The Pirate's Clever Ruse

From bestselling author, Patricia Rice: In Regency England, secrets are deadly—and curiosity is the most dangerous trait of all.

 Lord Cecil Greybourne is a brilliant scholar, notorious wanderer, and an unintentional magnet for disaster. His latest manuscript—an exposé on the corrupt world of Regency art—has made powerful enemies. When thieves target his work, Grey does what he always does: disappear.

This time, however, he refuses to leave without his clever assistant—only to discover that “E.A. Leonard” is actually Eleanor Leonard, a woman forced to disguise herself as a man to earn her living in a world closed to her sex.

Eleanor is done hiding. When Grey invites her—and her twin brother—to the quiet town of Gravesyde, she sees a rare chance for independence and security. Instead, they arrive to find a corpse in their new lodgings, and Gravesyde’s peaceful façade fractures.

 As rumors spread and Grey’s enemies close in, minor accidents escalate to dangerous. Grey has long accepted that trouble follows him—but Eleanor refuses to stand aside while lives are at risk.

Now, with death stalking ever closer and a mystery growing more perilous by the hour, Grey and Eleanor must uncover who is behind the violence—before curiosity costs them everything.

A Regency romantic mystery featuring hidden identities, a sharp-witted heroine, slow-burn attraction, and a deadly puzzle where love and survival are equally at stake.