Anna Dean - Dido Kent (#1-4)

A Moment of Silence (Dido Kent #1)
1805. An engagement party is taking place for Mr Richard Montague, son of wealthy landowner Sir Edgar Montague, and his fiancée Catherine. During a dance with his beloved, a strange thing happens: a man appears at Richard's shoulder and appears to communicate something to him without saying a word. Instantly breaking off the engagement, he rushes off to speak to his father, never to be seen again. Distraught with worry, Catherine sends for her spinster aunt, Miss Dido Kent, who has a penchant for solving mysteries. Catherine pleads with her to find her fiancé and to discover the truth behind his disappearance. It's going to take a lot of logical thinking to untangle the complex threads of this multi-layered mystery, and Miss Dido Kent is just the woman to do it.

A Gentleman of Fortune (Dido Kent #2)
The great Mrs Lansdale is no more – and all her neighbours in Richmond are gossiping about her death. As the odious Mrs Midgely is quick to point out, her demise is 'very convenient indeed' for her nephew who has 'lost a remarkably tyrannical relation and gained a very fine inheritance.' Indeed, Mrs Midgely suspects that he has 'taken steps to hurry the poor lady out of this world.'

Flora, Dido's cousin, is anxious to prove young Mr Lansdale innocent, and Dido herself admits that he is 'a great deal too handsome to be hanged.' When the apothecary informs the magistrate that the cause of death was an overdose of laudanum, the young man's situation becomes perilous. But, as Dido sets about discovering the whole truth, the troubling questions multiply.

A Woman of Consequence (Dido Kent #3)
Miss Dido Kent does not approve of ghosts. They are, in Dido's opinion, quite useless and she will not put herself to the inconvenience of believing in them. However, when Penelope Lambe falls from the ruined gallery of Madderstone Abbey, Dido's rational view is put to the test. For, as she loses consciousness, Penelope whispers, 'I saw her… It was her.' Who can it be that Penelope saw in the deserted gallery if it was not the ghost of the Grey Nun which has haunted the place for centuries?

Events take a more sinister turn when the skeleton of governess, Elinor Fenn, is discovered in a lake in the abbey grounds. Miss Fenn has been dead for fifteen years, but it seems that her death is still important to folk at Madderstone. Anne Harman-Foote, Miss Fenn's erstwhile pupil, wishes Dido to help her prove that the coroner is wrong in pronouncing the cause of death to be suicide; for Anne cannot bear to see the remains laid in an unconsecrated grave. And someone else at Madderstone seems to be working against them: Elinor's letters disappear from her writing desk, and the ring which she always wore is stolen. Why is someone trying to obscure the truth? Was Miss Fenn murdered?

A Place of Confinement (Dido Kent #4)
Having refused a marriage proposal forced upon her by her family, Dido Kent has been sent to keep her Aunt Manners company. The atmosphere at Charcombe Manor does little to put the exiled Dido's mind at rest. And when the truth surfaces, that a young lady has disappeared, Dido's skill at unravelling mysteries is put to the test.