Books like 'Instruments of Darkness'
Readers who enjoyed Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical mystery horror thriller historical-fiction crime suspense gothic industrial-era georgian
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St. Benet's by David Blake
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA girl thrown from a church tower, a man sacrificed to Satan, and a priest murdered at the hands of the Devil. When the body of an old man is found lying in the ruins of St Benet’s Abbey, his throat cut, a knife resting in his open hand, DI John Tanner and DC Jenny Evans are given no choice but to accept a ruling of death by misadventure... -
Goodnight Lady by Martina Cole
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsA tour-de-force thriller of corruption and violence.In the sixties, Briony Cavanagh ran a string of the most notorious brothels in London. Only Briony knew what went on behind those doors, and she never opened her mouth - unless she stood to benefit. Only Briony knew the painful road she'd travelled to get there...Categorized as:
crime female-mc historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
Becoming the Dark Prince by Kerri Maniscalco
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn this irresistibly-priced short story, catch a glimpse of the inner struggles and triumphs that drive Stalking Jack the Ripper's endearing but troubled hero. Enigmatic, brooding, and darkly handsome, Thomas Cresswell has always been the one mystery Audrey Rose has never been able to fully solve. As brilliant partners in crime investigation, they understand each other perfectly..Categorized as:
crime female-mc gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement victorian 19th-century -
The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures by Mike Ashley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe biggest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle laid down his pen - nearly 200,000 words of superb fiction featuring the Great Detective by masters of historical crime, including Stephen Baxter, H. R. F. Keating, Michael Moorcock and Amy Myers. Almost all the stories here are specially written; the cases presented in the order in which Holmes solved them... -
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The Devil's Den by Irina Shapiro
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn 1540, newly married and pregnant Isobel Devlin vanished from a tiny island in Lancashire, never to be seen again.In 2020, leaving London for the first time since the pandemic began, Nicole Rayburn and Kyle Walsh head to a guesthouse in the Lake District for a much-needed holiday...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era victorian gothic suspense mystery historical fiction -
The Attic on Queen Street by Karen White
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsReturn to the house on Tradd Street for one last time as the bestselling series featuring psychic medium Melanie Trenholm comes to a hauntingly spectacular finale.After the devastating events of the past few months, the last thing Melanie Trenholm wants is to think about the future... -
Angels and Demons / The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #1-2) by Dan Brown
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 42 ratingsEnter the labyrinthine world of internationally bestselling author Dan Brown with his first two spellbinding thrillers featuring Robert Langdon:Angels and DemonsWhen a groundbreaking scientist is found brutally murdered, world renowned Harvard professor Robert Langdon is summoned to identify the mysterious symbol seared on to the dead man's chest...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult audiobook -
King Stakh’s Wild Hunt by Uladzimir Karatkevich
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsKing Stakh's Wild Hunt tells the tale of Andrey Belaretsky, a young folklorist who finds himself stranded by a storm in the castle of Marsh Firs, the seat of the fading aristocratic Yanovsky family. Offered refuge by Nadzeya, the last in the Yanovskys’ line, he learns of the family curse and terrible apparitions that portend her early death and trap her in permanent, maddening fear...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense 20th-century action-adventure adult -
The Loch of the Dead by Oscar de Muriel
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA CASE FOR FREY & McGRAY The Scottish Highlands, 1889. When a young heir receives a sinister death threat, Inspectors Frey and 'Nine-Nails' McGray answer a desperate plea to offer him protection.The detectives travel north to the remote and misty Loch Maree, site of an ancient burial ground. They must stay with the mysterious Koloman family - any one of whom might be a suspect...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement victorian thriller adult -
When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAfter narrowly escaping from Rome, Lady Victoria Gardella returns to London, where not even sunrise can stop a vampire's carnage...Ruining Victoria's homecoming, a vampire stalks the streets of London--during the daylight. Not only is Victoria unable to detect the vampire with her heightened senses, but she's being framed as the prime suspect behind the killings...Categorized as:
alpha-mc female-mc gothic historical-fiction industrial-era regency suspense victorian -
The Caretakers by Eliza Maxwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn the isolated estate she’s found the perfect getaway. But there’s no escaping the past in this chilling novel from the bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl. Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended.She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed... -
The Dance of the Serpents by Oscar de Muriel
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratings'Properly creepy and Gothic' IAN RANKIN on the Frey & McGray mysteries... December, 1889. There have been many bad days in Edinburgh police's secret subdivision 'The Commission for the Elucidation of Unsolved Cases Presumably Related to the Odd and Ghostly'. But today is surely the worst... -
Lost in Darkness by Michelle Griep
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsEven if there be monsters, there is none so fierce as that which resides in man’s own heart.Enchanting Regency-Era Gothic Romance Intertwined with Inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Travel writer Amelia Balfour’s dream of touring Egypt is halted when she receives news of a revolutionary new surgery for her grotesquely disfigured brother. This could change everything, and it does. . -
Judgment of The Witch by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter a decade, New York Times bestselling author Robert McCammon returns with an epic novel of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time.... The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe their town is cursed by a witch... -
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The Darker Arts by Oscar de Muriel
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMadame Katerina, Detective 'Nine Nails' McGray's most trusted clairvoyant, hosts a séance for three of Edinburgh's wealthiest families.The following morning everyone is found dead, with Madame Katerina being the only survivor. When questioned she alleges a tormented spirit killed the families for revenge...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement victorian thriller adult audiobook -
Evil Unveiled by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"New York Times" bestselling author Robert McCammon continues his triumphant return with the conclusion of an epic tale of suspense that reinstates him as one of the great storytellers of our time....The Carolinas, 1699: After hearing damning testimony from the townspeople of Fount Royal, magistrate Isaac Woodward sentences the accused witch, Rachel Howarth, to death by burning... -
The Spinster's Fortune by Mary Kendall
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsMoonlit alleys, shadowy tunnels, and buried secrets…Summer of 1929.Of supposed unsound mind without a penny to her name, Blanche Magruder lies alone in a home for the aged and infirm.Meanwhile, her house, a crumbled ruin in the heart of Georgetown, Washington, D.C., is pillaged nightly by thieves looking for treasure rumored to be hidden there... -
Ghostly Murders by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsPilgrim Poor Parson tells the tale of Brothers Philip and Edmund, who are appointed priests of the small Kentish village of Scawsby, where they quickly decide to build a new church and graveyard for the town. When the two relocate the graves to the new site, some coffins are uncovered empty and others with the remains of townsfolk buried alive... -
Sherlock Holmes & the Ripper of Whitechapel by M.K. Wiseman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsI am afraid that I, Sherlock Holmes, must act as my own chronicler in this singular case, that of the Whitechapel murders of 1888. For the way in which the affair was dropped upon my doorstep left me with little choice as to the contrary. Not twelve months prior, the siren’s call of quiet domesticity and married life had robbed me of Watson’s assistance as both partner and recorder of my cases...Categorized as:
historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller crime industrial-era gothic mystery -
An Ancient Evil by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn Ancient Evil inaugurates an ingenious new series of historical mysteries by P. C. Doherty, each one using characters from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. In Chaucer's poem, the pilgrims narrate tales to pass the time during their journey to the sacred shrine of Canterbury; Doherty's pilgrims entertain their companions with stories of mystery, terror, and murder... -
The River of Souls by Robert McCammon
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe year is 1703. The place: the Carolina settlement of Charles Town. . Matthew Corbett, professional “problem solver,” has accepted a lucrative, if unusual, commission: escorting a beautiful woman to a fancy dress ball.What should be a pleasant assignment takes a darker turn when Matthew becomes involved in a murder investigation...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction law-enforcement suspense thriller action-adventure adult -
The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsScotland Yard’s Murder Squad—and Jack the Ripper—return, in the extraordinary new historical thriller from the author of the acclaimed national bestseller The Yard. In The Devil’s Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the city—and Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—into chaos. But now it is even worse...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement suspense victorian thriller -
The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMarch 1895. London. A month of strange happenings in the West End. First there is the bizarre murder of theater critic Jonathan McCarthy. Then the lawsuit against the Marquess of Queensberry for libel; the public is scandalized. Next, the ingenue at the Savoy is discovered with her throat slashed. And a police surgeon disappears, taking two corpses with him... -
Inspector of the Dead by David Morrell
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLEGENDARY THRILLER WRITER DAVID MORRELL TRANSPORTS READERS TO THE FOGBOUND STREETS OF LONDON, WHERE A KILLER PLOTS TO ASSASSINATE QUEEN VICTORIA.The year is 1855. The Crimean War is raging. The incompetence of British commanders causes the fall of the English government. The Empire teeters...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement suspense victorian thriller -
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Estudio en escarlata/El sabueso de los Baskerville by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLa popularidad de Sherlock Holmes ha sido inmensa e incesante... si muchos le parodiaron (a Conan Doyle) casi todos los escritores posteriores han moldeado sus héroes conforme a uno de los poliédricos aspectos del gran Sherlock. Este dejó de ser un personaje literario, se convirtió en una criatura viviente y borró la memoria de su creador...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement suspense victorian action-adventure adult -
Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes by Charles Prepolec, Kim Newman
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe fabled tin dispatch box of Dr. John H. Watson opens to reveal eleven all new tales of mystery and dark fantasy. Sherlock Holmes, master of deductive reasoning, confronts the irrational, the unexpected and the fantastic in the weird worlds of the Gaslight Grimoire...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement suspense victorian action-adventure adult -
A Mask of Shadows by Oscar de Muriel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIdols of the theatre Henry Irving and Ellen Terry are preparing to stage Macbeth in Edinburgh. But long before the actors hit the boards the play-house is hit with horror; the piercing, desolate wail of a banshee and a bloody message smeared on the street.Legendary Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray and disgraced London sceptic Inspector Ian Frey are to investigate...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement victorian thriller adult -
A Golden Grave by Erin Lindsey
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThe follow-up to Murder on Millionaires' Row, Erin Lindsey's second historical mystery follows Rose Gallagher as she tracks a killer with shocking abilities through Gilded Age Manhattan. Rose Gallagher always dreamed of finding adventure, so her new life as a freshly-minted Pinkerton agent ought to be everything she ever wanted... -
The Daemoniac by Kat Ross
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt's August of 1888, just three weeks before Jack the Ripper will begin his grisly spree in the London slum of Whitechapel, and another serial murderer is stalking the gas-lit streets of New York... -
Butterflies by K.J. Charles
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJournalist Robert Caldwell is still smarting from his first encounter with ghost-hunter Simon Feximal. Their night in a haunted house was thrilling, but the aftermath leaves Robert hurt, disappointed, and resolved not to see Simon again.But just a few days later their paths cross once more, this time investigating a pair of mysterious deaths: two corpses shrouded in butterflies...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement regency suspense victorian -
Resurrectionist by James McGee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood brings his own form of justice to the salons and slums of Regency London in the gripping sequel to 'Ratcatcher'. For the body snatchers, death is a lucrative business. But it's the corpse they leave behind, horribly mutilated and nailed to a tree, which sets Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood on their trail...Categorized as:
crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement regency thriller action-adventure adult -
Who's Sorry Now? by Maggie Robinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsLondon, England 1925 A Russian prince. A wealthy heir. An impoverished earl's daughter. Which one will make an untimely exit from the London social scene? Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter finds himself in the middle of a series of upper-class deaths in London...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime female-mc historical-fiction law-enforcement 20th-century adult -
Entwined by Lynda La Plante
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNo matter how cruelly twins are separated, their lives will always be entwined.In the newly liberated streets of modern Berlin two women, a pampered, beautiful Baroness, losing control of her mind, and a fearless wild animal trainer, facing the greatest challenge of her career, are drawn together by a series of tragic and extraordinary coincidences... -
Her Sister's Death by K.L. Murphy
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsShe wanted the truth. She should have known better.When her sister is found dead in a Baltimore hotel room, reporter Val Ritter’s world is turned upside down. What’s worse—an empty pill bottle at the scene leads the police to believe the cause of death is suicide. With little more than her own conviction, Val teams up with a retired detective who has his own personal interest in the case... -
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The Candle Man by Alex Scarrow
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLocked in an eerily quiet room on the Titanic, a dying man tells a young girl his life story as the ship begins to sink. It all starts in Whitechapel, London in 1888, as the Ripper murders began... -
The Burial Plot by Elizabeth Macneal
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory, The Burial Plot is an unstoppable historical thriller about murder, manipulation, and a young woman trying to wrestle power from the hands of a dangerous man. But he’s always one step ahead . . .London, 1839...Categorized as:
historical-fiction gothic industrial-era victorian suspense crime historical fiction -
The Specimen by Jaima Fixsen
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWalk carefully, lest you become a part of Dr. Burnett's collection…1826. Isobel Tait finds herself, by chance, staring at a tiny human heart floating in a jar. It should be of little consequence; Dr. Burnett is renowned for his collection of oddities and medical specimens, and this, a juvenile heart with a damaged mitral valve, is not the strangest thing on display... -
The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER, "A captivating mystery: beautifully written, with a rich sense of place, a cast of memorable characters, and lots of deep, dark secrets."--Kate Morton, New York Times bestselling author of The Clockmaker's Daughter "Extraordinary...Absolutely her best yet."--Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author of The Family Upstairs Three generations... -
The Haunting by Paul Doherty
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn October 1866, Father Oliver Grafield is brought from his parish work for an interview with Archbishop Manning of Westminster. Oliver is a hard-working, committed priest, and he has one gift - that of the exorcism of 'divining spirits'...Categorized as:
gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement victorian adult book fiction -
The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAriana Franklin combines the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of historical fiction in the enthralling second novel in the Mistress of the Art of Death series, featuring medieval heroine Adelia Aguilar. Rosamund Clifford, the mistress of King Henry II, has died an agonizing death by poison - and the king's estranged queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, is the prime suspect... -
Ruler of the Night by David Morrell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThomas De Quincey is beginning to control his opium addiction when the excitement of his current case threatens to unravel his grip on reality once and for all. On their way home to the Lake District, the De Quinceys become unwitting witnesses to a truly historic murder: the first to take place on one of England's newly constructed railways...Categorized as:
historical-fiction industrial-era victorian crime law-enforcement gothic suspense thriller -
The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhile on routine patrol in the tinder-dry Topanga Canyon, environmental scientist Rafael Salazar expects to find animal poachers, not a dilapidated antique steamer trunk. Inside the peculiar case, he discovers a journal, written by the renowned Robert Louis Stevenson, which divulges ominous particulars about his creation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde...Categorized as:
crime gothic historical-fiction industrial-era suspense victorian thriller action-adventure -
Cut to the Quick by Kate Ross
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTHERE'S A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN IN JULIAN KESTREL'S BED. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE'S DEAD.Add the unflappable Julian Kestrel to the ranks of great sleuths of ages past. He's the very model of a proper Beau Brummell--except for his unusual willingness to plunge headlong into murder investigations...Categorized as:
cozy crime georgian historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement regency victorian -
What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsIt’s 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III’s England. Then the body of a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol discovered at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man: Sebastian St...Categorized as:
amateur-sleuth cozy crime georgian gothic historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement -
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Crippen by John Boyne
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJuly 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden.Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr... -
Satan in St Mary's by Paul Doherty
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratings1284 and Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of Evesham in 1258...Categorized as:
cozy crime historical-fiction industrial-era law-enforcement suspense thriller adult -
Haunting Jordan by P.J. Alderman
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRITA-nominated author P. J. Alderman weaves present-day supernatural sleuthery with nineteenth-century intrigue in the first book of an enchanting new mystery series set in picturesque Port Chatham, Washington.Jordan Marsh left L.A. for the quaint Pacific Northwest town of Port Chatham in pursuit of some much-needed R & R... -
Philomel Cottage: An Agatha Christie Short Story by Agatha Christie
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA classic Agatha Christie short story, available individually for the first time on audio.Recently swept off her feet, after a week of courting, the newly married Alix Martin is a woman obsessed by a reoccurring dream of her new husband’s murder. Each time she can see the murderer clearly and it is the mild mannered man she had almost married wreaking his revenge... -
King Con: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsWhen it comes to creating unforgettable criminal characters, nobody does it better than Emmy Award winner Stephen J. Cannell, the force behind such acclaimed TV hits as "The Rockford Files," "The Commish," "Wiseguy," and "The A-Team." Now come Cannell's most engaging characters yet—a spirited assortment of clever con artists.King Con vs... -
The London Séance Society by Sarah Penner
Rated: 3.91 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsMay mercy be upon the man who finds himself the enemy of a vengeful medium…1873. At an abandoned château on the outskirts of Paris, a dark séance is about to take place, led by acclaimed spiritualist Vaudeline D’Allaire...
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