When Lucy discovers the body of her great aunt Kitty, with a puzzling note and empty pill bottles by her bed, she can’t believe that the formidable woman who held her family together is gone, or understand why she has taken her own life. Lucy is determined to decipher Kitty’s final message. What she finds […]
Shadow of the Hawk by David Gilman
Thomas Blackstone, Edward III’s Master of War takes to Spain in the seventh instalment of David Gilman’s chronicle of the Hundred Years’ War. Winter, 1364. The King is dead.Defeated on the field of Poitiers, Jean Le Bon, King of France, honoured his treaty with England until his death. His son and heir, Charles V, has […]
The Diplomat’s Wife by Michael Ridpath
It’s 1936. Devastated by the death of her beloved brother Hugh, Emma seeks to keep his memory alive by wholeheartedly embracing his dreams of a communist revolution. But when she marries an ambitious diplomat, she must leave her ideals behind and live within the confines of embassy life in Paris and Nazi Berlin. Then one […]
Walking in the footsteps of Florentine history
DV Bishop tells Historia how valuable it is to get your feet on the street when doing historical research, as he found while writing his novel, City of Vengeance, set in Florence in the 1530s. Writing my historical crime fiction debut, City of Vengeance, was a journey of many steps, as with any creative endeavour, […]
HWA Crowns winners interviews: Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor is a historical crime novelist and won this year’s HWA Gold Crown Award for his book The King’s Evil. The novel is set in the late 17th century and is the third in his James Marwood series. Andrew talks to Historia about his book, the inspiration behind his main character and his favourite […]
The Lost Mother by Catherine Hokin
Berlin, 1934. Homes once filled with laughter stand empty as the Nazi party’s grip on the city tightens. When Anna Tiegel’s beautiful best friend catches Reich Minister Goebbels’s special attention, an impulsive act to save her brings Anna under his unforgiving scrutiny. First, she loses her job, then slowly, mercilessly, she finds her life stripped […]
The Mystery of the Hawke Sapphires by JC Briggs
London, 1851. On his deathbed, the sinister Sir Gerald Hawke asks a distant cousin, Reverend Meredith Case, to find Sapphire, his long-lost ward and heir to the Hawke family jewels. Concerned for her welfare, Meredith vows to discover where Sapphire disappeared to. Meanwhile, Felix Gresham, a young man with literary ambitions, is found murdered on […]
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 […]