Europe, Spring, 1486. Facing a grisly death if captured alive, veteran mercenary and Plantagenet henchman Sir John Hawker and his unlikely band of misfits return to Venice to attempt to free the woman he left behind there months before. Braving the spies and militia of the Serene Republic, Hawker must somehow reach his beloved Chiara, […]
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 […]
The Moers Murders by Graham Brack
1688, The Netherlands, and Master Mercurius has just settled back into his life as a lecturer at the University of Leiden when he is once again summoned by the Stadhouder, William of Orange. A message from William is never good news, but he is not a man you can say no to. So Mercurius finds […]
The Shortest History of Japan by Lesley Downer
Ever since US Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open its borders in 1853, the culture of this remarkable and distant archipelago has enriched western life. At the same time the country has embraced foreign institutions, from baseball to barber shops. Yet for centuries, under the rule of the shoguns, the islands were largely sealed […]
The Mischief Makers by Elisabeth Gifford
In a beautiful house in the wilds of Cornwall, Daphne du Maurier is on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Tangled in a self-destructive love affair that threatens to unravel her marriage, she is also distracted by worry for the family friend whose shadow looms over her childhood: JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan. Daphne […]
Midnight in Vienna by Jane Thynne
As war looms over Britain and there is talk of gas masks and blackout, people are understandably jumpy and anxious. Stella Fry, who’s been working in Vienna for a Jewish family, returns home with no job and a broken heart. She answers an advertisement from a famous mystery writer, Hubert Newman, who needs a manuscript […]
The Royal Rebel by Elizabeth Chadwick
In 1338, England has declared war on France, and Jeanette of Kent, cousin to King Edward III, says goodbye to her family and travels overseas with the royal court for the first time. Once in Antwerp, she is captivated by talented household knight Thomas Holland, just as he in turn is powerfully drawn to her. […]
Love’s Knife by Tracey Warr
Beatriz de Farrera is a trobairitz (a female troubadour) at the court of Toulouse in 1096. She sings of love but intends to evade marriage and romantic entanglements. Her patron, Philippa, is the heiress of the rich city and county of Toulouse. Philippa’s uncle Raimon plans to marry his niece to the ageing king of […]