**THE THRILLING SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** 'If only all history mysteries could be as good as The Midnight Hour' The Times An old man lies dead and it looks like poison, but his wife isn't the only one who had reason to kill him. Brighton, 1965 When theatrical impresario Bert Billington is found dead in his retirement home, no one suspects foul play. But when the postmortem reveals that he was poisoned, suspicion falls on his wife, eccentric ex-Music Hall star Verity Malone. Frustrated by the police response to Bert's death and determined to prove her innocence, Verity calls in private detective duo Emma Holmes and Sam Collins. This is their first real case, but as luck would have it they have a friend on the inside: Max Mephisto is filming a remake of Dracula, starring Seth Billington, Bert's son. But when they question Max, they feel he isn't telling them the whole story. Emma and Sam must vie with the police to untangle the case and bring the killer to justice. They're sure the answers must lie in Bert's dark past and in the glamorous, occasionally deadly, days of Music Hall. But the closer they get to the truth, the more danger they find themselves in... *********** PRAISE FOR THE MIDNIGHT HOUR 'An intricately plotted whodunnit' Daily Mail 'Griffiths writes with verve and wit' Irish Times 'An entertaining period murder mystery' Irish Independent 'Layered with a gripping plot' Belfast Telegraph A Sunday Times bestseller w/c 24/04/2022

Crispin Guest is summoned to a London priory to unmask a merciless killer. Can he discover who is committing the deadliest of sins? 1399, London. A drink at the Boar's Tusk takes an unexpected turn for Crispin Guest, Tracker of London, and his apprentice, Jack Tucker, when a messenger claims the prioress at St Frideswide wants to hire him to investigate murders at the priory. Two of Prioress Drueta's nuns have been killed in a way that signifies two of the Seven Deadly Sins, and she's at her wits end. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing outside of London when the exiled Henry Bolingbroke, the new Duke of Lancaster, returns to England's shores with an army to take back his inheritance. Crispin is caught between solving the crimes at St Frideswide's Priory, and making a choice once more whether to stand with King Richard or commit treason again.

Rachel Savernake investigates a bizarre locked-room puzzle in this delicious Gothic mystery from the winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger. 1930. Nell Fagan is a journalist on the trail of a intriguing and bizarre mystery: in 1606, a man vanished from a locked gatehouse in a remote Yorkshire village, and 300 years later, it happened again. Nell confides in the best sleuth she knows, judge's daughter Rachel Savernake. Thank goodness she did, because barely a week later Nell disappears, and Rachel is left to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Looking for answers, Rachel travels to lonely Blackstone Fell in Yorkshire, with its eerie moor and sinister tower. With help from her friend Jacob Flint - who's determined to expose a fraudulent clairvoyant - Rachel will risk her life to bring an end to the disappearances and bring the truth to light. A dazzling mystery peopled by clerics and medics; journalists and judges, Blackstone Fell explores the shadowy borderlands between spiritual and scientific; between sanity and madness; and between virtue and deadly sin. Praise for Martin Edwards: 'Martin Edwards celebrates and satirises the genre with wit and affection... He leaves you wanting more.' The Times 'A pitch-perfect blend of Golden Age charm and sinister modern suspense.' Lee Child 'Edwards has managed, brilliantly, to combine a Golden Age setting with a pace that is bang up-to-date.' Peter James

A timeless whodunnit with the fascinating Mitford sisters at its heart, The Mitford Trial is inspired by a real-life murder in a story full of intrigue, affairs and betrayal. It's former lady's maid Louisa Cannon's wedding day, but the fantasy is shattered shortly after when she is approached by a secretive man asking her to spy on Diana Mitford - who is having an affair with the infamous Oswald Mosley - and her similarly fascist sister Unity. Thus as summer 1933 dawns, Louisa finds herself accompanying the Mitfords on a glitzy cruise, full of the starriest members of Society. But the waters run red when a man is found attacked, with suspects everywhere. Back in London, the case is taken by lawyer Tom Mitford, and Louisa finds herself caught between worlds: of a love lost to blood, a family divided, and a country caught in conflict. PRAISE FOR THE MITFORD MURDERS SERIES 'A glittering, entertaining, perfectly formed whodunnit' Adele Parks 'Oh how delicious! Exactly what we all need in these gloomy times. Give it to absolutely everyone for Christmas, then pre-order the next one' Susan Hill 'A lively, well-written, entertaining whodunnit' The Times 'Exactly the sort of book you might enjoy with the fire blazing, the snow falling etc. The solution is neat and the writing always enjoyable' Anthony Horowitz 'An extraordinary meld of fact and fiction' Graham Norton 'True and glorious indulgence. A dazzling example of a Golden Age mystery' Daisy Goodwin 'Crime and scandal await!' Hello 'Absolute blissikins. This is a delightful mashup of real and fictional characters' Guardian 'A delightful escapist period piece to brighten the darkest days of winter' Woman & Home 'All the blissful escapism of a Sunday-night period drama in a book' The Pool 'An audacious and glorious foray into the Golden Age of mystery fiction. Breathtaking' Alex Gray 'Keeps the reader guessing to the very end. An accomplished crime debut and huge fun to read' Evening Standard 'This story is drenched in detail and feels both authentic and fun. Curl up in your favourite reading spot and enjoy' Heat

A cold-blooded killer stalks a sleepy Suffolk town in this pitch-perfect WWII crime mystery. December 1939. Sackwater Police Station feels a million miles from the war effort. Elderly Mr Orchard keeps wandering off in his pyjamas, little Sylvia Satin is having a birthday party, and a bookmark has been reported stolen. Inspector Betty Church - one of the few female officers on the force - is longing for something to get her teeth into... When a bomb is dropped on Sackwater, it seems the war has finally reached them. But Betty can't stop Adolf, however hard she tries. So when a dead man is found on the beach, she concentrates on hunting an enemy much closer to home. 'Eccentric and entertaining with a nicely complex plot'Crime Review. 'A wonderfully gripping old-fashioned murder mystery' The Lady.

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD 2017* LONDON 1885 - A woman's body is discovered on Edgware Road. Ten miles away, her head is pulled from the dark muddy waters of the Thames. For two men, this event will push them to the very brink. DETECTIVE WILLIAM PINKERTON - 'Thirty-nine years old, already famous and already lonely'. In an attempt to solve this case, he must descend into the seedy, gas-lit streets, opium dens, sewers and seance halls of Victorian London. ADAM FOOLE - A gentleman without a past, haunted by a love affair ten years gone. What he learns from his lover's fate will force him to confront a past, and a grief, he thought long buried.

November 1940. Darkness descends and another anxious night begins for those tasked with guarding the industrial heartland of London from enemy attack. As a policeman patrols the Royal Albert Dock, something catches his eye - a man is sprawled awkwardly across a nearby barge, a dagger lodged in his back. Detective Inspector John Jago of West Ham CID discovers the victim was a dock worker by day and a Home Guard volunteer by night - and there are things even his wife doesn't know about his past. As the investigation unfolds, Jago uncovers a widening circle of secrets ranging across family tensions, the last war and a far-flung corner of the British Empire.

ENGLAND, 1930. Grieving widows are a familiar sight on London's Necropolis Railway. So when an elegant young woman in a black veil boards the funeral train, nobody guesses her true purpose.

But Rachel Savernake is not one of the mourners. She hopes to save a life - the life of a man who is supposed to be cold in the grave. But then a suspicious death on the railway track spurs her on to investigate a sequence of baffling mysteries: a death in a blazing car; a killing in a seaside bungalow; a tragic drowning in a frozen lake. Rachel believes that the cases are connected - but what possible link can there be?

Rich, ruthless and obsessed with her own dark notions of justice, she will not rest until she has discovered the truth. To find the answers to her questions she joins a house party on the eerie and remote North Yorkshire coast at Mortmain Hall, an estate. Her inquiries are helped - and sometimes hindered - by the impetuous young journalist Jacob Flint and an eccentric female criminologist with a dangerous fascination with perfect crimes...

Mortmain Hall is at once a gripping thriller and a classic whodunit puzzle: a Golden Age Gothic mystery, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.