The Carver Affair
Book 5 in The Lucy Lawrence Mysteries
by Pam Lecky
When Peggy O’Reilly steps off the Wexford train, she dreams of a fresh start. Within days, she’s vanished into Victorian Dublin’s shadows, and soon the search for a missing girl has become a hunt for a killer…
Dublin, 1894. Lucy Lawrence arrives in Ireland expecting a pleasant summer holiday while her husband Phineas investigates security at Dublin Castle. But when her maid’s young cousin disappears and is found murdered in the notorious Monto red-light district, Lucy cannot stand idly by, especially when the girl’s sister is still missing.
In Merrion Square, banker Myles Carver grieves his dying wife with his beautiful daughter-in-law Olivia. In the Monto’s brothels, madam Celine Burton rules through violence and fear. Between these two worlds stands Detective Inspector Fergus Ryan, hunting a killer while the powerful protect their secrets. As bodies mount and time runs out, Lucy must decide who to trust in a city full of contradictions.
From sumptuous drawing rooms to squalid brothels the police dare not enter, this is a gripping Victorian mystery and a thrilling addition to the bestselling Lucy Lawrence series.
Universal Buy Link: https://geni.us/1207-al-aut-am
Please enjoy an extract:
Merrion Square, Dublin, Thursday, 19th July, 1894
When Lucy woke late the next morning, it didn’t surprise her to find Phin was already up, dressed and gone from their suite. Hearing voices outside, Lucy jumped up and made her way to the window to pull back the wooden shutters. Below, she caught sight of Phin getting into a cab. He must be off to Dublin Castle again, she mused. And without her.
The door opened. ‘Morning, ma’am,’ Mary, her maid, greeted her as she entered the room.
‘Good morning, Mary,’ Lucy said, turning from the window. ‘It looks as though it will be a fine day.’ She sat at the dressing table, watching Mary head for the bathroom through her mirror.
‘Yes, ma’am. I’ll run your bath.’
‘Thank you. I plan to take the children to the zoological gardens in the Phoenix Park. Bash spotted an advertisement for it yesterday and is keen to go. Perhaps you will come with us, Mary? I’m sure Jenny and I would be glad of the help. You know how energetic the children can be when they are excited.’
There was silence. From the bathroom, Lucy heard the water running. ‘Mary?’
A moment later, Mary appeared at the door. ‘Yes, ma’am?’
‘Would you like to visit the zoo with us today?’ A subdued smile followed by a nod was the maid’s answer before she returned to the bathroom.
Concerned that her normally bubbly maid was out of sorts, Lucy followed. ‘Is something the matter? How was your mother last night? Is she well?’
‘Yes, ma’am, thank you. And she expressly asked me to pass on her best to you. She’s in fine fettle… but for…’ Mary was kneeling beside the bath, testing the temperature of the water with her hand. She looked up. ‘It’s probably nothing at all, ma’am.’
So, there was something up. Lucy sat on the edge of the bath. ‘Whatever it is, it’s best you tell me. I’ll get it out of you in the end, you know.’
Mary tried to smile as she got to her feet. ‘I don’t want to trouble you, ma’am. Sure, you have enough to be worrying about with the twins and all and setting up home here for the summer.’
‘Nonsense, Mary. I may be able to help you or your mother, but I can’t if you don’t tell me what the problem is.’
‘Ma… well, not just her. We all think something terrible is after happening to me young cousins, ma’am.’
‘Good gracious,’ Lucy exclaimed. ‘Tell me more.’
‘Well, me mother was in a dreadful state about it last night when I was there. About a week ago, she got a letter from her sister down in Wexford. That’s where they are from, see.’
‘Oh dear. Some bad news then?’
‘Aye, Peggy and Bridget, they’ve disappeared and not a word from either of them these last few weeks.’
‘Disappeared? Oh my, how dreadful, Mary.’
The maid wrung her hands. ‘Aye. Vanished. They travelled up here to Dublin to find work. Jobs are scarce down there, you see. But me aunt hasn’t heard a word from them since she waved them off at the station. That’s like almost three weeks ago.’
‘Perhaps in the excitement of coming to Dublin, they’ve forgotten to write,’ Lucy suggested. ‘If they are a little flighty…’
‘Ah no, ma’am, sure, they are both good girls. A bit young in some ways and sure they didn’t want to come at all, but things weren’t great since their father died last Christmas. Anyways, me ma thinks it’s odd they haven’t even visited her.’ Mary’s chin trembled. ‘Ma thinks something bad has happened. She’s heard such stories about what can befall young women—with barely a brain cell between them, like our Peggy and our Bridget—arriving here and knowing nothin’. Silly young things, the pair of them, when they’re together, and that’s as often as not. They’re fierce close.’
‘How old are they?’
‘Peggy’s sixteen, her sister a year younger, ma’am.’
‘That is worrying. They are little more than children.’ Mary nodded. ‘What sort of work were they looking for?’
‘To go into service. ’Tis the only respectable way to go.’ Mary smiled. ‘They heard how well I was doing with you, ma’am, and sure it gave them the gumption to have a go themselves. Now, when me mother heard their plans, she wrote to tell them the Jacobs factory was taking on biscuit packers… But they were not keen on that, the silly widgeons. Now, I’m fierce worried about ’em, ma’am. What if something awful has happened?’
‘We can’t assume the worst, Mary. Hopefully, there is a benign reason for their silence.’ But even as she said it, Lucy didn’t believe it.
‘What would your advice be?’ Mary asked. ‘How do I go about finding ’em? Should I go to the polis?’ Mary’s voice cracked on the last, and she hurriedly bent over the bath to turn off the taps. When she looked back at Lucy, her eyes were bright with tears.
‘Why, Mary, it is perfectly simple. I will help you find them,’ Lucy said. ‘And we shall make a start when we get back from the zoological gardens.’
Pam Lecky is an Irish author of historical and contemporary crime and mystery, published by Storm Publishing and Avon Books UK (Harper Collins).
Pam’s Victorian murder mystery series features Lucy Lawrence, along with her trusty maid, Mary, and the enigmatic investigator, Phineas Stone. Lucy solves some nasty crimes along the way and although she is often a magnet for trouble, she invariably comes good in the end. The books are set in the UK and Europe during the late Victorian period.
The Sarah Gillespie espionage series (trilogy) features an Irish woman working for MI5 during WW2. Pam has also written a standalone WW2 murder mystery, Under A Lightning Sky, set during the Blitz.
The Bowes Inheritance, Pam’s debut novel, was awarded the B.R.A.G. Medallion; was shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize 2016; made ‘Editor’s Choice’ by the Historical Novel Society; long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Award; and chosen as a Discovered Diamond in 2017.
Pam’s current project is The Wild Atlantic Murders series, a contemporary Irish crime series (cozy crime with a bit of an edge!), the first book of which will be published on June 16th 2026. The Clew Bay Detectives is set in Co. Mayo and features a landscape designer, Ali Brennan, who discovers she has a surprising talent for solving crime.
Pam is represented by Thérèse Coen at Susanna Lea Associates Literary Agency, London. Pam is a member of the Historical Novel Society, The Crime Writers’ Association and the Society of Authors.
Website & Blog: https://pamlecky.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pamleckybooks/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046230326199
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/pam-lecky
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