Book 1

High Rhymes and Misdemeanors

by Diana Killian

Published 30 September 2003
Can a love of dead poets save her from following in their footsteps? While visiting her favorite poets' old haunts in England's Lake District, Grace Hollister, an American schoolteacher and literary scholar, stumbles upon the body of Peter Fox face down in a stream. Thankfully, the dashing local antiques dealer is not dead -- but after saving his life Grace soon finds herself pursued by two menacing thugs who are after the gewgaws Peter is hiding. Problem is, Peter doesn't have any gewgaws. He doesn't even know what gewgaws are. But he and Grace soon discover they've got something to do with Lord Byron?and someone's willing to kill for them. As Peter's dark past is gradually revealed, his knowledge of vice coupled with Grace's love of verse lead them straight into the heart of a caper of the highest order -- one that might lead to a spectacular literary discovery and poetic justice for all. A Selection of the Mystery Guild

Book 2

Verse of the Vampyre

by Diana Killian

Published 28 September 2004
As Halloween comes to the English village of Innisdale all manner of trickery leads to intrigue and mortal danger...American schoolteacher and literary scholar Grace Hollister has extended her stay in the Lake District to do research and act as advisor to a local production of The Vampyre, a play written by Lord Byron's doctor. But when accidents begin befalling the cast -- culminating in the death of a society lady at a masquerade ball, replete with puncture wounds on her neck -- it seems a real vampire may be roaming the village. If that's not chilling enough, Grace is being stalked and her enigmatic love interest, ex-jewel thief Peter Fox, has been behaving suspiciously after a rash of local thefts. Armed with little more than her passion for poetry and a determined spirit, Grace sets out to solve both mysteries...and to take her own bite out of crime.

Book 3

Sonnet of the Sphinx

by Diana Killian

Published 29 April 2006
For one of Innisdale's residents, a priceless sonnet means poetic license to kill...Grace Hollister's stay in England's picturesque Lake District has proven doubly fruitful -- the American literary scholar just sold her first book, and her romance with charming antiques dealer and ex-jewel thief Peter Fox has begun a new chapter. Sorting through a hoard of papers found in an old farmhouse, Grace and Peter discover an old letter that refers to a lost Shelley sonnet, "Sate the Sphinx." Before Grace can start tracking down this poetic treasure, though, Peter's shady past rears its head -- a particularly ugly head, belonging to a menacing Turk who's eager to see Peter dead. But there's plenty more trouble in store. Suddenly Grace and Peter are suspects in a murder investigation, and someone has tried his level best to kill her -- not once, but twice. The hieroglyphics are on the wall: unless Grace can unravel an inscrutable riddle and unearth the villain amid a cache of likely suspects, her story might be at an end...

Book 4

Docketful of Poesy

by Diana Killian

Published 7 April 2009