The Lady Anne Series - LADY ANNE AND THE HOWL IN THE DARK

National Bestselling Author Historical Romance/Mystery Author

About the Lady Anne Series

Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark

A murder mystery plagues a village in Yorkshire— two young women have been killed, and rumors circulate that a sinister werewolf is responsible. When Lady Anne Addison’s dear friend Lydia writes to her of the strange events in her town, she is ready to do whatever she can to help. However, Anne finds her investigation keeps leading her to Lydia’s brother-in-law, the notorious Marquess of Darkefell. She finds him an enigma, and can’t deny her attraction, but she came to Darkefell Castle to solve a mystery, not fall in love!

The Marquess finds Lady Anne intriguing, and while he may or may not know more than he’d like to admit about the frightening circumstances taking over the town, he does know that Anne is special. He begins wooing her to confuse her sleuthing, but in the process, discovers his own surprising desires!

LADY ANNE AND THE HOWL IN THE DARK is just the beginning of the thrilling mysteries and captivating courtship between Anne and the Marquess. Two more mysteries will follow: LADY ANNE AND THE GHOST'S REVENGE and LADY ANNE AND THE GYPSY CURSE.

Reviews:

Donna Lea Simpson is like Victoria Holt but with twice the impact!

...Kerensa Wilson -- Crave More Romance

I enjoyed Lady Anne immensely and cannot wait to read more of her adventures.

...Alexandra Cenni -- Romance Reader at Heart

If you are looking for a historical mystery with romance, suspense, and a suggestion of paranormal, then read Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark.

...Stephanie B. -- Fallen Angle Reviews

Simpson (Awaiting the Moon) launches her Lady Anne historical mystery series with flair, though at times its daring heroine seems more Victorian than Georgian. Lady Anne Addison, a clever, capable bluestocking, arrives at Darkefell Castle after receiving a distress-filled missive from her flighty best friend, Lady Lydia Bestwick, about werewolf sightings. Walking the last few miles to the castle, Anne hears screams and discovers a dead woman along the way. Lydia's concerns extend beyond the paranormal, and soon Anne becomes embroiled in gothic goings-on that clumsily point to the overbearing marquess of Darkefell, Lydia's brother-in-law, who aggressively pursues Anne despite disliking her independent nature. A slave trade subplot works well, and romance fans will love the witty byplay if not the decidedly unromantic conclusion.

... Publishers Weekly

Donna Lea Simpson's first Lady Anne eighteenth century mystery is a howling success.
...Harriet Klausner

Book Description:
Lady Anne Addison is a rational and courageous woman. So when she's summoned by a frightened friend to Yorkshire to prove or disprove the presence in their woods of a menacing wolf - or werewolf - she takes up the challenge.

Grim, dank and shadowed Darkefell Castle is an ancient keep with a scabrous history. And now it appears that a preternatural menace is behind the events terrorizing the country folk.

Lady Anne finds the Marquess of Darkefell to be an infuriatingly unyielding man. Rumors swirl and suspects abound. When she finally solves the mystery, the Marquess is indeed at the middle of it, but not at all in the way that Lady Anne had suspected... and now he's firmly determined to win her in spite of everything.

Historical romance with a twist - a little bit of gothic suspense,
a paranormal element that turns out not to be, and a whole lot of fun!

A note from the author:
The Lady Anne books are the books I’ve always wanted to write, combining romance, mystery and history in one glorious jumble! On this page, which will be updated at regular intervals, I’ll tell you a little about the people, places and historical occurrences that make a part of the complex tapestry of Lady Anne’s world.

Some of the words will be linked to Wikipedia articles, but please note… I am not saying that Wikipedia is a fool-proof resource. The articles are written and edited by a lot of different people, some who know a lot, and some who make mistakes, but it is a great ‘jumping off’ point for any understanding of a subject.

England 1786
Lady Anne, a smart, stubborn, and skeptical spinster, travels north to Yorkshire at the request of a newly married friend to try to figure out what is going on. A wolf— or werewolf— is roaming the countryside near Darkefell Castle, terrorizing the populace and harassing the sheep herds. The hour she arrives in Yorkshire she stumbles across a body, and off-kilter from such an awful occurrence, she meets the masterful marquess, Lord Anthony Darkefell.

From that moment on, a curious tug-of-war between heart and mind torments her. The passionate side of her that she, as a proper lady, has kept ruthlessly subdued, rises to the surface, and when Darkefell kisses her —repeatedly— she has a difficult time keeping her mind on the mystery.

People in the Lady Anne Series...

Lady Anne Addison – Birthday: November 8^th, 1761

Lady Anne is the only daughter of the Earl of Harecross, and resides with her father at Harecross Hall in Kent, near the coast. Her mother is estranged from the earl, and lives in Bath with her mother, the widowed Viscountess Everingham. Lady Anne is independent and accustomed to getting her own way, fiercely intelligent, well-read with a sharply defined sense of humor. She is plain, and knows it, with a nose tending toward beakiness and a pointed chin, but she has very fine gray eyes and a splendid figure, as the Marquess of Darkefell notices.

She was sadly lacking in confidence in her youth, confused about her sense of self. Much of this can be blamed on her mother, who thought that her plain daughter needed to hide her intelligence to catch a husband. In her first season, when she was still in her teens, she allowed herself to be pushed into becoming engaged to Captain Sir Reginald Gladstone Moore. When he died at the Siege of Yorktown, Virginia (A battle of the Revolutionary War: September 28 – October 19, 1781) and she went into mourning, she discovered that she was worthy of better than marriage to the first man who proposed.

It was during this period of ‘mourning’ that she found her indefatigable personal maid, a Scotswoman, Mrs. Mary MacDougall. Mrs. MacDougall is a widow with a young son. Anne rescued her from penury by giving her a position as her abigail, despite Mary’s lack of experience in that field.

Now, at the age of almost 25, Anne is aware that it is not only her considerable dowry that makes her a good marital prospect, but her open heart, quick mind and excellent good humor. She is a firm friend, so when Lady John Bestwick (formerly Lydia Moore, the much younger sister of her late fiancé) begs her to come north to unravel the mysteries at Darkefell Castle, she is irresistibly drawn, thus meeting…

Lord Anthony Darkefell – Birthday: January 1^st, 1757

The Ma rquess of Darkefell came into his position many years before and exhibits all of the self-confidence bordering on arrogance of anyone accustomed to absolute obedience. He had a twin brother, but they received word a year ago that Lord Julius Bestwick died in Upper Canada. Darkefell also has a younger brother, Lord John Bestwick, who lives at Ivy Lodge with his new wife, Lydia, and the dowager marchioness, their mother, Lady Sophie Darkefell.

He lives in isolated splendor at Darkefell Castle, a gloomy partial ruins with a much newer added section. Ivy Lodge, the dower house, is about a quarter mile closer to the main road.

With a mercurial temperament and a dislike for flattery and sycophancy, he despises London during the parliamentary season, though he does his duty and attends. The people who seem to seek him out most are politicians who want favors and husband-hunting mothers looking for wealthy husbands for their daughters. He has no inclination toward marriage at this time of his life.

He enjoys fine clothes, and is handsome – and aware of it – without being overtly vain. When he meets Lady Anne and notices that either his looks or his presence has an effect on her, he uses it to try to distract her from the ‘mystery’, which he is afraid will have a solution he will not like. He discovers the delicious enjoyment of kissing her, though, and finds her an engaging, intelligent and surprisingly passionate companion. She interests him in ways no woman has for many years.

He is a much better man than he will acknowledge, and is adamant in his beliefs, among them that slavery is an abomination, and the slave trade a blot on England’s reputation.

Mr. Osei Boatin
The marques's secretary, Boatin is about 22, an African by birth, the son of a chieftain of the Fante tribe, from the west coastal region of Africa. Inter-tribal warfare left him an orphaned captive, and he was sold into slavery. On the awful 'Middle Passage' voyage he almost dies, but was rescued by the marquess. Since then he has applied himself, first learning English, then to reading everything he can obtain to further his education, learning other languages as well, among them Greek and Latin. He is more lonely than he will admit to anyone, and if it were not for his commitment to Lord Darkefell, he would have left England to try to find his sister, who was also sold into slavery, though anywhere but England is dangerous to his freedom. Unfortunately, he has neither the money nor the influence yet to begin such a search, and his pride keeps him from asking his employer, who he feels has already done so much for him.

Mrs. Mary MacDougall
Anne’s abigail. A Catholic, Mary was widowed several years before when her husband, Collin MacDougall, died defending a priest and Catholic church from a mob during the Gordon Riots in July of 1780. His death left her alone to raise their child, then just a toddler, Wee Robbie. A little over a year later, destitute and living on charity, she was recommended to Anne (in mourning for her late fiancé), and was hired as an abigail. Though she has virtually no interest in clothes, hair or other fashionable fripperies, she was extremely grateful for the position and learned quickly what was required. Since Anne likes beautiful, fashionable clothes and her hair is luxuriant, if a little difficult, Mary had to learn what was expected of a fashionable lady, and is now competent in sewing, styling hair, and all the other skills her position demands. She is stalwart and loyal, with a rarely seen sense of humor.

Places & Houses in the Lady Anne Series...

Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark takes place in Yorkshire:

Yorkshire is the largest county in England. As the size was unwieldy for governance, it was divided into three ‘ridings’, the North, East and West ridings. Darkefell’s estate is between the (fictional) villages of Staunby and Hornethwaite in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His estate is therefore west of Richmond near a tributary of the Swale river.

Darkefell Castle – Darkefell Castle, the main seat of the Marquess of Darkefell, was built in sections, the first part a fortified gate in Norman times. The rest of the castle was built in the 1300s, with a further modern section built in the mid 1700s by the current marquess’s father. The oldest part of the castle is a keep with round towers at the corners, and archer’s slits. The current Lord Darkefell is doing his best to renovate the old section, slowly having the stonework restored where possible, and copied when necessary. For the most part he lives in the modern section, which is comfortable, graceful, long and low, just three storeys, with large glass windows that glimmer in the afternoon sun. He takes rather gloomy delight in introducing impressionable ladies (the few rare ones who visit) to the more frightening parts of the castle.

Ivy Lodge – A lovely Jacobean dower house built in the last century, Ivy Lodge is commodious and comfortable, beautifully decorated thanks to Lady Sophie Darkefell’s exquisite good taste. Between the Lodge and the Castle is a ‘folly’, a tall tower built to commemorate the raising of the former earldom to a marquessate.

Please visit my Georgian Era page to find out
more about this wonderful time period.

Donna Lea Simpson
Historical Romance/Mystery Author

[image] Lady Anne And The Howl In The Dark graphic

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"Donna Lea Simpson is like Victoria Holt but with twice the impact!"

...Kerensa Wilson
-- Crave More Roman

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