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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > Crime & mystery > Historical mysteries
'Outstanding. Heartstopping. Brilliant. A story that scorches the
page, searing in its honesty and profoundly moving in its emotional
impact. The characters reach out to you and challenge your
preconceptions in this testament to a tragic chapter of history
that moved me to tears. It holds up a dark and shocking mirror to
our world, yet ultimately it is a triumphant tale of light within
darkness. This is an important, powerful novel that everyone should
read' KATE FURNIVALL SHE CAN'T HAVE A FUTURE UNTIL SHE HAS A PAST.
1944 LEO STERN arrives at the Nazi camp at Borek with his wife
Irena and his two daughters. The Sterns are spared from the gas
chamber when they witness a murder. But in a place that humanity
has deserted, Leo is forced to make unimaginable choices to try to
keep his family alive. 1961 For seventeen years, Hanna has been
unable to remember her identity and how she was separated from her
family at the end of the war, until the discovery of a letter among
her late uncle's possessions reveals her real name - HANNA STERN -
and leads her to Berlin in search of her lost past. Helped by
former lover Peter, Hanna begins to piece together the shocking
final days of Borek. But Hanna isn't the only one with an interest
in the camp, and lurking in the shadows is someone who would prefer
Hanna's history to remain silent. Based on in-depth research and
beautifully written, this a novel of memory and identity, and the
long shadow of war. 'Taking the reader from the atmospheric
Fenlands of Cambridgeshire to the ghost-filled forests of wartime
Poland and finally into Cold War-era Berlin, The Silent Child is a
thought-provoking and compelling novel about the long-lasting
aftershocks of war. This is great storytelling, full of mysteries
and twists, epic in its sweep, but precise and respectful in its
historical details. J. G. Kelly's vividly evoked scenes will stay
with me for a long time' CAROLINE SCOTT 'This book was such a
beautifully written book that will stay with me for a long time.
The storyline was emotive and heart wrenching and the characters
were well developed and have a special place in my heart. I didn't
want this book to end. Nothing I could say would do this book
justice, I cannot recommend this book enough' Reader review 'It's
beautifully written with a story that draws you in so quickly, it's
very well researched and heartbreakingly realistic. A book I wanted
and needed to finish. The sort of book everyone should read. The
most compelling book I've read this year' Reader review 'Utterly
impossible for me to put down. A heartbreaking story... I found I
had devoured the entire book in just one sitting... I have loved
this book so much, I wish I could give it five hundred stars. All I
can say is "WOW - read it. You won't be disappointed' Reader review
'I was engrossed in the story. The author has done tremendous
research about the war and did a good job of drawing the reader
into the story' Reader review
Set in France in the 1930s, "L'Art de vivre" evokes the contrasting
worlds of a wealthy, socially prominent Parisian couple, and an
impoverished struggling American sculptor living in Paris. The
aristocratic couple occupy an elegant penthouse apartment and
frequent the highest levels of society and government. The artist
shares a very humble apartment with his girlfriend and scrapes by,
earning a living from the few students he can still attract and the
occasional sculpture he can sell.
These worlds, which are physically only a mile apart, come
together as a result of an improbable set of circumstances
involving thefts, a suspected murder, and a high profile police
investigation. Newspapers all over France report excitedly on the
mystery surrounding the artist, as his friends try to understand
what has become of him. Friends of the aristocratic couple never
suspect the obsessive secret that drives them to risk their
position and fortune through a daring crime spree.
Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is faced with the classic
locked-room conundrum in this engaging historical mystery July,
1955. Donald Langham has interrupted his romantic break in rural
Suffolk with the delectable Maria Dupre to assist a fellow writer.
Alastair Endicott has requested Langham's help in discovering
what's happened to his father, Edward, who seems to have
disappeared without trace from inside his locked study. Before he
vanished, the elder Endicott had been researching a book on the
notorious Satanist Vivian Stafford. Could the proposed biography
have something to do with his disappearance? Does local resident
Stafford really possess supernatural powers, as some believe? As
Langham and Dupre question those around them, it becomes clear that
there have been strange goings-on in the sleepy village of Humble
Barton. But is the village really haunted - or does someone merely
want it to look that way? With a further shocking discovery, the
case takes a disturbing new twist.
Christopher Urswicke must unmask the traitor lurking amongst
Margaret Beaufort's supposedly loyal followers in this gripping
medieval mystery. October, 1471. Edward IV sits on the English
throne; the House of York reigns supreme. With her young son, Henry
Tudor, in exile in France, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond,
shelters deep in the shadows, secretly plotting for the day when
Henry can be crowned the rightful king. But as her supporters are
picked off one by one, it becomes clear that a traitor lurks within
Margaret's household. When one of her most loyal henchmen, Jacob
Cromart, is murdered in St Michael's Church, where he had claimed
sanctuary, Margaret orders her sharp-witted clerk, Christopher
Urswicke, to find out who has betrayed her. How could a man be
killed inside a church where the doors are all locked, with no sign
of an intruder or weapon? If he is to protect Margaret's remaining
supporters from suffering a similar fate, Urswicke must solve a
baffling mystery where nothing is as it first appears.
First in a brand-new Victorian mystery series featuring steward
Matthew Rowsley and housekeeper Mrs Faulkner as an engaging
detective duo. Newly appointed as land agent to the youthful Lord
Croft, Matthew Rowsley finds plenty to keep him busy as he attends
to his lordship's neglected country estate. But he's distracted
from his tasks by the disappearance of a young housemaid. Has
Maggie really eloped with a young man, as her mother attests - or
is the truth rather more sinister? What's been going on behind the
scenes at the grand country estate . and where has his lordship
disappeared to? Teaming up with housekeeper Mrs Faulkner to get to
the bottom of the matter, Matthew uncovers a number of disturbing
secrets, scandals and simmering tensions within the household.
Something rotten is going on at Thorncroft - and it's up to Matthew
and Mrs Faulkner to unearth the truth.
A 'Canterbury Tales' medieval mystery As Chaucer's pilgrims shelter
for the night in a well-stocked tavern, it's the physician's turn
to enthral his fellow travellers with a terrifying tale of mystery
and intrigue. When Brother Anselm and his novice Stephen are
summoned to the Church of St Michael's, Candlewick, to perform an
exorcism, little are they prepared for the horror that awaits. The
demons and apparitions that plague the church would appear to have
been summoned by an infamous sorcerer known as the Midnight Man.
But what has he unwittingly unleashed - and why? Is someone using
the haunting as the perfect cover for their murderous intent? And
is there any link with the sudden disappearances of a number of
young women in the area? The answers lie in the past and an
unresolved wickedness from many decades before. But before Anselm
can get to the truth, he must uncover the identity of the
mysterious Midnight Man.
DI Herbert Reardon is drawn into a world of secrets and lies when a
body is discovered at a girls' boarding school. 1930. When a body
is discovered on the premises of the newly-established Maxstead
Court School for Girls, Detective Inspector Herbert Reardon is
called in to investigate. His wife Ellen having just accepted a job
as French teacher, Reardon is alarmed to find the school a hotbed
of scandalous secrets, suppressed passions, petty jealousies and
wanton schoolgirl cruelty. As he pursues his enquiries, it becomes
clear that the dead woman was not who - or what - she claimed to
be. Who was she really - and why is Reardon convinced that more
than one member of staff is not telling him the whole truth? Then a
pupil goes missing - and the case takes a disturbing new twist .
The world is classic Jane Austen. The mystery is vintage P.D. James.
In their six years of marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy have forged a
peaceful, happy life for their family at Pemberley, Darcy's impressive
estate.
But on the eve of their annual autumn ball, chaos descends. A chaise
appears, rocking down the path from Pemberley's wild woodland. As it
pulls up, Lydia Wickham - Elizabeth Bennet's younger, unreliable sister
- stumbles out screaming that her husband has been murdered.
Plunged into frightening mystery and a lurid murder trial, the lives of
Pemberley's owners and servants alike may never be the same . . .
If you love Dilly Court, you'll love Sunday Times Bestseller Rosie
Goodwin. 1884, Nuneaton. Fourteen-year-old Sunday Small has never
lived outside the Nuneaton workhouse. The regime is cruel, and if
it weren't for Miss Beau - who comes in every week to teach the
children their letters - and her young friend Daisy, Sunday's life
wouldn't be worth living. And now she's attracted the unwelcome
attention of the workhouse master. With no choice but to leave
behind everything she knows, Sunday strikes out on her own to make
her fortune and to fulfil her promise to come back for Daisy. And,
secretly she dreams of finding the long-lost mother who gave her
away. But she's about to discover that, try as she might to escape,
the brutal world of the workhouse will not let her go without a
fight . . . Mothering Sunday is the first book in Rosie Goodwin's
Days of the Week Collection. Why not try the rest, The Little
Angel, A Mother's Grace, The Blessed Child, A Maiden's Voyage, A
Precious Gift and Time to Say Goodbye?
October 1942. Jo Hardy, an Air Transport Auxilliary ferry pilot, is
delivering a Spitfire to Biggin Hill Aerodrome, when she has the
terrifying experience of coming under fire from the ground. In a
bid to find out who was trying to take down her aircraft, she
returns on foot to the area, and discovers an African American
soldier bound and gagged in an old barn. A few days later another
ferry pilot crashes and is killed in the same area of Kent.
Although the death has been attributed to 'pilot error' Jo believes
there is a connection between all three events - and she wants
desperately to help the soldier, who is now in the custody of
American military police. Jo is advised to take her suspicions to
Maisie Dobbs. As the psychologist-investigator delves into the
case, she discovers the attempt to take down ferry pilots and the
plight of the black American soldier are inextricably linked with
the visit to Britain by the First Lady of the United States,
Eleanor Roosevelt. Maisie must work with speed to uncover the depth
of connection, to save the life of the president's wife and a
soldier caught in the crosshairs of those who would see them both
dead.
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