt, a land that Lacey has long anticipated visiting. Lacey travels there for more than a simple holiday, however--James Denis has tasked him with finding an "object" in Alexandria and procuring it, whatever the cost.The task does not turn out to be so simple. Locating what Denis wants in the teeming city proves difficult, sending Lacey and Grenville exploring tombs and temples down the Nile... moreCaptain Gabriel Lacey accompanies famous dandy Lucius Grenville to Egypt, a land that Lacey has long anticipated visiting. Lacey travels there for more than a simple holiday, however--James Denis has tasked him with finding an "object" in Alexandria and procuring it, whatever the cost.The task does not turn out to be so simple. Locating what Denis wants in the teeming city proves difficult, sending Lacey and Grenville exploring tombs and temples down the Nile. Lacey must deal with treasure hunters, a shadow following him and his friends, murder, and missing his new family as he explores the exotic country he has so longed to see...Book 11 in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries series. less

London, 1819: When Brewster, my bodyguard, comes to me about a murder of a pugilist—and what’s more, says his wife has summoned me—I must hasten to St. Giles to find a killer before Brewster is arrested for the crime. This is made difficult because Donata's late husband’s odious cousin has materialized to try to wrest her son into his care. After all, seven-year-old Peter is a viscount, and his cousin wants to get closer to the title... moreLondon, 1819: When Brewster, my bodyguard, comes to me about a murder of a pugilist—and what’s more, says his wife has summoned me—I must hasten to St. Giles to find a killer before Brewster is arrested for the crime. This is made difficult because Donata's late husband’s odious cousin has materialized to try to wrest her son into his care. After all, seven-year-old Peter is a viscount, and his cousin wants to get closer to the title.But how close? If Peter’s life is in danger, I must remain, but Brewster risks hanging for the death of his wife’s brother-in-law. He’s done too much for me to turn my back on him, but the devil if I’ll let the Breckenridge cousin get his clutches on Peter. It will take all my perseverance, and a few wiles, to plough through these difficulties. In the meantime, I meet a Runner who teaches me about crime and punishment in this enlightened age, and Brewster’s old trainer, who made him the excellent pugilist—and thief—he is today.Book 13 in the Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries. This is a full-length novel. less

When Captain Gabriel Lacey finds himself standing over a dead body in Brighton Pavilion, bloody sword in hand and no memory of how he got there, he immediately fears he is a murderer. The dead man is Colonel Hamilton Isherwood, a man Lacey clashed with after the battle of Salamanca in Spain seven years before... moreWhen Captain Gabriel Lacey finds himself standing over a dead body in Brighton Pavilion, bloody sword in hand and no memory of how he got there, he immediately fears he is a murderer. The dead man is Colonel Hamilton Isherwood, a man Lacey clashed with after the battle of Salamanca in Spain seven years before. As Lacey tries to piece together the events of the previous night, he discovers he’d promised to help a Quaker gentleman find his missing son, and that the Society of Friends might know far more about his strange night out than anyone else. With the help of Brewster, Grenville, and his wife, Lacey races to save himself from arrest, even it means bringing to light painful scandals from his own past. Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries, Book 14. This is a full-length novel. less

Captain Lacey encounters an old army friend just returned from Antigua, who is being accused of smuggling and possibly murder. Lacey decides to help the man, whom he considers honorable, to clear his name.Meanwhile James Denis has given Lacey a task, to deliver a mysterious package to a man with an office near the Custom House on the bank of the Thames... moreCaptain Lacey encounters an old army friend just returned from Antigua, who is being accused of smuggling and possibly murder. Lacey decides to help the man, whom he considers honorable, to clear his name.Meanwhile James Denis has given Lacey a task, to deliver a mysterious package to a man with an office near the Custom House on the bank of the Thames. Lacey, who has been drawn into danger delivering items for Denis before, opens the package beforehand to find a single chess piece, a white queen.The piece tells Lacey nothing, but he soon realizes it plays deeply into Denis’s ongoing battle for control of London’s underworld. less

When I agree to take my family to visit Grenville in his villa near Rome, I hardly imagine that I immediately will become embroiled in mystery and mayhem. James Denis has requested that I purchase an antique from a collector, one Conte de Luca. Before I can approach this count, I am recruited by a Roman a man to help rescue his daughter from a cool aristocrat, and then asked to solve a murder of an Englishman—by a man who is already dead... moreWhen I agree to take my family to visit Grenville in his villa near Rome, I hardly imagine that I immediately will become embroiled in mystery and mayhem. James Denis has requested that I purchase an antique from a collector, one Conte de Luca. Before I can approach this count, I am recruited by a Roman a man to help rescue his daughter from a cool aristocrat, and then asked to solve a murder of an Englishman—by a man who is already dead.These tasks do not keep me from traveling to the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum and exploring to my heart’s content, but trouble follows me in the form of a man bent on killing me—for what reason I cannot fathom.All this is compounded by another murder back in Rome, and I am commanded by James Denis, as well as the aristocrat who stole my new Roman friend’s daughter and a captain of the police, to find out who committed the deed and what dire secrets the murdered man kept, secrets with the potential to destroy them all.Probing into these puzzles lead me to the past, present, and future troubles of the Italian peninsula, a beautiful but deadly place in the spring of 1820. less

March 1820When James Denis is arrested for murder and lands himself in Newgate, it falls to me to prove his innocence. I have nowhere to start but in a dark street in Seven Dials and the name of the unknown man Denis is supposed to have killed.I soon find myself beleaguered by enemies from Denis’s past, secret societies, and a host of people who want Denis to hang. In addition I receive word from a mysterious young woman I haven't heard from in years who now seeks my help.