Autumn, 1728. Life is good for Thomas Hawkins and Kitty Sparks in their home above the Cocked Pistol, Kitty’s wickedly disreputable bookshop. But when Tom is attacked by a street gang, he discovers there’s a price on his head. Who wants him dead – and why? For Tom and Kitty, the answer is only the […]
Shadow of the Hawk by David Gilman
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 no intention of doing the same. War is coming and the predators are circling. Sir Thomas Blackstone, Edward III’s Master of War, […]
Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin
Yorkshire, 1843: Lydia Robinson has tragically lost her precious young daughter and her mother within the same year. She returns to her bleak home, grief-stricken and unmoored. With her teenage daughters rebelling, her testy mother-in-law scrutinizing her every move, and her marriage grown cold, Lydia is restless and yearning for something more. All of that […]
Lions of the Grail by Tim Hodkinson
1315 AD. Ireland and England are ravaged by bitter war. Rotting in an English prison, condemned as a heretic, Irish Knight Templar Richard Savage is given one chance of reprieve. But there is a catch. He must return to Ireland as a traitor, working as a spy there for the King of England. Savage returns […]
The Waste Land by Tim Hodkinson
1316 AD. Ireland and England’s bitter war rages on. Richard Savage thought he had left the war in Ireland behind, but arch-enemy Edward Bruce won’t let him just walk away. Savage stole something from him, and there are no depths to which he will not descend to get it back. To force Savage’s return, Bruce […]
Did radicals and reactionaries unite against Tsar Alexander II?
Did the radicals plotting to murder Alexander II and the reactionaries who thought his reforms went too far join forces to get rid of the Tsar? RN Morris explores an unlikely alliance that provides the political backdrop to his latest historical crime mystery, Law of Blood. In his excellent biography of Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881), […]
Cecily by Annie Garthwaite
You are born high, but marry a traitor’s son. You bear him twelve children, carry his cause and bury his past. You play the game, against enemies who wish you ashes. Slowly, you rise. You are Cecily. But when the king who governs you proves unfit, what then? Loyalty or treason – death may follow […]
Finding my matriarch, Cecily Neville
Annie Garthwaite describes the 40-year journey that ends on 29 July, 2021, with the publication of her debut novel, Cecily. And reflects on how writing helped her find a matriarch of her own. Mum taught me to read long before school. It was her gift – the key to stories. By the age of ten […]