Amongst the scholars, secrets and soporifics of Victorian Oxford, the truth can be a bitter pill to swallow...Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man's guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into Sidney Parker's sad life. The mystery soon attracts the attention of Rhiannon 'Non' Vaughan, a young Welsh polymath and one of the young women newly admitted to university lectures. But when neither the college principal nor the powerful ladies behind Oxford's new female halls will allow her to become involved, Non's fierce intelligence and determination to prove herself drive her on. Both misfits at the university, Non and Basil form an unlikely partnership, and it soon falls to them to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Parker's death. But between the corporate malfeasance and the medical quacks, they soon find the dreaming spires of Oxford are not quite what they seem... An intriguing first installment of The Oxford Mysteries series by master crime writer, Alis Hawkins. Perfect for fans of Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Sarah Waters and Kaite Welsh. Praise for A Bitter Remedy 'Fearlessly tackles taboo attitudes of the era, taking aim at misogyny, homophobia, and sexual politics. An excellent addition to the historical mystery canon. Marvellous!' Vaseem Khan, author of Midnight at Malabar House 'A Bitter Remedy is a perfect tonic for our times.' S. G. MacLean 'Absolutely brilliant! Thoughtful, complex and engrossing' Chris Lloyd, author of The Unwanted Dead 'A superb atmospheric mystery to the last page' Rachel Lynch, author of Dark Game

Prize-winning author Petina Gappah's tale of Dr Livingstone's epic journey through nineteenth-century Africa is 'incredible' (Yaa Gyasi), 'powerful' (Jesmyn Ward), and 'beautiful' (Anthony Doerr). 'A fine writer.' J.M. Coetzee 'Wonderful.' The Times 'Captivating.' Guardian This is the story of the body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, the explorer David Livingstone - and the sixty-nine men and women who carried his remains for 1,500 miles across the African interior so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own country. This is the story of those in the shadows of history: those who saved a white man's bones, his dark companions, who became his faithful retinue on an epic funeral march - little knowing that his corpse carried the maps that sowed the seeds of the continent's brutal colonisation and enslavement. This is the story of how human bravery, loyalty, and love can triumph over darkness - and it is Petina Gappah's radical masterpiece. 'Incredible.' Yaa Gyasi 'Beautiful.' Anthony Doerr 'Powerful.' Jesmyn Ward

'Completely charming' Imogen Hermes Gowar, author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock 'An engaging story with lovely detail' Daily Mail Ohio, 1838. To save the lives of others, a young seamstress must risk her own. When young seamstress May Bedloe is left alone and penniless on the shore of the Ohio, she finds work on the famous floating theatre that plies its trade along the river. Her creativity and needlework skills quickly become invaluable and she settles in to life among the colourful troupe of actors. She finds friends, and possibly the promise of more ... But cruising the border between the Confederate South and the 'free' North is fraught with danger. For the sake of a debt that must be repaid, May is compelled to transport secret passengers, under cover of darkness, across the river and on, along the underground railroad. But as May's secrets become harder to keep, she learns she must endanger those now dear to her. And to save the lives of others, she must risk her own . . . A gloriously involving and powerful read for fans of The Essex Serpent and Tracy Chevalier's The Last Runaway.

Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, swashbuckling novel about a young boy who is forced to go to sea and who is then caught up in high drama, daring adventure and political intrigue.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by Louise Welsh and features black and white illustrations.

Headstrong David Balfour, orphaned at seventeen, sets out from the Scottish Lowlands to seek his fortune in Edinburgh. Betrayed by his wealthy Uncle Ebenezer, he is carried away to sea to be sold into slavery in the Carolinas. On board, he secures a timely alliance with Jacobite adventurer Alan Breck, and together they make an epic escape across the western Highlands. Inspired by real events, Kidnapped is a swashbuckling adventure of bizarre encounters, political assassination and wild carousings with Robert Louis Stevenson’s unique counterpoint of low morals and high comedy threaded throughout.

'That time is upon us. I can feel it coming. That evil barbarian will not be satisfied until he has engulfed the whole world in war and death. I fear for us all.' In a triumphant return to his much-loved Courtney series, Wilbur Smith introduces us to the bravest new member of the famed family, Saffron Courtney. Saffron grows up on a sprawling Kenyan estate, under the watchful eye of her father, prominent businessman and distinguished war veteran Leon Courtney. Her childhood is idyllic, until a family tragedy forces her to grow up much faster than necessary. As she grows into a spirited teenager, her thirst for knowledge and adventure leads her to England, where she finds herself inevitably drawn into the heart of the gathering storm in the lead up to World War II. Gerhard von Meerbach is the privileged and idealistic younger brother of Konrad von Meerbach, heir to an industrial fortune, and vocal supporter of the Nazi Party. Gerhard struggles to stay true to his principles in an increasingly cruel world. His friendship with a Jewish man places him in danger, and forces him to take a stand against the forces of evil that have overtaken his country and his family. But, unknown to him, he is caught in a trap that could cost him everything he holds dear. As the Second World War looms over them all, Saffron and Gerhard's worlds will collide - but will there be more to unite them than tear them apart? A love story in the time of heroes, War Cry is the latest breath-taking episode in Wilbur Smith's epic account of one beloved family.

Uniquely among authors of naval fiction, Patrick O’Brian allows his characters to develop with experience. The Jack Aubrey of Treason’s Harbour has a record of successes equal to that of the most brilliant of Nelson’s band of brothers, and he is no less formidable or decisive in action or strategy. But he is wiser, kinder, gentler too.

Much of the plot of Treason’s Harbour depends on intelligence and counter-intelligence, a field in which Aubrey’s friend Stephen Maturin excels. Through him we get a clearer insight into the life and habits of the sea officers of Nelson’s time than we would ever obtain seeing things through their own eyes. There is plenty of action and excitement in this novel, but it is the atmosphere of a Malta crowded with senior officers waiting for news of what the French are up to, and wondering whether the war will end before their turn comes for prize money and for fame, that is here so freshly and vividly conveyed.

The Swabian Affair presents the third books of a memoir written by a retired Roman soldier, Gaius Marius Insubrecus, who served Caesar during his wars in Gaul. As a youth, Insubrecus is caught between two worlds: the heroic myths of his people, the Gah'el, and the harsh realities of their conqueror, Rome. Insubrecus tries to escape assassins sent after him from Rome by hiding in the Roman army, right at the time that the new governor, Gaius Iulius Caesar, launches his legions into Gaul to stop a Germanic invasion led by a mystic warrior king called Ariovistus. Insubrecus is plunged into a world of violence, intrigue and betrayal, as he tries to serve his new patron, Caesar, and to stay alive, while pursued by a Roman cutthroat and Germanic warriors.

The Yellow Admiral ? the eighteenth novel in the sequence hailed as the greatest series of historical novels ever written ? sets the fall and rise of Jack Aubrey in brilliant counterpoint to the fall and rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Life ashore may once again be the undoing of Jack Aubrey. Even Jack?s exploits at sea turn sour in the storm waters off Brest. Worst of all, in the spring of 1814 peace breaks out. But Stephen Maturin returns from a mission in France with news that the Chileans require the service of English officers. Jack is savouring this reprieve for his career when he receives an urgent despatch ordering him to Gibraltar: Napoleon has escaped from Elba.

Officer Harry Feversham leaves his military position right before an important battle to the disappointment of his three closest friends and the woman he loves. Appalled by his decision, they each gift him with one striking symbol-a white feather. A young British soldier, Harry Feversham, suddenly resigns from his post and leaves his regiment. He is quickly overcome with shame as he receives four feathers, which signify his cowardice. Three are from his peers Captain Trench, Lieutenant Castleton and Lieutenant Willoughby, and one is from his fiancee, Ethne Eustace. Driven by guilt, Harry participates in various heroic acts to regain his honor and return their feathers. The Four Feathers is one of A.E.W. Mason's most famous works. It explores the unbearable weight of status and reputation in a world driven by strict codes. It has been adapted multiple times for television and film. The most notable version was the 2002 feature starring Oscar-winner Heath Ledger as Harry. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Four Feathers is both modern and readable.

A lost legacy puts one of England's great families in mortal peril ... Lazen Castle, home to the much-envied Lazender family, is a house under siege. The heir is abroad, pursuing his own adventures, so the family estates fall under the control of his sister, Campion. Meanwhile, The Fallen Angels, a powerful and dangerous secret society in Europe, need the Lazender fortune to bring their rebellion to England. Surrounded by deceit, Campion draws ever closer to a subtle trap that has been laid for her, her only hope being Gypsy - her brother's aloof horse-master, whose loyalties have always been uncertain. In this powerful blend of passion, adventure and intrigue, the second chronicle of the great Lazender family comes to life.

1820s Britain: after the wars with France, when unemployment was high and soldiers could be paid off, when the government was desperately afraid of social unrest, any crime was drastically punished and thousands were hung. But one could petition the King and an investigation might ensue... The man in the dark cell in Newgate Prison was due to hang in a week. He had been found guilty of murdering the aristocrat whose portrait he was painting. He claimed to be innocent - but then the hangman had never hung a guilty man, he said. But even in 1820, the Home Secretary could occasionally use his powers to grant mercy if his investigator found cause and Rider Sandman, once of the First Foot Guards, is given the job. Rider Sandman, a hero of Waterloo, has family debts to repay but when his first steps in the investigations produce a sizeable bribe to look the other way, this only arouses his smouldering anger over the condition of England, a country which he and others in Wellington's army had fought to preserve. Stepping between gentlemen's clubs and taverns, talking to aristocrats, fashionable painters, their models, and their mistresses, dodging professional cut-throats and deceptive swordsmen, Sandman uncovers a conspiracy of silence, a group whose proudest boast was that they would do anything for any one of them. Sandman is a wonderful character, as yet undaunted by the sleazy streets, dank jails or the looming scaffold, and uncorrupted by politicians, sneering gentlemen or frightening bruisers, an investigator in the making and a brilliant, but very different, hero for all Bernard Cornwell fans.

Strange things are happening to the black bears of the Upper Peninsula. Grady Service is stumped until a Korean-born professor is murdered by cyanide-laced figs that contain two freeze-dried bear gall bladders. Sexy and suspenseful, Chasing a Blond Moon also introduces a new twist in Grady's personal life: he meets a son he never knew he had. Once again, Grady Service, the hard-boiled conservation officer of this superb series set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, has a weird case on his hands. Strange things are happening to the black bear population. Grady Service can't pin the phenomenon on anyone or anything until a Korean-born professor from Michigan Tech is murdered by cyanide-laced figs-and two freeze-dried bear gall bladders are found among the figs. Service is certain that poachers are at work, killing bears to fuel the Asian market for traditional medicines. The animal-parts market is highly organized, and its practitioners are ruthless and dangerous. Grady's nemesis, Michigan's governor, has cut budgets so severely that there are not enough conservation officers to cover the state. Service finds himself filling in for colleagues, chasing illusive poachers who leave little evidence, and wrestling with the usual cast of eccentric and entertaining characters. And there is a new twist in Grady's personal life: he meets a sixteen-year-old son he never knew he had. Sexy, suspenseful, and full of action, perfect dialogue, and unforgettable characters, Chasing a Blond Moon confirms Heywood as one of the finest of his day.

It is still the War of 1812. Patrick O'Brian takes his hero Jack Aubrey and his tetchy, sardonic friend Stephen Maturin on a voyage across the South Atlantic to intercept a powerful American frigate outward bound to play havoc with the British whaling trade.

If they do not come up with her before she rounds the Horn they must follow her into the Great South Sea and as far across the Pacific as she may lead them. It is a commission after Jack's own heart. Maturin has fish of his own to fry in the world of secret intelligence. That the enemy is in fact faithfully dealt with no one who has the honour of Captain Aubrey's acquaintance can take leave to doubt.

"If O'Brian's novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive…They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns, whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action."
CAROLINE MOORE, 'Sunday Telegraph'

"The truth is that we aficionados scarcely feel them to be novels at all. They are a world of their own, a world full of excitement, mystery, charm and good-manners."
JAN MORRIS, 'Observer'

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command — until his friend, and occasional intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope, under a Commodore’s pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains — Lord Clonfert, a pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity can push his crews to the verge of mutiny.

Based on the actual campaign of 1810 in the Indian Ocean, O’Brian’s attention to detail of eighteenth-century life ashore and at sea is meticulous. This tale is as beautifully written and as gripping as any in the series; it also stands on its own as a superlative work of fiction.

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! "This is a book in which storylines twist, spiral and come together again in an ending as explosive as a poof of smoke from your chimney...or a top hat."-Oprah.com Master of historical fiction Greer Macallister weaves the tale of a notorious female illusionist who stands accused of her husband's murder-and she has only one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence. The Amazing Arden is the most famous female illusionist of the early 20th century, renowned for sawing a man in half on stage. One night in Waterloo, Iowa, with young policeman Virgil Holt in the audience, the magician swaps her trademark saw for a fire ax. Is it a new version of the illusion, or an all-too-real murder? When Arden's husband is found lifeless beneath the stage later that night, the answer seems clear. But when Virgil happens upon the fleeing magician and takes her into custody, she has a very different story to tell. Even handcuffed and alone, Arden is far from powerless-and what she reveals seems unbelievable. Over the course of one eerie night, Virgil must decide whether to turn the illusionist in or set her free... and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors. Water for Elephants meets The Night Circus in The Magician's Lie, a spellbinding historical adventure of deception, fact, and the surprising number of truths in between. Also by Greer Macallister: Girl in Disguise Woman 99

Achilles and Ajax are dead and the hope of the Greeks has died with them, leaving the army restless for their homes and threatening rebellion. Then a series of oracles appears, utterances from the gods that must be fulfilled if Troy is to be defeated and the war brought to an end. Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks, knows that only one man has the courage and intelligence to complete the tasks set by the Olympians: Odysseus, king of Ithaca. From an island haunted by a vengeful madman to a forsaken tomb and its deadly guardian, from the palace of a hostile king to the sacred heart of Troy itself, Odysseus and his friend Eperitus must follow the trail toward the greatest deception of all time. The Trojan horse. Glyn Iliffe previously published three books in the series with Pan Macmillan and achieved worldwide sales in excess of 80,000 copies. Mereo Books will now publish the fourth book in the series which will be released in late 2014. Previous titles in the series are:- * King of Ithaca (The Adventures of Odysseus) ISBN 9780330452496 * The Gates of Troy (The Adventures of Odysseus) ISBN 9780330452526 * The Armour of Achilles (The Adventures of Odysseus) ISBN 9780330452533

In 1415, two noble Kentish families, the Wallers and the Hollands, were united by the courage of their sons in triumphant battle against the French at Agincourt. Five hundred years later, their descendants found themselves fighting shoulder-to-shoulder in France once again, this time united with the French against a new enemy in the First World War. Edward Tovey has built on centuries of history to weave a romantic and moving story of peace and war, love and courage, set against the backdrop of northern France and the battlefields of the Somme. Carefully researched and imaginatively written, The Five Hundred Year War tells the story of a brave young English officer who is determined to serve his country on the front line, and the conflict of loyalties he faces when he falls for a stunningly beautiful French girl.

Here is a remarkable vintage tour-de-force of the Fifties, in which Stuart Benton explores the range of human experience from the sublime to the exotically degrading. Marriage, illicit love, the uneasy relationship between children and parents, business success and failure, a trial for murder, a descent into the underworld of society, and later ascent to the delights of a swiftly-moving, jaded society set all these can be found in the fabric of All Things Human. John Stuart Kent is a millionaire banker and aesthete, living out the Indian Summer of his life as the shape of his future is altered by five extraordinary women: Helen, his young wife, a resentful Galatea whose pathological jealousy cools their relationship. Sylvia, a fascinating and magnanimous Wagnerian singer, with flaming red hair and a fresh attitude toward love. Aimee, a courtesan, par excellence. Edda, Kent s secretary, sweet, young and unashamed who fumbles into scandalous catastrophe. Ivy, a sophisticate of enormous wealth and esoteric accomplishments. John Stuart Kent endures a Faust-like descent to a modern, mechanized Hell, experiencing all the humiliations and betrayals of modern society and its strange criminal procedures on his way. In the fight for his good name and his liberty, Kent must use all of his charm and wit, and enlist the help of a few friends, or he could be stuck in the abyss of the criminal system forever."