Joan Smith: 117 books

Diana Beechams only use for her neighbor Lord Harrup was to get him to provide a job for her brother Ronald. So she picked up the "documents" Harrup sought, only to have them stolen. Seems Harrup, seeking a high government position, was being blackmailed by his former mistress. Undeterred by a little...

Charity Wainwrights father had a special ability to placate ghosts, so they frequently traveled about the country. Which gave her little time to acquire a husband. But when they arrived at Keefer Hall, whose ghost was distressing the Earl of Mertons mother, there was much more amiss than a ghost....

Catherine Irving, daughter of a clergyman, inherited a house in London from her aunt, only to find the place in rundown condition, in a bad neighborhood, with impecunious tenants. Except for Mr. Alger, handsome and charming, who did not seem to fit in at all. Catherine suspected something was afoot,...

The Berkeley Brigade (Lord Luten, Corinne deCoventry, Coffen Pattle and Sir Reginald Prance) have come to Byrons Newstead Abbey to celebrate Christmas. But Pattle finds a long-buried body on the estates island and the Brigade is intrigued. Suspects aplenty: the odd local vicar, the mysterious Vulch and...

The Berkeley Brigade undertakes an investigation for Mrs. Ballard, Lady deCoventrys chaperone. Mrs. Ballards whist group played for pennies, but one of its members had been murdered. Not the Brigades usual challenge perhaps, until someone else is killed—and suspicion falls on several parties. So Lord...

Daphne Inglesides visit to her Aunt Effie in London was meant to add a little spark to her placid country life. And it did--once the two women decided to write Effies memoirs. For Effie, a faded divorcée, had been the beauty of London in her day, and many of the ton feared their misbehavior would...

Wendy Harris’s niece and nephew were orphaned when her sister and her husband drowned in India. Now they were coming to England and Wendy hoped to be their guardian. But their uncle was a powerful lord, Menrod, who was arrogant and a tyrant. Wendy chose to challenge him for custody, though she had...

Anna van Deusens father, the most honest man in London, has been arrested as a jewel thief. In an effort to prove his innocence she takes a job as governess to Lucien, whose guardian accused her father. At the Park she discovers fake diamonds, a wifes indiscretion--and Major Morrison, who is not the...

Matchmaking was a talent of Cecilia Cummings, and she was happy to assist her cousins to bring their suitors to the sticking point. But Lord Wickham had led the gentlemen astray, and she would have to charm him in order to win this battle. Unaccountably, thoughts of Wickham and her own unmarried state...

Lord deVigne orchestrated Delsies marriage to his widowed brother-in-law so that the man could die in peace. So schoolteacher Delsie inherited Grayshotts house, his fortune and his daughteras well as some very incompetent servants. And there were some very strange goings-on about her new home. Lord deVigne...

Davinia Blythe had lost her young husband suddenly. So she went to his family home, Blythe Wyngate, and was originally welcomed. Until it became known that she was pregnant, with the possible heir if her child was a boy. Then she was pushed off the windmill stairs. Who could have done it but Homer, who...

At 22 Grace Farnsworth had lost her job as a governess, and had to assume a childish disguise to have enough money for a coach seat. But arriving in Wickfield hadn’t solved her problem, as her old governess was away. Lord Whewett, having heard her story, offered her a hundred pounds to act his daughter...

Heiress Lucy Percys family fends off a fortune-hunter, and Lucy decides to rusticate. She and her aunt rent a cottage, but change their identities in order to avoid further problems. The Earl of Avedons ramshackle nephew owns their cottage and exhibits every sign of falling for Lucys charms. But Avedon...

Sally Hermitage was daughter of the famous solicitor “The Hermit,” but unfortunately her father had not left his widow financially secure. So Sally was determined to see her sister married to the man she loved, Lord Derwent. But Derwent had a guardian, Lord Monstuart, who was just as determined to...