Julie Klassen

On a rise overlooking the Wiltshire countryside stands the village of Ivy Hill. Its coaching inn, The Bell, is its lifeblood -- along with the coach lines that stop there daily, bringing news, mail, travelers, and much-needed trade. Jane Bell lives on the edge of the inn property. She had been a genteel lady until she married the charming innkeeper who promised she would never have to work in his family's inn. But when he dies under mysterious circumstances,...

When an old friend is killed, the senior partner isn't satisfied with Bow Street's efforts and asks Benjamin to investigate. Eager to leave London for a while, Benjamin agrees. Evidence takes him to a remote island on the Thames, a world unto itself, shrouded in mist and mystery. Soon he finds himself falling for the main suspect - a woman who claims not to have left the island in ten years. But should he trust her? On Belle Island, Isabelle feels...

1822. Richard Brockwell, younger son of Ivy Hill's most prominent family, hasn't been home for Christmas in years. He prefers to stay far away from Brockwell Court, the old family secret that haunts him, and the shadows of his past mistakes. After his mother threatens to stop funding his carefree life unless he comes home for Christmas, he plans to return to London and his unencumbered bachelor life as soon as the festivities are over. Christmas surprises...

"Return to Ivy Hill in The Ladies of Ivy Cottage as friendships deepen, romances blossom, and mysteries unfold. Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood . . . somehow. When the village women encourage her to open a subscription library with the many books she has inherited or acquired through donations, Rachel discovers two mysteries hidden among them. A man who...

"Claire Summers replies to an advertisement to help run a Sidmouth boarding house, but her handsome, secretive business partner might send her packing if he learns her genteel façade hides a less-than-respectable past. And will a hoped-for reunion with her family lead to reconciliation or leave her estranged forever?"--

Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search for affordable lodgings until a strange solicitor arrives with an astounding offer: the use of a distant abandoned manor house. The Fosters are startled to find Pembrooke Park entombed as it was abruptly left: tea set on the table, moth-eaten clothes in the wardrobes, a doll's house left in mid-play. The handsome local curate and his family welcomes them with a warning: Beware trespassers drawn...

"When the Duke and Duchess of Kent rent neighboring Woolbrook Cottage for the winter, the Summers sisters are called upon to host three of the royal couple's male staff in their seaside house. But they soon realize they've invited mysterious secrets and the sweet possibility of romance into their home. Meanwhile, Emily Summers approaches a local publisher in hopes of fulfilling her dream of becoming an author. When he turns her down, his dashing...

Pampered Margaret Macy flees London in disguise to escape pressure to marry a dishonorable man. With no money and nowhere else to go, she takes a position as a housemaid in the home of a suitor she once rejected in hopes of winning his dashing brother. Praying no one will recognize her, Margaret fumbles through the first real work of her life. But can she remain hidden even when prying eyes visit Fairbourne Hall?

When Miss Rebecca Lane returns to her home village after a few years away, her brother begs for a favour: go to nearby Swanford Abbey and deliver his manuscript to an author staying there who could help him get published. Feeling responsible for her brother's desperate state, she reluctantly agrees. The medieval monastery turned grand hotel is rumoured to be haunted. Once there, Rebecca begins noticing strange things, including a figure in a hooded...

"One final cry. God almighty, help us! and suddenly her world shifted violently, until a blinding collision scattered her mind and shook her bones. Then, the pain. The freezing water. And as all sensation drifted away, a hand reached for hers, before all faded to darkness. Now she has awakened as though from some strange, suffocating dream in a warm and welcoming room she has never seen before, and tended to by kind, unfamiliar faces. But not all...