Charles & Mélanie Fraser Series by Tracy Grant

In the glittering world of Regency London, where gossip is exchanged—and reputations ruined—with the tilt of a fan, Mélanie Fraser is the perfect wife. Devoted to her husband, Charles, the grandson of a duke, she is acknowledged as society's most charming hostess. But just as the elegant façade of Regency London hides a dark side, Mélanie is not what she seems. She has a secret: one that could destroy her perfect jewel-box life forever . . moreIn the glittering world of Regency London, where gossip is exchanged—and reputations ruined—with the tilt of a fan, Mélanie Fraser is the perfect wife. Devoted to her husband, Charles, the grandson of a duke, she is acknowledged as society's most charming hostess. But just as the elegant façade of Regency London hides a dark side, Mélanie is not what she seems. She has a secret: one that could destroy her perfect jewel-box life forever . . . and the cost to keep it is an exquisite heirloom ring surrounded by legend and power. The search for it will pull Mélanie and Charles into a gritty underworld of gin-soaked brothels, elegant gaming halls, and debtors' prisons. In this maze of intrigue, deception is second nature and betrayal can come far too easily . . . less

Tracy Grant made a stunning debut with Daughter of the Game, a suspenseful novel that lifted the curtain on the glittering world of Regency London, revealing a maze of intrigue and scandal, and introduced Charles and Mélanie Fraser -- a fascinating couple whose private lives are at odds with their public image. Now Grant returns with a sweeping new novel that explores the Frasers' partnership in adventure. London, 1817: Under the cover of darkness, a cloaked stranger steals into the city... moreTracy Grant made a stunning debut with Daughter of the Game, a suspenseful novel that lifted the curtain on the glittering world of Regency London, revealing a maze of intrigue and scandal, and introduced Charles and Mélanie Fraser -- a fascinating couple whose private lives are at odds with their public image. Now Grant returns with a sweeping new novel that explores the Frasers' partnership in adventure. London, 1817: Under the cover of darkness, a cloaked stranger steals into the city. He has a job to do: a task that began in a shadowy past. It is going to be difficult. But then murder always is....On that same evening, London's beau monde is celebrating amid the splendor that is Glenister House. The Napoleonic Wars are finally at an end, and Mélanie and Charles Fraser, one of society's most intriguing couples, have traded the moment -to -moment dangers of war for the elegance of the British aristocracy. Mélanie, a war bride, is an amateur on these civilized battlefields, where age-old alliances intertwine like melodies in a Mozart opera and carnality pulses just beneath a veneer with the sugar-coated beauty of a Fragonard painting. Charles, a diplomat and intelligence agent during the war, is now a fast-rising Member of Parliament. He seems completely at ease in the world to which he was born, but Mélanie feels her husband has become a polite stranger. Enter Honoria Talbot, the woman everyone expected Charles to marry. She would have made him a perfect wife -- as polished as sterling, as cool as marble.... On this evening the party assembled at Glenister House hears a shocking announcement: Honoria is indeed marrying a Fraser, but it's not Charles -- it's Charles's father. This, however, is not the only stunning revelation of the evening. Beneath the glow of a silent moon, a hooded woman smuggles Charles and Mélanie a message from a former compatriot -- meet him tomorrow night at the terrace overlooking the river, off Somerset Place. At twelve o'clock.... The Frasers are swept back into their life of intrigue. Their investigation takes them from a crumbling Thames-side terrace to Charles's ancestral estate on the coast of Scotland . . . and it touches not only Charles's ruthless father and tormented sister, but also the seemingly perfect Honoria. They follow a trail of clues that leads back to the French Revolution and an underground organization called the Elsinore League. The stakes in this game are high: the lives of those Charles holds most dear and the trust of the woman with whom he shares his life. For the web of lies he and Mélanie discover spans generations and threatens the fate of nations. And the truth is a deadly weapon that can lead to scandal, tragedy ... and murder. less

A glittering ball, a whisper of intrigue and a couple with secrets... Regency London's most glamorous couple, Mélanie and Charles Fraser, have hidden their pasts from aristocratic society - and each other - to become the envy of the ton. But, when attending a Twelfth night masquerade, a mysterious masked man is found stabbed to the heart; and all their misdeeds and secrets may be dragged into full, merciless light... moreA glittering ball, a whisper of intrigue and a couple with secrets... Regency London's most glamorous couple, Mélanie and Charles Fraser, have hidden their pasts from aristocratic society - and each other - to become the envy of the ton. But, when attending a Twelfth night masquerade, a mysterious masked man is found stabbed to the heart; and all their misdeeds and secrets may be dragged into full, merciless light. Mélanie's previous ties to the Empress Josephine - including a promise to her desperate daughter, Queen Hortense, and Charles's secret work for the British government - thrust them both into the search for the killer, taking them from Seven Dials to Mayfair, from viperous thieves' dens to candlelit ballrooms, where the glitter of diamonds can mask the gleam of the knife... less