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September 2007 Book 3 of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Cross-genre mysteries featuring Michael and Rebecca Campbell-Reid from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust in cameo roles. In The Burning Glass, Alasdair and Jean are making a deliberate effort to put together a relationship. Leaving Edinburgh to the crowds attending the annual Festival, they move into the caretaker's cottage of an old and spooky castle near Rosslyn Chapel. Rosslyn has been made so famous by The Da Vinci Code that only tour groups are admitted. It's a medieval church where the Holy Grail or the treasure of the Knights Templar is rumored to be hidden. Ferniebank Castle includes a small chapel that's very similar and obviously related to Rosslyn, but is off the beaten path. Or so they think. Even before Jean meets Alasdair at Ferniebank, she hears that trouble is brewing there and in the nearby village of Stanelaw: a local councillor has disappeared, a precious artifact has been stolen, and the castle's former caretaker has died under circumstances that make Alasdair's police-whiskers twitch. It's a bad time for this sort of thing to be happening, since the owner of a popular New Age travel company has just bought the chapel and its healing well, intending to build a spa there, something that will revive the village economy. As though Jean and Alasdair's plans aren't thrown enough of a curve when the New Age guru turns out to be his ex-wife, other crimes and then another death occur right on their doorstep. And everything seems to track back to the former Mrs. Cameron. Even though Alasdair is no longer a formal member of other police force, he and Jean must roll up their sleeves and wade in to yet another mystery. A burning glass is a small lens used to focus the light of the sun and start a fire. "A little romance, a dash of mystery, and a soupcon of history make a hearty dish." -- Kirkus Reviews "...a dangerous and intriguing investigation. Authentic dialect...detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present." -- Publisher's Weekly, July 9, 2007 |
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August 2006 Book 2 of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Cross-genre mysteries featuring Michael and Rebecca Campbell-Reid from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust in cameo roles. Jean heads to Loch Ness on the trail of Ambrose MacKintosh, a disciple of self-styled black magician Aleister Crowley, who owned a house above the loch. Ambrose claimed Crowley called the monster, Nessie, from another dimension. But Ambrose himself more or less invented Nessie by publishing the first "sightings" in 1933-the same year his wife disappeared in mysterious circumstances. Soon after Jean's arrival, MacKintosh's daughter, Iris, an ardent environmentalist, is accused of causing the death of a member of an expedition searching for the monster. The expedition is headed by Roger Dempsey, an entrepreneur with a strong-willed wife-and a shady past of his own. When Alasdair appears to investigate the death, he and Jean not only have to work together again, but also pick up their reluctant relationship where they left it. A murder hole is the hole in the ceiling of a castle's entrance passage through which defenders could shoot at attackers. There are altogether too many murder holes, Jean tells herself, in the psychic passages of life. "The Murder Hole is...not a frothy mystery to gulp down in one sitting, it's a book to save for a lazy weekend or relaxing vacation when there's time to savor the complexities of the story and take in the scent and sense of Scotland. I don't mean to imply that The Murder Hole is a story readers will have to slog through. Not at all. The author has a wonderful sense of humor and gives us a story that moves right along and a heroine who doesn't take herself too seriously." -- Diana Vickery, The Cozy Library
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The Secret PortraitAvailable now!Wildside Press ISBN 1-55742-923-5 Trade Size April
2005 Book 1 of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Cross-genre mysteries featuring Michael and Rebecca Campbell-Reid from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust in cameo roles. A May 2008 Selection of the Worldwide Mystery Book Club!!Fleeing an academic scandal and a broken marriage, Jean Fairbairn has come to Scotland to work for an Edinburgh-based history and travel magazine. Writing about the Scottish national pastime of playing illusion off reality is just the quiet, scholarly pursuit she needs to soothe her burned-out emotions. But when Jean heads for the Highlands to investigate the 18th century mystery of Bonnie Prince Charlie's lost treasure, she finds herself involved in a contemporary murder case--and not as an innocent bystander, either. Alasdair Cameron, the police detective in charge, has his own perspective on reality and illusion. The American dot-com millionaire living out his tartan fantasies in a restored mansion is the loosest of loose cannons. His trophy wife isn't necessarily standing by her man. Their housekeeper knows what's going to happen before it does. And their youth piper is a kilted daydream, even though his parents are nightmares. At Glendessary House, old wounds and old glories aren't distant memories evoked over a glass of single-malt, to the skirl of the pipes. Here, they are up close, personal, and deadly. It's a good thing Jean has back-up in Edinburgh, including Michael and Rebecca Campbell-Reid from Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust, returning in cameo roles. Because if butting heads--not to mention hearts--with Cameron isn't enough to do her in, then a killer is waiting and watching, with a motive for murder not hidden nearly deeply enough in the past. |
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Time Enough to Die
February 2006
October
2002 Matilda Gray is an expert on antiquities, especially the Roman and Celtic artifacts found in Great Britain. Gareth March is a Scotland Yard detective who must work with Matilda to solve the murder of a woman who knew too much about stolen antiquities. Matilda and Gareth have to stop arguing about the case and begin a race against time to prevent another murder. They do, after all, agree on one thing: the risk of death makes life and love all the sweeter. There's always time enough to die.
"Take a town in England, interesting history, the spirits of a Roman couple and a Celtic woman, a hint of romance, the threat of death, a suspenseful conclusion, mix them together and you have a very good read. I appreciated that neither the romance nor the parapsychology overwhelmed the basic investigation of a murder and thefts. The characters were human and fallible. I'd say this is one of Carl's best books. -- L.J. Roberts, DorothyL |
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Shadows in Scarlet
January 2006
June
2001 Amanda Witham sees her new job at an eighteenth-century house as a career move, just part of the history business, nothing personal. Then archaeologists find a man’s skeleton buried in the garden behind the house. That night James Grant’s ghost introduces himself to her. And a handsome and charming ghost he is, in the tartan kilt and scarlet coat of King George’s Highland Regiment. Suddenly Amanda finds history to be up close and very personal indeed. Like many handsome and charming men, James puts Amanda in a difficult position. She can hardly tell her friends and co-workers of her hands-on original source. And yet she promises James she’ll reveal the truth about his death — just as soon as she figures out what the truth is. So why was he buried in the garden when eighteenth-century records say he died in battle? Amanda’s quest begins in Colonial Williamsburg and ends at James’s ancestral castle in Scotland, which, she discovers, is still very much in the family. But nothing, not time and space, not illusion and reality, not love and death, turns out to be what she anticipated. And when James’s past finally catches up with her present, Amanda finds her future held at sword’s point. |
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Lucifer's CrownOctober 2004 June 2004 September 2003 While this book is officially out of print, Lillian has extra copies of the trade edition. Please contact her for details about obtaining an autographed copy. A tarnished saint and a polished devil sweep several ordinary people into a struggle for the holy grail, winner take the future. When Maggie Sinclair walks into myth-haunted Glastonbury Abbey, she intends only to teach a group of students the stories of King Arthur. But she can't escape her mid-life crisis, which soon leads her to answer a spiritual call to arms that will change her world forever. Maggie's student Rose Kildare is looking for romance and adventure. What she finds is murder and a crisis of faith. In searching for his missing father, a young Scot named Mick Dewar finds not only Rose, but his family's long-lost identity. And Ellen Sparrow thinks she's already found certainty but instead loses almost everything. Over them all looms Robin Fitzroy. In the eleventh century he was Robert the Devil, father of William the Conqueror. Now immortal, secure in his pride, he serves Lucifer himself. Only Thomas Beckett, the great English saint, knows who Robin really is. Thomas let another man be martyred in his place in 1170. Since then he's lived as a humble scholar, seeking redemption for his sin. But now, at the end of time, he discovers that it's up to him to save the souls of mankind from Robin's clutches. He risks making allies of Maggie, Rose and Mick, even as he wonders whether not only his scholarship but his character is strong enough to meet the challenge. |
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Memory and DesireJune 2003 November 2000 June 2002 Claire came to the English village to find her best friend, Melinda, who'd vanished after performing in a play which re-creates a seventeenth century witchcraft trial. What she found was a murder mystery -- and a man. A man who, like her, is trapped between memory and desire. The play takes place at the manor house where the protagonists lived and died, a house where the past is still a haunting presence. Did Melinda ask too many questions about the village's tragic history? To find her, Claire, too, must ask questions. What she learns is that everyone in the village is playing a role -- not just in the melodrama, but in real life. Claire must walk a fine line between repeating the past and surviving the present. For if she puts one foot wrong she won't be seeing the future at all, let alone spending it with the man she's not only come to trust but to love. |
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Garden of ThornsThird in the series June 2000 October 1992 Mark Owen and Hilary Chase, who met at the excavation of a medieval Scottish priory, get back together in Fort Worth, Texas. He's excavating an eerie turn of the century house owned by a prominent local family. She's working at an art gallery on medieval artifacts recovered from the Nazis by the same family. Mark's and Hilary's relationship is rocky enough without someone resorting to murder to keep a century's worth of skeletons locked in the old house's closets.
"...an onionskin plot, as layer after layer gets stripped away in new revelations...each little revelation...sends the story in a new direction....Carl creates a fine set of characters with a healthy dose of strengths and weaknesses... she spices up the mixture with a dash of humor and also an interesting piece of realism..." --Timothy Lane, Fosfax |
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Dust to DustSecond in the series January 2000 August 1991 Michael Campbell and Rebecca Reid meet again at the excavation of a medieval priory in Scotland. But before they have time to smooth out the wrinkles in their relationship, Michael's former girlfriend is murdered and he's the prime suspect. Hints of buried treasure, ghostly manifestations, a historical mystery, co-workers with too many secrets (not to mention annoying habits), and a very up-to-date murderer almost succeed in breaking the young couple apart.
"...Carl shows herself to be quite a skillful practitioner of the Gothic romance...this has everything. --Timothy Lane, Fosfax |
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Ashes to AshesFirst in the series January 2002 June 2000 November 1990 Historian Rebecca Reid comes from Missouri to a replica of a Scottish castle located outside a small town in Ohio. She's cataloging a collection of historical artifacts, among them, supposedly, a scandalous letter written by Mary, Queen of Scots. But her co-worker, Scottish historian Michael Campbell, has his own plans. And the ghosts of the past, not to mention a very contemporary antagonist, want them both gone.
"...a real page-turner of a story...descriptive detail brings the reader on the scene...characters come to life through Carl's ear for everyday dialogue...especially spell-binding is the realistic description of the ghostly presence that stalks the twisted corridors...the reader is drawn into the mystery as well as the love story that unfolds...a believable story laced with historical fact and delicious humor. I highly recommend it." --Barbara Leskey, Ohioana Quarterly "...a Gothic novel with a twist...this is a fantastic mystery in more ways than one...a novel of gradually intensifying tension, as the incidents go from the odd, the mildly frightening, to the very dangerous...a very fine book, well worth reading." --Timothy Lane, Fosfax "Lillian Stewart Carl is a master hand at providing light, entertaining reading. The haunting of the castle adds tension but is not the sort of thing to keep the timid reader up nights. Ashes to Ashes is a fun read and I look forward to reading more of the series." --Christine Duncan, Murder Express |
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Wings of PowerBook 4 in the Sabazel Series June 2001 April 1989 In a world rooted in Mediterranean, Persian, and Indian history and mythology, armies clash, magicks compete, and the gods set their pawns onto the gameboard. Gard is only too aware that the blood of both gods and demons runs in his veins. When he steps over the line once too often, he is sent into exile, where a mad monk and a beautiful slave force him to accept his latent magical abilities. But when Gard sets out to exploit his skills in the rich valley of the Mohan, he accidentally starts a war that changes his world and that of his hosts forever.
"...an intense tale...a complex and fascinating plot...resonances between adolescent lust and mature love, between interior and exterior beauty, and between faith and skepticism underlie the story with a steely webwork of reality...an elegant thread of eroticism woven with delicacy and wit through the story...the prose is crafted with a jeweler's precision and the use of imagery is masterful. Carl may well be the finest stylist working in fantasy today." --Ardath Mayhar, Thrust |
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Shadows DancersBook 3 in the Sabazel Series December 2000 November 1987 In a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, armies clash, magicks compete, and the gods set their pawns onto the gameboard. The emperor Andrion thinks his empire is secure. But no. He has no heir from an arranged marriage, and mysterious figures are turning his allies against him. He must set aside his crown and travel to the island of Minras, where young men and women are sacrificed in the bull-dance. There Andrion and his companions face a demon-possessed queen, his own precocious nephew, and two gods who are dueling to the death and destruction of all.
"Carl is an author to watch, for those who like their fantasy strongly seasoned with history." --Roland Green "...a world full of allusions to our own history...magical struggles with treachery as an important element...the main struggle could be called love vs. hate. These books are interesting works of fantasy...a fine series which shows a good historical background with an awareness of the importance of logistics. Whatever one thinks of Amazons as a concept, they are certainly well-done here. Even the villains are complex, well-fleshed out characters." --Timothy Lane, Fosfax, November 1988 |
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Winter KingBook 2 in the Sabazel Series June 2000 October 1986 In a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, armies clash, magicks compete, and the gods set their pawns onto the gameboard. Andrion was named Beloved of the Gods. But divine love demands of him a test of strength. When his father's empire is betrayed and conquered by barbarians, Andrion flees to his mother's tiny amazon realm. There, in the midst of defeat, he must mortgage his innocence, assess his loyalties, and try to be the warrior his father once was. Meanwhile, Tembujin, the son of the barbarian Khan, finds in the midst of victory that betrayal is not reserved for his enemy, and that perhaps he doesn't want to be the warrior his father once was. Only by forming an uneasy alliance can the two princes regain their patrimonies, inch by inch and heart by heart.
"...a marvelous sense of romantic adventure...unusually literate, intelligent and respectfully aware of the epic tradition...strong characterizations complimented by an evocative magical poetry in the imagery...plausibility in action and locale...use of Classical background assured and distinctive...firmly grounded in reality, tradition and myth." --Robert Hadji, Borderland
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SabazelBook 1 in the Sabazel Series June 2000 February 1985 In a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, armies clash, magicks compete, and the gods set their pawns onto the gameboard. Danica, a warrior-queen, is forced to form a more-than-political alliance with Bellasteros, a warrior-king, making his enemies her enemies. When she rides into battle at his side, carrying his child, his friends become her enemies, too. Trapped, with no choice but to play the game to the end, they begin to re-evaluate their loyalties. And as their worlds are torn apart by both the clash of arms and supernatural powers, Danica and Bellasteros discover that only change will save them and their child.
"SABAZEL is the first treatment of amazon society that can be considering a major success. It has the first honest and convincing milieu with wholly believable characters. It's my idea of genuine heroic vision." --Jessica Amanda Salmonson "A marvelous sense of romantic adventure -- strong characterizations complimented by an evocative magical poetry in the imagery." -- Borderland, 1988
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