Katie Lumsden’s debut novel, The Secrets of Hartwood Hall, is a “love letter to her favourite books” — the classics of Victorian literature. She explains how these works didn’t just inspire her writing; they also helped her to craft a book which is Victorian in its voice, feel, and richness of plot and character, but […]
A Bitter Remedy by Alis Hawkins
Jesus College, Oxford, 1881. An undergraduate is found dead at his lodgings and the medical examination reveals some shocking findings. When the young man’s guardian blames the college for his death and threatens a scandal, Basil Rice, a Jesus college fellow with a secret to hide, is forced to act and finds himself drawn into […]
The Lodger by Helen Scarlett
London in 1919, a city of ghosts and absences. Grace Armstrong believes that she has come to terms with her own loss, the death of her fiancé, the brilliant and dazzling best friend of her brother. He was declared Missing in Action during the Battle of the Somme, but he starts to reappear both in […]
The Hemlock Cure by Joanne Burn
Eyam in 1665. Mae, the apothecary’s daughter, reads her pious father’s books at night. Isabel, the village midwife, has secrets, too; some think her skill with herbs comes close to witchcraft. When Mae makes a horrifying discovery she turns to Isabel, putting both their lives in danger. And a new threat is creeping towards them […]
The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan
Bombay, 1950. When the body of a white man is found frozen in the Himalayan foothills near Dehra Dun, he is christened the Ice Man by the national media. Who is he? How long has he been there? Why was he killed? As Inspector Persis Wadia and Metropolitan Police criminalist Archie Blackfinch investigate the case […]
Moonlight and the Pearler’s Daughter by Lizzie Pook
1896, Bannin Bay, Australia. When British pearl-boat captain Charles Brightwell goes missing out at sea, rumours of mutiny and murder swell within the bay’s dens and back alleys. Only his headstrong daughter, Eliza, refuses to believe her father is dead, and sets out on a dangerous journey to uncover the truth. But in a town […]
Stateless by Elizabeth Wein
It is 1937 and tensions are high. A spectacular air race around Europe seeks to promote unity among a group of young pilots, but distrust and animosity are rife. The British and sole female contestant, Stella North, is determined to prove not only her skill, but also her identity as her Nansen passport declares her […]
The Walled Garden by Sarah Hardy
It is 1946 and in the village of Oakbourne the men are home from the war. Their bodies are healing but their psychological wounds run deep. Everyone is scarred — those who fought and those left behind. Alice Rayne is married to Stephen, heir to crumbling Oakbourne Hall. Once a sweet, gentle man, he has […]