Bøger af Cordelia Frances Biddle

SINS OF COMMISSION, the fifth novel in the Martha Beale historical mystery series. Sins of Commission conjures up nineteenth-century Philadelphia in an immersive tale of treachery, loyalty, and passion. A case of arson turns lethal, but who was the perpetrator and what was the motive? While Thomas Kelman, Martha Beale's beau, investigates the blaze, her adoptive daughter, Ella, is abducted. Then another fire destroys the home of industrialist, Darius Rause, killing his adulterous wife, Susannah. Is there a connection between the crimes? Will Martha and Kelman be able to rescue Ella, or will she also perish? The destinies of rich and poor collide in this fast-paced novel where duplicity reigns. Praise for Cordelia Frances Biddle and the Martha Beale Series: "Exceptional attention to period detail helps transport the reader to a past very unlike our own and yet so similar." - Publishers Weekly "Biddle successfully uses 19th-century Philadelphia, mining the landscape for the kinds of jewels that illuminate a good mystery, and shaping characters that ring true to the elements of their creation." - The Philadelphia Inquirer www.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com

Critics have lauded Cordelia Frances Biddle's historical series featuring heiress Martha Beale. The indomitable heroine returns in Without Fear when a decapitated corpse is discovered at Joseph Bonaparte's palatial estate near Philadelphia. A vanished wife, a former actress with an agonizing secret, and a mill worker accused of murder reveal the dark and convoluted connections between wealth and poverty, and the tenuous link between grief and joy.

The Actress takes readers to Victorian-era Philadelphia with a tale of political machinations, revenge and murder. When Becky Grey Taitt's abusive husband threatens to divorce her and keep their child, she agrees to infiltrate a gang of counterfeiters in exchange for the aid of powerful jurist, Alonzo Craig. After the judge's scheme miscarries, Becky is trapped in a lethal criminal underworld while her friend Martha Beale and Martha's beau, Thomas Kelman, struggle to rescue her. Praise for Cordelia Frances Biddle and the Martha Beale Series: "An intricately orchestrated narrative that implicates the Brahmin class and the corruption that comes with their absolute power. Biddle wonderfully evokes the color and culture of the time." Publishers Weekly"Fresh and believable. Biddle knows her manner and her city, and shows both to great advantage." Cleveland Plain Dealer "The setting is unfolded as vividly as the characters, from the "commoners" working the textile mills to the unseemly criminal types of the upper-crust elite. A fine mix of history and mystery." Booklistwww.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com

Autumn 1962 in a picture-perfect small New England college town. Mabel Gorne, who must make her own way while outrunning a past she fervently hopes to bury, arrives with a single suitcase and an unsettling secret.

The first half of the 19th century was an era of upheaval. The United States nearly lost the War of 1812. Partisanship became endemic during violent clashes regarding States'' Rights and the abolition of slavery. The battle between Andrew Jackson and Nicholas Biddle over the Second Bank of the United States epitomized a nation in turmoil: Biddle, the erudite aristocrat versus Jackson, the plain-spoken warrior. The conflict altered America''s political arena.In 1832, President Andrew Jackson vowed to kill the Central Bank, setting in motion the infamous Bank War that almost bankrupted the nation. Under Biddle''s guidance, the Second Bank of the United States had become the most stable financial institution in the world. Biddle fought Jackson with tenacity and vigor; so did members of Congress not under the sway of "Old Hickory." Jackson accused Biddle of treason; Biddle declared that the president promoted anarchy. The fight riveted the nation.  The United States is experiencing a reappearance of deep schisms within our population. They hearken back to the earliest debates about the federal government''s role regarding fiduciary responsibility and social welfare. The ideological descendants of Nicholas Biddle and Andrew Jackson are as polarized today as they were during the nineteenth century. With this book, author Cordelia Frances Biddle documents the epic fight between Nicholas Biddle and Andrew Jackson over the fate of the Second Bank of the United States, shedding new light with previously undiscovered documents while bringing the story to life in a compelling biography of political intrigue.