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Franklin-McColloch Trilogy #1
The Piper's Tune
Jessica Stirling's Glasgow comes to scintillating life in a story of love and fortune set in Edwardian Scotland.
Lindsay Franklin's life is an adventure she has just begun to enjoy. At eighteen, Arthur Franklin's cosseted daughter has left her Glasgow school and finds her role as a marriageable young lady with a widowed father more than agreeable. And the source of her family's wealth, the Franklins' shipbuilding yard on Clydeside, is prospering as the long peace of Queen Victoria's reign gives way to the feverish arms race of the new century.
But Lindsay's life takes an unexpected turn when she is given a share of the family business. Equally unexpected is the appearance of Forbes McCullough, her charming Irish cousin whose attentions she secretly welcomes. To everyone's surprise, Lindsay decides to master the family business as carefully as her male cousins. What is not surprising is that several eligible men have decided that it is time to master Lindsay.
As the mysteries of shipbuilding open to her, and the puzzle of male behavior becomes both more fascinating and more dangerous, Lindsay is forced to make some fateful decisions.
Lindsay Franklin's life is an adventure she has just begun to enjoy. At eighteen, Arthur Franklin's cosseted daughter has left her Glasgow school and finds her role as a marriageable young lady with a widowed father more than agreeable. And the source of her family's wealth, the Franklins' shipbuilding yard on Clydeside, is prospering as the long peace of Queen Victoria's reign gives way to the feverish arms race of the new century.
But Lindsay's life takes an unexpected turn when she is given a share of the family business. Equally unexpected is the appearance of Forbes McCullough, her charming Irish cousin whose attentions she secretly welcomes. To everyone's surprise, Lindsay decides to master the family business as carefully as her male cousins. What is not surprising is that several eligible men have decided that it is time to master Lindsay.
As the mysteries of shipbuilding open to her, and the puzzle of male behavior becomes both more fascinating and more dangerous, Lindsay is forced to make some fateful decisions.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Stirling
70 books18 followersA pseudonym used by Hugh C. Rae, initially in collaboration with Peggie Coghlan and later alone.
Hugh Crauford Rae was born on November 22, 1935 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, son of Isobel and Robert Rae. He published his first stories aged 11 in the Robin comic, winning a cricket bat the same year in a children’s writing competition. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as an assistant in the antiquarian department of John Smith's bookshop. At work, he met her future wife, Elizabeth. Published since 1963, he started to wrote suspense novels as Hugh C. Rae, but he also used the pseudonyms of Robert Crawford, R.B. Houston, Stuart Stern (with S. Ungar) and James Albany. On 1973, his novel "The Shooting Gallery" was nominee by the Edgar Award. On 1974, he wrote the first few romance novels with Peggie Coghlan, using the popular pseudonym Jessica Stirling. However, when she retired 7 years after the first book was published, he continued writing more than 30 on his own, and also as Caroline Crosby. His female pseudonyms first became widely known in 1999, when "The Wind from the Hills" was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Widowed nine years ago, Hugh died on September 24, 2014 at the age of 78.
Hugh Crauford Rae was born on November 22, 1935 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, son of Isobel and Robert Rae. He published his first stories aged 11 in the Robin comic, winning a cricket bat the same year in a children’s writing competition. After graduating from secondary school, he worked as an assistant in the antiquarian department of John Smith's bookshop. At work, he met her future wife, Elizabeth. Published since 1963, he started to wrote suspense novels as Hugh C. Rae, but he also used the pseudonyms of Robert Crawford, R.B. Houston, Stuart Stern (with S. Ungar) and James Albany. On 1973, his novel "The Shooting Gallery" was nominee by the Edgar Award. On 1974, he wrote the first few romance novels with Peggie Coghlan, using the popular pseudonym Jessica Stirling. However, when she retired 7 years after the first book was published, he continued writing more than 30 on his own, and also as Caroline Crosby. His female pseudonyms first became widely known in 1999, when "The Wind from the Hills" was shortlisted for Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Widowed nine years ago, Hugh died on September 24, 2014 at the age of 78.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 15, 2025
in relation to the quality of writing and storyline i prefer, only 3 stars but I want to read the next book now that I found out it's a trilogy
November 26, 2016
A good read, interesting story,unusual ending.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews