Tarleton's Coffer — Harriet Smart

When Northminster's most prominent bookseller, Arthur Tarleton, is found crushed under a marble column in his extraordinary library, Major Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are called to investigate.

Their chief suspect is Tarleton's adopted son, but he vanished three years ago. The discovery of a stash of valuable books, stolen from other libraries, only makes the affair more puzzling. Did Tarleton's passion for collecting rare titles lead to his downfall?

Matters are complicated by the curious behaviour of heiress, Serena Wyvern, who has spurned her fiancé, Colonel Ashcombe, and has alarmed her family with her change in character. When another respectable young woman steals a baby, Giles and Felix discover that a malign movement is at work in the heart of Northminster society, one that threatens to end in a terrible tragedy.

As he grapples with these intricate affairs, Giles faces a personal battle: to retain custody of his niece and nephews when their father returns to claim them. Meanwhile, Felix is thrown into torment in the aftermath of the birth of his child, when fate deals the bitterest blow of all.

Set in a bleak Adventide of 1842, Tarleton's Coffer is the tenth Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives, Major Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell.