For the four friends jogging their regular morning route, along the sleepy suburban streets of Fish Hoek, nothing could have warned them of what was to come. Trying to take a short cut and win favour with his taxi boss, a young driver Tshepo Dlamini crashes into one of the runners. As Claire's lifeless body lies crumpled on the ground, Tshepo finds himself trapped in a metal carcass. What's left of his life is turned upside down.

Watching the accident happen, Maureen stands on her balcony and is the only witness. Yet she harbours another dark secret.

To save his life, Tshepo's leg is so badly injured that it must be amputated. Maureen must learn to deal with her husband's addiction and build her own life. No longer the awesome foursome, Tanya, Liz and Kate reframe their friendship without Claire and overcome their fears and inertia. For James, Claire's adoring boyfriend, his life begins to unravel as he wakes to the news that Claire is dead, leaving him to question life as it was and will be.

From shock to acceptance, each chapter is a journey, and as each person tries to move forward with their lives, they must face their mistakes, set against the complex backdrop of small town South Africa. Showing that there is always hope, and that change is inevitable, each character must learn to forgive themselves and others, but for some, the hope of closure may be harder than they thought.

The intrigue continues...

The usually upbeat Karabo is miserable, she has a broken arm and heart. Luckily the ancestors have chosen her to interpret another mystery. This time it will lead her to her William's mother - Jessabelle. Who in turn will lead Karabo on a trail to Madagascar. But things aren't that simple or straightforward.

Karabo must learn to accept her calling as a sangoma, her mother's interference, Isla's advice, and William's odd version of friendship. Will Karabo and her friends find Edward English and the stolen treasure? Will William reveal his true colours? And will Isla be able to win the heart of the enigmatic Mzi?

The second book in the series, Libertalia - Quest for Land - will answer all these questions and more.

Mystery meets history in Libertalia: Lost Fortunes, Melina Lewis’ new YA fiction novel aimed at 11-15 year olds. Lobengula - the last ruling King of the Matabele - was fabled to have hidden an immense treasure of diamonds, gold and ivory, which was never found by the invading colonialists. It is against the historical backdrop of this ancient African legend that the mystery unfolds. Set in a private boarding school in the Eastern Cape in South Africa, the story is a melting pot of friendship, mystery and treasure, peppered with suspense, intrigue and African legend.

Best friends since they met at school, Karabo and Isla are grade 10 learners at Dayeton College, who are about to discover that the people they think they know, aren’t really what they seem.

Meet the cast: Karabo, focused on her academics and her hockey captain dreams is called upon by her ancestors to become a sangoma (which was not part of the plan!). But it is her intrigue with the arrival of mysterious, William, a new grade 12, which sees her unwittingly drawn into a plot. Isla Hepworth smart and sporty, with exacting standards is utterly taken with Mzi Khumalo Dayeton’s dream head boy who also happens to be a direct descendent of the great Matabele tribe of Zimbabwe. What appears to be a normal high school year reveals a cunning plan devised by William’s father, Edward English, whose ultimate goal is to settle this ancient debt, as final payment for the Matabele and British betrayal.

His plan: to recreate the free town of Libertalia and restore it to its former glory. From the inside of a smoke-filled sangoma hut, Karabo finds herself drawn into a plot that sees William and Mzi’s families pitted against each other. As she grapples with her new gift, Karabo discovers she is the only one who can connect to the spirit world, to uncover the key to the missing treasure. As Karabo and Isla navigate their way through school terms, holidays, exams and the end-of-year matric dance, ancient mysteries emerge and their friendship becomes more important than ever.

Libertalia will excite teens about history and legends long forgotten - ones not taught in the classroom. So, parents, brush up on your history! You’re going to be asked many questions about whether ‘this’ or ‘that’ is true or not. It’s time to turn off the screens and introduce your teens to intrigue and adventure... We believe they’ll thank you for it!

Elle and Brent Mullen have it all: two delightful children, more than enough money and a perfectly-restored Victorian home in the plush green suburbs of Cape Town. But appearances can be deceiving.

Brent’s business decisions continue to disappoint, embittered by mistrust and entitlement. Elle - a social worker by choice - is unhappy, trying (and failing) to bridge the divide between two worlds of privilege and poverty. Until she meets her next case, Ethan who, at twelve-years-old, has seen it all. Born into a family of gangsters, life through his eyes reveals a pained struggle to defy his father’s expectatations.

In a city run by gangsters, Elle, Ethan and Brent find themselves drawn into a web of betrayal, where a wicked plot twist reveals how far each will go to get what they want.