Books by Donna Fletcher Crow:
Mystery |
Historical Fiction |
Romance |
Childrens |
Non-Fiction
Mystery Series
The Monastery Murders Clerical Mysteries
Book 1: A Very Private Grave
Felicity Howard, a young American studying for the Anglican priesthood at the College of the Transfiguration in Yorkshire, is devastated when she finds her beloved Father Dominic bludgeoned to death and Father Antony, her church history lecturer, soaked in his blood.
A Very Private Grave is a contemporary novel with a thoroughly modern heroine who must learn some ancient truths in order to solve the mystery and save her own life as she and Father Antony flee a murderer and follow clues that take them to out-of-the way sites in northern England and southern Scotland. The narrative skillfully mixes detection, intellectual puzzles, spiritual aspiration, romance, and the solving of clues ancient and modern.
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"With a bludgeoned body in Chapter 1, and a pair of intrepid amateur sleuths, A Very Private Grave qualifies as a traditional mystery. But this is no mere formulaic whodunit: it is a Knickerbocker Glory of a thriller. At its centre is a sweeping, page-turning quest -- in the steps of St. Cuthbert -- through the atmospherically-depicted North of England, served up with dollops of Church history and lashings of romance. In this novel, Donna Fletcher Crow has created her own niche within the genre of clerical mysteries."
--Kate Charles, author of Deep Waters
"A compelling thriller, as well as a masterful mystery, the mental gymnastics will have you breathlessly soaking in British and church history as you
puzzle through a satisfying spiritual adventure with romantic, quirky characters. Anglophiles and history buffs will love it."
--Church Libraries Journal
"If I could give this book 6 stars ****** I would. I just couldn't put it down, it was fast paced, I learned lots of church and English history, and I
liked the characters. I can't wait for the next Monastery Murder to be published."
--Linda from Brisbane, Australia on GoodReads
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Book 2: A Darkly Hidden Truth
Felicity can't possibly help Father Antony find the valuable missing icon. She's off to become a nun. And then her impossible mother turns up unexpectedly. And a good friend turns up murdered...
Breathtaking chase scenes, mystical worship services, dashes through remote water-logged landscapes, the wisdom of ancient holy women, and the arcane rites of The Knights Hospitaller keep the pages turning. Will Felicity choose the veil - or Antony?
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"With this book, Crow establishes herself as the leading practitioner of modern mystery entwined with historical fiction. An updated and edgy version
of Barbara Pym. Weaves ancient puzzles and modern murder with a savvy but sometimes unwary protagonist into a seamless story. You won't need a
bookmark - you'll read it in a single sitting."
--Mike Orenduff, 2011 Lefty Award Winner, The Pot Thief Who Studied Einstein
"In A Darkly Hidden Truth, Donna Fletcher Crow creates a world in which the events of past centuries echo down present-day hallways-a world in which
saintliness and devotion compete with the noise of traffic, a world in which a thoroughly 21st-century young woman can be drawn to the timeless and
luminous peace of the convent - and then, on the surface of this world, she engraves murder, violence, and theft. I came away from the book feeling as
though I'd been someplace both ancient and new, and had learned a great deal there. Donna Fletcher Crow gives us, in three extremely persuasive
dimensions, the world that Dan Brown merely sketches."
--Timothy Hallinan, The Queen of Patpong, Edgar-nominated Best Novel, 2011
Check out the Research Album for A Darkly Hidden Truth!
The Lord Danvers Series Victorian True Crime
A Most Inconvenient Death 
Lord Charles Danvers, still in mourning for his lost love Charlotte, hopes to find escape from his ghosts at the country estate of his oldest friend Sir John Boileau. The events surrounding the coming of age of Sir John's son and heir have most of Norfolk astir--until the peace of an autumn evening is shattered by a brutal murder.
The police are quick to point to a quarrelsome farmer but Lord Danvers has his doubts. As the local magistrate, Sir John has an interest in the investigation. But is the real connection much closer to home? And does Danvers owe the greater loyalty to an old friend or to the truth?
Then Danvers is even more unsettled by the entrance of the alluring Lady Antonia Hoover.
First in the Lord Danvers Mysteries, this a Victorian true crime novel. The Stanfield Hall Murders were the sensation they are portrayed to be, the elaborate coming of age celebrations and the ensuing dramatic trial are all recorded history. Lord Charles Danvers, his irrepressible man Hardy and the charming Lady Antonia and their pioneering aeronautical adventures are the novelist's contribution.
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Grave Matters
It's the event of the century. All London has turned out for the grand opening of the Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace, including Prince Albert and Queen Victoria herself. How is it possible, then, that a tartan-wrapped corpse could have been intruded into the elegant display being examined by Lord Danvers and Lady Antonia Hoover only two days before their wedding? Hoping to escape such gruesome doings the newlyweds fly off in a hot air balloon to honeymoon in Edinburgh. Antonia is longing for the comfort of their friend's country manor, but tempestuous winds blow them off course to the Outer Hebrides. While back in Edinburgh murder stalks the streets.
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To Dust You Shall Return
Lady Antonia has a secret. Three years have passed since her marriage to Charles, Lord Danvers, and Tonia's secret is haunting her. She fears Charles will soon be asking a lot of questions-questions she's afraid to answer. Was she right to keep the truth from Charles?
With her own guilt weighing heavily on her mind, Antonia and Charles stumble upon the murder of the frail, elderly Catherine Bacon. Though the slaying is blamed on a traveling "dustman," Danvers begins to track clues to the mysterious death through the streets of Victorian Canterbury.
Antonia, trying to shake her own despair, absorbs herself with a favorite hobbyÑ antique shopping. What she discovers in one of the shops leads to a shocking revelation and a breathtaking chase across the rooftop of Canterbury Cathedral.
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Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries Romantic Suspense
The Shadow of Reality
The Shadow of Reality is based on a murder weekend my husband and I attended in the Hudson River Valley in New York and uses my love of the work of Dorothy L. Sayers as a background:
The setting was all her fantasies come true: an elegant English manor house in the 1930's. The man was even more than she had dreamed: Sir Gavin Kendall- sophisticated, brilliant, rich and captivated by her.
Will Elizabeth's lifelong dreams become reality or will she fall prey to the vicious murderer lurking in the shadows at an exotic mystery weekend high in the Rockies? Will Elizabeth discover the narrow line between fantasy and reality in time to achieve her dreams?
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"In The Shadow of Reality, Donna Fletcher Crow engages the reader with a lively dialogue between the two protagonists, Elizabeth and Richard, as they participate in a murder mystery vacation week at a resort in the Rockies. When reality blurs with fiction, the reader is taken behind the scenes into a
darker drama that Elizabeth is drawn into and compelled to solve at her own peril. The characters are well developed and the action flows at a rapid
pace that makes it impossible to put the book down. It is a thoroughly satisfying read and an intriguing idea to mix the roles of actor and audience,
a complex dance of relationships that keeps the reader wondering what is true and who is real."
--Bestselling author Gwyneth Bledsoe, Death Before Breakfast
A Midsummer Eve's Nightmare
Elizabeth and Richard want nothing more than a quiet, romantic honeymoon-with a touch of literary charm. So they have chosen the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon. Perfection. Until they find that Desdemona's brilliantly acted death scene wasn't acted and Elizabeth's costume designer sister and her actress roommate are terrified that they are slated to be the next victims.
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"In Midsummer Eve's Nightmare, Donna Fletcher Crow delivers many entrancing moments and plenty of suspense. Newly-weds Elizabeth and Richard Spencer take a second honeymoon in Ashland, Oregon. Why? Like the author, they're experts on Shakespeare and his plays, and the Ashland Shakespeare Festival, featuring a replica of an Elizabethan theater, is located there. As an added bonus, Elizabeth's younger sister, Victoria, designs the costumes for the plays. But soon after their arrival, the couple encounters a series of sinister events. And a murder.
Crow provides plenty of suspects in her twisty murder plot, and the killer's identity remains a mystery until the very end. Crow's descriptions of
the Elizabethan theater, the period music, and, especially, Shakespeare's plays, are delightful. If you love Shakespeare and want an insider's look at
the theater world, this book is for you.
--Susan Fleet, author of Absolution, 2009 Best Suspense-Thriller, Premier Book Awards
More books by Donna Fletcher Crow: Mystery Series | Historical Fiction | Romance | Childrens | Non-Fiction