On this page

This page lists novels that feature the suffragette and amateur investigator Nell Bray.

Sister Beneath the Sheet

Gillian Linscott

1991

A Nell Bray novel.

"A high-class prostitute has left her fortune to the suffragettes. Emmeline Pankhurst sends Nell Bray, just out of Holloway, to collect it from Biarritz, where Nell becomes involved in intrigue among the resort's opulent society and tawdry backstreets."

Hanging on the Wire

Gillian Linscott

1992

A Nell Bray novel.

"World War I is at its height, and amateur sleuth Nell Bray is dedicating herself to the suffragette movement. Her friend Jenny is hard at work at Nantgarrew military hospital, which specialises in Freudian analysis. When Jenny begs Nell to investigate the attempted murder of a patient, Nell heads for Nantgarrew to help. It is a mysterious place: someone is committing petty acts of sabotage to show their disapproval of Freud’s theories; one soldier keeps a box of grenades and revolvers under his bed; and another is determined to reach Moscow by bicycle. Nell’s bafflement turns to horror when the would-be assassin’s aim finally turns true. Nantgarrew – devoted to healing – becomes the site of a murder, and Nell Bray is determined to solve it."

Stage Fright

Gillian Linscott

1993

A Nell Bray novel.

"Although she has spent two terms in Holloway Prison for her suffragette activities, it is amateur sleuthing that's gaining Nell Bray a reputation. She has already solved two murders, and tales of her success are spreading throughout London - and reaching the ears of none other than George Bernard Shaw. The formidable playwright approaches Nell with a case: His leading lady is in danger, and Shaw wants to ensure she makes it safely to curtain time. For the new play, Cindrella Revisited, Shaw has reworked the classic into a scathing attack on English marital law."

Widow's Peak

Gillian Linscott

1994

A Nell Bray novel.

Published in the US as An Easy Day for a Lady.

"It is 1910 and Nell is on a climbing holiday in Chamonix. She comes across a working party chipping a body out of the ice, a man who had been killed in a climbing accident 30 years previously. Discovering his journal, she realizes that all is not what it seems."

Crown Witness

Gillian Linscott

1995

A Nell Bray novel.

"Nell is a stewardess on the women's march to celebrate George V's coronation. She notices a float packed with dynamite and aimed at Scotland Yard which she and her friend Simon try to steer off course. But they find themselves held responsible for the device and Simon faces the hangman's noose."

Dead Man's Music

Gillian Linscott

1996

A Nell Bray novel.

Published in the US as Dead Man's Sweetheart.

"When Nell arrives in the Pennines for a well-earned rest, she detects a whiff of mystery surrounding the murder of Osbert Newbiggin, musical expert and pillar of the community. Her detection reveals some unpleasant truths about Osbert and leads her to believe his convicted murderer is innocent."

Dance On Blood

Gillian Linscott

1998

A Nell Bray novel.

"Nell Bray would do almost anything for the Vote, but planting a bomb in a house belonging to David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is where she draws the line. Her friends have other ideas and, in trying to head them off, Nell becomes a leading suspect. But instead of landing up in a prison cell again, she receives an urgent invitation to breakfast at 11 Downing Street with Lloyd George himself. Lloyd George has a deal to offer. In return for Nell's help in recovering politically embarrassing letters, he will see that charges are dropped against everybody involved and maybe throw in the Vote as well. There are just a few little annoyances to deal with, including barefoot dancer and suspect spy Oriana Paphos."

Absent Friends

Gillian Linscott

1999

A Nell Bray novel.

"December 1918. The vote has been won at long last, the Great War is over and suffragette Nell Bray is standing for election. Everything seems to be falling into place for the dedicated activist. Yet, with a month to go to the first general election, Nell is still without party backing, writing desperately to friends and contacts to drum up support for her cause. Further, the former Conservative candidate has been blown up by a firework while celebrating the Armistice, his widow is certain that he's sending her messages about his killer through a haunted piano, and at least one person in the constituency has a murderous hatred of all politicians. To add to Nell's troubles, two men from her checkered past are home from the war. Nell finds herself in the middle of a baffling case, with the odds most definitely against her - both for election victory and survival. The suffragette turned amateur sleuth must then show a dedication to the truth as strong as her loyalty to women's rights to solve the mystery and come out on top."

The Perfect Daughter

Gillian Linscott

2000

A Nell Bray novel.

"Verona North had seemed the perfect daughter. She'd surprised her friends by leaving her home in Devon to attend art school in London, but they'd thought it was a normal youthful rebellion which wouldn't last very long. However when she did return home it was to die - pregnant and with her body full of morphine. Her cousin, Nell Bray, isn't wholly convinced she committed suicide and is positive she was not a drug addict. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Nell discovers that she was leading a double-life: on the one hand consorting with a group of bohemian artists and anarchists, and on the other collecting information on suspected 'enemies of the state' for the secret service. Where did her real loyalties lies - with her family, her friends or her paymasters? What did she know which caused one of them to kill her, and who was the father of her child?"

Dead Man Riding

Gillian Linscott

2002

A Nell Bray novel.

"In the last summer of Queen Victoria's reign it was not considered 'proper' for unmarried women to go travelling with members of the opposite sex. But Nell Bray can't understand why she and a mixed group of her student friends should not stay with an uncle of one of them, and they decide to risk the wrath of their colleges. Their intention is to discuss philosophy and literature and to walk the fells of the Lake District. However, when they arrive they find that Alan's uncle, the 'old man', having spoken out against the Boer War, has been ostracised by the village and is suspected of having murdered the local magistrate's son even though no body has been found. Her curiosity piqued by this tale, and by the old man's unconventional household, Nell determines to separate the facts from the myth. But first of all love gets in the way, and then the old man is discovered dead. At first it seems he chose a spectacular method of suicide to avoid scandal and ill health, but Nell then works out that he could not have killed himself in this way without help and she suspects that one of their party is a murderer."

Blood On The Wood

Gillian Linscott

2003

A Nell Bray novel.

"When the suffragette movement receives a valuable painting as a part of a bequest, amateur sleuth Nell Bray is asked to retrieve and sell the artwork to raise much-needed funds for the cause, only to discover that the painting is a fake and the benefactor's widower refuses to hand over the real thing, as Nell's investigation soon embroils her in a brutal murder."