2022 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Women’s Fiction
2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Winner in Mystery
2022 IPPY Awards Silver Winner in Popular Fiction
“Hughes offers up a contemporary mystery/thriller with a strong helping of historical fiction and romance. . . . An enjoyable globe-trotting adventure and investigation.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“A sharp, engrossing international thriller with twists that will keep you turning pages, The Long-Lost Jules is a perfect blend of mystery, high-stakes financial intrigue, and romance. It grabs readers from the first page and doesn’t let go until the satisfying ending.”
—Lindsay Cameron, author of BIGLAW and Just One Look
“A fun and pacy novel, with plenty of twists and turns, and an engaging heroine who is not all that she seems! An enjoyable read.”
—Janet MacLeod Trotter, author of The Sapphire Child
“With a satisfying ending that resolves all of its mysteries, The Long-Lost Jules is an absorbing mystery novel . . .”
—Foreword Clarion Review
“A remarkable story. Jane Hughes has taken captivating characters on an intriguing journey. There's international flair. A fascinating glimpse of history. Strong and powerful forces vie with each other to plunge the reader into a vivid, complex, and often dangerous world.”
—Eugenia Lovett West, author of Firewall and Sarah's War
“The Long-Lost Jules is an action-packed adventure full of British history, flirtation, and subterfuge. Hughes teases the reader, doling out information at an expert pace and keeping readers guessing throughout. Part mystery novel, part romance, this story will keep you up late into the night!”
—Jacqueline Friedland, author of Trouble the Water and That's Not a Thing
“Fast-paced international thriller with enough twists and turns to make an Oxford don dizzy. Hughes takes readers on a breathless journey through the playgrounds of Europe to uncover a centuries-old royal mystery and bust international money-laundering rings. Plot twists, mistaken identity, edge-of-your-seat danger, romance, it’s all there. And when you think the stakes can’t get higher, wait, there’s more. I thoroughly loved this novel!”
—Ashley E. Sweeney, author of Answer Creek
“A mousy banker’s life is turned upside down by a strange man who believes she is a descendant of Henry VIII’s widow. Follow Amy on a whirlwind European tour through historical mystery, financial intrigue, and personal peril, with lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing. This is an engagingly written page-turner!”
—Gayle Woodson, author of After Kilimanjaro
“A historical mystery brings a dashing Oxford don to mousy Amy. What follows is the slow and delicious unveiling of these intrepid characters doing their best to conceal their true natures while traipsing across Europe following their cross-over agendas. Part adventure story and part romance—and totally engaging.”
—Maren Cooper, author of A Better Next
“An absorbing and entertaining look at the worlds of English history and international money laundering, wrapped up in a long-unsolved mystery and an intense but unusual love story.”
—Iris Mitlin Lav, author of A Wife in Bangkok
“I absolutely raced through this book; I loved the blend of historical mystery with modern day thriller and wonderful characters! I tried to predict the twists and turns but just when I thought I had got it, something else came along to send the story down another direction. The back and forth deception and banter between Leo and Amy reminded me of a Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn movie.”
—Elisabeth Hobbes, author of The Secret Agent
“In The Long-Lost Jules, Jane Elizabeth Hughes has created an enthralling page-turner of a novel about international finance and money laundering that skips from England across the continent and back again. The relationship between private banker Amy and Oxford don Leo is especially engaging. This is a delight to read!”
—Ames Sheldon, author of Eleanor’s Wars, Don’t Put the Boats Away, and Lemons in the Garden of Love
“The Long-Lost Jules takes readers on a wonderful thrill ride through a fascinating historical mystery. A real page-turner, this book will make you laugh out loud; go breathless with suspense; and smile at the sweetness as a woman discovers her ability to love and care.”
—Nina Godiwalla, author of Suits: A Woman on Wall Street
“A missing heir to King Henry VIII, an Oxford scholar who is as sexy as he is inscrutable, and an international mystery plot all add up to one unputdownable wild ride in The Long-Lost Jules. This smart, fast-paced romantic thriller had me guessing with every twist and turn. A very addictive read!”
—Angela Terry, author of Charming Falls Apart and The Trials of Adeline Turner
“Hughes creates a suspenseful adventure that takes the reader on a thrill ride through Europe to chase down a descendent from the court of Henry VIII.”
—Ellen Butler, author of the Karina Cardinal Mysteries
“A stylish and pacy mystery, which manages to combine international finance, organised crime and money laundering with a historical mystery from Tudor England and a warm human story. I loved the writing, the tongue in cheek delivery and the twists and turns in the plot which keep you on the edge of your seat.”
—Ann Bennett, author of The Orphan House, The Lake Pavilion and the Echoes of Empire collection
2021-06-04
A long-dead queen holds the key to a modern-day mystery in Hughes’ cross-genre novel.
Amy Schumann is a private banker who lives in London and manages a fortune for a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia. Her lifestyle is reflected in her apartment, which is quiet, sterile, and maybe a little bit lonely. She dislikes her vapid co-workers at the bank and escapes into spy novels to spice up her life. Things change for Amy, however, when handsome and puzzling Oxford historian Leo Schlumberger tracks her down. He insists that Amy is actually a woman named Jules who’s the heir to the estate of Queen Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII; he also believes that she’s the only one who can save that estate from the encroaching threat of a condo development. Despite Amy’s protestations that she’s not Jules, Leo is sure that she’s hiding something. Her life becomes even more complicated when her half sister, Kali, shows up in London unexpectedly; before long, Amy is entangled in all sorts of adventures—fielding official inquiries about the Saudi family’s money, dodging unknown assailants, and evading Leo’s increasingly persistent questions about her background. Hughes offers up a contemporary mystery/thriller with a strong helping of historical fiction and romance. Leo and Amy are well-suited to each other, both protecting secrets while attempting to ferret out the truth. Amy’s apparently unremarkable existence in London gives way to an intriguing mystery, and the novel particularly shines when it focuses on impressive travel perks and exotic locations. Over the course of the novel, Hughes takes readers on a glamorous escapade, imbuing life into scenes set in a medieval, walled French town or a sparkling seaside Spanish village. When the truth is finally revealed—in both the past and the present—it’s a satisfying conclusion for all concerned.
An enjoyable globe-trotting adventure and investigation.
