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This page lists novels that feature the Victorian lady's companion and amateur detective Lizzie Martin and the policeman Inspector Benjamin Ross.

A Rare Interest in Corpses

Ann Granger

2006

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"It is 1864 when Lizzie Martin takes up the post of companion to a wealthy widow who is also a slum landlord. Lizzie is intrigued to learn that her predecessor as companion had disappeared, supposedly having run off with an unknown man. But when the girl's body is found in the rubble of one of the recently demolished slums around the prestigious new railway station at St Pancras, Lizzie begins to wonder exactly what has been going on. She has re-made the acquaintance of a childhood friend, now Inspector Benjamin Ross, and with his help starts to investigate, risking her life to unearth the truth about the death of a girl whose fate seems interlinked with her own."

A Mortal Curiosity

Ann Granger

2008

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"Lizzie Martin, lady's companion, has been sent from London to the New Forest to comfort a young woman whose baby has tragically died. A sad enough task, but things take an even darker turn when a rat-catcher is found murdered in the garden, and the young woman is discovered beside the body, crying and covered in blood. Not knowing where else to turn, Lizzie calls upon her friend Inspector Ben Ross from Scotland Yard to solve the horrific crime."

A Better Quality of Murder

Ann Granger

2010

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"As Inspector Ben Ross of Scotland Yard walks homeward one Saturday night in late October 1867, the fog that swirls around him is like a living beast. By the time it has lifted next morning a woman lies murdered in Green Park. Allegra Benedict was the beautiful Italian wife of an art dealer in Piccadilly. But what had she been doing in London that afternoon, and why had she been selling her brooch in the Burlington Arcade just hours before her death? As Ben begins his investigation, his wife Lizzie - with the help of their maid Bessie - looks into Allegra's private life and uncovers more than one reason why someone might want her dead."

A Particular Eye for Villainy

Ann Granger

2012

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"When Mr Thomas Tapley is found bludgeoned to death in his sitting room, his neighbour Inspector Benjamin Ross of Scotland Yard is immediately summoned. Little is known about the elusive gentleman until Mr Jonathan Tapley, QC, hears of the news and the truth about his cousin's tragic past slowly begins to emerge. Meanwhile, Ben's wife Lizzie is convinced she saw someone following Thomas Tapley on the day he died and she discovers that he received a mysterious visitor a few days before his death. As the list of suspects begins to mount, Ben must unearth who would benefit most from Tapley's unfortunate demise."

The Testimony of the Hanged Man

Ann Granger

2014

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"A hanged man would say anything to save his life. But what if his testimony is true? When Inspector Ben Ross is called to Newgate Prison by a man condemned to die by the hangman's noose he isn't expecting to give any credence to the man's testimony. But the account of a murder he witnessed over seventeen years ago is so utterly believeable that Ben can't help wondering if what he's heard is true. It's too late to save the man's life, but it's not too late to investigate a murder that has gone undetected for all these years."

The Dead Woman of Deptford

Ann Granger

2016

A Lizzie Martin and Inspector Benjamin Ross novel.

"On a cold November night in a Deptford yard, dock worker Harry Parker stumbles upon the body of a dead woman. Inspector Ben Ross is summoned from Scotland Yard to this insalubrious part of town, but no witness to the murder of this well-dressed, middle-aged woman can be found. Meanwhile, Ben's wife Lizzie is trying to suppress a scandal: family friend Edgar Wellings has a gambling addiction and no means of repaying his debts. Reluctantly, Lizzie agrees to visit his debt collector's house in Deptford, but when she arrives she finds her husband is investigating the murder of the woman in question. Edgar was the last man to see Mrs Clifford alive and he has good reason to want her dead, but Ben and Lizzie both know that a case like this is rarely as simple as it appears."