Part of Series
The Fanshawes are back in another twisty mystery! For fans of Georgette Heyer, Mary Balogh, Barbara Erskine and Jane Austen. Who hanged the body in the woods…? 1796, England Heavily pregnant Lady Ottilia Fanshawe should not really be travelling. But when her sister-in-law dies, she goes with her husband Francis to comfort her brother and her two nephews. And of course it’s not long before the services of her alter-ego, Lady Fan, are required. While playing in the woodlands, the two boys come across a gruesome discovery. A dead man is hanging from a tree. The corpse is quickly identified as the local justice, Hector Penkevil, a man universally disliked for his meanness. And it’s soon clear that his death was not suicide, but murder. With Penkevil so disliked in the community, how can Lady Fan narrow down the suspects? Will she find the killer? And can she solve the mystery before she is forced to bed with her pregnancy…? THE HANGING CHEAT is the tenth book in the Lady Fan Mystery historical romance murder mysteries with a courageous woman sleuth embarking on a traditional British, private investigation in eighteenth-century England. ‘The late Regency writer Georgette Heyer lives—and she's writing mysteries as Elizabeth Bailey!’ - Meritorious Mysteries ‘Ottilia is a strong, intelligent character with a real enthusiasm for detective work’ – She Reads Novels ‘They have everything you love in romances, plus continuing characters you can really come to love, and murders as well! Her heroine sleuth, Ottilia, is a fantastic character.’ - Historical Romance UK LADY FAN HISTORICAL MYSTERY SERIES BOOK The Gilded Shroud BOOK The Deathly Portent BOOK The Opium Purge BOOK The Candlelit Coffin BOOK The Mortal Blow BOOK The Fateful Marriage BOOK The Dagger Dance BOOK The Unwanted Corpse BOOK The Vengeance Trail BOOK The Hanging Cheat
Author
An avid reader from an early age, Elizabeth Bailey grew up in colonial Africa under unconventional parentage and with theatre in the blood. Back in England, she trod the boards until discovering her true métier as a writer in her thirties, when she fulfilled an early addiction to Georgette Heyer by launching into historical romance. Eight years and eight books later, Elizabeth joined the Harlequin Mills & Boon stable, fuelling her writing with a secondary career teaching and directing drama, and writing plays into the bargain. With 18 historicals published, Elizabeth turned to other genres, producing two titles (Fly the Wild Echoes and For One More Tomorrow) in the cross-genre literary/paranormal field as well as a suspense novella (Silence of a Stranger). She has several short stories available too and a guide for writers on editing. Continuing her foray into other genres, but returning to her favourite historical period, Elizabeth turned to mystery. She placed her female sleuth in the late Georgian world of intrigue, elegance, aristocrats and rogues, where privilege rubbed shoulders with the harsh realities of making ends meet. While Ottilia moves in the upper echelon of Society, she is thoroughly at ease in the lower, which allows Elizabeth to cross boundaries with impunity. These novels are now published with Sapere Books and the list continues to grow. Sapere also publish her Brides by Chance Regency Adventures, a series dedicated to the countless women who could not ordinarily hope for romance and marriage: poor relations, dowerless females, those who did not "take", orphans. In a word, the classic Cinderella heroine. Now retired from teaching, Elizabeth concentrates on writing and promotion, with a sideline in running an assessment critique service for writers.
