THREE MORE GRIPPING MYSTERIES SET IN LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY NEW ZEALAND
THE SECOND BOX SET IN THE SERGEANT FRANK HARDY MYSTERIES (BOOKS 4-6)
Join Sergeant Frank Hardy and Mette Hardy in these three exciting, action-packed mysteries.
DEAD SHOT
Frank and Mette take on the protection of a thoroughbred stud horse targeted by a brutal gang from the north. But when members of the gang are found closer to home than they realized, and Mette is kidnapped, the two must do all they can to defeat the gang.
LYING UNDER WATER
Floodwaters have covered most of Frank and Mette's farm, leaving them trapped on a high paddock. When Frank discovers the body of a neighbour with a carving knife in his throat, the pair must protect their adopted children while they work out who the killer is and how they can send for help. Meanwhile, a young woman has disappeared and wild animals are roaming through the floods.
COME TO GRIEF
When Frank takes on the job of following a suspected gold bullion thief, the pair set sail on a doomed steamship. Based on two true stories, the novel weaves a kindnapping, an arrest, and the aftermath of a maritime disaster into a fictional story about a New Zealand's greatest maritime disaster.
A spirit photograph. A camera nicknamed a detective in a box. A Scandinavian boy who speaks only Maori. A body floating in the marshes north of Napier. And a new opportunity for James Hardy to exercise his mind.
New Zealand 1882: When Constable Foster catches a young, blond boy who runs with a gang of Maori boys, he discovers he speaks only Maori, even though he is clearly Scandinavian. Inspector Scully, busy with a body that has recently been discovered in the marshes of the lagoon north of Napier, asks James Hardy to investigate. The trail leads back to the Seventy Mile Bush, where a broken family shows no interest a missing child. But will it also lead back to the body in the swamp?
The Mr. Hardy Investigates series is a spinoff of The Sergeant Frank Hardy Mysteries.
A historic Bowie knife. A mysterious major who wants the knife. The body of a young woman in a red coat found deep in the bush. And a chance for retired coachman James Hardy to reinvent himself in a new country.
New Zealand 1881: After a reclusive Maori on the run from the police leaps onto the back of his spring buggy, retired coachman JAMES HARDY discovers he has stumbled into a murder scene. While tracking a gang of lumber thieves, police have found the body of a young housemaid beside a log. The local hermit is hunched over the corpse clutching a knife with ties to the past, but did he do it? And why does he claim he took the knife for the major?
When the inspector in charge of the case asks Hardy for assistance, in the mistaken belief that he is a retired Scotland Yard detective, he agrees. He's a great listener, he's kept up with crime in the English broadsheets, he's an expert cryptic crossword solver, and he can drive a coach better than anyone he's met; he's confident he can catch the person who used the famous knife to kill Rosie. But he'll need help from his intrepid American wife, Beatrice, and a young constable recently arrived from Ireland.
For readers who enjoy historical mysteries with unusual settings and a cast of likeable characters, tossed with snippets of history. History and mystery: an unbeatable blend.
When Sergeant Frank Hardy's father, James Hardy, arrives from England, he's accompanied by a woman he met on the voyage. In forced quarantine on Somes Island in Wellington Harbour, Frank is visited by a man claiming to be a detective from the Chinatown Squad in San Francisco, who warns Frank that his father is in deep trouble. The woman has enemies, and they are on the way to New Zealand to find her and kill her. If James Hardy gets in their way, he's a dead man.
Frank pursues the couple across the North Island by hansom cab, train, buggy and horse car; can he get to Napier and rescue his father before it's too late? Who is the mysterious man who keeps showing up? Is the detective whom he claims he is? Does James Hardy have a secret of his own? Find out in this gripping seventh book in The Frank Hardy Mysteries series.
NEW ZEALAND, 1881
Sergeant Frank Hardy and his wife Mette travel to the southernmost point of New Zealand to chase gold thieves and to retrieve a manuscript for Mette to translate. But they have chosen to travel on an ill-fated voyage. Twenty miles from Bluff, on the south coast of the South Island of New Zealand, the SS Tararua hits a reef and sinks, with massive loss of life.
This real event was the second-worst maritime disaster in New Zealand's history, in a country heavily reliant on shipping at that time. But the couple has more than a shipwreck to deal with, including a kidnapping, a murder, two lively baby girls and several cases of mistaken identity.
Come to Grief is the sixth book in The Sergeant Frank Hardy Mysteries.
THE WATERS ARE RISING, AND SO IS THE BODY COUNT
Trapped by floods on their horse farm, Frank and Mette Hardy offer shelter to two other families. But when one of their guests is found with a carving knife from their own kitchen in his neck , they must keep themselves alive until help comes. Who among the small group of people trapped on the farm by floods is the killer? It seems that everyone has a reason to kill the man who died, and when Frank is sickened by poison, he makes a decision that almost kills his pregnant wife.
A classic Agatha Christie/Knives out mystery, set in New Zealand in 1880 in the midst of a depression with war pending and the temperance movement still in full swing.
'I enjoy historical fiction. Learning more about an earlier culture. But this is a darn good fiction adventure as well. Likeable characters. Deplorable villains. Makes for a great read.' Amazon Reviewer.
New Zealand, 1880: A body in a ditch, a missing wife, money in short supply, and a thoroughbred horse wanted by the leader of a brutal Australian gang - Sergeant Frank Hardy has a lot to handle. The third book in this gripping historical mystery series set in New Zealand in the 1880s continues the story of ex-Diehard Sergeant Frank Hardy and Danish settler Mette Jensen, now his wife.
The temperance movement has taken hold in New Zealand, and the country is locked in the depths of a depression as a new land war threatens. When Sergeant Hardy and his new wife find themselves in financial straits, Hardy takes on Dead Shot, a thoroughbred stallion from a town near the front. But the horse has been targeted by a brutal Australian gang trying to take over the racing world. Murder soon follows. When Hardy's wife disappears, apparently kidnapped by the gang, Hardy must track down the mysterious leader of the gang and take him out of commission.
This well-researched novel is for lovers of historical thrillers set in unusual locations who enjoy learning a bit of history with a gripping story.
Greymouth, New Zealand, 1866: The Burgess gang was in town, and a young surveyor from one of the country's leading families had vanished in the back country. Inspector James has never forgotten that year.
In the gold mining town of Greymouth, where drunks fell asleep smoking and burned down their houses, the town was constantly inundated with floods, and fifty-seven hotels had sprung up in a year to accommodate the hordes of miners and gold thieves, Inspector William Henry James was tasked with keeping the town safe with a small force of troopers.
In 1888, forced into retirement by government cuts, James walks home beside the Whanganui River remembering his association with a series of murders by the notorious Burgess gang: back in 1866 he had forced the gang to leave Greymouth. The gang took a steamer up to Nelson and within days killed five men on the Maungatapu Track. Soon after, Inspector James discovered the body of a young surveyor, George Dobson, murdered by Burgess and his crew. The gang was gone, but one guilty man remained, and James was determined to bring him to trial. The events that transpired haunted him for the rest of his life.
FROM NEW ZEALAND: THREE ATMOSPHERIC AND ENGAGING HISTORICAL MYSTERIES IN ONE SET
In late nineteenth century New Zealand, Sergeant Frank Hardy, ex British soldier from the 57th Regiment, battles for survival and for his own life as he carves out a new existence for himself and his family in the prehistoric but stunningly beautiful bush. An 'atmospheric and engaging' series.
This three-book anthology (box set) includes, in chronological order:
- Not the Faintest Trace: When two settlers vanish, Sergeant Hardy is asked to investigate. But his own life and the life of a young Danish woman are soon as risk when a mysterious warrior tries to kill them.
- Recalled to Life: After he awakes in an underground prison with his memory compromised by chloroform, Sergeant Hardy struggles to remember what has happened. When he is saved by a natural disaster he must hide from the law while his friends search for the truth.
- A Dark and Painful Mystery: A man leaves home looking for work and does not return. At the same time, a murder occurs in the dense bush. Was the missing man involved in the murder? Sergeant Hardy investigates these real-life events,
New Zealand, 1878: Awaking from a chloroform-induced sleep in a remote underground cell, Sergeant Frank Hardy must search his compromised memory to discover why he has been imprisoned. Meanwhile, his fiancee, Mette, and his partner Constable Will Karira, search for him. When a natural disaster comes to his rescue he goes on the run, unable to return to his former life.
The second book in the continuing Sergeant Frank Hardy Mysteries series, Recalled to Life is brought to life beautifully by the talented voice actor Sam Devereaux.
NEW ZEALAND, 1878: Has the missing man been murdered in the dense bush, or has he simply abandoned his wife and children for another woman?
Sergeant Frank Hardy and his new wife Mette attempt to solve two real mysteries from nineteenth century New Zealand: the whereabouts of Peter Kane, who left his home to look for work and did not return, and the brutal murder of an accommodation house owner who was splitting palings in the bush. Were they connected? If so, how?
As one newspaper said at the time about the Peter Kane disappearance:
'...the fate of the poor fellow may be cleared up, and the state of horrible suspense in which his unfortunate wife has been kept in for months brought to an end; and we would ask not only the people of Woodville, but of the other districts he may have visited, to take all possible steps to throw light upon what at present appears to be a dark and painful mystery.' The Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 81, 20 July 1878
This engaging novella is perfect for readers who have enjoyed the other three Sergeant Frank Mysteries, or who love Australian writers Paul Haworth, and Peter Carey, or historical mystery writers Anne Perry and Charles Todd.
Characters are brought to life by the talented voice actor Sam Devereaux.
The first book in a gripping series that combines mystery, action and romance within a well-researched historical story set in an unusual time and place: Colonial New Zealand in the 1870s. With a cast of characters from all over the world, the story is brought to life by talented voice actor Sam Devereaux.
In late nineteenth century New Zealand, Sergeant Frank Hardy, an ex-soldier from Her Majesty's 57th Regiment, survives by driving the mail coach on the rough tracks beside steep gorges and through the dense, dangerous rainforests of the young colony. When two young men go missing and he is asked to find them, he is reluctant. But an attack by an axe-wielding warrior and a chance encounter with the cousin of one of the missing men draws him into the action.
The first of three books in an ongoing saga of life in New Zealand, where a seemingly bucolic countryside was fraught with danger, from earthquakes, floods and fires, to the vestiges of war, and all the hardship that went with founding a new country thousands of miles from the homes of the new settlers from places as disparate as England, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, and China.
If you like series with continuing storylines, like Anne Perry's Monk, Charles Todd's Inspector Rutledge, or Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy, you'll love following the continuing story of Sergeant Frank Hardy and Mette Jensen.
