Kathy Lynn Emerson Books in Order

This biography for young readers follows Nellie Bly's pioneering work as an investigative journalist. It covers her undercover reporting on institutional abuse, record-setting journey around the world, and later experiences in business and wartime Europe.

A biographical reference work profiles women of sixteenth-century England, bringing together information about their lives and family connections. The entries provide a resource for readers researching the people who lived through the Tudor period and its social world.

Kerry Odell and her brother reluctantly move to rural Maine for six months with their mother. Their rented house has a locked tower, strange nighttime noises, and an unfriendly landlord, giving the children a mystery to investigate.

In 1887, twelve-year-old Julia Applebee leaves New York City to stay with country cousins while her parents travel to China. A broken leg prolongs her unhappiness, but recovery forces her to reconsider both her relatives and her own behavior.

Deputy sheriff Alex Moreau suspects Kendra Jennings is hiding something after strange events at her secluded Maine home. Their growing attraction becomes entangled with danger when threats reach Kendra and Alex's teenage son.

Twelve-year-old Kim Hanlon reluctantly accompanies her father to a Maine bagpiping course held at a millionaire's estate. When valuable antique bagpipes vanish and her new friend Woody is blamed, Kim sets out to identify the actual thief.

After her father is poisoned in Strasbourg, Cordell vows revenge but must return to England as Roger Allington's nominal bride. Distrust of the courtier complicates their attraction as political intrigue draws them into danger near the Tower.

Lauren Ryder recognizes herself in a centuries-old painting and begins dreaming of violence in Tudor England. Unable to remember her childhood, she needs her skeptical husband Adam's help to understand her past and preserve their marriage.

Ellen Allyn's psychic abilities mark her as a possible witch in seventeenth-century England. Fleeing London with Jamie Mainwaring, the man who accepts her unusual gift, she faces the dangers of New England while discovering where their relationship may lead.

Impoverished widow Meriall Sentlow enters a relative's service after Sir Grey Neville refuses to assist her. In Tudor England, renewed encounters with Grey draw her into romance and intrigue involving spies, murder, and a practical betrothal.

Thomasine Strangeways returns to a Lancashire manor in 1562 to honor her mother's final request. Expecting her old protector Nick Carrier, she instead confronts unsettling gatherings in the woods, accusations of witchcraft, and murder.

Hope Rowan's agoraphobia keeps her isolated, until former school troublemaker Cooper Sanford asks her to help care for his motherless daughter. Their attraction offers possibilities, but his request challenges the limits of her sheltered life.

This reference guide examines everyday life in England from 1485 to 1649 for writers building historical settings. It focuses on the practical details that make characters and their surroundings convincing, supplementing broader accounts of Renaissance cultural change.

Susanna, Lady Appleton, investigates when her husband's elderly steward is found dead with his face in a pie. Her knowledge of poisonous plants challenges a servant's claim that a ghost caused the death at Appleton Manor.

Linnea Bryan intends to remain in her house despite next-door neighbor Marshall Austin's determination to drive her away. Their clash of wills develops into attraction, leaving both to negotiate a relationship that began with competing plans for her home.

A restless ghost hopes to reunite with her lost love, but first must bring a stubborn living couple together. Supernatural matchmaking turns their resistance to romance into the central obstacle between the spirit and her own happiness.

Lawyer Clay Franklin tells Ariadne Palmer that she has a twin sister, upsetting everything she believes about her family. Their mutual attraction creates a dilemma because Clay has promised to withhold information she needs to trust him.

Bodyguard Duncan Glendower takes Andrea Lauderdale to a remote lodge at her grandfather's request. Close confinement deepens their attraction, but Andrea's fears and resentment of her family's control complicate Duncan's efforts to protect her and maintain professional boundaries.

Queen Elizabeth sends herbalist Susanna Appleton to help another noblewoman prepare a book at Madderly Castle. A series of killings interrupts the assignment, drawing Susanna into coded messages, political conspiracies, and a difficult investigation with her husband.

Maine probation officer Chase Forster proposes marriage to Leslie Baynton, a woman he knows only online, hoping to provide a home for his niece and nephew. Leslie must weigh doubts against her growing feelings for him.

Tory Grenville agrees to guide Russ Tandy's daughter through a local beauty pageant, bringing her close to the man she admired in high school. Their reunion gives Tory a chance to discover whether that old attraction can become lasting love.

Living-history specialist Grant Bradley introduces talk-show host Vanessa Dare to a recreation of the past. Their contrasting personalities and expectations create an unexpected romantic connection, challenging Grant's assumptions about the thoroughly modern woman entering his historical world.

A Frenchwoman visits Sir Robert Appleton and is subsequently found murdered near a Southwark brothel. Susanna investigates with her housekeeper and a brothel owner, discovering that the killing belongs to a longer pattern entwined with her husband's secret activities.

Sir Robert Appleton reappears after being presumed dead, only to be murdered for real. Accused of killing her husband, Susanna faces trial while friends try to uncover the actual culprit within the unforgiving legal system of Tudor England.

In 1567, Susanna Appleton tries to help women accused of witchcraft, bringing her investigative skills into conflict with dangerous suspicions. Defending others places her own safety at risk when she becomes vulnerable to the same charge.

During the Northern Earls' rebellion of 1569, Susanna Appleton undertakes an undercover assignment for Sir Walter Pendennis. Encounters with prominent noblewomen entangle her in a political crisis where her investigation depends on navigating powerful and divided loyalties.

Sixteen-year-old Kristy Russell is hurt when the boy she likes praises her innocence while rejecting her romantic hopes. Her attempt to understand his response becomes a search for self-respect, culminating in a decision that affects more than her future.

Susanna Appleton joins scholars working to establish England's claim to the New World at a Cornwall estate. When an eyewitness account disappears and a researcher is found dead, academic rivalry, jealousy, and espionage become possible explanations.

Newspaper reporter Diana Spaulding is assigned to interview a charismatic horror writer whose tour coincides with a series of murders. Following him from New York in 1888 exposes her to violence, seductive distractions, and an increasingly dangerous search for truth.

Eleven historical mystery stories follow herbalist and gentlewoman Susanna Appleton through crimes in Tudor England. Cases involving suspicious deaths, dangerous plants, and legal maneuvering place her investigations within the religious conflicts and everyday hazards of the sixteenth century.

A servant's death below a banqueting house draws Susanna Appleton into an investigation involving blackmail and concealed relationships. A second killing broadens the suspect list while preparations for a royal visit and personal difficulties compete for her attention.

Reporter Diana Spaulding travels to Denver after learning that her estranged mother is accused of killing her father. Discoveries about her parents' separation and subsequent lives complicate an investigation that interrupts Diana's plans to marry Dr. Ben Northcote.

Susanna Appleton's foster daughter Rosamond leads her into danger at the baths in Buxton in 1575. A conspiracy to free the captive Mary, Queen of Scots, places their mystery amid the political tensions surrounding prominent visitors.

Susanna Appleton travels to Scotland after her friend Catherine, Lady Glenelg, disappears while accused of murdering her mother-in-law. Crossing the border in 1577, the herbalist and sleuth must discover the real killer to help her endangered friend.

Diana Spaulding and her fiancé visit relatives in rural New York and find a scheme to turn their hotel into a fashionable resort. An excavated skeleton revives a decade-old murder case, prompting Diana to investigate on her uncle's behalf.

Emerson offers practical advice on researching, writing, selling, and sustaining historical mystery fiction, drawing on her own series and contributions from other authors. The guide combines storytelling considerations with research suggestions and insights from publishing professionals and readers.

As their wedding approaches, Dr. Ben Northcote is called to an island archaeological dig where workers have been poisoned. Reporter Diana Spaulding follows him there, and a suspicious death draws them into possible fraud, professional rivalry, and murder.

Rosamond Jaffrey returns to her childhood home expecting a family emergency, but finds a friend accused of murdering her brother-in-law. With her husband and Susanna Appleton's help, Rosamond investigates while trying to avoid the reach of spymaster Francis Walsingham.

Rosamond Jaffrey agrees to spy for the Crown to protect her estranged husband from danger. When another agent is murdered, her assignment becomes a criminal investigation spanning Queen Elizabeth's court and the Russia of Ivan the Terrible.

Thirteen mystery stories move from medieval and Elizabethan England to modern New England. Across changing eras and settings, people confront murder, deception, and hidden motives, with historical details shaping the dangers and puzzles surrounding each crime.

Rosamond Jaffrey heads to Cornwall after her stepfather's death, hoping to protect her young half brother's inheritance. Learning that Sir Walter Pendennis was murdered draws her into an investigation involving his intelligence work, local loyalties, and further deaths.

In seventeenth-century Rhode Island, Samuel Gorton’s daughter witnesses the upheaval caused by her father’s religious and political beliefs. When Massachusetts soldiers capture him for a heresy trial, his family faces uncertainty in this fictional account of their missing history.

Traveling photographer Valentine Veilleux creates fundraising calendars while living in an RV with her three-legged cat. Three stories and a novella draw her into murders among her clients, where her outsider’s perspective and photographs reveal clues others overlook.