Is it safe to breathe?

London June 1910.

Fighting her corner in a man’s world, Dr Margaret Demeray works as a pathologist in a London hospital for the poor. Suppressing her worry that she’s breaching confidentiality, Margaret gives a stranger called Fox information about a dead down-and-out, in the hope he’ll use it to raise awareness of bad working conditions. But when a second man appears to die the same way, Margaret starts to wonder why the enigmatic Fox keeps turning up to ask ever more complex questions. She decides to work alone, uncertain of his motives and wary of her attraction to him. Once she starts investigating however, her home is burgled, she’s attacked in broad daylight and a close friend becomes distant. Fox offers the chance to forge an alliance, saying he knows why the men have died but needs her to find out what is killing them and who is behind it. Yet how come the closer she gets to him the more danger she faces? And how can a memory she’d buried possibly be linked to the deaths? Margaret must discover the truth before someone – known or unknown – silences her for good.

Does the camera ever lie?

London 1911. After the violent murder of  three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. Which potential enemy is behind a threat to the capital? And how can Margaret Demeray and Fox find out before it’s too late?

Enquiries in wealthy Hampstead, then poverty-stricken Whitechapel lead to genteel Glassmakers Lane where Margaret has been reluctantly working. What secrets hide secrets behind its polished doors and why can’t Margaret forget the natural death of a young woman several miles away Margaret needs to persuade Fox to stop protecting her so that she can ask the questions he can’t. But even if she does, how can they discover is behind the threat to London when it’s not entirely clear what the threat itself actually is?

How can a long dead traitor destroy the man who pursued him?

I had no idea that anyone was carrying on the same dirty little tricks after all this time. Now I do. But if I don’t move faster, they’ll get me, before I can get them.

London Summer 1912. When Dr Margaret Demeray hears of an unlikely spy plot, Fox is reminded of an investigation at the end of the Boer War ten years earlier, when a traitor drowned on his watch. But just as they decide the allegation is nonsense, a young woman is found dead and evidence links her murder to Fox and his 1902 investigation. Is someone seeking revenge? Or are they using knowledge of Fox’s involvement to distract attention from the selling of military secrets? With London crippled by a series of strikes, Margaret and Fox struggle to try discover the truth, but as the net closes in on Fox, Margaret finds herself fighting not just for her family’s safety but for his reputation… and ultimately his life. Exactly how far is Margaret prepared to go to protect him?

Would you betray a friend to save a country? Would you betray a country to avenge a friend?

London May 1913.

Angry about the treatment of suffragettes, and a supporter’s murder, Dr Margaret Demeray’s friend Maude urges their suffrage group towards violent militancy.

But Margaret is conflicted when a parcel bomb brings casualties to her hospital. And what is the risk to a fragile peace treaty which is about to be signed, and to Fox who’s tracking down stolen diplomatic documents?

Fox thinks someone is hiding behind suffrage militancy to detract from his search. Margaret thinks the murders and the missing documents are intrinsically linked, and Maude might be the next victim.

If she’s wrong, then one of her fellow suffragettes is a murderer. But if she’s right, then someone else is trying to find the documents and is prepared to kill to get them.

Time is running out. If someone finds the person with the documents before Fox does, that person might not survive. If the documents are published, Europe might be catapulted into war before any of its nations are ready to fight.

Margaret and Fox need to move fast before one more person is silenced.

Books 1-3 in the Margaret Demeray series

The first three books in the series together in one ebook. (Hardback to follow.)