Search results for ""allison busby""

The Earl of Burford cannot believe his luck. Rex Ransom, his favourite film star, and a hot-shot producer want to film their next feature at Alderley, the family's seventeenth-century country estate. Somewhat less enthusiastic are the Countess and poor Merryweather, the family's butler, who suddenly find themselves hosting the incoming Hollywood crowd. And that's before there's a murder in the dead of night. Paying homage to Golden Age crime fiction in which even the red herrings are impeccably turned out, The Affair of the Mutilated Mink is a must-read for armchair sleuths.

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Queen Marie of Roumania, granddaughter to both Victoria, Empress of the British Empire, and Alexander II, Tsar of Russia, is in need of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes' services. The Queen, a famous beauty who has transformed Roumania from a quiet backwater into a significant force, invites the pair to Bran castle, the ancient fortress that sits on the border with the newly regained territory of Transylvania. The threat the Queen fears is dubious: shadowy figures, vague whispers, dangers that may only be accidents. But a young girl is involved. So, putting aside their doubts, Russell and Holmes set out to investigate the mystery in a land of long memory and hidden corners, from whose churchyards the shades creep.

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September 1940: the height of the Blitz. The Savoy Hotel boasts London's strongest air raid shelter with all the luxury expected from one of the capital's most prestigious hotels. It prompts the arrival of a disgruntled crowd from the East End, demanding they be allowed entry and respite from the endless bombing raids. They are given permission to enter and are stunned by the opulence that greets them. The all-clear sounds the next morning and London comes slowly back to life, but not everyone can dust themselves down and carry on. One of the hotel's guests has been discovered dead, stabbed in the back. Detective Chief Inspector Coburg and Sergeant Lampson are called in and the finger of suspicion falls firmly upon the East Londoners, but not everything is as it seems in these sumptuous surroundings.

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When a new feature on Pete Newbury's popular TV programme shows his adult image digitally transformed to that of a young child, Beth is shocked to realise that he's her baby brother, who disappeared without a trace thirty-eight years ago. He vanished at the age of three and her family has grieved for him ever since, believing him to be dead. But the path to reunion and happiness is fraught with complications, not least Beth's feelings towards a close friend of her long-lost brother and then the reappearance of her runaway daughter, complete with child. Bridges take time to build, but after so many years of heartache, can Beth manage to keep hold of everything she holds dear?

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For those who loved Little People, BIG DREAMS, this new series showcases the lives and achievements of amazing men and women. This fun and informative book tells the fascinating stories of remarkable scientists behind ground-breaking discoveries such as penicillin and DNA. From the fall of Newton's apple, Ada Lovelace's imaginative step into the future of computing, to Stephen Hawking's work exploring the origins of the universe, Science shows a new generation of scientists that the greatest leaps in understanding start by asking the smallest questions.

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1899, Glasgow. A man is stabbed to death in a tenement courtyard and Juan Camarón, photographer-cum-sleuth, is enlisted to assist the police investigation. Perhaps his innovative photographic method can bring to light what the naked eye might overlook. Juan is also contending with his own problems. His late father's legacy, a monumental photographic record of Cuban architecture, faces a charge of plagiarism from a mysterious señora. And Jane, his fiancée, is witnessed fleeing the scene of a murder. Juan's hoped-for happiness is threatened and he is torn between finding the killer and finding Jane. But could they be one and the same?

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While hunting in the Forest of Arden, Henry Beaumont discovers the crushed body of a former member of his household. Flying into a rage, he soon arrests Boio, a local blacksmith, who was seen in the area, though the man disputes this. Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret arrive in Warwick to find the place in a frenzy. Though there to resolve property disputes on behalf of William the Conqueror, the pair are soon involved with preventing a miscarriage of justice, as the evidence against the blacksmith is flimsy at best. But with Beaumont deaf to reason, the race is on to find the anonymous man the blacksmith claims can corroborate his story before he's sent to the gallows.

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From humble beginnings as the daughter of a Clerkenwell milliner, Emily Soldene rose to become a leading lady of the London stage and a formidable impresario with her own opera company. The darling of London's theatreland, she later reinvented herself as a journalist and writer who scandalised the capital with her backstage revelations. Weaving through the spurious glamour of Victorian music halls and theatres, taking encounters with the Pre-Raphaelites and legal disputes involving Charles Dickens in her stride, Emily became the toast of New York and ventured far off the beaten track to tour in Australia and New Zealand. In The Improbable Adventures of Miss Emily Soldene, a life filled with performance, travel and incident returns to centre stage.

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The peace of a small West Country village is rudely shattered when a bomb explodes in the local supermarket. Karen Slocombe, a member of the Food Chain Group and staunch supporter of local produce, would not normally care for the loss of a supermarket, but she does take offence to such violence and that fact that she and her daughter were very nearly caught up in the explosion. When, a few days later, Karen witnesses the horrifying murder of an adjacent stallholder at the local farmer's market, she begins to wonder just who is committing these seemingly motiveless crimes and why does she keep finding herself in the middle of the crime scene?

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First published as Firing Line. October, 1940. Bombs are falling on Stratford when air-raid warden Sylvia Parks sees a house with a shining light, in clear breach of the city's strict blackout rules. With no answer at the door she manages to break in, only to discover the body of a young woman, strangled to death with a stocking. For Detective Inspector John Jago, the scene brings back memories of the gruesome Soho Strangler, who murdered four women a few years ago but has never been caught - could there be a connection?

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1895. When the newly dubbed 'Museum Detectives' are asked to investigate deliberate damage to a dinosaur skeleton at the Natural History Museum, there is evidence that the fossil-hunting mania of the notorious Bone Wars in America may have reached their shores. But for Daniel Wilson, famed for his involvement in the Jack the Ripper case, and renowned archaeologist Abigail Fenton, events soon take a sinister turn. A museum attendant is found dead in an anteroom by none other than the infamous theatre manager Bram Stoker, who it seems may have had a personal connection with the deceased. Facing pressure both from an overseas business and local celebrity, Wilson and Fenton must rely on their talents and instincts to solve their most puzzling case yet.

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London, 1817. Outside the Covent Garden Theatre, a crowd is desperate for a glimpse of actress Hannah Granville after her latest performance - including the Prince Regent himself. But before she emerges a gunshot sounds, and a man lies dead amidst the ensuing chaos. It proves to be Sir Roger Mellanby MP, whose political leanings towards social reform had made him many enemies not just at Westminster but within his own family. After a curt dismissal from the Bow Street Runners, Mellanby's friend Seth Hooper engages twin detectives Paul and Peter Skillen to investigate the MP's killing. Elsewhere, the assassin's own problems are just beginning ...

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Wiltshire, 1910. With her stepfather threatening her with a forced marriage, Mattie Willitt flees home in search of a better life. She is soon lost and at the mercy of the elements - until her life is saved by Jacob, a widower who takes her in and nurses her back to health. Finding consolation in each other's troubled pasts, the pair soon grow close. But when pressure is put upon them to marry, and Mattie's stepfather discovers her whereabouts, they must face their fears and stand up to those who threaten their future happiness.

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Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown is adjusting to life in Windermere, running her florist shop and trying to put her tragic past behind her. But just when Simmy thinks her life is quietly coming together at last, it begins to unravel at the seams. All thanks to the delivery of a bouquet of flowers with mysterious message attached.

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With Peaceful Repose Cemetery, Drew Slocombe is determined to revolutionise the entire death industry and make ecologically sound burials a popular choice. Unfortunately, his gravedigger has just discovered that their cemetery has one too many corpses - that of an elderly woman. The police don't appear to be particularly concerned and seem to think it's that of a vagrant. But for Drew things don't add up: even if the woman died a natural death, someone was obviously responsible for burying her. When Genevieve Slater, a woman from Drew's past, turns up at his door, and asks him to help prove that the body is that of her missing mother, the mystery deepens. Why does Genevieve not go to the police with her concerns? All Drew's skills as an amateur detective will be needed if he is to get to the truth . . .

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Returning from a much-needed holiday, Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown discovers that life in the Lake District is, as ever, far from relaxing. Before she can enjoy the idea of being the future Mrs Chris Henderson, her fiancé discovers the body of his friend, antique dealer Jonathan Woolley, brutally strangled in a house in Grasmere. Enlisting the help of her friends and amateur detectives Ben and Bonnie, the investigation appears to ask more questions than it answers as historical grudges against the dead man are revealed. It seems that many people had a reason for wanting him dead. But with Chris's increasingly evasive and odd behaviour, Simmy begins to wonder if he is more involved in the murder than he is saying. How can she put her trust in a man with something to hide?

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Southampton 1920. Phoebe Collins rose to the challenge of running the family fruit and veg stall when her father did not return from the front. The work outside in Kingsland market in all weathers can be hard, but with her mother and younger brother Tim to support, she's determined that it continue to be a success. However, when Phoebe finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses something terrible, she will need all her strength to face the trials ahead and the fear that her loved ones may come to harm.

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1917. The Lotus Hotel offers sanctuary for its exclusively female clientele, attracting the cream of London's society. But a dead body found in one of its rooms is hardly good for business, and when it is discovered that the woman was neither a guest nor a member of staff, the Lotus's reputation as a safe haven is cast in doubt. Inspector Marmion and Sergeant Keedy are dispatched to look into the events at the hotel and soon suspect foul play. Tangling with a forgetful widower, a wily competitor and the haughty hotel owner, the pair will have to delve into the past to solve this crime in the present.

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When the teenage girl who has been hanging around near the house knocks on the door and tells her she's her granddaughter, Cassandra Bennington is shocked rigid. There's only one way this can be true: if Evie is the daughter of the baby Cassie gave away for adoption when she was herself a troubled teenager. Is this a trick? Or is Evie's tale true? When she discovers why the girl has come to find her, it brings a tangle of other problems that she can't ignore. This was the last thing she expected to be dealing with as she moves into her new home in a leisure village in Wiltshire.

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The houses in Saffron Lane are being filled with artists thanks to the efforts of Nell and Angus. Ginger doesn't win a place there, but gets a job running the small café/art gallery, taking refuge there from her abusive bully of a son. When she meets Iain, sparks fly between them, the first time she's felt attracted to anyone for years. But will her son spoil it? Emil is in town to open the small museum in Saffron Lane and run his father's business. This throws new opportunities in his path, and new problems too. Will the newcomers manage to build new lives or will selfish people destroy their attempts to find happiness?

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1817. Dawn breaks on a summer's day in Chalk Farm, London, and the scene is set for a duel between a lady's two ardent admirers. Paul Skillen has been teaching Mark Bowerman how to shoot properly and, although he is not sanguine of his chances, stands as his second. Although the duel is broken up, the passions behind the duel seem to spill out into the full light of day when Bowerman is stabbed to death in a stranger's garden. Paul and his twin Peter are determined to see justice done and are soon enmeshed in threads of inheritance, treachery and fraud.

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Despite the catastrophic outcomes of her previous house-sitting commissions, Thea Osborne, accompanied by her trusty spaniel, Hepzie, is truly convinced nothing can go wrong on her next assignment in the charming village of Blockley. The Montgomerys have asked her to look after their house while they take a much needed holiday. But trouble seems to follow Thea and when a body is discovered in the house next door, she finds herself in the midst of village secrets. From mystical local legends to celebrity sightings, the erstwhile quiet area turns out to be a place of mysterious contradictions - with very sinister undertones.

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Armistice Day, London, 1918. Fiercely independent Georgie is tired of being told what's best for her by men. When she defies her father's wishes by going out into the peace festivities, she tries to help a woman being attacked and encounters Patrick, a gallant, wounded ex-soldier looking for a new calling now that the fighting is done. But the war isn't over for everybody. Enemy forces have infiltrated the bureau and sent her father into hiding. And they are coming for her too. Georgie knows there's only one place where she'll be safe: Honeyfield. But there are traitors in the bureau and she doesn't know who she can trust.

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A brand-new collection of twelve short stories, featuring the popular characters from Rebecca Tope's Cotswold mystery novels. A suspicious funeral, a fatal encounter at a garden centre of all places, and a country walk marred by the discovery of a hidden corpse, are just some of the perplexing situations with which Thea Osborne, her friends and a further cast of characters must contend. In this expanded view of the world of her popular books, Tope reminds us that death and crime will visit even the most idyllic country villages.

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Nell has come to feel very at home in her beautiful corner of Wiltshire with her partner Angus. What she could do with, however, is a challenge, and the prospect of bringing life back to an abandoned row of houses, Saffron Lane, is just what she's looking for. Stacy, lost and alone after a divorce she didn't see coming, is trying her best to start over. And Elise, battling her nieces who would force her into residential care, longs for a home where she can get back to her painting. When their paths cross, the future starts to look brighter although not all goes according to plan.

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Kate Murray is deeply troubled. In front of her lies a dead man, a stranger who only minutes before had spoken to her - about a mystery, a long-forgotten murder and, most worryingly, her grandmother. His story was old, he had told her, but still deserving of justice. Soon Kate is caught up in a dangerous whirlwind of events that takes her back into her grandmother's mysterious war-time past and across the Atlantic as she tries to retrace the dead man's footsteps. Finding out the truth is not so simple, however, as only a few people are still alive who know the story.and Kate soon realises that her questions are putting their lives in danger. Stalked by an unknown and sinister enemy, she must use her tough journalistic instinct to find the answers from the past in order to have a future.

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Three women find new hope in Peppercorn Street, a small village in a beautiful corner of Wiltshire with a mixture of homes and people. Janey is 18 and living in a small flat with her baby daughter. Just as her new life starts to show promise, her past catches up with her. Nicole is renting one of the new luxury flats. She's just walked away from her husband and teenage sons, tired of being treated as a servant, suspecting her husband of having an affair. Winifred has lived in her large family home at the top of the street for over eighty years but it's all getting too much, though she doesn't want to leave. Things are not what they seem in any of the three women's lives and danger can strike at rich and poor alike. The trick is to survive it, and for this you need good friends and courage: all freely available in Peppercorn Street.

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1854. As the Cardiff-bound train puffs out of Paddington Station, young Hugh Kellow wraps a protective arm around his large valise. He has been entrusted with a priceless silver coffee pot, designed in the shape of a locomotive, by his elderly silversmith employer. But two of Hugh's fellow passengers are taking an enormous interest in the young man and his precious cargo. When a dead body is discovered in a room at the Cardiff Railway Hotel, beside an empty valise, the great Railway Detective Robert Colbeck and his trusty sergeant Victor Leeming are called in to investigate; and face a whole host of unexpected problems.

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Murder turns the journey of a lifetime into a deadly nightmare The plague has struck London once again but so has opportunity for theatre company Lord Westfield's Men. Invited to perform at the wedding celebrations of Sophia Magdalena, the fair maid of Bohemia, the company's bookholder Nicholas Bracewell and his acting troupe begin the long journey across Europe. Confident they will arrive safely and deliver Lord Westfield's secret missive to an alchemist in the Imperial Court, Nicholas is unaware what danger travels with them. Treacherous seas become the least of Nicholas' worries when one of their actors is savagely killed. To make matters worse, when they finally arrive in Prague, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II proves to be an eccentric and bewildering host and Nicholas' beloved Anne Hendrik is kidnapped...

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1905. Rosie Belsfield feels as if her life has ended when she is rejected from Ellis Island and put on the next boat back to England, leaving her family behind. But fate gives her a second chance when she befriends Lady Rosalind, a pregnant widow on her way to the home of her late husband's father, the wealthy Sir Ralph Tregowan. Having boarded the ship with one identity, fate decrees that Rosie leave it with another... As Rosie arrives in Cornwall as 'Rosalind', she must fend for herself amongst a new and bitterly resentful family. Rosie becomes increasingly trapped by her deception and the cruelty of those around her - the only light at the end of the tunnel seems to be the enigmatic Bryce Tregowan. With him the promise of a new life beckons, one of riches and even a title in beautiful Cornwall, but it is also one fraught with danger should her deceit be discovered. As she falls deeper into love and lies, can Rosie keep up the act, or will her secrets reveal themselves? And to what consequences?

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April, 1933. To the costermongers of London, Eddie Pettit is simply a gentle soul with a near-magical gift for working with horses. When he is killed in a violent accident, the costers are sceptical about the cause of his death, and recruit Maisie Dobbs to investigate. Maisie, who has known these men since childhood and remembers Eddie fondly, is eager to help. But it soon becomes clear that powerful political and financial forces are equally determined to prevent her from learning too much about Eddie's death. As Maisie uncovers lies and manipulation on a national scale, she must decide whether to risk all to see justice done.

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May, 1915. While thousands of Britons fight in the tranches, a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the home front safe. In London, the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots and arson attacks across the city. Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein, found dead in his burnt-out shop. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups and contradictions and track down Jacob's killer - a hunt which carries them from the crime-ridden streets of wartime London to the chaos of the front line. But is the murder simply the result of a tragic excess of wartime hysteria, or perhaps a more premeditated crime?

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For Lord Westfield's Men, every high road leads to death. When the deathly horrors of the Black Plague decimate the audiences in London's theatres, the acclaimed troupe of players called Lord Westfield's Men take to the high road to seek out fresh audiences. But wherever they go, they are thwarted by misfortune, and are baffled by mysteries. Their scripts are stolen, their players abducted. A dead man walks, and a beautiful woman hears the voice of God. Only one man is clever enough to match swords with the troupe's burgeoning troubles. Upon Nicholas Bracewell, the company's bookholder and mainstay, falls the burden that may cost him his life - as they head for an ancient inn called the Trip to Jerusalem, where the last act of a bloody drama is about to begin.

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His name was Will Fowler, an actor in the esteemed theatrical company called Lord Westfield's Men, a vibrant young man flushed from the success of a recent performance at the Queen's Head theatre. So exuberant was he that he persuaded the resourceful manager of the company, Nicholas Bracewell, to quaff a pint or two at a nearby pub. Alas, it was to be Will's last taste of beer. A tavern brawl left him dead - but not before he gasped for Nicholas to find his fast-fleeting, red-bearded murderer and administer a just revenge. Yet finding Will's murderer in London's dark, crowded streets was a seemingly impossible task - not to mention the fact that Lord Westfield's Men were just commanded to appear at the court of Elizabeth I - an honour one dare not refuse. . .

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A PERILOUS INVESTIGATION IN THE HEART OF LONDON RAVAGED BY THE GREAT FIRE September 1666. Meeting in the ashes of a devastated London, Christopher Redmayne, an architect with Cavalier instincts, and Jonathan Bale, a Puritan constable, are hardly kindred spirits. Redmayne dedicates himself to rebuilding the city that Bale believes was destroyed by its own inner corruption. The two men are thrown together when they catch thieves who are stealing from the house that Redmayne has designed for Sir Ambrose Northcott. The foul murder of Sir Ambrose joins them again, albeit reluctantly, in a complex and dangerous investigation that takes them through the brothels and gaming houses of Restoration London, right to the heart of the King's court.

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When Sir Julius Cheever's son, a notorious rake, goes missing, and a blackmailer begins terrorising London's most dissolute fops, it seems plausible that the two events are connected. Divided by politics but united in a desire to see justice done, Christopher Redmayne and Jonathan Bale must combine forces once again. But how can they hope to find those who exploit the scandal of others, when the victims themselves will do anything to maintain their anonymity? And what of Sir Julius's son? Most feel he must have been the victim of his own, debauched appetites, but a few talk of his repentance. So where is the repentant rake? And, with only lies, rumours and gossip to work with, can Redmayne and Bale ever hope to find him?

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Living, dead or Djinn, Joanne Baldwin just can't stay out of trouble. Now, she's on a time-sensitive mission to Las Vegas to retrieve the world's most important Djinn from the world's most dangerous teenager ...and she's doing it alone. That's bad enough but having to deal with a past that's determined to buy her, and suffering from serious wardrobe shortages ...well, that's over the line. One thing's for certain, Joanne is gambling everything this time.

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1261. Oxford, England. An envoy returns from the land of the Tartars to meet with an English scholar and share a deadly secret. The two men vow that the knowledge of gunpowder must die with them as the consequences are otherwise too fatal to contemplate. 1290. After his quiet life is shattered by tragedy, blacksmith Jared begins a pilgrimage from England to the Holy Land. The adventure that follows sees Jared join a holy crusade and encounter men from distant Cathay who harbour the secret of huo yao. So begins one man's obsession with the powder of death and a king's resolution to change the very nature of warfare . . .

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When Rose Trevelyan sees a young girl being carried away by someone who appears to be her father, she thinks nothing of it. Until, that is, the appearance of a frantic mother who cannot find her child. Beth Jones is only four years old, and her mother is adamant that the man Rose saw taking her away must be a stranger. Wracked with guilt for not intervening, Rose once again finds herself entangled in a criminal investigation. As time passes, it becomes clear that the chances of getting Beth back unharmed are very bleak indeed....

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The fourth book in the series. Rose Trevelyan is not concerned when her friend Etta does not turn up at the opening of her exhibition. When she hears the following day that a young man fell off a cliff in suspicious circumstances, Rose starts to makes connections and things start to go terribly wrong.

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Rome 549 AD. Forced to flee the city, merchant Nicander and legionary Marius escape to a new life in Constantinople. Determined to make their fortune, they plot a number of outrageous money-making schemes, until they chance upon their greatest idea yet. Armed with an audacious plan to steal precious silk seeds from the faraway land of Seres, Nicander and Marius must embark upon a terrifying and treacherous journey across unknown realms. But first they must deceive the powerful ruler Justinian and the rest of his formidable Byzantine Empire in order to begin their voyage into the unknown. In an adventurous tale of mischief and deception, Nicander and Marius face danger of the highest order, where nothing in the land of the Roman Empire is quite what it seems.

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Twenty years after her brother Callum mysteriously vanished, Orla Payne is still haunted by his disappearance. The case was closed after her uncle's suicide - the police believed he killed himself in the Hanging Wood out of guilt over murdering the boy, even though no body was ever found. Daniel Kind recommends Orla contact DCI Hannah Scarlett, head of the Lake District's Cold Case Review Team, to see if she can discover the truth about what really happened all those years ago. In spite of the DCI's doubt there is anything to be done on such a long-dead case, when Orla is found dead, she reconsiders, partly out of sense of duty and partly out of guilt, and discovers that investigating the past can throw up some very dangerous truths indeed.

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CAPTAIN DANIEL RAWSON'S MOST DANGEROUS ESCAPADE YET Flanders, 1707. Returning to camp from a dangerous solo mission behind enemy lines, Captain Daniel Rawson finds himself stranded, with French soldiers in fierce pursuit. A kindly farmer helps Daniel hide and then to escape - but with dire consequences. Back in England there is political unrest. Queen Anne's favour has shifted causing the Duke of Marlborough to resign as Commander-in-Chief. And all the while, the treacherous and scheming Duc de Vendôme, is hell-bent on capturing Daniel, by any means at his disposal, including kidnapping the beautiful Amalia. With the odds stacked against him, Daniel, aided by his friend Henry Welbeck, must face his greatest challenge yet and fight for his life at the bloody battle of Oudenarde.

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When George Millar, the City of Glasgow's orchestra leader, is brutally murdered in his dressing room before a performance, his colleagues are shocked. As the show goes on, DCI Lorimer and psychologist Solomon Brightman uncover a series of irrevocably tangled relationships between the orchestra members. Millar had been involved in a series of homosexual relationships and was well known for playing his lovers off against one another - but were his controversial dalliances really enough to incite cold-blooded and calculated murder?

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A puzzling journey through the Royal Mail Open this book, and you will discover a most curious and diverting collection of decorated envelopes, all of which have been sent through the Royal Mail system. In Envelopes, Harriet Russell has created a wealth of different ways of communicating an address: mazes, join-the-dots, anagrams, illustrations, puns, visual games, experimental fonts, puzzles, and literary wordplay. You may find it hard to believe that the majority of envelopes arrived at their intended destinations, but they did, and all have postmarks to prove it! Their safe delivery is a tribute to the heroic postal employees who rose to the challenge.

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Pippa Mason is ready for a fresh start. She has bought Pumpkin Cottage in the picturesque Wye Valley village of Riverdean, where her late mother grew up, and plans to renovate the run-down bed and breakfast into the business of her dreams. Adjusting to her new life on the Welsh-English border might take time, but Pippa is settling into village life and starting to fall for the charms of local Jake when problems start coming thick and fast ...Jenny Foster has enough on her plate running Riverside Lodge as well as managing her husband Phil''s diagnosis of early-onset dementia. She did not need the threat of another B&B on her doorstep. When a spat between Pippa and Jenny escalates and an autumn storm brings matters to a head, they will have to see if Riverdean is big enough for the both of them.

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When tragedy brings Merrin McKenzie back to St Ives, she knows adjusting might take time, even with the comfort of Christmas back in her hometown. Stepping back from her career as a solicitor, she agrees to clean holiday rentals for her friends who own cottages nearby. She anticipates dirty laundry and sandy floors, but she didn''t sign up for a dead body, neatly tucked up in one of the guest beds. The police are baffled by the young man''s identity and the strangeness of his death. For Merrin, however, coincidences are beginning to stack up. Even though Inspector Louis Peppiatt is sceptical of her theories, something sinister is hiding beneath the festive surface of this charming seaside town. As the case unfolds, a dark side to the Cornish coast emerges.

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