{"title":"Victorian Village Mysteries","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"secret-staircase-book-sheila-connolly-9781250135902","title":"The Secret Staircase","description":"From New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly, The Secret Staircase is the third Victorian Village Mystery, which finds Kate Hamilton discovering a long-dead body in a hidden staircase.  Kate Hamilton is feeling good about her plans to recreate Asheboro, Maryland as the Victorian village it once was. The town is finally on her side, and the finances are coming together.  Kate's first goal is to renovate the Barton Mansion on the outskirts of town. Luckily, it's been well maintained in the century since the wealthy Henry Barton lived and died there. The only substantial change she's planning is to update the original kitchen so that it can be used to cater events in the building. But when the contractor gets started, he discovers a hidden staircase that had been walled in years earlier. And as Kate's luck would have it, in the stairwell is a body.  After her initial shock wears off, Kate is relieved when the autopsy reveals that the man had died around 1880. Unfortunately, it also reveals that his was not a natural death-he was murdered. And serious questions remain: who was he and what was he doing there?  Kate begins a hunt to identify the man and figure out what he was doing at the Barton Mansion. But when a second body is found-this time from the present day-Kate realizes that real dangers lie in digging up the past...","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49524988444945,"sku":"GOR013485357","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49926139969809,"sku":"CIN1250135907G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50307032547601,"sku":"CIN1250135907VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1250135907.jpg?v=1751145329"},{"product_id":"killer-in-the-carriage-house-book-sheila-connolly-9781250619693","title":"Killer in the Carriage House","description":"After fifteen years away, Kate Hamilton never expected to end up back in her hometown of Asheboro, Maryland, full time. And she definitely didn't expect to be leading the charge of recreating the town as a Victorian village and tourist attraction. But as unexpected as the circumstances are, Kate is ready to tackle them. The town, on the other hand, is going to take some convincing. Ever since Henry Barton's shovel factory closed down, it's started to seem like there are more tumbleweeds than tourists rolling down Main Street. Kate's ideas are good, but ambitious-and her friends and neighbors are worried that finding the money for them would push the town even further into debt. Luckily, Kate and historian Joshua Wainwright may have come up with a solution. The Barton mansion, meant to be the centerpiece of the Victorian village, has proven to be a veritable goldmine of documents about the town's nineteenth-century history, and Kate is convinced the papers hide something of value. When a dead body turns up in the town library-mere hours before the documents were meant to arrive there themselves-Kate begins to worry that the papers spell danger instead of dollars. It seems that someone doesn't want these forgotten secrets coming to light, and they'll do whatever it takes to keep Kate quiet . . .","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49699383607569,"sku":"CIN1250619696G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50586074579217,"sku":"CIN1250619696VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1250619696.jpg?v=1750986375"},{"product_id":"killer-in-the-carriage-house-book-sheila-connolly-9781250385369","title":"Killer in the Carriage House","description":"After fifteen years away, Kate Hamilton never expected to end up back in her hometown of Asheboro, Maryland, full time. And she definitely didn't expect to be leading the charge of recreating the town as a Victorian village and tourist attraction. But as unexpected as the circumstances are, Kate is ready to tackle them. The town, on the other hand, is going to take some convincing. Ever since Henry Barton's shovel factory closed down, it's started to seem like there are more tumbleweeds than tourists rolling down Main Street. Kate's ideas are good, but ambitious-and her friends and neighbors are worried that finding the money for them would push the town even further into debt. Luckily, Kate and historian Joshua Wainwright may have come up with a solution. The Barton mansion, meant to be the centerpiece of the Victorian village, has proven to be a veritable goldmine of documents about the town's nineteenth-century history, and Kate is convinced the papers hide something of value. When a dead body turns up in the town library-mere hours before the documents were meant to arrive there themselves-Kate begins to worry that the papers spell danger instead of dollars. It seems that someone doesn't want these forgotten secrets coming to light, and they'll do whatever it takes to keep Kate quiet . . .","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51021966278929,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51021968605457,"sku":"NIN9781250385369","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52657241587985,"sku":"NLS9781250385369","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1250385369.jpg?v=1750986369"},{"product_id":"murder-at-the-mansion-book-sheila-connolly-9781250422446","title":"Murder at the Mansion","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe first in a brand-new series from \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Sheila Connolly \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKatherine Hamilton's goal in high school was to escape from her dead-end hometown of Asheboro, Maryland. Fifteen years later she's got a degree in hospitality management and a great job at a high-end boutique hotel in Baltimore. Until, that is, the hotel is acquired by a chain, and she's laid off. When Kate's high school best friend calls with a mysterious invitation to come talk with the town leaders of Asheboro, she agrees to make the trip, curious about where this new opportunity might lead. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOnce Kate arrives, the town council members reveal that their town is on the verge of going bankrupt, and they've decided that Kate's skills and knowledge make her the perfect person to cure all their ills. The town has used its last available funds to buy the huge Victorian mansion just outside of town, hoping to use it to attract some of the tourists who travel to visit the nearby Civil War battle sites. Kate has less-than-fond memories of the mansion, for personal reasons, but to make matters worse, the only person who has presented a possible alternate plan is Cordelia Walker--Kate's high school nemesis. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut a few days later, while touring the mansion, Kate stumbles over a body--and it's none other than Cordelia. Kate finds herself juggling the murder investigation and her growing fascination with the old house, which itself is full of long-hidden mysteries. Kate must clear her name and save her town--before she ends up in hot water.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52683374035217,"sku":"NLS9781250422446","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52747536335121,"sku":"NIN9781250422446","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/victorian-village-mysteries-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}