It’s May, 1951, and celebration is in the air with the Festival of Britain. For the first time in years the mood is one of hope rather than hurt. For Detective Constable Faye Smith, London is not as safe as it seems. The criminal underworld is gaining strength, enjoying a lively existence below the surface. […]
Ship of Thieves by Douglas Skelton
Jonas Flynt’s stepmother, Mercy, has been abducted from Edinburgh and carried back to the West Indies by her former owner. Gideon Flynt his father, has followed in hot pursuit, but Cassie, Jonas’s first love, knows he is not the man he once was and appeals to Flynt for help. Naturally, he agrees. Against Colonel Nathaniel […]
A Schooling in Murder by Andrew Taylor
It’s May, 1945, and in the last days of World War II, Monkshill Park School for Girls stands far apart from the violence in Europe. Yet a woman has been murdered in its grounds. Annabel Warnock, a teacher with a secretive past, has disappeared. The teachers and girls whisper that she’s run away, but in […]
Blood Vengeance by Douglas Jackson
Christmas Day, 1943. In Arisaig, in western Scotland, the body of beautiful, well-connected Polish SOE agent Krystina Kowolska is found in the gardens of the country house where she’s been preparing for a vital mission to France. The question is, was she already dead when she was hanged? Two days later, resistance double agent, Investigator […]
The Edge of Darkness by Vaseem Khan
It’s India in 1951. After wilfully ignoring orders, Persis Wadia, India’s first female police detective, is exiled from Bombay to the wild and mountainous Naga Hills District. As India’s first post-Independence election looms, and tensions rise across the country, Persis finds herself banished to the Hotel Victoria, a crumbling colonial-era relic, her career in tatters. […]
Historical books to look out for in 2026
Welcome to Historia’s most popular regular feature, our round-up of historical books published by members of the Historical Writers’ Association (HWA) to look out for this year. In 2026, there are more than 180 books so far — historical fiction, history, and biography. They range from Ancient Greece and Rome to the mid-20th century via the Viking […]
Deadly Dancing at the Seaview Hotel by Glenda Young
Tommy Two Shoes, Ballroom Bev and their quirky troupe of ballroom dancers come to the seaside town of Scarborough — and Helen Dexter’s Seaview Hotel. However, beneath the glitter balls and sequins, there’s bitter rivalry between the dancers — both on and off the dance floor — and the dancing turns deadly when one of […]
The troubles with history
How best to write a novel about events in recent — and still sensitive and painful — history? That was the question Bryan J Mason faced when he began his trilogy set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. His solution may be surprising, but it reflects the reality of life there. Although a recognisable period […]