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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Adventure / thriller > Historical adventure
The perfect murder mystery for fans of Richard Osman and Robert
Thorogood. 'Spotswood understands that [...] spending time with
unforgettable characters is paramount.' - New York Times 'A loving,
intricately plotted tribute to the great days of American noir.' -
Daily Mail New York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get
personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and
the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of
her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and
Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's
tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime
suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything
she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go. To uncover
the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric
chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard,
Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past
buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find
themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize
that her former circus compatriots aren't playing it straight, and
that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets
beneath all that ink. Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying
lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search
of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for
good? Praise for Stephen Spotswood: 'Razor-sharp, tons of flair. A
really good noir novel.' Tana French 'Spotswood's stellar debut
puts a modern spin on classic hard-boiled fiction. . . The deep and
sensitive characterization of the two protagonists, coupled with
rich description and tonally spot-on humour, make this a novel to
remember. Spotswood is definitely a writer to watch.' Publishers
Weekly 'This novel not only offers fun, offbeat characters and an
exceptional flavour of the time, it's utterly charming too.'
Woman's Weekly 'This hugely enjoyable debut is a deft melange of
Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery and 1940s
Chandler-esque pulp crime fiction with a feisty narrator' Irish
Independent Review 'Persuasive in its attention to period detail
and dialogue, with well-constructed set piece scenes deftly staged,
this is a highly accomplished, auspicious first entry in what we
must hope will be a long-running series' The Irish Times
In the fall of 1947, Will Shakespeare saw the world collapse around
him. Shakespeare, a secret soldier for the Knights Templar, barely
escapes the slaughter of his entire knighthood at the hands of a
rogue militant arm of the Vatican in a small Montreal church. With
orders to escort Templar business associate Dorothy Wilkinson back
to her home in Bermuda, Will must locate and rescue the most
important secret treasure in human history before it is devoured by
a hurricane in the watery caves beneath her father's property. The
spiraling quest sends Will and Dorothy into uncovering dark secrets
that make up the origins of the knighthood as they confront the
traps and puzzles that masterfully protect the world's most coveted
treasure.
From the bestselling author Ken Follett, The Evening and the
Morning is a historical epic that will end where The Pillars of the
Earth begins. A Time of Conflict It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark
Ages, and England faces attacks from the Welsh in the west and the
Vikings in the east. Life is hard, and those with power wield it
harshly, bending justice according to their will - often in
conflict with the king. With his grip on the country fragile and
with no clear rule of law, chaos and bloodshed reign. Three Lives
Intertwined Into this uncertain world three people come to the
fore: a young boatbuilder, who dreams of a better future when a
devastating Viking raid shatters the life that he and the woman he
loves hoped for; a Norman noblewoman, who follows her beloved
husband across the sea to a new land only to find her life there
shockingly different; and a capable monk at Shiring Abbey, who
dreams of transforming his humble abbey into a centre of learning
admired throughout Europe. The Dawn of a New Age Now, with England
at the dawn of the Middle Ages, these three people will each come
into dangerous conflict with a ruthless bishop, who will do
anything to increase his wealth and power, in an epic tale of
ambition and rivalry, death and birth, and love and hate. Thirty
years ago we were introduced to Kingsbridge in The Pillars of the
Earth, and now in this masterful prequel international bestseller
Ken Follett will take us on a journey into a rich past, which will
end where his masterpiece begins.
The new spellbinding and enchanting story set in Renaissance Venice, from the internationally acclaimed author of Tomorrow.
Artists flock here, not just for wealth and fame, but for revolutionary colour. Yet artist Giorgione 'Zorzo' Barbarelli's career hangs in the balance. Competition is fierce, and his debts are piling up. So when Zorzo hears a rumour of a mysterious new pigment, brought to Venice by the richest man in Europe, he sets out to acquire the colour and secure his name in history.
Winning a commission to paint a portrait of the man's wife, Sybille, Zorzo thinks he has found a way into the merchant's favour. Instead he finds himself caught up in a conspiracy that stretches across Europe and a marriage coming apart inside one of the city's most illustrious palazzos.
As the water levels rise and the plague creeps ever closer, an increasingly desperate Zorzo isn't sure whom he can trust.
Will Sybille prove to be the key to Zorzo's success, or the reason for his downfall?
'Like all the best vintages Jack Lark has aged to perfection.
Scarred, battered and bloody, his story continues to enthral'
Anthony Riches Roguish hero Jack Lark - soldier, leader, imposter -
crosses borders once more as he pursues a brand-new adventure in
Africa. London, 1868. Jack has traded the battlefield for business,
running a thriving club in the backstreets of Whitechapel. But this
underworld has rules and when Jack refuses to comply, he finds
himself up against the East End's most formidable criminal - with
devastating consequences. A wanted man, Jack turns to his friend
Macgregor, an ex-officer, treasure hunter and his ticket out of
England. Together they join the British army on campaign across the
tablelands of Abyssinia to the fortress of Magdala, a high-stakes
mission to free British prisoners captured by the notorious Emperor
Tewodros. But life on the run can turn dangerous, especially in a
land ravaged by war . . . Praise for the Jack Lark series:
'Brilliant' Bernard Cornwell 'Enthralling' The Times 'Bullets fly,
emotions run high and treachery abounds... exceptionally
entertaining historical action adventure' Matthew Harffy 'Expect
ferocious, bloody action from the first page' Ben Kane 'You feel
and experience all the emotions and the blood, sweat and tears that
Jack does... I devoured it in one sitting' Parmenion Books
A feminist adventure story of smuggling and myth-making, by
award-winning author Kim Sherwood 'Remarkable' HILARY MANTEL 'A
thrilling adventure novel' FIONA MOZLEY 'Tremendous' EMMA STONEX A
Wild & True Relation opens during the Great Storm of 1703, as
smuggler Tom West confronts his lover Grace for betraying him to
the Revenue. Leaving Grace's cottage in flames, he takes her
orphaned daughter Molly on board ship disguised as a boy to join
his crew. But Molly, or Orlando as she must call herself, will grow
up to outshine all the men of Tom's company and seek revenge - and
a legacy - all of her own. Woven into Molly's story are the writers
- from Celia Fiennes and George Eliot to Daniel Defoe and Charles
Dickens - who are transfixed by her myth and who, over three
centuries, come together to solve the mystery of her life. With
extraordinary verve , Sherwood remakes the eighteenth-century novel
and challenges women's writing and women's roles throughout
history. 'A young writer of immense talent' ANDREW MILLER 'A
breathtaking feat of historical fiction and utterly astounding. It
is wise, urgent and entirely compelling. I was bereft when it
ended' WYL MENMUIR 'This book is a rarity - a novel as remarkable
for the vigour of the storytelling as for its literary ambition.
Kim Sherwood is a writer of capacity, potency and sophistication'
HILARY MANTEL 'Vividly imagined, relentlessly entertaining, rich
and resonant in scope and context, it's both a thrilling adventure
and a vital witness to women's voices' EMMA STONEX, author of The
Lamplighters
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