In 1597 when Beatrice’s husband returns to London from exploring the New World, he comes home with unexpected company: a mysterious woman, and an enormous painted globe. As Hugh refuses to explain who their female guest is, Beatrice’s foreboding grows. The unwieldy globe now strikes her as sinister – a reminder of the world of […]
A Fortune Most Fatal by Jessica Bull
Welcome to Godmersham Park, 1797. Following many years apart, Jane Austen is set to spend the summer with her estranged brother, Neddy. As heir to wealthy widow Mrs Knight’s fortune, it is imperative that Neddy stays in his benefactor’s good graces. But upon arrival in Kent, Jane quickly realises Neddy is in dire need of […]
Death and the Poet by Fiona Forsyth
It’s AD14. When Dokimos the vegetable seller is found bludgeoned to death in the Black Sea town of Tomis, it’s the most exciting thing to have happened in the region for years. Now reluctantly settled into life in exile, the disgraced Roman poet Ovid helps his friend Avitius to investigate the crime, with the evidence […]
Green Ink by Stephen May
David Lloyd George is at Chequers for the weekend with his mistress Frances Stevenson, fretting about the fact that his involvement in selling public honours is about to be revealed by one Victor Grayson. Victor is a bisexual hedonist and former firebrand socialist MP turned secret-service informant. Intent on rebuilding his profile as the leader […]
Eliza Mace by Jem Poster and Sarah Burton
In the Welsh borders, in the 1870s, on the cusp of adulthood, Eliza Mace is battling for her independence. Stuck in a crumbling manor house on the fringe of a small town, she is thwarted by powers that conspire to protect, control and deceive her. But when her father goes missing in mysterious circumstances, Eliza’s […]
The Bratinsky Affair by Jim Loughran
Wicklow, 1976, and the dramatic death of Countess Irina Bratinsky, a well-connected dealer in Fabergé jewellery, becomes international news. But why are the Irish, French and Russian police so interested in her death? For journalist Tom O’Brien it’s an opportunity to advance his career as he exposes the countess’s secret life of espionage and crime. […]
The Shadow Key by Susan Stokes-Chapman
After a grave mistake, Henry Talbot has been forced to take a position as village doctor in remote Wales where he can’t speak the language and belief in myth and magic is rife. When Henry discovers his predecessor died in mysterious circumstances, and starts to notice a cryptic symbol appearing in odd places, he sets […]
The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick
In 1715, with the country on the brink of rebellion, Dorothy Forster’s life at Bamburgh Hall is ruled by the men in her life – her feckless brothers stirring up trouble at court, her elderly father with his dangerous secrets and the man she loves who the world seems determined to keep her apart from. […]