Death at Dartmoor

Table of Contents

 

 

“I read it with enjoyment ... I found myself burning for the injustices of it, and caring what happened to the people.”

—Anne Perry

 

“Wonderfully gothic.... A bright and lively re-creation of late-Victorian society.”—Sharan Newman

 

“Good stories with a nice feel for the period. Intriguing and intelligent.”
—Mysterious Women

 

“An original and intelligent sleuth ... a vivid re-creation of Victorian England.”—Jean Hager, author of
Blooming Murder

 

“Absolutely riveting.... An extremely articulate, genuine mystery, with well-drawn, compelling characters.”

—
Meritorious Mysteries

 

“An adventure worth reading.”
—Romantic Times

 

“Robin Paige provides readers with an excellent historical mystery that will have genre fans searching for the previous novels in this special, one-of-a-kind series.”

—
Midwest Book Review

 

“Enough danger and intrigue to keep readers turning the pages, which are filled with vivid historical detail.”

 

“Even-tempered prose, period conversation, historical characters, dialect, and culture will make this a solid addition to the series.”
—Library Journal

 

“Readers who like their historical mysteries on the lighter side will find much to enjoy here.”
—Publishers Weekly

 

“The cleverly arranged mystery absorbs the audience, but takes a back seat to the human drama at the tail end of the nineteenth century. Robin Paige provides a page-turning novel that will entice historical
fiction
buffs and Victorian mystery readers to seek her previous works in a strong series.”
—Midwest Book Review

 

“If you like mysteries with real characters and historical settings, you will enjoy this series.”—
The Stuart (FL) News

... in which our detectives Kate Ardleigh and Sir Charles Sheridan meet for the first time as they are drawn into a lurid conspiracy ...

 

... in which two mysterious deaths bring Kate and Sir Charles together once more to solve the secrets of Gallows Green ...

 

... in which Charles and Kate discover that even the highest levels of society are no refuge from the lowest of deeds—such as murder ...

 

... in which
newlyweds
Charles and Kate Sheridan begin their lives at Bishop's Keep—only to find a new mystery right in their own backyard ...

 

... in which a seaside holiday for Charles and Kate becomes a working vacation when the body of a coast guard is discovered on the beach of
Smuggler's Village
...

 

...
in
which a friend of the Sheridans' is blackmailed—by someone who claims to have proof that her son's father was none other than the notorious Jack the Ripper ...

 

... in which a jockey is murdered on Derby day, leaving Charles and Kate to embark on a race for justice that stands to be a photo finish ...

DEATH AT BISHOP'S KEEP DEATH AT GALLOWS GREEN DEATH AT DAISY'S FOLLY DEATH AT DEVIL'S BRIDGE DEATH AT ROTTINGDEAN DEATH AT WHITECHAPEL DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS DEATH AT DARTMOOR DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE DEATH IN HYDE PARK DEATH AT BLENHEIM PALACE DEATH ON THE LIZARD

 

 

THYME OF DEATH
WITCHES' BANE
HANGMAN'S ROOT
ROSEMARY REMEMBERED
RUEFUL DEATH
LOVE LIES BLEEDING
CHILE DEATH
LAVENDER LIES

MISTLETOE MAN
BLOODROOT
INDIGO DYING
AN UNTHYMELY DEATH
A DILLY OF A DEATH
DEAD MAN'S BONES
BLEEDING HEARTS
SPANISH DAGGER

 

CHINA BAYLES' BOOK OF DAYS

 

 

THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM
THE TALE OF HOLLY HOW
THE TALE OF CUCKOO BROW WOOD
THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE

 

 

WRITING FROM LIFE
WORK OF HER OWN

THE
BERKLEY PUBLISHING
GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Inc.
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

DEATH AT DARTMOOR

 

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the authors

 

Copyright © 2002 by Susan Wittig Albert and William J.
Albert.

 

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form
without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in
violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

eISBN : 978-1-440-67293-4

 

BERKLEY® PRIME CRIME
Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
The name BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the BERKLEY PRIME CRIME design
are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

Four of the characters in this novel are “real,” and our representation of them is as faithful to life as we can make it. Arthur Conan Doyle and Fletcher Robinson visited Dartmoor during March and April of 1901, when this novel takes place, with the purpose of jointly authoring
The Hound of
the
Baskervilles.
We don't know for certain that Jean Leckie joined Conan Doyle at the Duchy Hotel, but the two frequently arranged such meetings, and it is not impossible that she would have visited him there. William Crossing's pioneering work as a topographical expert and as a folklorist has made it possible for tens of thousands of visitors to enjoy the beauties of Dartmoor and to appreciate the legends that Doyle used as the basis of his famous story.

ROBIN PAIGE
BILL AND SUSAN ALBERT
BERTRAM, TEXAS

*Indicates historical persons

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord Charles Sheridan,
Baron Somersworth and amateur forensic detective

 

Lady Kathryn Ardleigh Sheridan,
Baroness Somersworth and author, under the pen name of Beryl Bardwell

 

Miss Patsy Marsden,
photographer and world traveler

 

*Arthur
Conan Doyle (later, Sir Arthur), author

 

*Miss Jean Leckie,
intimate friend of Conan Doyle, later Lady Conan Doyle

 

*Bertram (Bertie) Fletcher Robinson,
journalist and self-styled “joint author” of
The Hound of the Baskervilles

 

Sir Edgar Duncan,
master of Thornworthy, Chagford, Dartmoor

 

Lady Rosalind Duncan,
wife of Sir Edgar and mistress of Thornworthy

 

Avis Cartwright,
upstairs maid, Thomworthy

 

Mr. Nigel Westcott,
medium

 

Mr. Jack Delany,
Stapleton House, Chagford, Dartmoor, Sir Edgar's cousin

 

Mrs. Daisy Bernard,
Hornaby Farm, Hexworthy, Dartmoor, Sir Edgar's friend

 

Major Oliver Cranford,
Governor, Dartmoor Prison

 

Dr. Samuel Spencer,
former physician, sentenced in 1900 to Dartmoor Prison for the murder of his wife Elizabeth

 

Miss Mattie Jenkyns,
archaeologist

 

Miss Charlotte Lucas,
of the Salvation Army Prison Gate Mission