Bøker av Christine Trent

Raleigh Bishop's perfect life in rural St. Mary's County, Maryland, has just come to a shattering end. Her naval test pilot husband, Grant, has been killed in a flight accident, and Raleigh is left to pick up the brittle shards of that life. She prefers to stay hidden away in her grief but is unwillingly dragged out of it by the contents of her husband's will, which contain a shocking bequest.Grant has left her St. Clements Bluff, an old Bishop family home with a noble background as a stop on the Underground Railroad. But serving as a safe house for escaping slaves in the 19th century is just the beginning of what Raleigh learns is a dark and winding history.It is a history that someone is willing to keep secret at any cost. Christine Trent has lived in Southern Maryland for over 30 years and loves the place she calls home-from its beautiful shorelines to its perfect cuisine and unrivaled history. Learn more at www.ChristineTrent.com.

Strong-willed Annabelle Stirling is more than capable of running the family draper shop after the untimely death of her parents. Under her father's tutelage, she became a talented cloth merchant, while her brother Wesley, the true heir, was busy philandering about Yorkshire. Knowing she must change with the times to survive, Belle installs new machinery that finishes twice the fabric in half the time it takes by hand. But not everyone is so enthusiastic. Soon, riled up by Belle's competitors, the outmoded workers seek violent revenge. Her shop destroyed, Belle travels to London to seek redress from Parliament. While there, the Prince Regent, future King George IV, commissions her to provide fabrics for his Royal Pavilion. As Belle's renown spreads, she meets handsome cabinetmaker Putnam Boyce, but worries that marriage will mean sacrificing her now flourishing shop. And after Wesley plots to kidnap the newly-crowned King--whose indiscretions are surfacing--she finds herself entangled in a duplicitous world of shifting allegiances. Painting a vivid portrait of life in the British Regency, Christine Trent spins a harrowing tale of ambition, vengeance, love, and complex loyalties against the dynamic backdrop of the early Industrial Revolution. This is a reissued version.

Dollmaker Claudette Laurent fled Paris for London after tragedy destroyed the life she once had. But life is not easy in a new country that despises the French. Nevertheless, she establishes her doll shop again and soon has English society wild for her fanciful creations. Moreover, Claudette finds a surprising new customer in Queen Marie Antoinette, an avid doll collector herself.That royal favor, though, will prove to be dangerous for Claudette when she decides to journey back to France for an audience with the queen despite the growing fanaticism and civil unrest in her home country. Soon swept up in a web of political intrigue by unknown malevolent forces, Claudette finds herself deemed an enemy of France. Her fate is either disloyalty...or death.Glittering with atmospheric period detail, The Queen's Dollmaker is the first in the Royal Trades series.This is a reissued version.

As heiress to the famous Laurent Fashion Dolls business, Marguerite Ashby's future seems secure. But France still seethes with violence in the wake of the Revolution. And when Marguerite's husband is killed during a riot, the young widow travels to Edinburgh and becomes apprentice to her old friend, Marie Tussaud, who has established a wax exhibition. When Prime Minister William Pitt commissions a wax figure of Admiral Nelson, Marguerite becomes immersed in a dangerous adventure - and earns the admiration of two very different men. And as Britain battles to overthrow Napoleon, Marguerite will find her loyalties under fire from all sides. With a masterful eye for details, Christine Trent brings one of history's most fascinating eras to life in of a story of desire, ambition, treachery, and courage.A Royal Likeness is the second book in the Royal Trades series.This is a reissued version.

Queen Victoria, still mourning her long-dead husband Prince Albert, has found solace in John Brown, an enigmatic palace servant who dabbles in the occult and keeps the grieving queen entertained with his tarot card readings. Undertaker Violet Harper is invited to attend one of Mr. Brown's infamous readings, during which he implies that Buckingham Palace will soon be shrouded in death's dark veil. Well acquainted with death, Violet shrugs him off as a charlatan--until his sinister divinations begin to prove true. . .Violet wonders if something foul is in the cards when the aristocratic young friends of the queen's daughter begin to die under mysterious circumstances. Her suspicions only grow when one of London's "moralists," a group bent on repealing the law that forces prostitutes into hospitals, suffers a similar fate. The deaths merely buttress the queen's enthusiasm for Mr. Brown's ominous talents, and, concerned by the fortuneteller's influence, Violet races against time to unearth the truth before the killer strikes again. But as she closes in on a murderer with an unearthly motive, Violet realizes she may be digging her own grave. . . By turns heartwrenching and hopeful, A Virtuous Death is a gripping tale of fortitude besieged by vengeance inside the extraordinary world of Queen Victoria's court. Praise for Lady of Ashes"Rich with historical incidents and details." --Publishers Weekly "A book you can sink your teeth into, with characters you'll fall in love with."--Mystery Scene Magazine