Vita Carew Mysteries 3 Books Collection Set by Fran Smith (A Thin Sharp Blade, The Painted Penny Stamp, The Killing at Crowswood Castle)
A Thin Sharp Blade
A professor's dismissal, a boxer's death, and a widow's secrets. Can Vita Carew solve the mystery?
In 1903 England, Vita Carew's dreams of studying at Cambridge are shattered by a dismissive professor. But Vita’s intellect proves invaluable after her brother and a visiting American boxer take part in an ultimately lethal boxing match. Vita’s brother is gravely injured and the boxer dies, leaving behind his glamorous wife.
Though the boxer's unexpected death is attributed to the boxing match, Vita has her own suspicions, especially after noticing the similarities between his and her brother’s injuries. But, to prove her theory and uncover the truth, she must first convince the very professor who doubted her abilities.
The Painted Penny Stamp
A quiet lodger, a secret vice, and a fortune-seeker who will stop at nothing.
When a neighbour’s lodger is found dead, Vita Carew, a sharp-witted science student, is the first on the scene. The police pronounce it an accident, a fatal fall, but Vita remains unconvinced. Her access to the post-mortem reveals the truth: Albert Flett was murdered.
As Vita investigates, she uncovers a trail of evidence that suggests Albert’s quiet, unassuming ways were hiding a complex and dangerous secret life. When a prominent, eccentric old lady is also found dead under suspicious circumstances, Vita finds herself entangled in of cat and mouse with a ruthless killer.
The Killing at Crowswood Castle
A vicious master, a cruel injustice, and a long-held secret…
After travelling to the notoriously haunted Crowswood Castle to recover from illness, Cambridge student Vita Carew finds herself at the centre of a ghostly unsolved mystery.
As renovations on the ancient castle near completion, old secrets emerge, and Vita must decipher the meaning of a hidden message in an old painting of the deceased previous mistress of the house. When workmen unearth human remains in the castle grounds, Vita finds herself piecing together the clues to a chilling decades-old mystery.