Lillian Stewart Carl

Biography

After starting out in science fiction and fantasy, Lillian Stewart Carl is now writing contemporary novels blending mystery, romance, and fantasy, along with short mystery and fantasy stories. Her work often includes paranormal themes. It always features plots based on history and archaeology. While she doesn’t write comedy, she believes in characters with a sense of humor.

Her fantasies are set in a mythological, alternate-history Mediterranean and India. Her
contemporary novels are set in Texas, in Ohio, in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, and in England
and Scotland.

Of her Shadows in Scarlet, Publishers Weekly says: "Presenting a delicious mix of romance and
supernatural suspense, Carl (Ashes to Ashes) delivers yet another immensely readable tale. She
has created an engaging cast and a very entertaining plot, spicing the mix with some interesting twists on the ghostly romantic suspense novel."

Of her Lucifer's Crown, Library Journal says: "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless.

Among many other novels, Lillian is the author of the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron cross-genre
mystery series: America’s exile and Scotland’s finest on the trail of all-too-living legends. Of The Secret Portrait, Kirkus says: Mystery, history and sexual tension blend with a taste of the wild beauty of the Highlands. Of The Burning Glass, Publishers Weekly says: "Authentic dialect, detailed descriptions of the castle and environs, and vivid characters recreate an area rich in history and legend. The tightly woven plot is certain to delight history fans with its dramatic collision of past and present."

With John Helfers, Lillian co-edited The Vorkosigan Companion, a retrospective on Lois McMaster Bujold’s science fiction work, which was nominated for a Hugo award.

Her first story collection, Along the Rim of Time, was published in 2000, and her second, The
Muse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth, in 2008, including three stories that were
reprinted in Year's Best mystery anthologies.

Her books are available in both print and electronic editions, and her web site is
http://www.lillianstewartcarl.com

Where to find Lillian Stewart Carl online

Books

The Avalon Chanter
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 89,800. Language: English. Published: November 2, 2014 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
A small English island. A medieval priory. Is it Arthur’s Avalon? But the body in the tomb is much too recent to be his...
The Sound and the Furry
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 54,940. Language: English. Published: June 23, 2013 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - multi-author, Fiction » Anthologies » General
The Sound and the Furry is a delightful collection of cat and dog stories from international authors who have come together to support the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). With selections that include fantasy, mystery, romance, humor, and drama, The Sound and the Furry is the purr-fect anthology for “cat people.” And “dog people.” And people who just love a good story!
Along the Rim of Time
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 73,290. Language: English. Published: April 7, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Fantasy » Short stories
In twelve stories originally published in magazines and anthologies, characters find themselves skirting the often uncertain boundary between this world and others, by choice, by chance, or by coercion.
The Muse and Other Stories of History, Mystery, and Myth
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 94,850. Language: English. Published: March 31, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Anthologies » Short stories - single author, Fiction » Historical » General
A single-author collection of thirteen short stories exploring the mystery, magic, and myth of history. Twelve were especially commissioned for print theme anthologies (and three of those were reprinted in “Best Of” anthologies). One was published in Realms of Fantasy Magazine. The collection includes Author’s Notes and an essay on writing short historical mystery.
The Mortsafe
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 55,330. Language: English. Published: December 28, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
A new short novel in the Fairbairn/Cameron series. A mortsafe is an iron cage locked over a grave to deter body snatchers. Why is one lying next to a pair of decayed bodies in one of Edinburgh’s infamous underground vaults? Newlyweds Jean Fairbairn and Alasdair Cameron are called out on the cold case, in the coldest part of the year.
The Blue Hackle
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 107,740. Language: English. Published: June 17, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
In a stately home, no one can hear you scream. Fergus MacDonald’s schemes to save his castle on Skye depend on historic artifacts, paying guests expecting a Scottish New Year, and Alasdair Cameron and Jean Fairbairn. Then a guest is murdered. If Alasdair and Jean can't untangle the threads of the past to net a present-day killer, more blood will flow for Auld Lang Syne.
Wings of Power
Series: The Sabazel Saga. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 117,160. Language: English. Published: May 30, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Romance » Fantasy
Book four of the Sabazel series.Andrion’s nephew Gard, now an adult, bears the blood of both gods and demons. When he steps over the line once too often, he is sent into exile, where a mad monk and a beautiful slave force him to accept his magical abilities. But when Gard sets out to exploit his skills in the rich valley of the Mohan, he changes his world and that of his hosts forever.
Shadow Dancers
Series: The Sabazel Saga. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 105,570. Language: English. Published: May 26, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Romance » Fantasy
(5.00 from 1 review)
Book three of the Sabazel series. The emperorAndrion has no heir, and mysterious figures are turning his allies against him. When his wife is kidnapped, he sets aside his crown and travels to an island where men and women are sacrificed in the bull-dance. There Andrion and his companions face a demon-possessed queen, his own precocious nephew, and two gods who are dueling to the death.
The Winter King
Series: The Sabazel Saga. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 106,010. Language: English. Published: May 12, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Romance » Fantasy
(5.00 from 1 review)
Book two of the Sabazel series. Andrion, son of an Amazon queen and a world-conquering warrior, flees to his mother's realm when his father's empire is betrayed and conquered by barbarians. Meanwhile, Tembujin, son of the barbarian Khan, finds that betrayal is not reserved for his enemy. Only by forming an uneasy alliance can the two princes earn their patrimonies-- and their women.
Sabazel
Series: The Sabazel Saga. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 87,520. Language: English. Published: May 6, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Romance » Fantasy
(5.00 from 1 review)
Book One of the Sabazel Series. In a world rooted in Mediterranean history and mythology, Danica, a warrior-queen, is forced to form a more-than-political alliance with Bellasteros, a warrior-king, making his enemies her enemies. When she rides into battle at his side, carrying his child, his friends become her enemies, too. ". . .I love this book." Lilith Saintcrow, author
Lucifer's Crown
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 127,360. Language: English. Published: March 15, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Contemporary, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
A tarnished saint, an immortal Thomas Becket, and a polished devil, his nemesis, sweep several ordinary people into a struggle for the holy grail, winner take the future. "Blending historical mystery with a touch of the supernatural, the author creates an intriguing exploration of faith and redemption in a world that is at once both modern and timeless" —Library Journal
Time Enough to Die
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 87,890. Language: English. Published: February 23, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
(5.00 from 1 review)
Matilda Gray, an expert on Roman/Celtic antiquities, learns that the illegal trade in such treasures can be deadly. Gareth March, a Scotland Yard detective, learns he must work with Matilda to solve a murder. Together they learn that the excavation of a Roman fort might cause another one. They agree on one thing: The risk of death makes life and love all the sweeter.
Memory and Desire
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 113,620. Language: English. Published: February 17, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British, Fiction » Romance » Suspense
Claire came to the English village to find her best friend, who vanished after performing in a play re-creating a seventeenth-century witchcraft trial. What she found was a murder mystery—and a man. A man who, like her, is trapped between memory and desire. Did Melinda ask too many questions about the village’s tragic history? But to find her, Claire, too, must ask questions.
The Charm Stone
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 109,200. Language: English. Published: February 3, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
Jean and Alasdair journey to Williamsburg, Virginia, for an exhibition of artifacts including the Witch Box. A mysterious charm stone went missing from the box three centuries ago. Will a pair of conspiracy theorists now kill to find it? Jean and Alasdair face a murder with roots in history and myth. Ghosts only they can see. And things going bump in the night of their own relationship.
Garden of Thorns
Series: The Ashes Trilogy. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 129,120. Language: English. Published: January 18, 2011 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Romance » Gothic
(5.00 from 1 review)
Mark and Hilary (Dust to Dust) meet again in Fort Worth, Texas. Mark and British archaeologist Jenny Galliard are excavating an eerie Victorian house scarred by two Jack-the-Ripper style murders. Hilary is working at an art gallery with medieval artifacts recovered from the Nazis. Beset by dark secrets dating far into the past, will Mark and Hilary ever get together?
The Burning Glass
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 112,680. Language: English. Published: December 17, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
Jean and Alasdair are away for a honeymoon of sorts to Ferniebank Castle in the Scottish Borders, a place haunted by blood, fire, and murder. But they’re not alone. A New Age mythobabbler plans to transform the castle's chapel into a spa---it was built by the same hands as cryptic Rosslyn, a tourist attraction thanks to The Da Vinci Code. And yet again, a legend causes murder.
The Murder Hole
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 116,010. Language: English. Published: December 5, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
Jean Fairbairn has an appointment with scientist Roger Dempsey, who wants to prove the Loch Ness monster really exists. But what scientific instrument can plumb the mysteries of death? And will another encounter bridge the depths between Jean and Alasdair Cameron, or will their story end at the hands of a murderer, in the icy water of a loch that never gives up its dead?
The Secret Portrait
Series: Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron Mysteries. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 109,060. Language: English. Published: December 4, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Mystery & detective » Traditional British
(3.00 from 1 review)
Jean Fairbairn has a coin from Bonnie Prince Charlie's hoard and a story for her magazine. Until the story comes to murder. Up close and personal with Chief Inspector Alasdair Cameron, whose forebears led Charlie's rising, and Rick MacLyon, a dot.com millionaire and expert on Charlie's life, Jean is likely to end her story trapped by a murderer, and the MacLyon mansion's newest ghost.
Dust to Dust
Series: The Ashes Trilogy. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 132,040. Language: English. Published: November 22, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Romance » Gothic
(4.50 from 2 reviews)
Rebecca and Michael (Ashes to Ashes) get back together at an archaeological dig in Scotland. Uncovering a medieval murder mystery makes the tense situation at the dig even tenser. It's the very fresh body in a very old grave that blows it wide open -- and tests their relationship for once and for all, against a backdrop of music, ghostly presences, and the bonny braes of Scotland.
Ashes to Ashes
Series: The Ashes Trilogy. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 127,920. Language: English. Published: November 21, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » Women Sleuths, Fiction » Romance » Gothic
(5.00 from 1 review)
Historian Rebecca Reid comes to a Scottish castle in Ohio to catalog a collection of historical artifacts. There she's saddled with a Scottish co-worker, Michael Campbell. He has a tartan chip on his shoulder and, Rebecca suspects, a hidden agenda. When valuables vanish and accidents happen, Rebecca suspects more than ghostly presences are at work. Someone very human wants her gone.
Shadows in Scarlet
Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 105,120. Language: English. Published: November 3, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Romance » General, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » General
Amanda sees her job in a colonial-era mansion as part of the history business, nothing personal---until James Grant's ghost introduces himself to her. And a charming ghost he is, in the tartan kilt and scarlet coat of King George's Highland Regiment. When she promises James she'll reveal the truth about his death, history becomes all too close and personal.

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