Phineas Fox Mystery
3 primary works • 6 total works
Book 1
The dark and suffocating tragedy of Roman Volf's life will trap his descendants for years to come.
Phineas Fox is researching the life of a scandalous musician from the past. Roman Volf was a Russian violinist, whose glittering talent was undermined by his crime - assassinating a Tsar. Investigating Volf's life and execution leads Phin to Ireland and into a series of intriguing, interlocking mysteries that reach back from Volf's time into the present day.
Little does Phin know that his research may become life-saving, especially when he encounters Maxim Volf - a descendant of the violinist, who has a tragic story all his own. If only Maxim could remember what happened on that idle afternoon, where so many lives were shattered and so many dark secrets were kept hidden behind the façade of a quiet Irish village.
Book 2
A mysterious 1940s' portrait leads researcher Phineas Fox to uncover a devastating wartime secret in this chilling novel of suspense.
Phineas Fox finds it impossible to refuse when his sport-loving neighbour Toby begs for his help in finding out what's happened to his cousin Arabella, who seems to have disappeared without trace. The only clue to her whereabouts is an obscure 1940s' portrait left in her flat, a gift from her godfather, Stefan. The painting depicts the mysterious Christa Klein, Stefan's sister - and an alleged murderess.
Was Christa Klein really guilty of a monstrous crime? What exactly happened within brooding Wewelsburg Castle back in 1941? And what does it have to do with Arabella's disappearance? As Phin delves further, he uncovers evidence of a lost piece of music and a devastating wartime secret: an atrocity whose repercussions reach to the present day.
Book 3
A macabre liturgy. A mysterious carving. An intriguing 200-year-old mystery for music researcher Phineas Fox to solve.
The headmistress of Cresacre Abbey School has asked Phineas Fox to establish whether an opera, to be performed as part of the school's bicentenary celebrations, plagiarises an earlier work. During the course of his investigations, Phin discovers that curious legends about the school's past still linger, including the fate of a group of nuns who disappeared without trace more than 200 years before. What exactly happened to them? And who is the mysterious Ginevra, the shadowy figure whose true identity has never been known .?
As he delves further, Phin begins to unravel a series of interlocking secrets, each one more puzzling - and sinister - than the last.
Researching a biography of the composer Franz Liszt, Phineas Fox uncovers evidence of a brutal murder - and finds his own life in danger.
Music researcher Phineas Fox has been enjoying his latest commission, gathering background material for a biography of Franz Liszt. But although he has - as anticipated - uncovered plenty of scandal in the 19th century composer's past, matters take a decidedly unexpected turn when his investigations lead to Linklighters, a newly-opened Soho restaurant built on the site of an old Victorian music hall, and unearth evidence of a possible murder involving the notorious music hall performer known as Scaramel.
Just what was Liszt's connection to Scaramel ... and, through her, to the infamous Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper? As he delves further, Phin's enquiries uncover clues to a fascinating and extraordinary story - and plunge his own life into jeopardy.
The discovery of an old scrapbook in a Warsaw library leads researcher Phineas Fox to uncover evidence of a devastating wartime atrocity.
"We had no choice. But it was a bad way for them to die."
When music researcher Phineas Fox is asked to verify the contents of an old scrapbook, rescued from the site of the historic Chopin Library in Warsaw, he is initially sceptical. But he soon discovers an intriguing link between the Library and an infamous piece of music known as the Dark Cadence.
Legend has it that the Dark Cadence was only performed at a traitor's execution - and it has never been written down. It is believed to have last been played on the night the Chopin Library was destroyed during the Nazi occupation of World War II. What really happened that terrible night in October, 1944? What is the connection with an equally dreadful night in Russia in 1918, the night the Tsar and his family were executed? And what are the repercussions for the present . . .?
Researching the history of a dilapidated Elizabeth manor house, Phineas Fox uncovers the shocking truth behind a mysterious - and deadly - dance.
Having unexpectedly inherited an Elizabethan manor house in rural Norfolk, the new owner Quentin Rivers has asked Phineas Fox to investigate the house's history. Phin soon becomes immersed in The Tabor's dark and mysterious past, and in the course of his research uncovers tales of a curious dance, the Cwellan Daunsen: a dance that has not been performed for centuries but whose strange legend still lingers. The dance has a dark side; whenever it took place, children were told to stay indoors - and on no account to look through their windows . . .
As Phin delves further, the terrible secrets of The Tabor and the Rivers' family ancestors begin to reveal themselves, secrets stretching back more than six hundred years. But as the past gradually creeps up on the present, is history destined to repeat itself . . . ?