This is not just another Nessie tale, it's a MONSTER story... Best-selling author Sara Sheridan teams up with her daughter Molly to produce this fantastic and topical adventure about friendship and teamwork, and why discarding plastics and our waste in lochs, lakes and waterways is not good for us, the planet AND for all the monsters trying to visit their friends. The darkly quirky and fun illustrations are by first-time picture book illustrator Iain Carroll.

THE ENCHANTING NEW NOVEL BY THE AUTHOR OF THE 2022 WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE FAIR BOTANISTS. ______________________________________________ You wouldn't suspect it, but scandalous secrets are being kept on Blythswood Square... 1846. Glasgow is a city on the cusp of great social change, but behind the curtains, neighbours are watching, and rumours of improper behaviour spread like wildfire on the respectable Blythswood Square. When Charlotte Nicholl discovers that the fortune she has been bequeathed by her father is tied up in a secret collection of erotic art, she is faced with a terrible dilemma: sell it and risk shaming her family's good name or lose her home. An encounter with Ellory McHale, a talented working-class photographer newly arrived in Glasgow, leads Charlotte to hope she has found not only someone who might help her, but also an unlikely friend. Yet Ellory is hiding secrets of her own - secrets that become harder to conceal as she finds herself drawn into Charlotte's world. As the truth begins to catch up with both women, will it destroy everything they've fought to build - or set them both free? PRAISE FOR THE FAIR BOTANISTS: 'Sheridan creates an evocative, enjoyable portrait of two women determined to lead independent lives' SUNDAY TIMES 'Completely enchanting and fascinating . . . a rollicking and immensely readable tale' SCOTSMAN 'Lush, seductive and scandalous, this is a gorgeous read' DAILY MAIL 'A cracking good read' VAL MCDERMID 'Dazzling, original, full of wonderful characters' KATIE FFORDE 'What a beautiful, immersive gem of historical fiction' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'An absolute treat for fans of historical fiction and rich storytelling' RED

For most of recorded history, women have been sidelined, if not silenced, by men who named the built environment after themselves. Now is the time to look unflinchingly at Scotland's heritage and bring those women who have been ignored to light. Can you imagine a different Scotland, a Scotland where women are commemorated in statues and streets and buildings - even in the hills and valleys? This is a guidebook to that alternative nation, where the cave on Staffa is named after Malvina rather than Fingal, and Arthur's Seat isn't Arthur's, it belongs to St Triduana. You arrive into Dundee at Slessor Station and the Victorian monument on Stirling's Abbey Hill interprets national identity through the women who ran hospitals during the First World War. The West Highland Way ends at Fort Mary. The Old Lady of Hoy is a prominent Orkney landmark. And the plinths in central Glasgow proudly display statues of the suffragettes who fought until they won. In this guide, streets, buildings, statues and monuments are dedicated to real women, telling their often unknown stories.

*SELECTED AS THE WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022* 'Compelling, fascinating . . . A cracking good read' Val McDermid 'An evocative, enjoyable portrait of 1820s Edinburgh' Sunday Times 'Lush, seductive' Daily Mail 'Completely enchanting' Scotsman 'A beautiful tale of scandal and intrigue' Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora *** Could one rare plant hold the key to a thousand riches? It's the summer of 1822 and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly-installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event that only occurs once every few decades. When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden which borders the grand house and offers her services as an artist to record the rare plant's impending bloom. In this pursuit, she meets Belle Brodie, a vivacious young woman with a passion for botany and the lucrative, dark art of perfume creation. Belle is determined to keep both her real identity and the reason for her interest the Garden secret from her new friend. But as Elizabeth and Belle are about to discover, secrets don't last long in this Enlightenment city . . . And when they are revealed, they can carry the greatest of consequences . . . *** 'Dazzling, original, full of wonderful characters' Katie Fforde 'An absolute treat for fans of historical fiction and rich storytelling' Red Magzine 'Lively and generous-hearted, with an array of utterly engaging characters, this enchanting novel reads like a warm tonic for the soul' Mary Paulson-Ellis 'As rare and lush as the Agave flower itself, The Fair Botanists is a richly realised, transportive delight' Rachel Rhys 'Beautiful . . . Every sentence is a gift. If you love The Doll Factory or The Binding, you'll love this' Miranda Dickinson 'Delightfully original, sensuous historical fiction, led by a charge of female characters as captivating and complex as the brightest of botanical flowers' Cari Thomas

'Building tension is Sara Sheridan's speciality. . . the story heads towards an edge-of-the-seat climax' Daily Mail About to get married, Mirabelle and her fiancé retired Superintendent Alan McGregor are torn about where they will settle but when a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes up to buy a secluded house on the banks of the Firth of Forth, they submit to getting permission from the local landlord. But that permission comes at a price and when a nun dies in mysterious circumstances at the Little Sisters of Gethsemane Convent nearby they are drafted to uncover what happened.

WINNER OF THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER In Bloody Scotland a selection of Scotland's best crime writers use the sinister side of the country's built heritage in stories that are by turns gripping, chilling and redemptive. Stellar contributors Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Denise Mina, Ann Cleeves, Louise Welsh, Lin Anderson, Doug Johnstone, Gordon Brown, Craig Robertson, E S Thomson, Sara Sheridan and Stuart MacBride explore the thrilling potential of Scotland's iconic sites and structures. From murder in an ancient broch and a macabre tale of revenge among the furious clamour of an eighteenth century mill, to a dark psychological thriller set within the tourist throng of Edinburgh Castle and a rivalry turning fatal in the concrete galleries of an abandoned modernist ruin, this collection uncovers the intimate - and deadly - connections between people and places. Prepare for a dangerous journey into the dark shadows of our nation's buildings - where passion, fury, desire and death collide.

Glasgow, 1846, the second city of the British Empire is expanding rapidly and Ellory McHale, a working class woman receives an unexpected bequest which allows her to leave her job as junior assistant to a famous male photographer in Edinburgh to set up Glasgow's first professional photography studio, in a glass-roofed top floor within sight of the Clyde. There, Ellory crosses paths with wealthy heiress Annis Buchanan, and the two strike up a friendship based on a mutual understanding of what it means to be a woman trying to carve out her own path in a man's world. While Annis must fend off the advances of her cousin Forbes, who is determined to inherit the Buchanan fortune by hook or by crook, Ellory ventures into the dark underbelly of the city, using Glasgow's most famous performers as models in early erotic photography. But in a city where reputations can be destroyed at the drop of a hat, can both Annis and Ellory build lives on their own terms - especially when dark secrets are brought to light?

1952, Brighton and London. When seventeen-year-old debutante Rose Bellamy Gore goes missing in a seedy Soho jazz club the prime suspect is black saxophone player, Lindon Claremont, the last person seen talking to her. Under suspicion, Lindon heads straight for Brighton and his childhood friend, Vesta Churchill who works with ex-Whitehall backroom girl Mirabelle Bevan, now in charge of McGuigan & McGuigan debt recovery. When Lindon is taken into custody the two women dive into London's underworld of smoky night clubs, smart cars and lethal cocktails to establish the truth.

1953, Brighton, London and Cambridge. Set during the summer heatwave of 1953, England Expects finds Mirabelle and Vesta investigating the seemingly unrelated murders of a racing journalist and a cleaning woman. Their searches lead them through Brighton Pavilion's crumbling passageways to the quad of a Cambridge college and, finally, into the shady underworld of freemasonry, where betraying secrets can cost you dearly. But this time has Mirabelle bitten off more than she can chew?

Nearly 10,000 young people in Scotland are homeless. Some we see on the streets, thousands more are 'hidden' - sofa surfing, in B&Bs and living in unsafe homes. Every one of them has their own story to tell. For 30 years Rock Trust has been listening to their stories and helping them find a home. In All the Way Home, some of Scotland's leading authors have come together with young people to mark this anniversary of Rock Trust's urgent, ongoing work. Across first-hand accounts, poetry and fiction, this anthology brings to life the visible and invisible realities of home and homelessness, of family and belonging.

'Five engrossing, resonant stories here, with no weak links' The Herald The world's first UNESCO city of literature, Edinburgh is steeped in literary history. It is the birthplace of a beloved cast of fictional characters from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter. It is the home of the Writer's Museum, where quotes from writers of the past pave the steps leading up to it. A city whose beauty is matched only by the intrigue of its past, and where Robert Louis Stevenson said, 'there are no stars so lovely as Edinburgh's street-lamps'. And to celebrate the city, its literature, and more importantly, its people, Polygon and the One City Trust have brought together writers - established and emerging - to write about the place they call home. Based around landmarks or significant links to Edinburgh each story transports the reader to a different decade in the city's recent past. Through these stories each author reflects on the changes, both generational and physical, in the city in which we live.

A simple How-To Guide for Real Life Scenarios. Whether you are moving out on your own for the first time or you just don't know how to do some of life's simple tasks. This is a handy, easy to understand guide to get you out of a jam.

The official TV tie-in to accompany the ITV drama scripted by Andrew Davies The World of Sanditon delves behind the scenes of Sanditon, giving you the inside scoop on Jane Austen's unfinished masterpiece, adapted for television by Andrew Davies. Produced by Red Planet Pictures, ITV's Sanditon series tells the story of the joyously impulsive, spirited and unconventional Charlotte Heywood and her spiky relationship with the humorous, charming and slightly wild Sidney Parker. Written by Emmy and BAFTA-Award winning writer Andrew Davies, the series brought Austen's story to life and this book will allow you to go behind the scenes of the cast and crew, exploring the world that Austen created and offering fascinating insights about the period and about the real-life heartbreak behind her final story. Readers will also have access to location guides, interviews with the cast, and in-depth historical information by esteemed author Sara Sheridan.

Brighton,1957 Mirabelle Bevan can't resist a cry for help, be it the little girl at a seaside sanatorium who is getting bullied or the strange behaviour of Uma, the Indian nurse who is looking after her. Intrigued she soon finds herself drawn into a spider's web of connections between an upmarket brothel, local priest Father Grogan, a man's body washed up on Brighton beach and a missing nursing sister. Attracted to handsome police doctor, Chris Williams, Mirabelle is determined to finally put her love affair with Jack Duggan behind her and recover from the betrayal of Superintendent Alan McGregor, but the police force in Brighton is undergoing a sea change that keeps leading her back to the sanatorium at the epicentre of a spate of brutal killings. And very soon it becomes apparent Mirabelle is in much more danger than she realises... 'With sharp blows delivered for gender and racial equality, Sheridan's story builds to a chilling climax' Daily Mail

1951. Brighton. With the war over and the Nazis brought to justice at Nuremberg, Mirabelle Bevan (retired Whitehall secretary) thinks her skills are no longer required. After her lover's death she retires to the seaside to put the past behind her and takes a job at a debt collection agency run by the charismatic Big Ben McGuigan. But when the case of Romana Laszlo - a pregnant Hungarian refugee - comes in, Mirabelle soon discovers that her specialist knowledge is vital. With enthusiastic assistance from insurance clerk Vesta Churchill, they follow a mysterious trail of gold sovereigns and corpses that only they can unravel.