Contemporary Fiction Books

Book Synopsis*Molly the maid returns in THE MAID''S SECRET available to pre-order now*_________________________________________________________________Get swept away by the million-copy bestseller *THE NO.1 NEW YORK TIMES & SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER*WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR BEST MYSTERY/THRILLER*WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL CRIME FICTION*A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK AT BEDTIME PICKAn escapist pleasure' SUNDAY TIMESAn instantly gripping whodunnit'STYLISTSmart, riveting, and deliciously refreshing ' LISA JEWELL_________________________________________________________________It begins like any other day for Molly Gray, silently dusting her way through the luxury rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel.But when she enters suite 401 and discovers an infamous guest dead in his bed, a very messy mystery begins to unfold. And Molly's at the heart of it because if anyone can uncover the secrets beneath the surface, the fingerprints amongst the filth it's the maid . . ._______________________________________________________Everyone's getting swept away by The Maid:Excellent and totally entertaining . . . the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time' STEPHEN KINGThis is phenomenal thriller. Maid or murderer or victim? Find out in the book' READER REVIEW ?????Gripping, deftly written, and led by a truly unforgettable protagonist in Molly. I''m recommending it to everyone I know'' EMMA STONEXI loved everything about this book' READER REVIEW ?????I didn't think I could love a character any more than I loved Eleanor Oliphant but along comes Molly the Maid. God, I love her' READER REVIEW ?????Fresh, fiendish and darkly beguiling. The Maid is so thrillingly original, and clever, and joyous. I just adored every page' CHRIS WHITAKERFelt like a modern day homage to Agatha Christie' READER REVIEW ?????Lots of twists and turns and highly gripping' READER REVIEW ?????A Sunday Times No.4 bestseller for w/c 24/01/2022A New York Times No.1 bestseller for w/c 31/01/2022Trade Review‘Excellent and totally entertaining… the most interesting (and endearing) main character in a long time’ Stephen King ‘A smart, riveting, and deliciously refreshing debut. Prose knows how to pen a murder mystery with tremendous heart’ Lisa Jewell ‘The book’s endearing central character and atmospheric hotel setting make it an escapist pleasure — a mini-break between the pages’ Sunday Times ‘Nita Prose has created a true 21st Century heroine in a brilliantly-written, transformative story’ Janice Hallett ‘Finally booksellers have a concrete answer to the question 'I loved Eleanor Oliphant – what should I read next?'’ Bookbrunch ‘A gripping and heart-warming whodunnit narrated by an intriguing and original heroine. Skilfully layered and masterfully told. I loved it’ Santa Montefiore ‘An endearing debut . . . Prose threads a steady needle with the intricate plotting’ New York Times ‘The Maid is elegant, warm-hearted and wry, and Molly the most winningly off-beat narrator since Eleanor Oliphant. An absolute joy’ Louise Candlish ‘An instantly gripping and delightful whodunnit’ Stylist ‘I enjoyed every minute of this twisty yet tender thriller. The Maid is gripping, deftly written, and led by a truly unforgettable protagonist in Molly. I'm recommending it to everyone I know' Emma Stonex ‘Molly the Maid has captured my heart! I loved this charming and utterly original whodunit . . . Put this on your to-read pile immediately’ Sarah Pearse ‘Unlike anything else I’ve read, this kept me up way past lights out’ Katie Fforde ‘This is going to be HUGE! A heroine as loveable and quirky as Eleanor Oliphant, caught up in a crime worthy of Agatha Christie. Loved it!’ Clare Pooley ‘A contemporary murder mystery with a unique heroine who will appeal to Eleanor Oliphant fans’ Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Top Ten BestsellerLonglisted for the Booker Prize'Books this good don't come along very often.' Maggie O'Farrell'A magically beguiling work, a triumph.' Financial Times 'A thing of total joy .

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Guardian First Book Award 2013Shortlisted for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award 2014Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2013Winner of Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards 2012'Funny, moving and beautifully written' EDNA O'BRIENIn the aftermath of Ireland's financial collapse, dangerous tensions surface in an Irish town. As violence flares, the characters face a battle between public persona and inner desires. Through a chorus of unique voices, each struggling to tell their own kind of truth, a single authentic tale unfolds.The Spinning Heart speaks for contemporary Ireland like no other novel. Wry, vulnerable, all-too human, it captures the language and spirit of rural Ireland and with uncanny perception articulates the words and thoughts of a generation. Technically daring and evocative of Patrick McCabe and J.M. Synge, this novel of small-town life is witty, dark and sweetly poignant._________'Filled with light and shade, love and tragedy ... if it was a song you could sing it' ANNE ENRIGHT'Donal Ryan is the real deal ... a brilliantly realised, utterly resonant state-of-the-nation landscape' SUNDAY INDEPENDENT'I can't imagine a more original, more perceptive or more passionate work than this. Outstanding' JOHN BOYNE'It's furious, it's moving, it's darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut' NEW YORK TIMESTrade ReviewFilled with light and shade, love and tragedy ... if it was a song you could sing it -- Anne EnrightIt’s furious, it’s moving, it’s darkly funny, it punches you right in the gut, the writing is effortlessly wonderful, and every one of the wide variety of voices rings utterly true. -- Tana French * New York Times *Donal Ryan is the real deal … A brilliantly realised, utterly resonant state-of-the-nation landscape * Sunday Independent *Donal Ryan’s precise and evocative debut … is a textured account of a community as it was during a brief moment of time. … unexpectedly tender … Ryan’s prism of life and lives is compellingly humane. … This is an exciting, relevant and believable contemporary novel about the lost and the wounded that listens to the present without discarding either the sins of the fathers or the literary legacy of the past. -- Eileen Battersby * The Irish Times *There’s a powerful sense of place and shared history binding Ryan’s many voices, their inner and outer selves, distilling a linguistic richness comparable to Under Milk Wood. . . . Ryan’s novel . . . seems to draw speech out of the deepest silences; the testimony of his characters rings rich and true – funny and poignant and banal and extraordinary – and we can’t help but listen. * The Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''One of the most astoundingly original and necessary books I''ve ever read.'' Guardian''A landmark in twenty-first-century English literature.'' Observer''A perfect synthesis of form and content.'' Deborah LevyA woman on a plane listens to the stranger in the seat next to hers telling her the story of his life: his work, his marriage, and the harrowing night he has just spent burying the family dog. That woman is Faye, who is on her way to Europe to promote the book she has just published. Once she reaches her destination, the conversations she has with the people she meets about art, about family, about politics, about love, about sorrow and joy, about justice and injustice include the most far-reaching questions human beings ask. These conversations, the last of them on the phone with her son, rise dramatically and majestically to a beautiful conclusion. Following the novels Outline and Transit, Kudos completes Rachel Cusk's trilogy with overwhelming power.

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Book SynopsisTHE CAPTIVATING NEW NOVEL, SET AGAINST CHARLES DICKENS' HOME FOR FALLEN WOMEN'Absorbing .

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Book SynopsisThree irresistible short stories by Ali Hazelwood the New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of TikTok sensation THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS, now available in paperback for the first time with a new, exclusive, bonus chapter.Trade ReviewNeuroscientist and TikTok star Ali Hazelwood's funny, steamy stories marry science to sizzling sexual chemistry, as her three endearing heroines head from animosity to head-over heels with a trio of strong, stroppy but ultimately lovable work rivals/crushes. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisTrue love, friendship and luck a warm-hearted novel about where fate can lead you from the No.1 bestselling author.Now being filmed as LOVE, ROSIE.Best friends since forever, Rosie and Alex have shared their hopes, dreams, awkward moments and firsts. But their bond is threatened when Alex's family move to America. They stay in touch, but misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck seem to be conspiring to keep them apart.Can they gamble everything even their friendship on true love?Trade Review‘A heart-warming, completely absorbing tale of love and friendship’ Company ‘Brilliantly written, you’ll laugh and cry’ Heat ‘A winner’ Glamour Acclaim for Cecelia Ahern:‘Warm and thought-provoking’ Good Housekeeping ‘An exquisitely crafted and poignant tale about finding the beauty that lies within the ordinary. Make space for it in your life’ Heat

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Book SynopsisToni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She was the author of many novels, including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Beloved, Paradise and Love. She received the National Book Critics Circle Award and a Pulitzer Prize for her fiction and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honour, in 2012 by Barack Obama. Toni Morrison died on 5 August 2019 at the age of eighty-eight.Trade ReviewExtravagantly beautiful... Enormously, achingly alive... A howl of love and rage, playful and funny as well as hard and bitter * New York Times *Morrison explores the mythic power of femininity in a poor and isolated rural black community where women rule as mothers, warriors, witches and story-tellers... One of the most compelling writers at work today * The Times *Toni Morrison makes me believe in God. She makes me believe in a divine being, because luck and genetics don’t seem to come close to explaining her * Guardian *In characters like Sula, Toni Morrison's originality and power emerge * The Nation *Sula is one of the most beautifully written, sustained works of fiction I have read in some time... [Morrison] is a major talent * Chicago Tribune *

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Book SynopsisJohn Boyne is the author of nineteen novels for adults, six for younger readers, a picture book and a collection of short stories. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and has been adapted for cinema, theatre, ballet, and opera. His many international bestsellers include The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky. He has won four Irish Book Awards, including Author of the Year in 2022, along with a host of other international literary prizes. His novels are published in sixty languages.Twitter: @JohnBoyneBooksInstagram: @JohnBoyneAuthor

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Book Synopsis*A WATERSTONES AND BA INDIE BOOK OF THE MONTH MAY 2025**WINNER OF THE AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARDS: NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2024 *A perfect book club read ... Assured and powerful' SUNDAY TIMESI loved this novel ... An addictive read' GILLIAN ANDERSONMoves between rage, forgiveness and hope ... A stonkingly good novel' SARAH WINMANA beautiful, accomplished debut' LOUISE KENNEDYIt's 1994 in County Donegal, Ireland, and everyone is talking about Colette Crowley: the writer, the bohemian, the woman who left her family to be with a married man in Dublin.Returning to pick up the pieces of her old life, Colette finds that nothing and everything has changed. When the man to whom she is still married denies her access to their children, Colette enlists the help of Izzy, a housewife and mother of two, and the women forge a friendship that will send them on a spiralling journey one towards a path of self-discovery, and the other towards tragedy.A WOMAN & HOME and NB. MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024

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Book SynopsisWhite Oleander is a painfully beautiful first novel about a young girl growing up the hard way. It is a powerful story of mothers and daughters, their ambiguous alliances, their selfish love and cruel behaviour, and the search for love and identity.Astrid has been raised by her mother, a beautiful, headstrong poet. Astrid forgives her everything as her world revolves around this beautiful creature until Ingrid murders a former lover and is imprisoned for life. Astrid''s fierce determination to survive and be loved makes her an unforgettable figure.''LIQUID POETRY'' - Oprah Winfrey''Tangled, Complex and extraordinarily moving'' - Observer

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Book SynopsisSpanning the Arab world, India and the United States, this family saga tells of the heart-stopping triumphs and failures of three generations of Arab women

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Book SynopsisIn Brooklyn, retired doctor Sami drifts into dementia, reliving his life in Iraq. Omar, a scarred deserter seeking a new start, hides his past. When their paths cross, buried memories resurface in this poignant story of exile, war, and the struggle to remember and belong.

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Book SynopsisEdna O'Brien's beloved classics plunge us into the lives and loves of two girls in rural 1950s Ireland (with a new foreword by Eimear McBride).'The taboo-breaking, the fabulous prose - there's no one like Edna O'Brien ...

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Book Synopsis''Victoria weaves an effortless tale that draws you in and makes you forget the world outside exists. She has the ability to make you step into the pages, to transport you to Thessaloniki as you live the story yourself. She writes in such a beautiful way and her characters have depth and credibility . . . Exceptional'' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐Dimitri Komninos is born as fire devastates Thessaloniki, where Christians, Jews and Muslims live side by side. Five years later, Katerina Sarafoglou loses her mother when their home is destroyed by the Turkish army. She flees across the sea, alone, to Thessaloniki. When she and Dimitri meet, their lives entwine with one another - and the city itself - even as war, fear and persecution divide its people. Ninety years later, a young Anglo-Greek hears his grandparents'' life story for the first time. Should he become the custodian of their legacy and make this city his home, keeping aTrade ReviewA sweeping, magnificently detailed and ambitious saga that wrestles with the turbulence of the period Hislop covers . . . All those who loved The Island, her hugely successful first novel, will fall on it * The Sunday Times *Hislop does her research and is very good at interweaving the lives of individuals into the backcloth of great events, giving the reader a history lesson that doesn't feel like one . . . Recommended * Daily Mail *Hislop's fast-paced narrative and utterly convincing sense of place make her novel a rare treat * Guardian *This is storytelling at its best and just like a tapestry, when each thread is sewn into place, so emerge the layers and history of relationships past and present * Sunday Express *Meticulously researched and compellingly told * Woman & Home *Oh what a tangled web she weaves! Hislop has done well to tell a story as diverse and tempestuous as Thessaloniki's with such lightness of touch * Spectator *It's an evocative exploration of the past's hold on a family, with an exquisite love story at its centre * Good Housekeeping *

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Book SynopsisBoth devastating and funny, The Lonely Londoners is an unforgettable account of immigrant experience - and one of the great twentieth-century London novels. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Susheila Nasta.At Waterloo Station, hopeful new arrivals from the West Indies step off the boat train, ready to start afresh in 1950s London. There, homesick Moses Aloetta, who has already lived in the city for years, meets Henry ''Sir Galahad'' Oliver and shows him the ropes. In this strange, cold and foggy city where the natives can be less than friendly at the sight of a black face, has Galahad met his Waterloo? But the irrepressible newcomer cannot be cast down. He and all the other lonely new Londoners - from shiftless Cap to Tolroy, whose family has descended on him from Jamaica - must try to create a new life for themselves. As pessimistic ''old veteran'' Moses watches their attempts, they gradually learn to survive and come to love the heady excitements of London.Sam Selvon (b. 1923) was born in San Fernando, Trinidad. In 1950 Selvon left Trinidad for the UK where after hard times of survival he established himself as a writer with A Brighter Sun (1952), An Island is a World (1955), The Lonely Londoners (1956), Ways of Sunlight (1957), Turn Again Tiger (1958), I Hear Thunder (1963), The Housing Lark (1965), The Plains of Caroni (1970), Moses Ascending (1975) and Moses Migrating (1983).If you enjoyed The Lonely Londoners, you might like Jean Rhys''s Voyage in the Dark or Shiva Naipaul''s Fireflies, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''His Lonely Londoners has acquired a classics status since it appeared in 1956 as the definitive novel about London''s West Indians''Financial Times''The unforgettable picaresque ... a vernacular comedy of pathos''Guardian

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Book SynopsisNick Bradley holds a PhD from UEA focussing on the figure of the cat in Japanese literature. He lived in Japan for many years where he worked as a translator, and currently teaches on the Creative Writing master's programme at the University of Cambridge. His debut novel, The Cat and The City, was published in 2020.

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Book Synopsis“Sinking into a Nan Rossiter story is like coming home.”—Robyn CarrReturn to Tybee Island off the coast of Georgia in USA Today bestselling author Nan Rossiter’s third Savannah Skies novel, a heartwarming story about love, acceptance, finding your place in the world, and learning to carry on in the face of overwhelming loss.It has been eight months since Libby Tennyson’s husband, Jack, passed away, and now every afternoon when the fiery sun sinks below the horizon, she finds herself wandering through the empty old farmhouse in which they raised their six sons. Melancholy hour, she calls it—the time of day that was once a flurry of dinner, homework, and chores, but with her sons grown and on their own, she grieves for all she has lost—and worries about what the future holds for her youngest son, twenty-eight-year-old Chase.  All the Tennyson boys are

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Book SynopsisThe year is 1Q84.This is the real world, there is no doubt about that. But in this world, there are two moons in the sky. In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way, doing something very dangerous. And in this world, there seems no way to save them both.Trade ReviewMurakami's magnum opus * Japan Times *1Q84 has a range and sophistication that surpasses anything else in his oeuvre. It is his most achieved novel; an epic in which form and content are neatly aligned... So like Murakami himself, I'll borrow from Orwell: 1Q84 is quite simply doubleplusgood * Independent on Sunday *1Q84 reads like a cross between Stieg Larsson and Roberto Bolano... In its bones, this novel is a thriller * Daily Telegraph *Eerie, suspenseful and packed full of gorgeous ordinary details and provocative extraordinary events, Murakami takes weighty themes and delivers a compulsive tale that is funny, fresh and intensely surreal. Unmissable. * Marie Claire *It is a work of maddening brilliance and gripping originality, deceptively casual in style, but vibrating with wit, intellect and ambition * The Times *

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Book Synopsis''A great work of art, radiant and rapturous, affirming the power of love and imagination'' The New York Times Book ReviewAda or Ardor is a romance that follows Ada from her first childhood meeting with Van Veen on his uncle''s country estate, in a ''dream-bright'' America, through eighty years of rapture, as they cross continents, are continually parted and reunited, come to learn the strange truth about their singular relationship and, decades later, put their extraordinary experiences into words. Written in mischievous and magically flowing prose, Nabokov''s longest, richest novel is a love story, but also a fairy tale, a historical parody, an erotic satire, an exploration of the passing of time and a supreme work of the imagination.

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Book SynopsisTyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electroshock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy - who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates.

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Book Synopsis''A supremely gifted writer'' The TimesEight stories of love and loss, drama and glamour, hope and rejection, from a writer at the height of his powers. In Rupert Everett''s first, glorious collection of stories, he takes us on an exhilarating journey with a cast of extraordinary characters. A blackly humorous story of a chaotic and emotional funeral in Paris. Oscar Wilde''s last night in Paris, vividly evocative, unflinching and elegiac. A middle-aged American-Russian countess who confronts sex and age in a Wiltshire teashop. The ferociously unforgiving life of an L.A. talent agency and the unexpected twist that launches a completely different kind of career. The deathbed confession of a woman who left home for 1850s India, never to return. A story of emigration, love and grief. And a beautifully evocative, touching and witty portrayal of Proust''s creative life and his childhood. A brilliantly witty, funny and tender collection of stori

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Book SynopsisEVERYONE IN MY FAMILY IS A KILLER. EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY IS A SUSPECT.BUT WHICH OF THEM IS A MURDERER?''The best thing I''ve read in ages'' STUART MACBRIDE''Fun, witty and exciting. This is not one to miss!'' 5***** READER REVIEW''A must-read for every fan of the mystery genre'' JANE HARPER_________I knew our family reunion wouldn''t end well. But I didn''t expect murder.Maybe I should have known better. After all, everyone in my family is a killer. My parents, my siblings, my in-laws . . . even me. The deaths weren''t all deliberate, of course. Accidents happen.So when a body is found in the snow, it''s clear it''s the work of a Cunningham. But which one? And why?I''ll give you one clue: it wasn''t me.But a piece of advice? Never trust a Cunningham . . ._________''I absolutely LOVED it. Engaging, entertaining and charming'' MARIAN KEYES''Clever, unexpeTrade ReviewI absolutely loved it. Utterly original, hugely entertaining, and a must-read for every fan of the mystery genre. What an exceptionally fresh, smart, funny book - I've never read anything like this before. -- Jane HarperAn ingenious and hilarious meta-murder mystery . . . strangely moving * Sunday Times 'Best Crime Books of 2022' *As fresh and zingy as a salted lime. It's Knives Out meets Richard Osman. Or Dexter by way of Agatha Christie. Or Schitt's Creek with a body count. It's also the most luxuriantly enjoyable novel I've read in years. And years. I began toting my copy around town so that strangers would ask me about it - who could resist that title? I only wish there were more members of the Cunningham clan, so that this raucous, matchlessly entertaining mystery could go on longer. Benjamin Stevenson, I've got a lot to learn from you -- A.J. FinnThe best thing I've read in ages. I absolutely loved it. Whip-smart, twisted, funny, and constructed with the pinpoint precision of a bloodthirsty watchmaker. -- Stuart MacBrideThis book had me hooked from the first chapter. Deliciously funny, dark and intriguing -- Alex PavesiI absolutely loved it. It's so engaging, entertaining and charming. I don't think I've ever read anything like it, and it's such a fun read -- Marian KeyesClever, unexpected, and not to be missed -- Karin SlaughterAn exceptionally clever and amusing mystery. Stevenson carries off this tour de force with all the aplomb of a master magician who conducts his tricks in plain view * Publishers Weekly *This was such a clever, compelling read. It's a must for anyone who loves the rules of crime fiction, but it still packs plenty of twists. It had me laughing and turning the pages in equal measure. Bravo Mr Stevenson! -- S.J. BennettAn engrossing whodunnit, with an ingenious twist on the classic crime genre. The type of book you finish and want to immediately read again -- Kyle PerryIf you're a classic murder mystery fan looking for something fresh and original, you will absolutely love this -- Anna DownesSurprising, darkly funny, clever and charming - you won't want to put this one down * Living Edge *My go-to recommendation this year. It has everything I love about great twisty mystery, presented in a hugely original package -- Jane Harper * Daily Express *A mystery for anyone who thinks they know all too well how mysteries are supposed to work -- Gabriel BergmoserA homage to a golden age whodunnit, with a page-turner plot . . . Smart and funny * Business Post *A really fresh take on classic crime -- Jane Harper * Good Housekeeping *

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Book Synopsis''The work of a master storyteller''Daily Telegraph''One of crime''s most engaging duos''GuardianTHE SUNDAY TIMES CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2023________Private Detective Cormoran Strike is contacted by a worried father whose son, Will, has gone to join a religious cult in the depths of the Norfolk countryside.The Universal Humanitarian Church is, on the surface, a peaceable organisation that campaigns for a better world. Yet Strike discovers that beneath the surface there are deeply sinister undertones, and unexplained deaths.In order to try to rescue Will, Strike''s business partner Robin Ellacott decides to infiltrate the cult and she travels to Norfolk to live incognito amongst them. But in doing so, she is unprepared for the dangers that await her there or for the toll it will take on her . . .Utterly page-turning, The Running Grave moves Strike and Trade ReviewRiveting (. . .) a tale of how the human desire for approval, validation and a sense of purpose can sometimes lead us astray (. . .) The Running Grave is testimony to Galbraith's skill as a storyteller * GUARDIAN *Moving, gripping and terrifying * DAILY MAIL *A rich, immersive experience * SUNDAY TIMES *The kind of book you are happy to lose yourself in * SCOTSMAN *A pleasure * OBSERVER *The best duo in detective fiction since Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe * TELEGRAPH *Another absolute barnstormer ... Unmissable * HEAT *This is definitely one of the year's best reads, and all the more pleasurable because it's such an immersive experience * SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE (Best Crime Novel of 2023) *The Running Grave is pure joy -- Sophie Hannah * Mail on Sunday *The genre of crime fiction is such a wide one... it's often difficult to pin down which books are the best. However, THE RUNNING GRAVE by Robert Galbraith is a front-runner by any, and every, standard ... [it] isn't just a gripping mystery but a brutal glimpse into how cults work. [Galbraith] nails the slow burn of indoctrination and how even those of "sound mind", intelligence and even scepticism, can find themselves trapped -- Anne Cunningham * Sunday Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn 1679, Pepys is Secretary to the Admiralty, in charge of the navy, and at the right hand of King Charles.   But also in 1679, England is awash with suspicion and fear. In this maelstrom of distrust, Pepys finds himself at the heart of a conspiracy, charged with treason and facing a crooked trial and potential execution.   The only person who can save him is his brother, Balthazar, and Balthazar’s twin children, Betty and Sam – precociously smart and deviously determined – and the three set off on a journey to prove Pepys’ innocence.  A clever and witty adventure which will make you think about Pepys in an entirely new light…  

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Book Synopsis''ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY'' INDEPENDENT''Deliciously creepy''SUNDAY TIMES''Irresistible''MAIL ON SUNDAY''Skin-crawling''OBSERVER''Manically ingenious''GUARDIAN''An elegant fright-fest''THE TIMESThe chilling seventh novel from the critically acclaimed author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia AvenueTurn down Slade Alley - narrow, dank and easy to miss, even when you''re looking for it. Find the small black iron door set into the right-hand wall. No handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it swings open. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn''t quite make sense; too grand for the shabby neighbourhood, too large for the space it occupies.A stranger greets you and invites you inside. At first, you won''t want to leave. Later, you''ll find thTrade ReviewIngenious . . . a deliciously creepy story to be read for plot and for pleasure, with your heart racing, and your eyes involuntarily skipping forwards to find out what happens * Sunday Times *Packed with heady ideas and pulsing with dark energy . . . both dazzlingly inventive and compulsively readable * Financial Times *An elegant fright-fest of the highest order . . . Mitchell masterfully, humorously, combines the classic components of a scary story - old house, dark alley, missing persons - with a realism, when describing the lives of the victims, that is pacy, funny and true * The Times *A clever and deep-frozenly chilling Gothic horror story . . . genuinely good, genuinely scary * Daily Mail *Mitchell seamlessly brings together his clashing parallel realities through wordplay so dazzling it seems to defy its own gravitational rules * Metro *Chilling and dazzling . . . but the real skill of the book is in its emotional impact. Mitchell makes you care about each of the narrators * Scotland on Sunday *Irresistible * Mail on Sunday *Mitchell's most pleasurable book to date, which also features some of his finest writing . . . a quiet, delightful triumph * Literary Review *Plants died, milk curdled, and my children went slightly feral as I succumbed to the creepy magic of David Mitchell's Slade House. It's a wildly inventive, chilling, and - for all its other-worldiness - wonderfully human haunted house story. I plan to return to its clutches quite often -- Gillian Flynn, author of Gone GirlA fiendish delight . . . Mitchell is something of a magician * Washington Post *One of the most enjoyably, deliriously frightening novels I've read in ages . . . gleeful, skin-crawling brilliance * Observer *His work manages to beguile, impress and delight in equal parts . . . highly effective, creepy and witty * Irish Times *It's a gripping premise which becomes increasingly suspenseful as the stories move closer to the present day . . . Be warned, this is not a book to read before bedtime * Independent on Sunday *Manically ingenious . . . Vending-machine horror tropes, believable characters, wild farce, existential jeopardy, meta-fictional jokes: into the cauldron they go. Mitchell is at home in this kitchen * Guardian *A marvellously horrific, sharp and concise masterpiece . . . The novel's brevity should not lead the reader to underestimate just how much punch Mitchell's prose packs. His fiction is intoxicating * Lady *I gulped down this novel in a single evening. Intricately connected to David Mitchell's previous books, this compact fantasy burns with classic Mitchellian energy. Painstakingly imagined and crackling with narrative velocity, it's a Dracula for the new millennium, a Hansel and Gretel for grownups, a reminder of how much fun fiction can be -- Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot SeeCrackling with menace, yet a delightful sly wit * Sunday Mirror *A deliciously creepy, page-turning mystery . . . Mitchell's gift for characterisation shines through, making everyone vivid * SFX *Mitchell flits among the realest of voices - a shy teenage girl, a washed-up cop - in the most supernatural of settings: a brilliant, career-long high-wire act. If you haven't read him yet, Slade House is your 238-page, pocket-size gateway drug * Time *Brilliantly done, spooky, tense and beautifully written, full of the writerly flourishes that Mitchell is rightly famous for * Daily Express *A ripping yarn . . . Like Shirley Jackson's Hill House or the Overlook Hotel from Stephen King's The Shining, [Slade House] is a thin sliver of hell designed to entrap the unwary . . . As the Mitchellverse grows ever more expansive and connected, this short but powerful novel hints at still more marvels to come * San Francisco Chronicle *The joy in Slade House is in the discovery. It's in seeing different people make the same mistakes over and over again . . . It's in thinking that you'd be smarter, of course. That you'd see through all this B-movie schlock (like creepy portraits, sad ghosts and stairways that go nowhere), find the secret door, and escape. Only to find that you're already trapped * NPR *

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Book SynopsisSOLVE THE MURDER TO SAVE WHAT''S LEFT OF THE WORLD THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER''A mind-bending, genre-blending, boy-that-ending mystery unlike any I''ve ever read'' A. J. FINN ''I loved it'' C. J. TUDOR ''An absolute blast'' BENJAMIN STEVENSON''Wildly inventive'' M. W. CRAVEN ''Believe the hype'' ALICE BELL ''Extraordinary'' WILL DEAN An Observer Thriller of the MonthOutside the island there is nothing: the world destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. 122 villagers and 3 scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And they learn the murder has triggered a lowering of

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Book SynopsisNAMED AS ONE OF GRANTA MAGAZINE'S BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2023 FINALIST FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARDS 2023 FROM THE WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE Birnam Wood is on the move... Five years ago, Mira Bunting founded a guerrilla gardening group: Birnam Wood. An undeclared, unregulated, sometimes-criminal, sometimes-philanthropic gathering of friends, this activist collective plants crops wherever no one will notice, on the sides of roads, in forgotten parks, and neglected backyards. For years, the group has struggled to break even. Then Mira stumbles on an answer, a way to finally set the group up for the long term: a landslide has closed the Korowai Pass, cutting off the town of Thorndike. Natural disaster has created an opportunity, a sizable farm seemingly abandoned. But Mira is not the only one interested in Thorndike. Robert Lemoine, the enigmatic American billionaire, has snatched it up to build his end-times bunker - or so he tells Mira when he catches her on the property. Intrigued by Mira, Birnam Wood, and their entrepreneurial spirit, he suggests they work this land. But can they trust him? And, as their ideals and ideologies are tested, can they trust each other? A gripping psychological thriller from the Booker Prize-winning author of The Luminaries, Birnam Wood is Shakespearean in its wit, drama and immersion in character. A brilliantly constructed consideration of intentions, actions, and consequences, it is an unflinching examination of the human impulse to ensure our own survival.Trade ReviewBirnam Wood is terrific. As a multilayered, character-driven thriller, it's as good as it gets. Ruth Rendell would have loved it. A beautifully textured work-- what a treat -- Stephen KingPhenomenal and utterly gripping, Birnam Wood has the sense of a literary writer setting herself free and having a bit of fun. It's fantastic. I loved it. -- Jessie BurtonWhat I admired most in Birnam Wood was the way that the rapid violence of the climax rises, all of it, out of the deep, patient, infinitely nuanced character-work that comes before. If George Eliot had written a thriller, it might have been a bit like this -- Francis SpuffordI read this in two deep gulps - it's delicious, it had me re-reading passages aloud. Catton's storytelling is deft and irresistible in this merciless whirlpool of a book, which pulls you inexorably towards its final tragedy -- Kiran Millwood HargraveBirnam Wood is electric: a spectacular book. It has the pace and bite of a thriller. It has an iron-willed morality. It feels like the product of astonishing skill, and formidable love. It's literally, physically breathtaking -- Katherine RundellA filmic and page-turning thriller - Eleanor Catton weaves a complex and absorbing web of human relationships in which the balance of power is constantly and unpredictably shifting. Hubris and ambition, vanity and greed, principle and expediency, courage and hope - all are here, but not necessarily where you expect to find them -- Carys DaviesThis is an urgent, compelling read, bleak but deeply moving and humanly credible. Eleanor Catton offers an unsparing analysis of the various deadly self-delusions and corruptions that are generated by our global denial of the planet's crisis - but also by our naive, confused yearnings to be numbered among the righteous. It is a book of real moral depth -- Rowan WilliamsMysterious and marvellously unpredictable, Birnam Wood had me reading the way I used to as a kid - curiously, desperately and as if it was the whole world. Catton connects to the natural and unnatural ways in which we try to control our environments, our impulses and one another. A spectacular novel, conjured by a virtuoso -- Rivka GalchenA writer of enormous skill, dexterity, charm and thoughtfulness. Birnam Wood accomplishes something rare and important; in making the rampage of growth capitalism feel as high stakes it is, and in making the very next moment, the very next page, feel consequential. -- Caoilinn HughesA wildly exciting contemporary thriller... You really do read the last 150 pages of Birnam Wood with your pulse racing and your heart thumping * Daily Telegraph *Enormously readable... Hugely entertaining... [Catton] can write funny social satire; she can stage a convincingly self-defeating fight among leftist radicals; she can notice "the hash of oily streaks and fingerprints" on a locked phone screen -- Kevin Power * Guardian *Part eco-thriller, part satire and it's gripping, thought-provoking and full of surprises. A brilliant pageturner from a dazzling writer * Mail on Sunday *Catton is a generous writer... Her instinct is to give the reader more for their money - more plot, more context, more suspense, more social commentary, more character. Birnam Wood is a novel that contains multitudes * Sunday Times *A fittingly explosive story, mysterious and gripping from start to finish... This is a deeply enjoyable, action-packed book * Financial Times *Thrilling... A mischievous satire... The book's title invites comparisons with Macbeth and, sure enough, it spirals into a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. * The Times *A smart, satirical novel... Glorious... Birnam Wood is a dark and brilliant novel about the violence and tawdriness of late capitalism. Its ending, though, propels it from a merely very good book into a truly great one * Observer *Birnam Wood is wrapped in the trappings of a thriller. There are betrayals, deaths, plots, crimes, lust, lies and all the rest. But it is done gracefully. Catton has taken her time, and it shows * Spectator *A biting, satirical thriller... If you want a thoughtful novel to chew on, Birnam Wood will satisfy you * Independent *Birnam Wood is literary fiction with the propulsive pace of a thriller, a masterful display of omniscient storytelling, a cautionary tale of friendship soured, a shrewd take on the environmental activism and the global existentialist threat, and undoubtedly one of the books of the year * Irish Times *This is a cracking read... Catton is a writer with a clear moral purpose: happy to entertain but even happier when throwing a well-written, well-aimed punch * Irish Independent *Cleverly done * Daily Mail *Catton's best book yet... I was gripped, shocked and satisfied by the finale... The overwhelming takeaway is the sense of having had an enormous amount of fun... I enjoy a good thriller, and this is an excellent one * TLS *All killer no filler. Grappling elegantly with identity politics and the culture wars as it goes, it flies along most enjoyably without a dull moment * Big Issue *A thoughtful, personality-rich page-turner * Vanity Fair *Dazzling * I Paper *A deserving early entrant for book of the year * Daily Mirror *Birnam Wood is a rare accomplishment: an intelligent and elegant thriller that is also a damn fine read * Economist *Birnam Wood is a firecracker of a book, bursting with provocative ideas and crackling dialogue... * International Express *A fun, thrilling tale about a guerrilla gardening collective, featuring evil tech bros, apocalypse bunkers, and some LSD to top it all off * Sunday Times *With realistic characters and a pacey plot, Birnam Wood is a page-turning literary thriller. It gleefully makes its characters question their core beliefs, with a hefty side order of sarcasm and satire to ensure the mood remains just the right side of nihilistic * Sunday Business Post *Exceptionally good... This brilliantly assembled stand-off has something of the Jonathan Franzen about it...or even Tom Wolfe, in its leisurely command of powerful big shots vs unpredictable small fry * Strong Words *A brilliant tale of intentions, actions and consequences drawn out in a stunning setting, it's an unflinching examination of how far we will go to ensure our own survival * Firecall *[An] enjoyable, cleverly paced literary thriller... [Catton is] able to build her characters superbly, giving them complex inner lives and, it turns out, morals and motives that come in fifty shades of grey rather than simply black and white * Collagerie *

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Book SynopsisHe is a brilliant maths Professor with a peculiar problem - ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory.She is an astute young Housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him.Each morning, the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to one another. The Professor may not remember what he had for breakfast, but his mind is still alive with elegant mathematical equations from the past. He devises clever maths riddles - based on her shoe size or her birthday - and the numbers reveal a poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her son.With each new equation, the three lost souls forge an affection more mysterious than imaginary numbers, and a bond that runs deeper than memory.'This is one of those books written in such lucid, unpretentious language that reading it is like looking into a deep pool of clear water...Dive into Yoko Ogawa's world and you find yourself tugged by forces more felt than seen' New York TimesVINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.Trade ReviewBeautiful...the extraordinary Yoko Ogawa casts her spell ...This is a tale which will leave the reader gasping * Irish Times *Alive with mysteries both mathematical and personal, this novel has the pared-down elegance of an equation * Oprah magazine *Strangely charming, flecked with enough wit and mystery to keep us engaged throughout... fairy-tale surrealism and quiet spiritual wisdom * Washington Post *This is one of those books written in such lucid, unpretentious language that reading it is like looking into a deep pool of clear water...Dive into Yoko Ogawa's world and you find yourself tugged by forces more felt than seen * New York Times *Where Yoko Ogawa's brilliance lies is in taking such an apparently stiff framework and bending it into a work of warmth and beauty; or showing us that mathematics is not a cold, hard, science, but an elegant, complex, shimmering art. This feat of literary spoon-bending is accomplished with such calm elegance that it quite takes the breath away * The Times Book Club *

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Book SynopsisSamantha Cooper is having a day from hell. In less than 24 hours, her life has unravelled, leaving her single and with nowhere to live. Adding insult to injury, she's trapped in an elevator with a gorgeous woman claiming to be a demon. Daphne is not at all what Samantha expected from someone claiming to be an evil supernatural entity. She's pretty, witty, dressed in pink, and smells nice. And she's here to offer Samantha a deal she can't refuse. Six wishes in exchange for one tiny tradeSamantha's soul. There's a glaring loophole in their contract, one Samantha fully intends to exploit so she doesn't fork over her soul. After all, she only needs one wish to win her ex back. Hell-bent to gather the last of the one thousand souls she needs so that she can be free of her own devilish deal, Daphne grants each of Samantha's wishes . . . with a twist, so that Samantha is forced to make another. As Samantha's wishes dwindle and Daphne offers her glimpses into the life she thought she wanted, the unlikely pair grows close. Perhaps the girl of Samantha's dreams is actually the stuff of nightmares, but Samantha and Daphne will have to outsmart the Devil himself if they want a chance at happily ever after.

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Book Synopsis1854, Edinburgh.Respectable public faces hide sordid private sins.Apprentice Sarah Fisher is helping to fund Dr Will Raven''s emerging medical practice in exchange for being secretly trained as a medic, should the rules barring women ever change. Sarah needs no instruction in the inequalities that beset her gender, but even she has her eyes opened to a darker reality when a relative seeks her help in searching for her missing daughter. Annabelle Banks was promised a situation in a prestigious household, but there has been no word from her since she left home, and the agency that arranged her position says she never appeared.Sarah''s inquiries lead her to reforming campaigners trying to publicise the plight of the hundreds of girls ensnared in Edinburgh''s houses of assignation. Sarah learns how young women are lured, deceived, trafficked and raped, leaving them ruined in the eyes of a society obsessed with moral purity, and where virginity is prized as a lucrative commodity.Drawing upon real historical events, The Death of Shame takes Raven and Sarah into a treacherous labyrinth of exploitation, corruption, high-level complicity and Victorian-style revenge porn.

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Book SynopsisA CRIMEREADS BEST DEBUT CRIME NOVEL OF 2024ONE OF TIME''S 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION 2024 FIRST NOVEL PRIZE ''A smash of a debut'' ALEXANDER FULLERRookie lawyer Grace Zulu does not give up easily. She escaped an arranged marriage to put herself through university. Now she''s got her first case.Her client is young Willbess ''Bessy'' Mulenga, who has been arrested for offences ''against nature''. Bessy works in a men-only bar, loves to dance, to wear dresses and live freely. But in 1990s Zambia, following your own identity can get you beaten, jailed or even worse. Grace is determined to get Bessy out of custody. Then her terrified, bruised client goes missing without a trace. She knows something bad has happened and that someone is trying to cover it up. Along with the most unlikely group of allies, Grace must take on powerful enemies at the highest levels - even risk her own safety - to get to the truth. The whole truth. A debut novel that soars with passion and humanity, The Lions'' Den is a moving story of prejudice, corruption, injustice, courage and solidarity. It shows us that no cause is ever a lost one.

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Book SynopsisMoving, memorable and a mirror for anyone who's craving their own company, TABLE FOR ONE is a story about what it means to be happily alone, not lonely. If in doubt, date yourself *** ' A fast-paced, funny and touching story about smart young women' Elizabeth Gilbert *THE UNFORGETTABLE NEW NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF OLIVE - AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW* Willow has everything worked out. *The steady partner *The successful career *The grown-up house Until she doesn't and she's cast adrift on the sea of heartbreak, grieving a future that's barely begun. With her life transformed beyond recognition, and her friends busy moving forwards', Willow has never felt more alone. But she's in good company.

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Book SynopsisA QUEEN'S READING ROOM PICK 2023The multi-million-copy bestseller. A New York Times bestseller for over two years. Long-listed for the Orange Prize.Trade ReviewMoving, original, and accomplished ... wonderfully written, powerful, poignant, and humorous, and takes a line which is - refreshingly - strongly female without being cliche-feminist. It is also deliciously eccentric, which lifts it out of the usual category of a rite-of-passage novel into the realms of real distinction. Do read it * Joanna Trollope *Charming, funny, moving and unmistakeably from the American South... a story that whips together heat, violence, eccentricity, madness and the Gothic * The Times *This is a wonderful book, by turns funny, sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris. * The Daily Telegraph *Eccentric, inventive, and ultimately forgiving... a truly original Southern voice * Anita Shreve *Monk Kidd has created a narrative as skilful and sweet as a honeycomb. Uplifting and warm-hearted, this is a moving novel and Lily is a fascinating, funny and clever narrator * Literary Review *Sue Monk Kidd... Illuminates what is beautiful... THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is a gift, filled with hope * Luanne Rice *This is the story of a young girl's journey toward healing, and of finding, at its end, not only wholeness, but the intrinsic sacredness of living in the world. I think it is simply wonderful * Anne Rivers Siddons *A wonderfully written debut novel * Kirkus Reviews *With imagination as lush and colorful as the American South, a clutch of deliciously eccentric characters, and vivid prose, Sue Monk Kidd creates a rich, maternal haven in a harsh world * Christina Schwarz *As original as its title and rivetingly so... It is one of the most inventive books I have read in a long time, and utterly compelling... This book demands to be read again and again, for it is not so much the solving of the mystery that is compulsive, but the gentle, sensitive, humorous and intensely colourful creation of a world far from our own * Oxford Times *Sue Monk Kidd has written a wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love * Connie May Fowler *Lily is a wonderfully petulant and self-absorbed adolescent, and Kidd deftly portrays her sense of injustice as it expands to accomodate broader social evils...August and her sisters, June and May, are no mere vehicles for Lily's salvation; they are individuals as fully imagined as the sweltering, kudzu-carpeted landscape that surrounds them * New York Times Book Review *What a splendid novel! It's wonderfully thoughtful and sensitive and compulsively readable * Susan Isaacs *An incredibly original and imaginative book with great charm and atmosphere * Glasgow Evening Times *A wonderful modern fairy tale...a touching story with a memorable cast of characters * The Big Issue *A hive's worth of appealing female characters, an off-beat plot and a lovely style... Deeply satisfying * Publishers Weekly *A honey-sweet novel * Elle *Superb * Woman & Home *Maybe it is true that there are no perfect books, but I closed this one believing that I had found perfection. The language is never anything short of crystalline and inspired. The plotting is subtle and careful and exquisitely executed...The characters are lovable and deep-hearted, fully dimensional, never pat. The story endures long after the book is slipped back onto the shelf * Book magazine *I am amazed that this moving, original, and accomplished book is a first novel. It is wonderfully written, powerful, poignant, and humorous, and takes a line which is - refreshingly - strongly female without being cliche-feminist. It is also deliciously eccentric, which lifts it out of the usual category of a rite-of-passage novel into the realms of real distinction. Do read it * Joanna Trollope *Charming, funny, moving and unmistakeably from the American South... a story that whips together heat, violence, eccentricity, madness and the Gothic * The Times *Lily is a wonderfully petulant and self-absorbed adolescent, and Kidd deftly portrays her sense of injustice as it expands to accomodate broader social evils...August and her sisters, June and May, are no mere vehicles for Lily's salvation; they are individuals as fully imagined as the sweltering, kudzu-carpeted landscape that surrounds them * New York Times Book Review *This is a wonderful book, by turns funny, sad, full of incident and shot through with grown-up magic reminiscent of Joanne Harris. * The Daily Telegraph *Eccentric, inventive, and ultimately forgiving... a truly original Southern voice * Anita Shreve *Sue Monk Kidd... Illuminates what is beautiful... THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is a gift, filled with hope * Luanne Rice *This is the story of a young girl's journey toward healing, and of finding, at its end, not only wholeness, but the intrinsic sacredness of living in the world. I think it is simply wonderful * Anne Rivers Siddons *A wonderfully written debut novel * Kirkus Reviews *With imagination as lush and colorful as the American South, a clutch of deliciously eccentric characters, and vivid prose, Sue Monk Kidd creates a rich, maternal haven in a harsh world * Christina Schwarz *As original as its title and rivetingly so... It is one of the most inventive books I have read in a long time, and utterly compelling... This book demands to be read again and again, for it is not so much the solving of the mystery that is compulsive, but the gentle, sensitive, humorous and intensely colourful creation of a world far from our own * Oxford Times *Sue Monk Kidd has written a wonderful novel about mothers and daughters and the transcendent power of love * Connie May Fowler *What a splendid novel! It's wonderfully thoughtful and sensitive and compulsively readable * Susan Isaacs *Monk Kidd has created a narrative as skilful and sweet as a honeycomb. Uplifting and warm-hearted, this is a moving novel and Lily is a fascinating, funny and clever narrator * Literary Review *An incredibly original and imaginative book with great charm and atmosphere * Glasgow Evening Times *A wonderful modern fairy tale...a touching story with a memorable cast of characters * The Big Issue *A hive's worth of appealing female characters, an off-beat plot and a lovely style... Deeply satisfying * Publishers Weekly *A honey-sweet novel * Elle *Superb * Woman & Home *Maybe it is true that there are no perfect books, but I closed this one believing that I had found perfection. The language is never anything short of crystalline and inspired. The plotting is subtle and careful and exquisitely executed...The characters are lovable and deep-hearted, fully dimensional, never pat. The story endures long after the book is slipped back onto the shelf * Book magazine *'Kidd's first novel is well placed, gentle and deeply moving' The Times * The Times *'A personal favourite, one of those infectiously written books you can't get out of your mind...a lovely tale' Bookseller * Bookseller *'A tale that's beautifully and movingly written' Buzz * Buzz *

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Book SynopsisNOW A MAJOR TV SERIES starring Samantha Bond, Jo Martin, and Cara Horgan. Season 3 coming in 2026!I was hooked from the first page, wonderful' Reader review, ?????Brilliant, brilliant book this was one of the best books I've read in a long time' Reader review, ?????Entertaining, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable . . Wonderful escapism' Reader review, ?????Never a dull moment, lots of red herrings, plenty of humour and a plot worthy of Agatha!!!' Reader review, ?????* * *It's been an enjoyable and murder-free time for Judith, Suzie and Becks AKA the Marlow Murder Club since the events of last year. The most exciting thing on the horizon is the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey, to his nurse, Jenny Page. Sir Peter is having a party at his grand mansion on the river Thames the day before the wedding, and Judith and Co. are looking forward to a bit of free champagne.But during the soiree, there's a crash from inside the house, and when the Marlow Murder Club rush to investigate, they are shocked to find the groom-to-be crushed to death in his study.The study was locked from the inside, so the police don't consider the death suspicious. But Judith disagrees. As far as she''s concerned, Peter was murdered! And it's up to the Marlow Murder Club to find the killer before he or she strikes again* * *Praise for Robert ThorogoodKeeps you guessing right to the end' Good HousekeepingI love Robert Thorogood's writing' Peter JamesLots of laughs, a quick pace and an easy read to escape into' GlamourA perfect locked room mystery' My WeeklyCosy crime at its best' Crime MonthlySatisfying locked-room mystery' SagaThe perfect cosy crime to curl up with' HeatTrade Review Praise for Death Comes to Marlow ‘Lots of laughs, a quick pace and an easy read to escape into’ GLAMOUR ‘Cleverly plotted and laugh-out-loud funny’ YOURS MAGAZINE ‘Satisfying locked-room mystery’ SAGA ‘Cosy crime at its best’ CRIME MONTHLY ‘The perfect cosy crime to curl up with’ HEAT Praise for The Marlow Murder Club series ‘An Agatha Christie-inspired puzzle of a novel … beautifully crafted … a criminal success’ MY WEEKLY ‘I really enjoyed it. A great escapist yarn from start to finish and a real tonic’ SIMON KERNICK ‘An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining and beautifully written’ B. A. PARIS ‘Laugh-out-loud humour, superb plotting and a full-throttle finale … entertaining and enjoyable … the perfect read to fill the long, lockdown nights of winter’ LANCASHIRE POST ‘Thrilling and heartfelt, gripping and wonderfully humorous, The Marlow Murder Club is an absolute joy from first page to last’ CHRIS WHITAKER ‘This is just the kind of book I love to read – a proper whodunit with clues, suspects, and engaging leading characters. Great location too, and lots of charm and humour. I loved it’ FAITH MARTIN ‘Assured cosy crime from an ingenious author … An affectionate look at older lives and the energy they can still provide the world, and damn right funny and heartwarming at times, this is great fun indeed’ MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI, CRIME TIME ‘The Marlow Murder Club is a hugely entertaining mystery, and Judith Potts, the Marple of Marlow, is a wonderful new detective character’ MARTIN EDWARDS ‘One of the most original and beguiling characters I have read about for a long time … a delight from start to finish. Robert Thorogood has brought the fun back into crime fiction’ SIMON BRETT

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Book SynopsisAll 20-year-old Daisy Haites has ever wanted is a normal life, but as the heiress to London''s most notorious criminal empire, it''s just not on the cards for her.Raised by her older brother Julian since their parents were murdered, Daisy has never been able to escape the watchful gaze of her gang-lord brother. But Julian''s line of work means that Daisy''s life is... complicated.And things don''t become any easier when she falls hard for the beautiful and emotionally unavailable Christian Hemmes, who also happens to be one of the few men in London who doesn''t answer to Julian.Christian''s life is no walk in the park either, since he''s in love with his best friend''s girlfriend, Magnolia Parks.He''s happy enough to use Daisy to throw off the scent of his true affections - until she starts to infiltrate those too.As their romance blossoms into something neither were anticipating, Daisy, Christian, and Julian

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Book Synopsis*From the Booker-shortlisted author of Small Things Like These*Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles. The evening is fine. In the sky a few early stars are shining of their own accord. She watches the dog licking the bowl clean. This dog will break her daughter's heart, she's sure of it.Claire Keegan's mesmeric story takes us into the heart of the Wicklow countryside, and of the farming family of Victor Deegan, with his three teenagers, the milking and the mortgage'.When Deegan finds a gun dog and gives it as a present to his only daughter, his wife is filled with foreboding at this seeming act of kindness. As the seasons pass, long-buried family secrets threaten to emerge.Bringing together past, present and future in our ninetieth year, Faber Stories is a celebratory compendium of collectable work.

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Book Synopsis***GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2023*** THE TIMES - THRILLER OF THE MONTH****** MAIL ON SUNDAY - BEST NEW FICTION*** FINANCIAL TIMES - BEST NEW CRIME BOOKS***''A crackling good police procedural....fresh and exhilarating'' STEPHEN KING''Gripping'' MICHAEL CONNELLY''Titus Crown is one of the most compelling characters I''ve read in a long time.'' STEVE CAVANAGHA BLACK SHERIFF. A SERIAL KILLER.AND A SMALL TOWN READY TO COMBUST.Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an FBI agent, no one knows better than Titus that while his hometown might seem like a land of moonshine, cornbread, and honeysuckle, secrets always fester under the surface.But a year to the day after Titus''s election, a school teacher is killed by a former student. The student iTrade ReviewPRAISE FOR S. A. COSBY:A top-notch tale about the dark side of small towns and racial politics * THE SUN *Exemplary * FINANCIAL TIMES *Cosby's growing body of work represents a muscular take on race relations in America. In All The Sinners Bleed, he again forces the reader to dwell on how prejudice lingers and shapes contemporary society, particularly in America's south. A powerful crime thriller that pulls no punches. -- VASEEM KHANThe very definition of a white-knuckle ride -- IAN RANKINCosby's talents for pungent dialogue and Chandler-esque phrase-making were praised in his previous novel,.. and they're evident again in this pulsating follow-up * SUNDAY TIMES *S. A. Cosby's novels always hit the grand slam of crime fiction; unstoppable momentum, gripping intrigue and deep character with a hard and telling look at culture and society. I hesitate to call All The Sinners Bleed his masterpiece because he has many more books to write and they only get better and better. Cosby no doubt carries the mantle of Faulkner with him as he uses the crime story to show us where we are and how far we still need to go. Sheriff Titus Crown lives in these pages and your heart. He's a character for the ages -- MICHAEL CONNELLYIt's a rare trick to combine violence with social commentary, but Cosby pulls it off * DAILY MAIL *Raw, powerful and pacey, Razorblade Tears more than fulfils the promise of Cosby's superb debut * THE GUARDIAN *Utterly brilliant....Beautiful, violent, operatic, relevant, poignant, gripping & important. Masterful. -- WILL DEANOne of the most muscular, distinctive, grab-you-by-both-ears voices in American crime fiction. * WASHINGTON POST *An excellent, gritty novel about how eventually, all sins must be reckoned with...The action is nonstop and Titus has real depth...Layered. Dark. True. -- ROXANE GAYOnly S.A. Cosby could bring poetry to the darkness. A dark, disturbing and gripping masterpiece that reaches into the depths of your soul. -- NADINE MATHESON

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