They were granddaughters of Queen Victoria and two of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Princesses Alix and Ella were destined to wed well and wisely. But while their grandmother wants to join them to the English and German royal families, the sisters fall in love with Russia — and the Romanovs. Defying the Queen’s […]
Felo de Se: the gruesome punishment that led to me writing The Low Road
Katharine Quarmby’s investigation into the gruesome burial of a suicide victim — for felo de se — with links to her home town inspired her first novel, The Low Road. For Women’s History Month, she explains why this punishment fell disproportionately onto poor women, and what made her want to tell this story. On a […]
Blood Roses by Douglas Jackson
Warsaw in September 1939. A city ruled by fear. A population brutalised by restrictions and reprisals. Amid the devastation, another hunter begins to prowl. What are a few more deaths amid scores of daily executions? Former chief investigator Jan Kalisz lives a dangerous double life, forced to work with the occupiers as he gathers information […]
The Other Gwyn Girl by Nicola Cornick
1671 in London: the Civil War is over and Charles II, the ‘Merry Monarch’, is revelling in the throne of his murdered father and all the privileges and power that comes with it. Sharing the spoils is his favourite companion, the celebrated beauty, actress Nell Gwyn. Beloved of the English people, Nell has come a […]
Fiction and the English Civil Wars
Jemahl Evans, author of the Blandford Candy series of novels about a man known as the last Roundhead, surveys 300 years of fiction about the English Civil Wars. The popularity of the English Civil Wars and the wider 17th century as a period for historical fiction novelists has ebbed and flowed over the last 300 […]
Thor’s Revenge by Donovan Cook
After the bloody Battle of Jelling, Denmark’s throne lies empty and chaos reigns as Jarls jostle for power. Sven survives the bloodshed only to return home to find Ribe sacked by those he trusted and Charles, a pawn in a much bigger political game, kidnapped. Consumed by the loss of Charles, Sven is shocked by […]
Requiem of Revenge by Richard Kurti
In Bath in 1761 a gruesome discovery is made in one of the city’s wealthiest townhouses. A man has been imprisoned and blinded; left to die in his own home. He is rescued and his wife, Lady Arabella Taylor is arrested for the crimes. Doctor Erasmus Harvey examines the victim, and finds out he is […]
A Court of Betrayal by Anne O’Brien
The Welsh Marches, 1301. Strong-willed heiress Johane de Geneville is married to Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, at just 15 years old. Soon Johane finds herself swept up in a world of treacherous court politics and dangerous secrets as her husband deposes Edward II and rules England alongside Queen Isabella. Yet when Roger is accused […]