THE DEAD CAME CALLING, New Regency Mystery by JL Buck

Full Blurb:

October 1812. Lucien Grey, Viscount Ware, returns to London from his family’s country estate to discover his friend and fellow spy Andrew Sherbourne is a fugitive from a charge of murder.
      And Sherry is hiding in Lucien's townhouse with Fanny, a small child of two or three. The mother--and murder victim--abandoned the child on Sherry’s doorstep, claiming Fanny was his daughter and needed protection from a Frenchman chasing them.
      An over-zealous Bow Street Runner is convinced Sherry is guilty of the murder, and no one is looking for the real killer—no one except Lucien—but evidence and potential suspects are sparse.
      Lady Anne Ashburn was called home from London to her invalid mother’s bedside two months ago. She is resigned to never seeing Lord Ware again, at least not in the near future, and her monotonous days are relieved by her childhood sweetheart Daniel, the man everyone has always assumed she would marry.
      Then the letter comes from Lord Ware, asking for her help in investigating a local family. She sets out with determination and in defiance of society’s expectations to find the evidence Lord Ware needs to expose the truth and set his friend free.

Buy Links:
AMZ: https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Came-Calling-Viscount-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BVX79QMF
Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-dead-came-calling-1
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-came-calling-j-l-buck/1143111006?ean=9781684920907
 BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/books/the-dead-came-calling-viscount-ware-mystery-book-3-by-j-l-buck

​Excerpt from Chapter Two: (Andrew Sherbourne, friend and fellow agent of Lord Ware is visited by a woman who betrayed them as English spies in France and brings a young girl with her. She claims they are being chased by a Frenchman who is seeking revenge for a death during the war.)
 
“What? Our child?” Sherry rose to his feet, his heart racing. He had almost expected it. His thoughts had nearly ferreted out her purpose, but not quite. “Why should I believe you? Why wait three years to tell me?”
 
“I didn’t know I was carrying a child when I returned home, and how was I to tell you? I didn’t know where you were, and the only name I had was Andrew Rayburn.”
 
“You managed to find me now.”
 
“Yes, well, it did not matter back then. I desired nothing from you until I recently realized Fanny and I were in danger. In truth, it was not hard to discover Mr. Simon Grey was Lucien Simon Grey, Lord Ware, and that led me to his close friend, Andrew Sherbourne.”
 
“It was never intended to be a deep cover,” he murmured. “What is it you expect of me? Money? You have no proof this child is mine.” Sherry paced the room shaking his head. What a lot of poppycock.
 
“I told you—protection is all. Would you truly deny your child?” Maria cried. “If you don’t believe me. Go look at her again. She has your eyes, your chin.”
 
Needing time to think this out, he latched onto her suggestion. “A fine proposal. Stay and have more tea. I shall see her and return post haste. This conversation is not over.” Sherry strode from the room and rapidly descended the back stairs, his thoughts swirling. Good lord. Could it be true? Was the child his?
 
He opened the kitchen door to the delectable smell of venison stew rising from a pot on the massive iron stove. Fanny sat on the floor at the cook’s feet playing with one of the kitchen cats. Her mouth was smeared with red jam. “How is our young guest doing?” he asked with a smile, his gaze already assessing Fanny’s looks. A pretty child, dark hair, dark eyes. Frankly, she looked more like her mother than anyone else. Was there a faint resemblance to the Sherbourne family around the eyes? Maybe. Nothing as definitive as Maria had implied.
 
“We’ve been doing just fine, sir,” Mrs. Cooper said, giving Fanny a warmhearted look. “I s’pose her mother is missing her already. We better wipe that face before you go.” She put down the long spoon she’d been using to stir the pot and reached for a kitchen rag.
 
Fanny obediently stood and presented her up-turned face for washing. Sherry chuckled. She was a charming waif. He frowned at the sudden thump, thump of hurrying feet descending the servant stairs.
 
“Sir? Sir, where are you?” Archibald called. A moment later, he stuck his head in the kitchen door and grew wide-eyed at sight of the child. “Sir, may I speak with you in private?”
 
“Of course.” Archibald’s red face and heavy breathing filled Sherry with alarm, and he stepped into the hallway. “What is it, Archie?”
 
“The woman…she left, sir.” Archie held up a heavy bag. “I found this in the front entry and went to ask if it was hers, but she was not in the library. I have looked everywhere. She is gone.”
 
 “That cannot be.” Mindful of Fanny and other listeners on the other side of the door, Sherry kept his voice down. “She would not have left without her daughter.”
 
“I am sorry, sir, but it appears that is precisely what she has done.”

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