In Toronto's rough days of 1839, several elite citizens harbor dark secrets, offering rich compost for a sleazy blackmailer. Caught in the muck is the gallant young Brodie Langford who is desperate to protect his sweetheart from disgrace. When Brodie is arrested for the extortionist's murder, Marc Edwards, now a barrister, struggles to save him from the gallows and to reunite the couple.

Autumn 1837: the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada are on the eve of open revolt. Lieutenant Marc Edwards has been sent with a force of British soldiers to subdue the increasingly hostile French rebels. But as the smoke from the battle clears and political pressures build, Marc begins to question whether the sacrifices he has made in the name of Crown and country have been worth the cost. On his return trip to Toronto, Marc is accompanied by a group of seemingly innocent civilians. But as tensions in the provinces escalate and personal grievances within the group arise, it becomes clear that not everyone Marc is traveling with is who he appears to be. Soon, mysterious death threats are issued and Marc finds himself the target of an unknown assassin. And when a member of the group is found murdered in the woods, Marc realizes that he may have more than one killer to worry about.

A search for a man armed with a rifle that hasn't been shot since the war of 1812 leads to an investigation that takes Marc Edwards from a newspaper office into the mansions of the Family Compact, and even to the local brewery, as the clues he uncovers point closer and closer to home. Now lieutenant in charge of security at Government House in Toronto, Marc Edwards is eager for action in both his personal and professional life. His letters to Beth Smallman in Crawford Corners have gone unanswered and writing speeches for Lieutenant Governor Francis Bond Head is not the stuff of excitement. Then, during an election speech by Bond Head, a shot fells a government minister sitting just behind him and Marc on the hustings. Marc's troop gallops after an armed man who flees the scene, killing him when he points his rifle at Marc's chest. Then they discover that the rifle has not been fired since the war of 1812. Mortified by his troop's mistake, Marc accepts the help of Horatio Cobb, one of Toronto's three constables in its brand new police force. He also accepts the affections of Eliza Dewart-Smythe, who is almost, but not quite, as beguiling as Beth. His investigation takes him from William Lyon Mackenzie's newspaper office into the mansions of the Family Compact, and to the local brewery, as the clues he uncovers point closer and closer to home.  

A locked mansion mystery set near Toronto in 1839 where the fate of Canada depends on finding the killer. Marc and Robert Baldwin, working for responsible government, are secretly meeting with with Quebec leaders. But a murder interferes and all are suspects. Marc and Cobb have three days to solve it before political enemies of democracy learn their plans and sink their progress.

In Toronto 1839, an abortion goes tragically wrong, killing a 15-year-old maid in the household of the distinguished Baldwin family, enveloping them in a scandal that has political implications for the union of two British colonies, Ontario and Quebec. Accused of raping a minor and causing her death is a beloved Baldwin uncle. Marc Edwards has the challenge of his career in finding the truth.

The political elite attends a charity ball at the residence of Humphrey Cardiff. His widowed daughter, Delores, flirts with all the men, enraging their wives. Amidst the political plotting of Marc Edwards and his associates, Delores is found dead, with one of her suitors standing over the body. Marc controversially decides to defend him, while Cobb races to find the truth behind her untimely death

Lurid gossip trails Dick Dougherty in his flight from New York to Toronto in 1838. But calumny mixes with politics, and a fiery sermon by Bishop John Strachan incites his murder. Dick is found dead with a note on his back bearing one word "Sodomite." Marc Edwards, Dick's dear friend, travels to New York to investigate. Even he is shocked by the depravity he uncovers.

Someone is killing women in 1841 Toronto. One victim is a singer in a bordello frequented by three prominent men. Another is a man dressed as a woman. The only evidence are a glove and a set of footprints in the snow. Cobb is on the case. Meanwhile, his former comrade Marc Edwards is in Kingston trying to forge an alliance between Upper and Lower Canada for the opening of Parliament.

Lily’s Story tells the tale of a remarkable pioneer woman, born in the backwoods of Lambton County, Ontario in 1840. Lily’s struggle to survive and grow and discover her place in the scheme of things is complicated not only by the ordinary travail of frontier living, but by the impact of historical events themselves: the railway rivalries of the 1860s and 70s, the accidental discovery of oil at Petrolia, the grand tour of the Prince of Wales in 1860, the Underground Railroad ferrying liberated slaves to safety in Canada, the Riel Rebellions, the Great War and the influenza pandemic that followed it. During her long life, Lily witnesses the birth of a nation, and the founding and rise of her home village of Point Edward. Lily’s Story is part history and part fable, replete with historical personages and a bizarre gallery of local characters. It is ultimately a story of survival and loss, about aging and the changes it brings, and about the role of memory itself. This engrossing historical novel comes from the author of the acclaimed Rebellion Mysteries, starring Marc Edwards (Turncoat, Solemn Vows, Vital Secrets, Dubious Allegiance, and Bloody Relations).