The Violet Strange Mysteries: Complete Nine-Novel Series

Historical Novel Society Editor's Choice Nominee

From the Historical Novel Society's Review of Violet's Problem:

"...the heroine of Martinelli's slim volume won me over almost instantly, and the style had me snickering and sometimes laughing throughout."

"I adored this sweet little book and look forward to continuing my acquaintance with Violet in the future."

The Violet Strange Mysteries are nine detective stories for young-adults, each story a major case for Violet Strange, a debutante and secret high-society detective, living and working in New York City in 1899, The Gilded-Age.

The stories are based on A.K. Green's 1914 short stories, but Candida Martinelli has completely re-imagined and re-written the stories for tweens, teens and adults today. The original stories were less fleshed-out, and were written in stilted, Victorian English. Candida Martinelli's series of tween length novels, or adult novellas, is written in simple, clear prose that is accessible to all readers, young and old.

The Lexile measurement (reading level) is comparable to the original Nancy Drew Mysteries. The stories are told in the present tense for immediacy, like many historical novels these days, and with a third-person objective (dramatic) voice to focus the reader on the action and dialog, and letting the reader discern the thoughts and emotions of the characters.

The nine novels are available to purchase separately, as e-books and as paperbacks. This e-book bundle of the complete nine-novel series SAVES YOU 50%.

BOOK 1: VIOLET'S PROBLEM
March 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, searches for her disgraced sister, risking losing everything, in the hope of saving her sister from a life of poverty and despair.

BOOK 2: VIOLET AND THE GOLDEN SLIPPER
April 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, seeks the truth behind a series of thefts, risking her secret job as a high-society detective, in the hope of saving a young woman from dishonor and the law.

BOOK 3: VIOLET AND THE GROTTO SPECTER
May 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, seeks to clear a man she loves of murder, at the risk of being disowned by her family and of losing her secret job as a high-society detective.

BOOK 4: VIOLET AND THE DREAMING LADY
June 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, tries to find a millionaire's lost will and testament that was hidden by a sleepwalking woman, risking her own future in the hope of saving a family from destitution.

BOOK 5: VIOLET AND THE SECOND BULLET
July 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, seeks to prove a young father did not kill himself and his child, risking her exposure as a high-society detective, in the hope of saving the man's grieving widow from destitution and forced prostitution.

BOOK 6: VIOLET AND THE INTANGIBLE CLUE
August 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, delves into the past of a murdered woman to discover the killer, as part of her secret job as a high-society detective, while trying to avoid exposure and a forced marriage.

BOOK 7: VIOLET AND THE HOUSE OF CLOCKS
October to mid-November 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, plays companion to a sadistic old woman, a risky departure from her secret job as a high-society detective, in the hope of saving a young woman's life.

BOOK 8: VIOLET AND THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND THE CLOCK
Late-November to mid-December 1899. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, working secretly as a high-society detective, attempts to discover if a respected doctor's confession of murder is true, or psychotically induced.

BOOK 9: VIOLET AND THE LOCKED ROOM, AND MISSING PAGE THIRTEEN
Late-December 1899 to New Year's Day 1900. Violet Strange, a Gilded-Age debutante, formerly a secret high-society detective, sets out to discover a mysterious locked room in a Colonial mansion, upsetting the eccentric owner's protector, who sets out to discover Violet's mysterious past.