Elizabeth Bailey Books in Order

This later entry in the Lady Fan series sees Ottilia Fanshawe drawn into another perilous murder investigation hinted at by the book’s ominous title. As threats close in, she must again balance her hunger for justice with the safety of her family.

Heavily pregnant, Lady Ottilia Fanshawe travels with her husband to comfort her widowed brother in law. When her young nephews discover a man hanging in the woods, Lady Fan is drawn into a murder where the victim, a spiteful local magistrate, has given almost everyone a motive.

After someone tries to drown her in a river, Lady Ottilia Fanshawe is convinced the attack is linked to an old case. When the body of a woman she once encountered is found nearby, Lady Fan must uncover who is targeting her family before vengeance claims more lives.

Recovering from the birth of her first child, Lady Ottilia Fanshawe is forced back into detection when an unknown man’s body is dumped outside her door. With a note naming her, she must discover who he was and why someone wants her involved.

Lady Ottilia Fanshawe brings an orphaned girl home from holiday, only to face a custody battle when the child’s grandfather appears. At the same time, her loyal footman begs her help clearing a woman from his past of a murder charge in Bristol.

Ambitious novelist Silvestre Latimer cares more about her writing than marriage, until she collides with Gausselin Degarre, a sardonic poet known as the vulture of the literary set. Drawn together in London’s salons, they must decide whether either of them dares to trust in love.

Orphaned schoolmistress Felicity Temple is thrust into high society when her scheming guardian drags her to a London party, then abandons her. After Raoul, Lord Lynchmere, wins her company in a mock auction, he becomes the only man she can trust to untangle her mysterious past.

Hetty Latimer has resigned herself to spinsterhood after her father’s disgrace leaves her without a dowry. A chance meeting with Theo Devenal, the new Duke of Charlton, sparks attraction and a sequence of mishaps that force both of them to question duty, pride and class.

Young widow Chloe Quilter’s peaceful country life is upended when a stranger crashes his curricle outside her home and loses his memory. As she nurses Lance, Lord Pettipher, back to health, Chloe must help him face the ghosts of his past and decide what future he truly wants.

After her father’s death, Isadora Alvescot fears losing both her home and her dream of acting when a distant cousin inherits the estate. Determined to test the new viscount’s intentions, she clashes with Lord Roborough and discovers that duty, desire and family loyalty rarely align neatly.

While visiting Tunbridge Wells, Ottilia and Francis witness a woman fall to her death from the High Rocks. The victim’s link to a domineering viscountess and an old elopement draws Lady Fan into a tangle of family secrets, resentments and possible murder.

Living at the mercy of a demanding relative, Lily Daubney dreams only of a quiet life devoted to music. When scandalous Vincent, Lord Wintringham, must wed or lose his inheritance, he proposes a marriage of convenience that soon threatens to become something far more complicated.

Sheltering from a storm at a country inn, Benedict Beckenham is captivated by Theda, a young woman clearly in trouble. When fate later throws them together in a grand house where Theda serves an ailing lady, secrets from both their pasts threaten the fragile spark between them.

After years on the marriage mart, Delia Burloyne expects nothing more exciting than another dull Season. A violent coach hold up throws her together with Giffard Gaunt, a dispossessed earl in hiding, and she finds herself risking her safety and her heart on his dangerous cause.

On a lonely road, Ottilia and Francis encounter a woman drenched in blood who refuses to speak, and a man’s corpse hidden nearby. Taking the stranger into their home, Lady Fan slowly uncovers a web of violence and lies behind the silent figure.

Grief stricken after a personal loss, Ottilia is coaxed back to sleuthing when an actress is found laid out in an open coffin, ringed with candles, in Weymouth. Among a travelling theatrical troupe, she must separate stage tricks from cold blooded murder.

On a much needed holiday taken to mend a broken heart, the protagonist expects only solitude and sea air. Instead new friendships, awkward encounters and an unexpected romance force a choice between clinging to old pain and risking hope again.

Runaway heiress Appoline "Apple" Greenaway hides in Lord Dymond’s coach to escape scheming cousins who covet her inheritance. What begins as an impulsive flight becomes a madcap winter adventure as Alex realises his stowaway is under threat and perhaps the only woman who can upend his ordered life.

A visit to a historic mansion leaves Meriel hearing a ghostly voice and abruptly slipped back into the past. As she helps Nicholas protect a priceless family heirloom, she must work out what is real and whether changing events will alter her own life.

Taken in as a poor relation, Marianne Timperley has always loved Justin Crail, heir to an earldom, but knows he is promised elsewhere. When tragedy strikes his family, Justin leans on her friendship, forcing them both to confront whether they will sacrifice love to duty.

Pregnant with her first child, Lady Fan investigates the sudden death of a neighbour recently returned from the West Indies. His troubled young ward confesses to murder, but Ottilia suspects the truth lies buried in plantation secrets, addiction and long kept guilt.

Sent to investigate rumours of a French spy hiding in an empty country house, Major Gerald Alderley instead discovers a sharp tongued young woman who refuses to reveal her true identity. Their uneasy alliance leads to swordplay, mistaken loyalties and an unexpectedly tender romance.

This practical guide distils Elizabeth Bailey’s years of editing and teaching into clear advice on strengthening a draft novel. She highlights common problems in structure, pacing, viewpoint and character, then offers concrete ways to tighten scenes and lift a story’s page turning quality.

When shop worker Valerie is accused of stealing and faces instant dismissal, only teasing, sharp witted Kenton Lane believes she has been framed. In this light hearted 1920s detective short, the pair join forces to unmask the real thief and salvage her future.

Newly made an earl, former army colonel Niall Lowrie would rather face battle than country house politics. In a quiet village he meets independent Edith Westacott, who yearns for more than vicarage life. When danger from her past resurfaces, Niall must decide what kind of knight he will be.

Far from the drawing rooms of England, a lonely traveller crosses harsh desert landscapes and meets someone whose past is as shadowed as the dunes. Shared danger and enforced proximity turn survival into a story of reluctant trust and emerging love.

A brooding, scandal haunted hero has earned a reputation as mad, bad and dangerous, and a clear eyed heroine is warned to stay well away. Forced into each other’s company, they discover how much of that label is truth, how much defence and whether either deserves a second chance.

Orphaned tomboy Isolde Cavanagh arrives at Bawdsey Grange expecting a welcoming guardian and instead finds his son, Richard de Baudresey, baffled by her existence. As he tries to turn his unruly ward into a society lady, buried secrets and inconvenient feelings threaten both their plans.

Bea Russell’s car breaks down on a lonely road, and her search for help lands her in the hands of armed men and a brooding fugitive known only as Rad. Trapped in a dangerous stand off, Bea must decide whether this stranger is predator, protector, or something in between.

A brief historical romance that begins with a chance meeting and grows into something neither character expected. A small decision links their futures in ways that echo far beyond the first spark of attraction.

A brief encounter throws two wary strangers together in circumstances that scandal loving society would label improper. As obligation forces them to work side by side, attraction grows, but each must decide whether risking reputation and reopening old wounds is worth the chance of a lasting match.

An impulsive decision at a country house party entangles an independent minded heroine with a reserved gentleman who has every reason to avoid scandal. What begins as a harmless escapade soon tests their pride, their reputations and the quiet hopes neither of them will admit aloud.

A young woman raised in obscurity suddenly learns she may be the lost daughter of a noble house. Thrust into a world of title, expectations and suspicion, she must navigate family politics and an inconvenient attraction if she is to claim both her name and her future.

Stranded in the village of Witherley when their coach breaks down, Ottilia and Francis learn that a blacksmith has been killed exactly as a young woman foretold. Branded a witch by frightened neighbours, the seer becomes Lady Fan’s most urgent mystery.

A seasoned warrior returns from years abroad determined to claim the estate and stability he has earned, only to find a determined woman standing between him and his plans. Their clash over land and loyalty slowly reveals a deeper choice between conquest and compromise.

Stage director Sadie is fighting to keep her production of Macbeth on track when a ghost appears claiming to be the real Scottish king, furious at how history has treated him. As rehearsal chaos mounts, she must choose between clinging to reality and listening to the impossible visitor.

Haunted by a recurring nightmare and the loss of her lover, Fliss Gregory retreats to a French chateau for therapy. As she works with her counsellor, fragments of other women’s lives surface, and a mystery that spans decades forces her to question memory, identity and love itself.

When Grace rescues a gravely wounded stranger near her home and hides him from pursuit, she soon discovers he is a wanted Frenchman with dangerous enemies. Nursing him back to health draws them into a perilous game of masquerade, loyalty and forbidden attraction.

Former seminary girl Kitty Merrick refuses to accept a lifetime of governess work and dreams of being a viscount’s daughter. When Claud, Viscount Devenick, mistakes her for a cousin and uncovers a scandal in his own family, Kitty’s fantasies collide with an arranged marriage and unwelcome secrets.

Believed dead in the war, Captain Henry Colton comes home to a village near Steepwood Abbey and finds his former love living quietly as a widow with a small daughter. To shield her from scandal and suspicion, he poses as her miraculously returned husband, stirring up gossip, danger and old feelings.

Practical Nell Faraday, star pupil of the Paddington Seminary, accepts a post at Castle Jarrow, an isolated estate with a brooding widower master and a fearful child. Dark legends, unexplained dangers and a growing bond with Lord Jarrow test her courage as much as her heart.

Set amid the scandals swirling around Steepwood Abbey, this Regency tale follows a young woman whose sheltered reputation hides her own strong will. Drawn into village intrigue and a marriage that offers both protection and risk, she must decide whom to trust as secrets slowly surface.

When an exhausted young woman claiming amnesia stumbles into his woods, Charles Clevedon, Earl of Wytham, assumes it is just another marriage trap. Yet as he shelters her and fragments of her past emerge, desire and duty collide in unsettling ways.

After a year of mourning, sensible Timothia Dulverton expects only a quiet life with her books. Instead her cousin Leo proposes a pragmatic marriage of convenience. Their attempt at a purely practical union soon tests old habits, buried grief and the possibility of real love.

A bride who hides her face and past behind a veil enters a marriage arranged for duty rather than affection. As secrets from both households surface, husband and wife must decide whether to remain strangers or risk trusting the person they have legally bound themselves to.

Lady Mary "Maidie" Hope refuses to be pushed into marriage with a man she dislikes. Boldly asking confirmed bachelor Viscount Delagarde to sponsor her Season, she turns his household upside down and forces him to see the misfit maid as a potential diamond.

In society a poised young woman wears a flawless mask of composure, hiding fears, loyalties and a heart that has been badly hurt. When a perceptive suitor begins to see past her performance, she must choose between continued safety and a love that could shatter her defences.

High spirited Isadora longs for romance but finds only pressure to marry sensibly. When she crosses paths with a man who seems entirely wrong for her, admiration slowly tips into something deeper, forcing them both to confront family expectations and their own stubbornness.

A notorious rake and a clear eyed heroine strike sparks when circumstances force them into close company. Through quarrels, missteps and unexpected tenderness, both learn what it actually takes to reach their own version of seventh heaven.

On an ordinary Friday, a restless young woman begins to dream of a different kind of life and love. Chance encounters, small choices and a daring impulse lead her far from her expected path and toward a future she never imagined.

When the Marchioness of Polbrook is found strangled in her London bedchamber, suspicion falls on everyone in the Hanover Square household. Newly hired as companion to the dowager, Ottilia Draycott allies with Lord Francis Fanshawe to expose a killer within the family.

A dutiful heroine agrees to a difficult match to rescue her family from financial disaster, only to find that sacrifice brings its own costs. As old hurts and new desires surface, she must decide how much of herself she is truly willing to give up.

Raised at the Paddington Charitable Seminary, gentle Prudence Hursley takes a temporary post at Rookham Hall to tame two wild wards. Her employer Julius Rookham’s mercurial moods and the household’s tangle of loyalties soon challenge her courage, her patience and her guarded hopes for a true home.

In this Regency tale of pride and retribution, a high handed hero and an outspoken heroine clash over a perceived wrong. Fate and proximity force them together until each begins to suspect that the other’s just deserts might instead be unexpected happiness.

A woman with a talent for soothing other people’s troubles becomes entangled with a man who seems beyond help. As she offers friendship, practical support and something like grace, both must confront old wounds before they can imagine a future together.