WINNER OF THE RICHARD & JUDY SEARCH FOR A BESTSELLER COMPETITION The perfect read for fans of Sunday night drama. Agatha Christie meets The Mitford Murders in this deliciously dark golden age mystery of wartime family secrets and lies in small town England. April 1941, Romsey, England. Josephine 'Jo' Fox hasn't set foot in Romsey in over twenty years. As an illegitimate child, her family - headed by her controlling grandfather - found her an embarrassment. Now, she wants to return to what was once her home and uncover the secret of her parentage. Who was her father and why would her mother never talk about him? Jo arrives the day after the Luftwaffe have bombed the town. The local pub, The Cricketers' Arms, has been completely destroyed and rescue teams are searching for the remains of the seven people known to have been in the pub at the time the bomb hit. They are shocked, however, to uncover eight bodies, not seven. The eighth, unidentified, body is that of a teenage girl, who no one in the town claims to know. Who is she, how did she get there, but most importantly - who killed her? Teaming up with local coroner and old friend, Bram Nash, Jo sets out to establish the identity of the girl and solve the riddle of her death. In doing so, she also uncovers her own personal mystery. Everyone has secrets - some are just more deadly than others . . .

'In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world' - Guardian With Bonaparte held to a stalemate in Europe, the race to empire is now resumed. Britain's ambitions turn to the Spice Islands, the Dutch East Indies, where Admiral Pellew has been sent to confront the enemy's vastly rich holdings in these tropical islands. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd joins reinforcements to snatch these for the British Crown. The two colonial masters of India and the East Indies face each other in mortal striving for the region - there can be only one victor to hold all the spoils. The colonial genius, Stamford Raffles, believes Britain should strike at the very centre of Dutch spice production, the Moluccas, rather than the fortresses one by one but is fiercely opposed. Kydd, allying himself to this cause, conspires to lead a tiny force to a triumphant conclusion - however the Dutch, stung by this loss, claim vengeance from the French. A battle for Java and an empire in the East stretches Kydd and Tyger's company to their very limits. ************* Praise for Julian Stockwin's Kydd series 'Paints a vivid picture of life aboard the mighty ship-of-the-line' Daily Express 'This heady adventure blends fact and fiction in rich, authoritative detail' Nautical Magazine 'Fans of fast-paced adventure will get their fill with this book' Historical Naval Society

Lieutenant Richard Sharpe finds himself fighting the ruthless armies of Napoleon Bonaparte as they try to bring the whole of the Iberian Peninsula under their control. Napoleon is advancing fast through northern Portugal, and no one knows whether the small contingent of British troops stationed in Lisbon will stay to fight or sail back to England. Sharpe, however, does not have a choice: He and his squad of riflemen are on the lookout for the missing daughter of an English wine shipper when the French onslaught begins and the city of Oporto becomes a setting for carnage and disaster.

Stranded behind enemy lines, Sharpe returns to his mission to find Kate Savage. Sharpe's position on enemy grounds is precarious, and his search is further complicated by a mysterious and threatening Englishman, Colonel Christopher, who has his own ideas on how the French can be driven from Portugal.

The epic story of one man's fight for his love, his God and his country The Road to Jerusalem - Book 1 in the Crusades Trilogy. Arn Magnusson, born into an aristocratic Swedish family, is raised in an old monastery because of an old promise made by his mother. From the start he shows the natural skill and aptitude of a born fighter, yet despite his strength he is innocent in the ways of the world. He is sent from the sheltered walls of the convent to experience something of real life. On his journeys Arn falls foul of various fighting groups, but is also delighted with the women he encounters. Seduced by one sister, he falls in love with the other and ends up sleeping with them both - a mortal sin in the medieval church. While his love is sent to a convent, Arn's sentence is commuted to forced commitment to the cause of the Crusades, where he becomes a notable soldier and eventually a high ranking commander of the Knights Templar and both friend and enemy to the charismatic Saladin. Arn's Story continues in the next two books: The Knight Templar and Kingdom at the End of the Road.

A slave woman is the only survivor of a failed expedition into the depths of Africa. She shelters in the hollow trunk of a baobab tree where she relives her earlier existence in a state of increasing isolation.

How she was captured in her hometown and taken away as a child, her life in a harbour city on the eastern coast as servant to different masters, her journey with her last owner and protector, and her life in the baobab tree.

__________________ 'Deeply, deeply disturbing' STEPHEN KING Shortlisted for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards for Best Horror Novel 'It will scare the pants off you' NEW YORK TIMES ____________________ After having travelled west for weeks, the party of pioneers comes to a crossroads. It is time for their leader, George Donner, to make a choice. They face two diverging paths which lead to the same destination. One is well-documented - the other untested, but rumoured to be shorter. Donner's decision will shape the lives of everyone travelling with him. The searing heat of the desert gives way to biting winds and a bitter cold that freezes the cattle where they stand. Driven to the brink of madness, the ill-fated group struggles to survive and minor disagreements turn into violent confrontations. Then the children begin to disappear. As the survivors turn against each other, a few begin to realise that the threat they face reaches beyond the fury of the natural elements, to something more primal and far more deadly. Based on the true story of The Donner Party, The Hunger is an eerie, shiver-inducing exploration of human nature, pushed to its breaking point.

'The voice she gives to Norris as memories and delusions meld in his disintegrating mind is a haunting one. Sunday Times Best Historical Novels September 2020 . Madness, freedom, love, rebellion and compassion in C18th Bedlam, post Mutiny on the Bounty. Emily Bullock has dazzling talent. AMANDA CRAIG. 'A turbulent and thrilling voyage on the high seas of madness.' ANN MORGAN Emily Bullock is a wonderful writer, and in this superbly crafted novel she doesn't waste a single word as she hurls us headlong through a swirling maze of madness that leads us to the very heart of James Norris. AMANDA HUGGINS

My husband inspired me to write this a book when he bought a vehicle via the internet, and then travelled to Manchester to collect it. The vehicle was an American GMC Safari. After gaining possession he removed two of the back seats and discovered a deliberate slit in the carpet which had been previously hidden. Knowing it had last been in Latvia for a year, he wondered whether anything had been hidden there and I thought 'what if' ....... We have travelled extensively across Europe and I had been particularly entranced by the ruined Byzantine city of Mistras set on a hillside near Sparta in Greece. I decided to incorporate this setting in a book, as it seemed to be the ideal place for stolen artefacts to be hidden. The book starts with an event at the end of WW2 when a German soldier stationed in Greece decides to defect and steals a few artefacts from a hoard plundered by his Senior Officer. On his way to the coast he hides the artefacts within some old ruins he has taken shelter in on his journey. Once back home the soldier decides it would be prudent to make a new start in France. Eventually he marries a French girl, has a family and later his wife becomes very sick. He never manages to return to Greece. When his friend decides to sell his GMC Safari American Day van the ex-soldier buys it. About this time, he makes a trip to Strasbourg and come face-to-face with his ex- Senior Officer who recognises him and he has to beat a hasty retreat hoping the vehicle has not been spotted. On another trip he suspects he is being followed. As he has the map with him, he decides to post it to his grand-daughter but because he has no stamps, he needs to buy pre-paid postage envelops from a service area. In the service area car park, where he bought the envelopes, he decides to hide the map and envelope under the carpet in a special hiding place. Two Latvian stowaways witness him leave the van unlocked and decide to steal the van. To the present time (2012), my main character, Perry Smithieson, buys a vehicle via the internet, and after collecting it from Manchester discovers an old envelope hidden under the car's carpets. Inside the envelope is a sketchy map of a site in Greece. The envelope is addressed to a French lady. Perry decides that he will attempt to deliver the letter. In doing so, he discovers that the lady is a young school-teacher. As they get on well, they decide together it would be fun to try and find whatever her Grandfather had indicated was hidden. It is not long before they discover that they could be exposing themselves to danger .... The artefact that they locate is a diamond - the Akbar Shah diamond.

A ragtag group of elite Roman soldiers are sent on a suicide mission in this epic historical thriller from Sunday Times bestseller and leading Ancient Rome expert, Harry Sidebottom. ____________________ No man who enters the Castle of Silence ever walks out alive. A remote fortress prison set high in the mountains, escape is impossible - and to break someone out, unthinkable. But this is exactly what Roman officer Marcus Aelius Valens must do. Tasked with rescuing the young Prince Sasan, Valens leads a small, elite squad of soldiers across Mesopotamia and into the mountains south of the Caspian Sea. As they journey deeper into enemy territory, the ten begin to die or disappear, one by one. And with the rescue fast becoming a suicide mission, Valens must marshal this disparate group of men - or suffer the same fate as all those who have made the journey before him... From the bestselling author of The Last Hour, The Lost Ten is a breathless historical thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat - for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Ben Kane, Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggulden. ____________________ Praise for Harry Sidebottom 'Relentless, brutal, brilliant, this is Jack Reacher in ancient Rome' - Ben Kane 'A cracking tale. More twists and turns than the Tiber itself' - Rory Clements 'Absorbing, rich in detail and brilliant' - THE TIMES 'Grabbed me from the start. I loved it' - Donna Leon

"This is Raymond Chandler for feminists." Sharma Shields, author of The Cassandra "An expressive and striking story that examines what one does for family and for oneself." Kirkus Reviews Jane's a very brave boy. And a very difficult girl. She'll become a remarkable woman, an icon of her century, but that's a long way off. Not my fault, she thinks, dropping a bloody crowbar in the irrigation ditch after Daddy. She steals Momma's Ford and escapes to Depression-era San Francisco, where she fakes her way into work as a newspaper copy boy. Everything's looking up. She's climbing the ladder at the paper, winning validation, skill, and connections with the artists and thinkers of her day. But then Daddy reappears on the paper's front page, his arm around a girl who's just been beaten into a coma one block from Jane's newspaper hit in the head with a crowbar. Jane's got to find Daddy before he finds her, and before everyone else finds her out. She's got to protect her invented identity. This is what she thinks she wants. It's definitely what her dead brother wants.

A tragic accident . . . or was it? Emperor Domitian has been awarded (or rather, has demanded) yet another Triumph to celebrate two so-called victories. Preparations are going smoothly until one of the men overseeing arrangements for the celebration accidentally falls to his death from a cliff on the symbolic Capitoline Hill. But Flavia Albia suspects there's more to the incident than meets the eye, as there are plenty of people who would have been delighted to be rid of the overseer. He was an abusive swine who couldn't organise a booze-up in a winery and was caught up in a number of scams, including one surrounding the supply of imperial purple dye and a family of shellfish-boilers. As Flavia finds herself drawn into a theatrical world of carnival floats, musicians, incense and sacrificial beasts, can she see to the heart of the matter and catch those responsible for the unpopular man's untimely death? ************* Praise for Lindsey Davis and the Flavia Albia series 'Lindsey Davis has seen off all her competitors to become the unassailable market leader in the 'crime in Ancient Rome' genre . . . Davis's squalid, vibrant Rome is as pleasurable as ever' - Guardian 'Davis's prose is a lively joy, and Flavia's Rome is sinister and gloriously real' - The Times on Sunday 'For fans of crime fiction set in the ancient world, this one is not to be missed' - Booklist 'Davis's books crackle with wit and knowledge . . . She has the happy knack of making the reader feel entirely immersed in Rome' - The Times

FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE JAMIE MET CLAIRE IN THIS BRILLIANT NEW OUTLANDER SHORT STORY. 1740: Young Jamie Fraser has left Scotland and, with his best friend Ian Murray, is running with a band of mercenaries in France. Both men have good reason not to go back to their homeland: both are nursing wounds, and despite their best efforts to remedy the situation, both are still virgins. So when a Jewish doctor hires them to escort his granddaughter to Paris, they readily agree. Both men are instantly drawn to the beautiful young lady. What neither know is that their lives and their friendships are about to become infinitely more complicated - and a lot more dangerous ...

'Your bed shall be the moorcock's, and your life shall be like the hunted deer's, and ye shall sleep with your hand upon your weapons.' Tricked out of his inheritance, shanghaied, shipwrecked off the west coast of Scotland, David Balfour finds himself fleeing for his life in the dangerous company of Jacobite outlaw and suspected assassin Alan Breck Stewart. Their unlikely friendship is put to the test as they dodge government troops across the Scottish Highlands. Set in the aftermath of the 1745 rebellion, Kidnapped transforms the Romantic historical novel into the modern thriller. Its heart-stopping scenes of cross-country pursuit, distilled to a pure intensity in Stevenson's prose, have become a staple of adventure stories from John Buchan to Alfred Hitchcock and Ian Fleming. Kidnapped remains as exhilarating today as when it was first published in 1886. This new edition is based on the 1895 text, incorporating Stevenson's last thoughts about the novel before his death. It includes Stevenson's 'Note to Kidnapped', reprinted for the first time since 1922. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Sister Fidelma returns in BLOOD IN EDEN, the thirtieth Celtic mystery by Peter Tremayne, acclaimed author of BLOODMOON, PENANCE OF THE DAMNED and NIGHT OF THE LIGHTBRINGER. If you love Ellis Peters, you'll be gripped by BLOOD IN EDEN and the Sister Fidelma series. Ireland. AD 672. The hamlet of Cloichin is said to be a veritable Eden, with its prosperous farms and close-knit, friendly community. But when Sister Fidelma and Eadulf arrive, a new priest has ordered the villagers to lynch a man accused of murdering a local farmer, his wife and two sons. The only evidence they hold against him is the fact that he is a stranger to their land. Saving the man's life, Fidelma is determined that the villagers must give the newcomer a fair trial. But there is to be more blood in Eden and more lives will be lost as long-standing friends become new-found enemies, and no one knows who to trust . . . What readers are saying about the Sister Fidelma series: 'Tremayne is one of those very few historical mystery writers who can perplex and bewilder. He weaves the twisty plots into a complex historical narrative' 'A must-read for anyone looking for a good mystery' 'The characters are original, the settings are imaginative and true-to-life and the intricate plots form enough threads to keep you guessing at every turn'

A simple mission. A battle for their lives.

It is 1667 and the war between the Dutch and the English continues apace. Sir Francis Courtney, his son Hal and their crew are carried around the southern tip of the African colonies by the good ship Lady Edwina, licensed to attack and seize the treasure-laden ships of the Dutch East India company. When they capture a Dutch trader and hold the passengers to ransom, Sir Francis hopes only for a good price and a small sense of satisfaction.

But this is unlawful territory they sail in. An unexpected betrayal will mean the men on board will face greater peril than they have ever faced before - and many good men may never see home again . . .

Every war comes down to the flash of bright steel, even when the air is full of magic . . . Aranthur and his friends have come together across different continents and realms with one purpose: to strike back against the forces which have torn a hole in the heavens and threaten to rip the world beneath them apart as well. With time running short, and treason at home, there are battles to be fought on the field, in the magical arena, and in the ever-deadly realm of politics, and they must succeed on every front or everything will fall. Victory will require enemies to trust one another, old foes to fight together, spies to reveal the truth and steadfast allies to betray long-corrupt rulers. Is Aranthur, a twenty-year-old student, really the master strategist to bring it all together? And can he and his friends overcome aeons of lies when their plans inevitably fall to pieces? Do they even know, for sure, who the enemy is . . . ? Praise for Miles Cameron 'A masterclass in how to write modern fantasy . . . Miles Cameron is at the top of his game' John Gwynne 'A fresh take on the typical farm boy turned hero fantasy, this is everything you could possibly want in a fantasy series' The Bibliophile Chronicles 'A stirring, gritty and at times quite brutal epic fantasy' Tor.com 'This series promises to be the standout epic fantasy for the ages' Fantasy Book Critic

Bridging the gap between 'Game of Thrones' and Bernard Cornwell comes the third and final chapter in James Wilde's epic adventure of betrayal, battle and bloodshed . . . AD 375 - The Dark Age is drawing near . . . As Rome's legions abandon their forts, chaos grows on the fringes of Britannia. In the far west, the shattered forces of the House of Pendragon huddle together in order to protect the royal heir - their one beacon of hope. For Lucanus, their great war leader, is missing, presumed dead. And the people are abandoning them. For in this time of crisis, a challenger has arisen, a False King with an army swollen by a horde of bloody-thirsty barbarians desperate for vengeance. One slim hope remains for Lucanus' band of warrior-allies, the Grim Wolves. Guided by the druid, Myrrdin, they go in search of a great treasure - a vessel that is supposedly a gift from the gods. Success will mean a war unlike any other, a battle between two kings for a legacy that will echo down the centuries. And should they fail? Well, then all is lost . . . This is the shattering conclusion to James Wilde's rousing reimagining of the myth of King Arthur . . .

The fate of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1847 is an enigma that has tantalised generations of historians, archaeologists and adventurers. The expedition was lost without a trace and all 129 men died in what is arguably the worst disaster in Britain's history of polar exploration. In the aftermath of the crew's disappearance, Lady Jane Franklin, Sir John's widow, maintained a crusade to secure her husband's reputation, imperiled alongside him and his crew in the frozen wastes of the Artic. Lady Franklin was an uncommon woman for her age, a socially and politically astute figure who ravaged anyone who she viewed as a threat to her husband's legacy. Meanwhile John Rae, an explorer and employee of the Hudson Bay Company, recovered deeply disturbing information from the Expedition. His shocking conclusions embroiled him in a bitter dispute with Lady Franklin which led to the ruin of his reputation and career. Against the background of Victorian society and the rise of the explorer celebrity, we learn of Lady Franklin's formidable grit to honour her husband's legacy; of John Rae being discredited and his eventual ruin, despite later being proven right. It is a fascinating assessment of the aftermath of the Franklin Expedition and its legacy.