Picked as one of Stylist magazine's 'Fiction Books You Can't Miss in 2022' and longlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award 2022 'Tense and vividly atmospheric, with a determined, independent heroine intent on the truth . . . beautifully written, unflinching and brimming with adventure' - Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Ariadne 'A stunning debut . . . paints a memorable picture of ambition, sacrifice and corruption while exploring personal loss as driving force' - Charmaine Wilkerson, author of Black Cake Fortune favours the brave in Lizzie Pook's mesmerising debut novel, Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter 1886, BANNIN BAY, AUSTRALIA. The Brightwell family has sailed from England to make their new home in Western Australia. Ten-year-old Eliza knows little of what awaits them on these shores beyond shining pearls and shells like soup plates - the things her father has promised will make their fortune. ~~~ Ten years later and Charles Brightwell, now the bay's most prolific pearler, goes missing from his ship while out at sea. Whispers from the townsfolk suggest mutiny and murder, but headstrong Eliza, convinced there is more to the story, refuses to believe her father is dead, and it falls to her to ask the questions no one else dares consider. But in a town teeming with corruption, prejudice and blackmail, Eliza soon learns that the truth can cost more than pearls, and she must decide just how much she is willing to pay - and how far she is willing to go - to find it . . . 'Gritty, lyrical, breath-taking. I couldn't put it down' - Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker's Gift 'Adventure, feminist heroine, crocodiles and jellyfish, dangerous men, secrets, grief love and hope... It's not just good, it's important. Lizzie shines a light on a dark part of British history with grace, skill, sensitivity and honesty. I LOVED IT - Nikki May, author of Wahala

How does an ordinary criminal, renowned in 80's London Underworld for his expertise in electronic safe and cracking and breaking down the most sophisticated security systems, go from planning the country's largest diamond heist worth millions? To helping the Intelligence Departments of influential countries such as Britain and America to undermine Russia and Iran? And for what? To break in a strong room situated in a Chateau in Switzerland, to steal devices that could start or stop a nuclear War? During his race through Europe, he is being hunted down by an international criminal organisation who are brokering the deal and by a ruthless group of London mobsters who want their diamond's back and their revenge on Boyd for double crossing them! Boyd has to use all his mastery in martial arts and street wise cunning to keep ahead of the game to come out on top, with the devices, diamonds but most of all if he's lucky, his life.

When the sun never sets, there's no place to hide: a gripping new thriller from the internationally bestselling author of Breathless.

Olivia needs to get out of London in a hurry. Where could be a better escape than the opposite side of the globe, on a sightseeing cruise to Antarctica, including a stay on the icy continent itself?

At first, it's everything she dreamed of. Majestic icebergs, tantalising glimpses of polar bears, and all under the eerie splendour of a sun that never sets. It's so spectacular, she can swallow her unease at the eccentric behaviour of some of her fellow passengers.

It's not until their first night camping on the peninsula that things start to go wrong. A storm hits, and the boat has a problem, leaving them cut off.

And then they find the first body. And Olivia realises she doesn't know which is more frightening - the most dangerous environment on earth, or the killer hiding in plain sight, waiting to strike again...

How does an ordinary criminal, renowned in 80's London Underworld for his expertise in electronic safe and cracking and breaking down the most sophisticated security systems, go from planning the country's largest diamond heist worth millions? To helping the Intelligence Departments of influential countries such as Britain and America to undermine Russia and Iran? And for what? To break in a strong room situated in a Chateau in Switzerland, to steal devices that could start or stop a nuclear War? During his race through Europe, he is being hunted down by an international criminal organisation who are brokering the deal and by a ruthless group of London mobsters who want their diamond's back and their revenge on Boyd for double crossing them! Boyd has to use all his mastery in martial arts and street wise cunning to keep ahead of the game to come out on top, with the devices, diamonds but most of all if he's lucky, his life.

Joe is a disgraced big-shot City financier and former secret agent. Once extremely rich and successful, Joe is now broke, his reputation in tatters. With few options open to him, he survives from day to day by living on his wits and partnering the affluent ladies of the exclusive Liz Playfair Bridge Academy. His previous existence is a world away, hidden from all but a few. Now Joe receives an unwelcome message from the past. One last mission in exchange for his old life. But are the cards stacked against him? Left with little choice but to follow instructions, Joe makes his return to the dangerous twilight world of espionage, unaware that a chance encounter with a stranger could not only ruin the whole mission but also prove fatal.

A young man, broken down in the fog, witnesses a murder he is asked to conceal... A full-length novel adapted by Charles Osborne from Agatha Christie's acclaimed play. When a stranger runs his car into a ditch in dense fog in South Wales and makes his way to an isolated house, he discovers a woman standing over the dead body of her wheelchair-bound husband, gun in her hand. She admits to murder, and the unexpected guest offers to help her concoct a cover story. But is it possible that Laura Warwick did not commit the murder after all? If so, who is she shielding? The victim's young half-brother or his dying matriarchal mother? Laura's lover? Perhaps the father of the little boy killed in an accident for which Warwick was responsible? The house seems full of possible suspects... THE UNEXPECTED GUEST is considered to be one of the finest of Christie's plays. Hailed as 'another Mousetrap' when it opened on 12 August 1958 in the West End, it ran for 604 performances over the succeeding 18 months and has been staged many times around the world over the last 40 years.

An ordinary village A shocking announcement One morning the villagers of Chipping Cleghorn wake to find a strange notice in their papers: 'A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30pm.' Suspecting this is just a joke, they gather for some evening entertainment. Then a gunshot is heard. In desperation, the police turn to an old lady whose hobbies are gardening, gossiping - and solving murders. After all, old ladies know better than anyone exactly what goes on in quiet English villages... Never underestimate Miss Marple 'The queen of jaw-dropping, heart-stopping twists.' Karen M. McManus 'Establishes firmly her claim to the throne of detection. The plot is as ingenious as ever... the dialogue both wise and witty; while the suspense is maintained very skilfully until the final revelation.' A.A. Milne

At an apparently respectable dinner party, a vicar is the first to die... Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor's house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died. But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison - just as Poirot had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive...

When a man plunges down a cliff, two adventurous young friends decide to find his killer... While playing an erratic round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and says, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?' Haunted by these words, Bobby and his vivacious companion, Frankie, set out to solve a mystery that will bring them into mortal danger...

An elderly stroke victim dies without having arranged a will... Beautiful young Elinor Carlisle stood serenely in the dock, accused of the murder of Mary Gerrard, her rival in love. The evidence was damning: only Elinor had the motive, the opportunity and the means to administer the fatal poison. Yet, inside the hostile courtroom, only one man still presumed Elinor was innocent until proven guilty: Hercule Poirot was all that stood between Elinor and the gallows...

A middle-aged diplomat is accosted in an airport lounge and his identity stolen... Sir Stafford Nye's journey home from Malaya to London takes an unexpected twist in the passnger loungs at Frankfurt - a young woman confides in him that someone is trying to kill her. Yet their paths are to cross again and again - and each time the mystery woman is introduced as a different person. Equally at home in any guise in any society she draws Sir Stafford into a game of political intrigue more dangerous than he could possibly imagine. In an arena where no-one can be sure of anyone, Nye must do battle with a well-armed, well-financed, well-trained - and invisble - enemy...

A teenage murder witness is drowned in a tub of apples... At a Hallowe'en party, Joyce - a hostile thirteen-year-old - boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the 'evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...

Nine intriguing tales One unequalled storyteller An unknown wounded man in a church. A fatal riding accident. A corpse and a tape measure. Whether in St Mary Mead or further afield, there is always much wickedness lurking below the surface, should, like Jane Marple, you have the eyes to see it. Published posthumously, this collection of tales, seven of them featuring Agatha Christie's much loved Miss Marple, plus two stand-alone stories, is a treasure trove. Never underestimate Miss Marple 'She gives us an insight into human nature that few, if any, have surpassed.' Susan Lewis 'The acknowledged queen of detective fiction.' Observer

Hercule Poirot is determined to solve an old husband and wife double murder that is still an open verdict... Hercule Poirot stood on the cliff-top. Here, many years earlier, there had been a tragic accident. This was followed by the grisly discovery of two more bodies - a husband and wife - shot dead. But who had killed whom? Was it a suicide pact? A crime of passion? Or cold-blooded murder? Poirot delves back into the past and discovers that 'old sin leave long shadows'.

A mysterious stranger appears at a New Year's Eve party, becoming the enigmatic sleuthing sidekick to the snobbish Mr Satterthwaite... So far, it had been a typical New Year's Eve house party. But Mr Satterthwaite - a keen observer of human nature - sensed that the real drama of the evening was yet to unfold. So it proved when a mysterious stranger arrived after midnight. Who was this Mr Quin? And why did his presence have such a pronounced effect on Eleanor Portal, the woman with the dyed-black hair?

Holidays offer us the luxury of getting away from it all. So, in a different way, do detective stories. This collection of vintage mysteries combines both those pleasures. From a golf course at the English seaside to a pension in Paris, and from a Swiss mountain resort to the cliffs of Normandy, this new selection shows the enjoyable and unexpected ways in which crime writers have used summer holidays as a theme. These fourteen stories range widely across the golden age of British crime fiction. Stellar names from the past are well represented - Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, for instance - with classic stories that have won acclaim over the decades. The collection also uncovers a wide range of hidden gems: Anthony Berkeley - whose brilliance with plot had even Agatha Christie in raptures - is represented by a story so (undeservedly) obscure that even the British Library seems not to own a copy. The stories by Phyllis Bentley and Helen Simpson are almost equally rare, despite the success which both writers achieved, while those by H. C. Bailey, Leo Bruce and the little-known Gerald Findler have seldom been reprinted.

A perplexed girl thinks she might have killed someone... Three single girls shared the same London flat. The first worked as a secretary; the second was an artist; the third who came to Poirot for help, disappeared convinced she was a murderer. Now there were rumours of revolvers, flick-knives and blood stains. But, without hard evidence, it would take all Poirot's tenacity to establish whether the third girl was guilty innocent or insane...

Agatha Christie's seasonal mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. It is Christmas Eve. The Lee family reunion is shattered by a deafening crash of furniture, followed by a high-pitched wailing scream. Upstairs, the tyrannical Simeon Lee lies dead in a pool of blood, his throat slashed. But when Hercule Poirot, who is staying in the village with a friend for Christmas, offers to assist, he finds an atmosphere not of mourning but of mutual suspicion. It seems everyone had their own reason to hate the old man...

A dentist lies murdered at his Harley Street practice... The dentist was found with a blackened hole below his right temple. A pistol lay on the floor near his outflung right hand. Later, one of his patients was found dead from a lethal dose of local anaesthetic. A clear case of murder and suicide. But why would a dentist commit a crime in the middle of a busy day of appointments? A shoe buckle holds the key to the mystery. Now - in the words of the rhyme - can Poirot pick up the sticks and lay them straight?