Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries

(First print-published by Five Star/Gale 2005)"The Flowers o' the Forest are a' wede awa'."Death in the Highlands. It came by claymore and cannon fire in 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie's men died at Culloden, and the last Stuart fled back to France, leaving his followers to death by noose and firing squad, and his gold hidden in the heather for others to find. After a thousand years of bloody history, death in the Highlands is nothing new. But it should not be happening now.Jean Fairbairn has a coin from Prince Charlie's hoard, and a story, she thinks. Until the story comes to murder, up close and personal, and Jean isn't just a reporter, she's a prime suspect. Nose to nose with Chief Inspector Alasdair Cameron, whose forebears led Charlie's rising, and Rick MacLyon, who thinks being a dot.com millionaire makes him an expert on Charlie's life, Jean finds herself entangled in a story that's getting grimmer than the Dark Mile by Loch Arkaig and twistier than Stuart politics. And it's all too likely to end with Jean trapped by a murderer, on her way to becoming the MacLyon mansion's newest ghost. After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

First print-published by Five Star/Gale in 2006Deep water . . .Jean Fairbairn is off to write a story about the haunted waters of Loch Ness. She has an appointment with American scientist Roger Dempsey, who is using his latest gadgets to try and prove that the legend of the monster, Nessie, is true.Jean's business is checking out legends. Some hold water, some don't, and some are about much more than H2O.But the troubled water she finds at Loch Ness is colder than its snow-melt and darker than its peat-stained depths. Sonar and other remote-sensing tools might find Nessie, but what scientific instrument can plumb the mysteries of death?Troubled, too, are the waters that run between Jean and Detective Inspector Alasdair Cameron. Will another encounter bridge the depths that lie between them? Or will their story end at the hands of a murderer, in the icy water of a loch that never gives up its dead? After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

First print-published by Five Star/Gale in 2009Beneath the hanging tree…Witches weren't burned in colonial Virginia. They were hanged. But in the twenty-first century no one should be hanged from the trees of historic Williamsburg. Not even batty conspiracy theorists, however much Jean Fairbairn's significant other, ex-Scottish cop Alasdair Cameron, might sometimes wish he could pass judgement. Especially when said dingbats may be involved in the theft of a Williamsburg-crafted replica of a sixteenth-century Witch Box, stolen from a Scottish castle for which Alasdair has been supervising security-even though the original Witch Box is safe in a Williamsburg museum.The Charm Stone went missing from the original Witch Box three hundred years ago. Perhaps itwas not a traditional healing stone at all but a cursing stone. Perhaps it was lost somewhere inthe colony of Virginia. Perhaps someone will kill to find it.Can Jean maintain her resolve to abandon the academic battlefield forever, or will she betempted back into combat by an appealing former colleague, Matthew Frost? And what aboutAlasdair, who is supposedly retired from the rigors of law enforcement, but who is nowconfronted not only by a theft but two murder cases-and by Stephanie Venegas, the detective incharge.Amid the falling leaves and autumn shadows, Jean and Alasdair must deal again with murder most grotesque, its roots deep in history and myth. With ghosts only they can see. With things going bump in the night of their own relationship.It's All Hallows Eve in historic Williamsburg, Virginia After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

The lights went out...A mortsafe is an iron cage locked over a grave to deter body snatchers. They haven't been seen in Scottish kirkyards for almost two centuries. So why is a mortsafe lying next to a pair of decayed bodies in one of Edinburgh's infamous underground vaults?Newlyweds Jean Fairbairn and Alasdair Cameron are called out on the cold case, in the coldest part of the year, brightened only by the red paper hearts of Valentine's Day in the shop windows.It's when living, beating hearts are stopped too soon that memories can become cages stronger than iron.No deaths are ever entirely forgotten, not when businessmen from ghost hunters to restaurateurs can profit from them. Not when earning a living can sometimes become secondary to simply staying alive.It's February in the ancient city of Edinburgh, where footsteps echo in secret passages, and lovers don't always have the time to make memories together.The Mortsafe is a complete novel, half the length of the first five in the series. After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

A grave mistake . . .Small Farnaby Island lies just beyond the holy isle of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland. Farnaby-born archaeologist Maggie Lauder has personal reasons for trying to prove the island is the Avalon of Arthurian legend. When she opens a tomb in a medieval chantry chapel, she plans to cause headlines. And cause headlines she does, for all the wrong reasons.The story that Jean Fairbairn planned to write about Maggie's historic discovery is shadowed by a contemporary investigation. Her husband, Scottish ex-cop Alasdair Cameron, discovers he has a history with the investigating detective-if not as long a history as Maggie does.But does history trace a direct line from past to present? Or is it interlaced like the patterns decorating the Lindisfarne Gospels, generations of men and women weaving destiny with desire?Jean and Alasdair are stranded on Farnaby, caught in the conflicting loyalties of its inhabitants, in memories lost and secrets laid bare. They can trust only each other-or so they think, until they find themselves on opposite sides of a cold case turned scorching hot. After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

First print-published by Five Star/Cengage in 2010.In a stately home, no one can hear you scream . . .Alasdair Cameron and Fergus MacDonald were childhood friends. Their fathers' caps carried a blue hackle, the badge-feather of a distinguished Scottish regiment. Now the feather in Fergie's cap is the decaying Dunasheen Estate on the Isle of Skye. His desperate schemes to save his home depend on a collection of historic artifacts, a handful of paying guests expecting a traditional Scottish New Year celebration, and the help of Alasdair and Jean Fairbairn.For Jean and Alasdair, the bells of the new year are also wedding bells-their rings are ready, their guests are invited, and the Gothic folly of Fergie's chapel is waiting. Then a guest is found murdered, lying in blood that's thicker than the sea that carried generations of Scots to distant shores even as their descendants' hearts turn homeward.The police crash the party, and Alasdair and Jean find themselves juggling knowledge, belief, and a list of suspects whose secret agendas raise more than a few hackles.Is that the icy winter wind, or the banshee-wail of a long-dead MacDonald chatelaine affirming that only Fergie's motives are true-blue? Or is he hiding a secret agenda beneath his fool's cap and bells?Ring out the old, ring in the new. But if Alasdair and Jean can't untangle the threads of the past and net a present-day killer, then they and their wedding rings won't get to the church on time-and more blood will flow for the sake of Auld Lang Syne. After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site ishttp://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

First print-published by Five Star/Gale in 2007.Fire in the BordersThe rolling hills of the Scottish Borders have seen centuries of fire-Scots, English, battling kings, feuding lords, rampaging clansmen, raiding, looting, killing. But the fire at brooding Ferniebank Castle wasn't set by an enemy. Isabel Sinclair died there four hundred years ago, on her way to a lover's tryst, in the conflagration kindled by her own burning-glass.Or so the story goes.Now Jean Fairbairn is on her way to write Ferniebank's story-and to her own tryst with ex-cop Alasdair Cameron, who is now a caretaker of historic properties. He has at last lowered his personal drawbridge for Jean, and they plan to set decaying Ferniebank alight.But they're not alone. Ciara Macquarrie, a New Age mythobabbler from Alasdair's past, plans to transform the castle and its chapel into a bright new conference center and spa. Especially since the chapel was built by the same long-dead hands as cryptic Rosslyn-now a hot tourist attraction, thanks to a popular story titled The Da Vinci Code.In Scotland, plans go up in smoke. Stories shift and change like reflections in antique glass. Buried secrets rise to haunt the living. The Ferniebank clarsach, Isabel's harp, disappears-even while its music lingers on. Vandals lurk in the night. Death visits both the castle dungeon and chapel's ancient well.To his frustration, Alasdair now has to work in the shadow of the official force. But when the darkness clears, it's Jean who finds herself facing a murderer.The Burning Glass is a story of mystery and suspense tightly woven with Jean and Alasdair's personal story. It takes place in Scotland, on the ever-shifting shore between history and myth, a place where (mis)perception kindles many a fire. After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn't write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Hercontemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in Englandand Scotland.Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance andsupernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. Shehas created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genremystery series: America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, TheMuse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that werereprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site is