One duchess. One part-time spy. One German Shepherd who keeps digging up murder.

Roger is a German Shepherd with a traumatic past, a devoted heart, and a talent for digging up exactly the wrong thing at exactly the right moment. In this mystery series, that talent solves murders.

Roger belongs to Nell Ainsworth, 9th Duchess of Belward, who never expected to inherit a title, let alone a vast Cornish estate.

Nell is rich, entitled, and does exactly what she wants. What she wants, it turns out, is to solve mysteries. Rounding out the household is Henry, her valet, an MI5 officer who now manages her finances, her crises, and his own feelings about her, in roughly that order of success.

Together this unlikely trio takes on blackmailers, buried treasure, vanishing musicians, and the occasional ghost, all while Nell and Henry pretend they are not engaged to be married in three years. They are. They agreed not to discuss it. They discuss it constantly.

The Nell Ainsworth mysteries are a sparkling blend of golden-age puzzle and screwball romance: Agatha Christie’s plotting with a modern, madcap soul. Each book stands alone, but the secrets of Ainsworth Manor run deep, and the Duchess intends to dig up every last one of them. Sometimes literally. Usually in a storm. Roger helps.

Perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Rhys Bowen, and anyone who loves dog mysteries, witty heroines, and country house crime with heart.

When violinist Sebastian Vane abandons a sold-out Royal Albert Hall performance thirty-eight bars in, and walks off with a twenty-million pound Stradivarius named Lady Aurelia, London society calls it a celebrity breakdown. Nell Ainsworth, ninth Duchess of Belward, calls it a plot hole. The only one who is not baffled is a German Shepherd named Roger, who is technically not supposed to be there.

Then Nell receives a series of beautifully mannered letters at her own front door—each one more polite, and less friendly, than the last. Now she and Roger must follow a mystery which began in 1698 in Cremona, Italy, through a glittering Belgravia townhouse, a Bermondsey warehouse at midnight, an exclusive bridal salon, to an Oxfordshire lunch party where the guest list includes armed men in the delphiniums.

Investigating alongside Nell, in his official capacity as her valet and his unofficial capacity as everything else, is Henry Templeton, lately reinstated to a certain building on the Thames. Between them stands an engagement scheduled for three years hence, an arrangement both parties agreed was sensible and neither believes for a minute.

The second Nell Ainsworth mystery is a sparkling blend of golden-age puzzle and screwball romance: Agatha Christie’s plotting with Nora Ephron’s nerve, for readers who like their country-house intrigue with Camorra bosses, their love stories conducted via surveillance log, and more dogs than anyone knows what to do with. Begin with The Roses of Ainsworth Manor, or start here—the door is almost always open.

Book two in the Nell Ainsworth mystery series. Available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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The trouble is, it is maddeningly hard to describe, much less bottle. It’s tempting to chalk it up to good genes or good luck, but it’s not an accident; it’s an operating system. I call it an Elegance Code.

The Elegance Code pulls back the curtain on that invisible operating system and shows readers how to build one of their own, so they can live in a crazy world with grace and poise regardless of what is going on around them.

Style books hand you a formula. This book hands you a method of thinking you can apply to any situation, in any room, for the rest of your life.

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Resistance rarely kicks the door down; it usually tiptoes in wearing fuzzy pink slippers. It starts with the tiniest move away from your work: I’ll just check my email, I should really wipe this counter, Maybe I need a different notebook for this idea. Catching that first sidestep makes it a lot easier to laugh, turn around, and head back to your art before you wake up three hours later deep in a laundry spiral.

You can even start to recognize your “signature” first moves: anything involving the word Facebook or TikTok, the urge to reorganize your junk drawer, and the powerful conviction that now is the perfect time to research Venetian plaster. Once you see them, you can say, Oh, there you are, and steer yourself back: five minutes on the project first, then we can alphabetize the spice rack.

Journal prompt: Think of the last time you meant to create but did not. What was the very first move away from your work? Write it down with humor and affection.

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Tasked by the enigmatic Marquise de Saint-Clair to recover Roxelana, a priceless Ottoman talisman necklace, Maren’s journey becomes a race between protectors of the Talisman’s legacy and ruthless rivals who will stop at nothing to seize its power. Her quest leads her onto the legendary Orient Express, where luxury conceals danger and every passenger hides secrets. Designer fashions, opulent mansions, snowy sleigh rides, and glittering ballrooms make for a novel as beautiful as it is thrilling.

A lush, atmospheric romantic suspense about legacy, reinvention, and the power of love. A richly immersive story for lovers of classic slow burn romance.

Complicating her mission is a devastatingly handsome, impossibly wealthy aristocrat tied to the Talisman’s dark history in ways he refuses to admit. As sparks fly and trust wavers, Maren must decide if he is friend or foe. Betrayal and heartbreak threaten everything, as centuries-old loyalties and ambitions place her and those she loves in the crosshairs. Woven throughout is a nuanced story of reinvention and transformation, as Maren navigates mysteries across Europe, and in her own life.

Readers looking for a romance novel with well-developed, multi-faceted characters, thought-provoking themes, and a believable, slow-burn relationship will love The Gilded Talisman.

Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Beatriz Williams, Natasha Lester, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Mary Clark, Victoria Holt, Phyllis A. Whitney, Danielle Steel, and Judith Krantz.

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The Roses of Ainsworth Manor

ROMANCE, RIDDLES AND RIFLE FIRE AWAIT IN THE ROSES OF AINSWORTH MANOR

Most women don’t receive cryptic letters in French-sealed in wax and delivered on fog-drenched Tuesday mornings, but then again, most women aren’t Nell Ainsworth, 9th Duchess of Belward: reluctant aristocrat, bestselling novelist, owner of a historic Georgian estate with gardens in genteel disrepair, and lifelong connoisseur of locked doors and unfinished stories.

The envelope was a special delivery. Now it’s on a massive silver mail tray in the Great Hall of Ainsworth Manor, wedged between a gas bill and a rather needlessly aggressive missive from the Historical Horticultural Society regarding the condition of her hedgerows. The handwriting is sharp, slanted, and is somehow watching her. It also smells faintly of tobacco and lavender-ghostly perfume from someone long dead... or very dangerous.

She didn’t open it right away.

Instead, she did what any self-respecting woman with too many Instagram followers and not enough caffeine would do: she dropped the letter on the silver tray in the entry hall, poured herself a third cup of strong French Roast, and summoned Henry with a single, imperious-and entirely unnecessary-ring of the library bell.

Henry Templeton and Roger arrived exactly forty-three seconds later, wearing an expression of long-suffering patience and mild curiosity.

I assume, my lady, this is either the beginning of a very inconvenient treasure hunt or someone has challenged you to a duel. Henry’s eyes lingered on the unopened letter. God forbid it’s both.

A SHARP, WITTY, AND HEART RACING ADVENTURE

Nell Ainsworth is not your typical noblewoman. A successful-if reclusive-romance novelist living in the ivy-clad halls of Ainsworth Manor, the Historic Georgian estate she unexpectedly inherited, along with a somber German Shepherd named Roger. Nell prefers the company of fictional rogues and literary dukes to the predictable socialites of modern-day England. But her quiet life of plotting love stories while avoiding the real thing turns upside down when a mysteriously coded letter from the continent hints at long-buried family secrets involving lost treasure, betrayal, and a
centuries-old vendetta.

Enter Henry Templeton: former MI5 desk analyst turned reluctant valet after a very public scandal cost him his career and his reputation. When the new duchess, in dire need of someone capable (and discrete), spots his quietly efficient resume in a stack of applicants for the broad position of valet, personal assistant, handyman, and occasional crisis manager, she hires him on the spot-though his loyalty comes with a healthy dose of sarcasm and an eyebrow permanently raised.

Together, they uncover a trail of cryptic clues, dating back to Napoleonic times, that sends them on a wild chase across windswept moors, shadowy libraries, and glamorous balls.

As danger circles closer, Nell must step from behind her pen and face a story far more thrilling-and threatening-than any she’s ever written. In the process, she and Henry will be forced to confront not just the secrets of Ainsworth’s past, but their own guarded hearts.

Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Rhys Bowen, Mimi Matthews, Tessa Dare, Evie Dunmore, Mary Higgins Clark, and Susanna Kearsley.

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