Cora Harrison – författare

The Reverend Mother receives a decidedly gruesome gift in this compelling Irish historical mystery. Ireland. 1925. Like all who seek charitable contributions, Reverend Mother Aquinas is used to being gifted some fairly dubious items. But nothing like this. On opening the evil-smelling trunk, labelled 'old books', the Reverend Mother is horrified to discover it contains the dead body of one of Cork's richest merchants, wrapped in decomposing animal hides.Many had reason to loathe the hides and skins merchant: his rebellious, republican son; his frustrated, clever daughter; his neighbours; his business rivals; and those whose unbaptised babies were buried on the site of his new tanning yard. But when suspicion falls on a former lay sister from her convent, the Reverend Mother decides she must help find the real killer.

When an exhibition featuring London's top engineers results in sudden, violent death, Victorian writer-sleuths Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens investigate."Victorian whodunits don't get much better than this" - Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewMarch, 1859. After the 'Great Stink' of the previous summer when Parliament was overwhelmed by the stench of sewage from the River Thames, and with cholera running rife throughout the city, Charles Dickens has a new enthusiasm. Having formed a firm friendship with Joseph Bazalgette, he is assisting the ambitious young engineer in his efforts to find a solution to London's pollution problem. Dickens' friend and fellow writer Wilkie Collins meanwhile is distracted by thoughts of his pretty new housekeeper and her charming daughter. But what does he really know of his new employee's past - and just who - or what - is making her so frightened?During an exhibition to showcase London's top engineers' plans to solve the sewage issue, proceedings are disrupted by a high-pitched, agonised scream - and the discovery of a blood-soaked body; the result - it would appear - of a terrible accident. Dickens, however, is convinced of foul play, and once again he and Wilkie Collins set about uncovering the shocking truth.

The Reverend Mother's investigative skills are called into action again when one of her young pupils is found murdered at St Fin Barre's Cathedral."This series ranks near the top among mysteries with a religious lead" -Publishers Weekly Starred Review1920s. Cork, Ireland. The Reverend Mother's Christmas Day festivities are shattered when the protestant bishop of Cork arrives at the convent with terrible news: one of the Reverend Mother's pupils, the troublesome seven-year-old Edna O'Sullivan, has been found murdered in St Fin Barre's Cathedral. Furthermore, the cathedral's archdeacon, Dr Hearn, is also dead after succumbing to a suspected heart attack in the middle of a service.When it is revealed that both Edna and the archdeacon were poisoned, the Reverend Mother is drawn into another puzzling mystery. Was the boy used as part of an elaborate plot to murder the archdeacon? And if so, why was he willing to risk his life to do so? As she investigates, the Reverend Mother makes a series of disturbing and intriguing discoveries. Can she uncover the truth behind these heinous crimes?

June, 1510: the Burren, west coast of IrelandKing Turlough has departed to do battle against the Earl of Kildare when Mara goes into labour, unexpectedly early. She sends for Malachy the physician, but he does not arrive - only his estranged daughter, Nuala, comes to her aid. After the birth of a healthy son, Mara quickly regains strength, and then Nuala tells her the news: Malachy has been found dead, poisoned by one of his own medicines. Malachy's new wife and her two sons stand to profit from his death, and Nuala herself is also a suspect in Mara's eyes. However, Mara soon discovers that there are many others who bear Malachy a grudge - he was not a good physician and had made many errors in diagnosis and treatment. Mara and her scholars have their work cut out for them, if they are to find the murderer before the King returns to the Burren ...

Introducing Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins as an unusual detective duo in the first of a brand-new Victorian mystery series.When Inspector Field shows his friend Charles Dickens the body of a young woman dragged from the River Thames, he cannot have foreseen that the famous author would immediately recognize the victim as Isabella Gordon, a housemaid he had tried to help through his charity. Nor that Dickens and his fellow writer Wilkie Collins would determine to find out who killed her. Who was Isabella blackmailing, and why? Led on by fragments of a journal discovered by Isabella's friend Sesina, the two men track the murdered girl's journeys from Greenwich to Snow Hill, from Smithfield Market to St Bartholomews, and put their wits to work on uncovering her past.But what does Sesina know that she's choosing not to tell them? And is she doomed to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate Isabella .?

"Harrison's seventh Reverend Mother whodunit stands out as her trickiest yet . Fans of historical puzzle mysteries will be delighted" - Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewMoney is the root of all evil, according to the Reverend Mother - but is it the motive for her cousin's murder?Wealthy widow Charlotte Hendrick had always promised that her riches would be divided equally between her seven closest relatives when she died. Now she has changed her mind and summoned her nearest and dearest, including her cousin, the Reverend Mother, to her substantial home on Bachelor's Quay to inform them of her decision. As Mrs Hendrick's relatives desperately make their case to retain a share of her wealth, riots break out on the quays outside as the flood waters rise ...The following morning, a body is discovered in the master bedroom, its throat cut. Could there be a connection to the riots of the night before - or does the killer lie closer to home? In her efforts to uncover the truth, the Reverend Mother unearths a tale of greed, cruelty, forbidden passion ... and cold-blooded malice.

The peaceful atmosphere of the Reverend Mother's annual retreat is shattered by sudden, violent death in this gripping historical mystery. 1920s. Cork, Ireland. The Reverend Mother regrets the bishop's decision to invite the five candidates for the position of Alderman of the City Council to join them for their annual retreat. Constantly accosted by ambitious, would-be politicians hoping to secure the bishop's backing, she's finding the week-long sojourn at the convent of the Sisters of Charity anything but peaceful. What she doesn't expect to encounter however is sudden, violent death.When a body is discovered in the convent's apple orchard cemetery, blown to pieces by a makeshift bomb, it is assumed the IRA are responsible. But does the killer lie closer to home? Was one of the candidates so desperate to win the election they turned to murder? Does someone have a hidden agenda? Once again, the Reverend Mother must call on her renowned investigative skills to unearth the shocking truth.

When an exhibition featuring London's top engineers results in sudden, violent death, Victorian writer-sleuths Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens investigate."Victorian whodunits don't get much better than this" - Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewMarch, 1859. After the 'Great Stink' of the previous summer when Parliament was overwhelmed by the stench of sewage from the River Thames, and with cholera running rife throughout the city, Charles Dickens has a new enthusiasm. Having formed a firm friendship with Joseph Bazalgette, he is assisting the ambitious young engineer in his efforts to find a solution to London's pollution problem. Dickens' friend and fellow writer Wilkie Collins meanwhile is distracted by thoughts of his pretty new housekeeper and her charming daughter. But what does he really know of his new employee's past - and just who - or what - is making her so frightened?During an exhibition to showcase London's top engineers' plans to solve the sewage issue, proceedings are disrupted by a high-pitched, agonised scream - and the discovery of a blood-soaked body; the result - it would appear - of a terrible accident. Dickens, however, is convinced of foul play, and once again he and Wilkie Collins set about uncovering the shocking truth.