Camille Oster
Historical Romance, Gothics, Murder Mystery and Contemporary
The Summerfield Bride - Book Four
It was a surprise that Dory would ever need a wedding dress, but VE day wasn’t just the end of the war, it was also the start of a new chapter—a chapter that Captain Ridley proposed they start together. A proper wedding dress, at Lady Pettifer’s insistence, necessitated a visit for one of the best atelier’s in London. The day proves that not all brides are equal, and Cornelia Vellsted, the Summerfield Bride, would never wear her beautiful gown down the aisle.
A desperate plea for assistance sends young Miss Dory Sparks scrambling to reach Wallisford Hall days before the coronation of King George VI, where her Aunt Gladys works as the cook. Domestic service had never been an intended career for Dory, but a plea from family could never be ignored, even, as it turns out, when her predecessor had been murdered in the very house Dory now worked.
A stranger was blamed for the death, and Lord and Lady Wallisford and their grown children were not giving Detective Inspector Ridley from the Met an easy time to investigate alternative theories. No strangers had been seen in the district and Dory, with her position in the house, is increasingly drawn in the help.
Mischief in St. Tropez - book Two
In the bright sunshine and glorious landscapes of the Cote D’Azur, the enclave of British high society worry about the impending war. So much so that when the body of a Hungarian noble is found at Lady Tonbridge’s soiree, a haphazard investigation finds no culprit. Miss Dory Sparks, the companion to Lady Pettifer, finds herself drawn into investigating when no one else seems pay this murder its due attention.
The handsome Baron Domenik Drecsay had never been a saint and his interest in the heiresses along the coast was known by all. Miss Livinia Fellingworth had certainly been falling for his charms. Even so, Dory struggles to find a motive for his murder, and she is running out of time as the worsening situation in France threatens the decorum lives of the foreign societies along the sparkling coast.
The Gentleman on Pennifield Street - Book Three
As the German planes came, London burned. Like everyone else, Dory had a job to do, searching for the threat that came in the night sky. Night after night, she and Vera searched for the enemy, while the bombs fell on street after street. The dark and empty streets of London also concealed the worst of intentions in the rubble and chaos of a blighted city—a perfect place to hide a murder.
Death at the WI - Book Five
Dory’s new marital house in Beaconsfield is the nicest she’s ever lived in, and establishing herself in the village is helped immensely by joining the local chapter of the Women’s Institute. There’s still much to do to help England recover from the war, and the WI plans grassroots projects to improve the lives of women and children. However, the death of one of the members, Mrs. Edith Wallis, in her own yard, throws the whole group into disarray. All hope ill luck is the cause, but Dory’s eye for detail has her questioning the assumption. Before long, her fears are confirmed. The death isn’t simple misadventure—instead something much more sinister lies behind it.
Wickedness at the sanitorium - Book Six
Lady Pettifer falling ill has Dory running to the Buckingham Sanitorium, a private hospital for the well to do. However, the lady’s recovery is interrupted by the murder of a patient who is already dying. While Dory tries not to involve herself, Lady Pettifer’s curiosity is infectious. Although investigating a murder is something her husband, DI Ridley, expressly wishes she’d avoid, it serves the perfect distraction from Dory’s worries about both Lady Pettifer’s health and personal challenges within her marriage. A curious case is uncovered through the victim’s story, a Lord Billington, who was an ornery man in every way. It’s not difficult to come up with potential culprits, much harder to prove which one of them is responsible.
Rowan Pierce Mysteries
Cairo Rose - Book One
Taking on a role with the Cairo Police force places Inspector Rowan Pierce into a completely foreign environment. His first case is the murder of the beautiful young Egyptian woman found floating in the Nile, and without Captain Salid, he’d be utterly lost, with the unfamiliar customs and language, not to mention the city itself.
As the British Protectorate gives power over to the Egyptian Government, the shift is not happening as fast or as completely as some would like. The political situation in the tense city makes news and crime political in nature, especially if there are foreigners involved. Jurisdictions complicate investigations, particularly those that veering into the British class, who are used to their power and privilege protecting them.
Important people would benefit by the murder of this unfortunate young woman to be swept out of sight, but attention is too intense to bury the investigation. Friends and enemies are formed every step of the way.
Tut's Shadow - Book Two
Public interest in King Tutankhamun’s tomb grows, especially as Lord Carnarvon’s death causes spreading rumors of a curse on anyone who visits the tomb. Belief in a curse only intensifies as the body of a senior archeologist from the Department of Antiquities is found in the Valley of the Kings.
Colonel Rowan Pierce firmly believes in real and living murderers, even when a cause of death can’t readily be established for Mr. Waaiz Mohammed. It’s difficult to stem panic once it starts, and interest only intensifies as a further archaeologist is found dead in a similar fashion in the harsh and barren land away from the Nile.
Tensions are uncovered in the seemingly docile group of enthusiasts and academics involved with the archaeological dig, just as political tensions rise as the world speculates over the cause of this death, and the possibility of a curse of the ancients afflicting the living.
Red Sea Murder - Book Three
Rowan Pierce’s holiday by the Red Sea is interrupted by the death of one of the world’s wealthiest men, the prominent Reginald Levestone. While the case technically belongs to the British Police force in Cairo, he is there when the murder happens and must take charge of the scene. His presence even provides an alibi for the person with the most to gain from his death, his wife, the beautiful and aloof Ariadne Levestone.
Known as a difficult man, it seems most of the Levestone party has something to gain from his death, but none of them appear to have had the opportunity to commit the murder. Yet someone did. However, when Captain Evans of the British Police takes over, jurisdiction means Rowan is relegated to watch from the sideline—or rather, from the poolside. Although sometimes the poolside gossip is more informative about the tensions and pressures of the highest circles of society than anything gained in formal interviews.