It’s 1266. Eleanor of Castile, adored wife of the Crown Prince of England, is still only a princess when she is held hostage in the brutal Barons’ Rebellion and her baby daughter dies. Scarred by privation, a bitter Eleanor swears revenge on those who would harm her family – and vows never to let herself […]
The Queen’s Rival by Anne O’Brien
England, 1459. The Wars of the Roses storm through the country, and Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, plots to topple the weak-minded King Henry VI from the throne. But when the Yorkists are defeated at the battle of Ludford Bridge, Cecily’s family flee and abandon her to face a marauding Lancastrian army on her own. […]
Templar’s Acre by Michael Jecks
The Holy Land, 1291. War has raged here for decades. The Crusader forces have been pushed back again and again until just one city remains in their control. One city that stands between the past and the future. One city that must be defended at all costs: Acre. Into this battle comes a young boy. […]
Hell Gate by Jeff Dawson
New York, 1904, and over a thousand are dead after the sinking of the General Slocum, a pleasure steamer full of German immigrants out for a day on the East River. The community is devastated, broken, in uproar. With a populist senator preying on their grievances, a new political force is unleashed, pushing America to […]
The Heretic’s Mark by SW Perry
London, 1594. Queen Elizabeth’s physician has been executed for treason, and conspiracy theories flood the streets. When Nicholas Shelby, unorthodox physician and unwilling associate of spymaster Robert Cecil, is accused of being part of the plot, he and his new wife Bianca must flee for their lives. With agents of the Crown on their tail, […]
Shake Loose the Border by Robert Low
It is 1548, and the war with the English is winding down. But in the savage heart of the Borders, peace is far from secured. One-armed Batty Coalhouse, bounty hunter, explosives specialist, border wanderer, is doing what he usually does: ripping the enemy apart. But then he’s sent on an unusual errand. An old friend […]
Review: The Prophet by Martine Bailey
Martine Bailey’s latest novel The Prophet is a sequel to 2019’s The Almanack and is another beautifully crafted story balanced on the cusp of the old world and the new, writes Catherine Hokin. The Almanack took place in 1752 against a backdrop of the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar and the ‘lost […]
Burke in Ireland by Tom Williams
1793 and James Burke is under cover in Ireland, spying on Irish Nationalists. His objective: to discover any plots to conspire with the French to bring down English rule in Dublin. Dublin is full of plotters. Finding them is easy. Staying alive is not as straightforward. A tale of spying, love and death against the […]