In December, 1940, the area around St Paul’s Cathedral suffers a devastating air raid and the heart of British book publishing burns to the ground. Detective Inspector John Jago must break bad news to a woman sitting in the ruins of her business: her husband has been found murdered at their home in Soho. An […]
Famine, clearance and the inspiration for a novel
It was over 50 years ago when Willie Orr found the seed of an idea for a novel about the Scottish potato famine and the Highland Clearances. He had a lot of living to do first, and the inspiration took root in a Scottish archive much later. Now the third of his series about Shiaba […]
A Pale Horse by CB Hanley
In June, 1221, a tragic death at Conisbrough sends Edwin Weaver and his friend Sir Martin on an unexpected journey. But a baffling letter follows them, one which plunges them into danger as they travel to the manor of Martin’s estranged father, deep inside Sherwood Forest, to find a dying man who can only gasp […]
Blood Sacrifice by Douglas Jackson
It’s January, 1943. Warsaw is a city of the dead. In the ghetto, the last 50,000 Jews await their fate but, unlike those who preceded them to the death camps, they are prepared to fight to the end. Jan Kalisz, Kripo investigator and Resistance double agent, has promised to supply them with weapons. But how […]
St Kilda Bird Song by KF MacCarthy (the 2024 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story winner)
St Kilda Bird Song by KF MacCarthy won the 2024 HWA Dorothy Dunnett Short Story Competition. Our judges said: “A magical and immersive story of a late 19th-century teacher on the remote island, told from diverse perspectives with fluency and confidence. A very special piece of writing about a remarkable place.” The 2025 Short Story […]
Last Train to Freedom by Deborah Swift
As Soviet forces storm Lithuania, Zofia and her brother Jacek must flee to survive. A lifeline appears when Japanese consul Sugihara offers them visas on one condition: they must deliver a parcel to Tokyo. Inside lies intelligence on Nazi atrocities, evidence so explosive that Nazi and Soviet agents will stop at nothing to possess it. […]
The Stranger’s Companion by Mary Horlock
With a population of five hundred souls, isolated Sark has a reputation for being ”the island where nothing ever happens”. Until, one day in October, 1933, the neatly folded clothes of an unknown man and woman are discovered abandoned at a coastal beauty spot. As the search for the missing couple widens, Sark finds itself […]
The Tiger and the Thief by Griff Hosker
Although he’s now hidden in a company of East India soldiers, Bill ‘Smudger’ Smith still harbours an intention to escape. These plans are put on hold, however, when his former life as a wharf rat comes back to haunt him. Bill is a skilled thief with a sharp talent for deception. When the Company needs […]