The Murder of Thomas Cardwell
- Authors: Stephanie Laurens
- Series: Book 11 in the Casebook of Barnaby Adair series
- Rank:Top 100 in Best Amateur Sleuths on AmazonTop 500 in Best Historical Mystery on Amazon
- Rating: 4.7 based on 303 reviews
- Release Date: July 17, 2025
- Print length: 240 pages (Paperback)
About the book
#1 NYT-bestselling author Stephanie Laurens returns with a perplexing case in which her favorite sleuths must untangle a web of interconnected motives to identify the man who killed Thomas Cardwell.
When the upstanding man-of-business Thomas Cardwell is killed, Roscoe seeks help from London's best investigators - Barnaby and Penelope Adair, along with Inspector Stokes of Scotland Yard - to unravel the mystery of why anyone would want to murder such an honest man.
Sent by Roscoe, the gambling king of London, to discover the 'nefarious activity' that Cardwell had uncovered, Jordan Draper, Roscoe's own man-of-business, arrives at Cardwell's office only to find that Cardwell has been recently murdered.
Joined by the Adairs and Inspector Stokes, Jordan delves into the investigation to understand why someone would target such a harmless man like Cardwell. As the case unfolds, Jordan forms a connection with Cardwell's family, particularly his sister Ruth, and becomes increasingly driven to uncover the truth behind the murder and provide closure for the grieving family.
With each clue and motive discovered, the investigators work tirelessly to identify Cardwell's killer and uncover the illicit activity he had stumbled upon. Amid a tangle of motives and a network of potential suspects connected to both each other and the victim, finding the truth proves to be a challenging task. It is only with the support of their wider circle of allies that the investigators make progress, ultimately closing in on the perpetrator of Thomas Cardwell's murder.
This historical novel, spanning 77,000 words, masterfully weaves together elements of mystery, crime, and a hint of romance.