Charles Dickens is one of the most famous and influential writers in English literature and Heather Redmond's delightful series asks what if Dickens had also solved crimes...? Now, the third book in the acclaimed A Dickens of a Crime series reimagines Dickens' most famous story, A Christmas Carol, as a murder mystery with Dickens himself as the sle...

As snowflakes fall, romance blossoms across open fires, ice skating rinks and a tiki bar... Harriet Cookson knows exactly what she wants from life. She has a plan, she has ambition and she knows she has to keep busy. But when her beloved Nana Lorna passes away, Harriet has to put everything on hold as she flies out to the Hamptons to say goodbye an...

A Christmas short story from bestselling author Lucy Diamond, revisiting her Beach Cafe characters. After a hectic summer running her beach cafe in Cornwall, Evie Flynn is looking forward to her first Christmas with new boyfriend Ed - she's determined that it's going to be the most perfectly romantic one ever. Cosy nights in front of the fire, spic...

Christmas may be the season of goodwill and festive cheer, but not for the poor of 1950s Liverpool. And for St Angelus Hospital in Lovely Lane, it is frantically busy. There are the old, the dying, the children and the emergencies. The nurses, known locally as the Angels of Lovely Lane, are run off their feet. Dana, Beth, Pammy and Victoria hardly...

The Trial is one of the great works of the twentieth century: an extraordinary vision of one man put on trial by an anonymous authority on an unspecified charge. Josef K, 30, lives in a large town in an unspecified country. He is summonsed to answer a charge and appears in the court room for his trial. Franz Kafka evokes all the reality of tri...

This hugely engaging story of murder, superstition, religious politics and drama in a medieval monastery was one of the most striking novels to appear in the 1980s. The Name of the Rose is a thrilling story enriched with period detail and laced with tongue-in-cheek allusions to fictional characters, the most striking of which is the Franciscan fria...

An old man, enchanted by tales of knightly courage, puts on his rusty armour and sets out on a quest of his own. For him, the world is filled with giants, knights and a peerless mistress. Others, such as his earthy squire Sancho Panza, see windmills, sheep and vulgar serving girls. But such prosaic interpretations do not satisfy the greatest figure...

  Winner of the 1997 Booker Prize. The richly exotic story of the childhood the twins Esthappen and Rahel craft for themselves amongst India's vats of banana jam and mountains of peppercorns. Here, perhaps, is the greatest Indian novel by a woman. Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' is an astonishingly rich, fertile novel,...

After her adventure in the mountains of Vystrana, and her exploits in the depths of Eriga, to the high seas aboard The Basilisk, and then to the deserts of Akhia, the Lady Trent has captivated hearts along with fierce minds. This concluding volume will finally reveal the truths behind her most notorious adventure—scaling the tallest peak in t...

A full-cast BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Agatha Christie's novel, known to be a favourite among her own works.When Doctor Calgary visits the Argyle family, he believes he brings good news. He is there to clear the name of Jacko, who was convicted of the murder of his own mother, Rachel. But the doctor's news is not greeted with the enthusiasm he expec...

The author of Excellent Women explores female friendship and the quiet yearnings of British middle-class life-a literary delight for fans of Jane Austen. Jane Cleveland and Prudence Bates were close friends at Oxford University, but now live very different lives. Forty-one-year-old Jane lives in the country, is married to a vicar, has a daughter sh...

Sam is a war photographer famous for her hauntingly beautiful pictures of the dead. After a particularly gruelling assignment, she checks into an expensive hotel. Unfortunately she has chosen the exact moment terrorists attack the hotel. Abhi, the hotel manager, thought his hotel was a safe haven, a place where he could be himself. Now stuck inside...

Tremarnock is a classic Cornish seaside village where Liz has found sanctuary for herself and her young daughter, Rosie. From early in the morning with her job as a cleaner, till late at night waitressing in the restaurant, Liz works all the hours God sends to provide for them both. But trouble is waiting just around the corner. As with all village...

Devon, 1887. Life has not been kind to dairymaid Tresca Ladycott. She can't rely on her flighty farmhand father, Emmanuel, so she relies on herself. Then comes a devastating blow. Tresca is sacked from the dairy and the pair lose their home. She and her father seek a new life in bustling Tavistock. More hardship lies ahead. The only work to be foun...

From award winning author, Michelle Vernal comes an utterly heartbreaking, historical novel inspired by her birth family's connection with the Isle of Wight - Fans of Susan Sallis, Ella Carey and Fiona Valpy will absolutely love this captivating, unique story. 1944 The Isle of Wight - Sixteen-year-old Constance's life on the island is sheltered unt...

Ginny's drunken father, devastated by the death of her mother and three siblings, ends up imprisoned for murder. Charlie, Ginny's 8-year-old sickly brother, is taken to the workhouse. Ginny is forced to flee her job and the unwanted advances of the baker. Close to breaking point, her beauty leads her to become Lady's Maid to the difficult Miss Dian...

At Treetops Foundling Home in Victorian Nuneaton, one special little girl brings sunshine and joy wherever she goes. A favourite of her foster mother, Kitty grows into a beguiling young woman, but soon attracts the attention of more than one suitor with questionable intentions. She quickly discovers that her beauty is no protection against the peri...

For Kay, living on her husband Bror's country estate, the Nazi invasion is a time of uncertainty. Bror is desperate to preserve the legacy of his home, even if it means co-existing with the enemy; Kay cannot do the same. She is lured by British Intelligence into a world of resistance. Tasked with protecting an SOE agent, Kay learns the art of subte...

Catherine Cookson's well-loved novels Hamilton and Goodbye Hamilton tell the story of Maisie, who invented an imaginary horse to keep her company through the long years of an unhappy marriage, and before she became a bestselling author. In this engaging sequel, Hamilton has vanished from Maisie's life and in the days after the death of her second h...

Maisie doesn't understand why her mother can't love her, but she knows that her life is hard and deeply unhappy. When her stepfather George, the only person she trusts, leaves, Maisie has no protector until she begins to escape. She could never be quite sure when she first met up with Hamilton; most likely it was when she started talking to herself...

A priceless Titian masterpiece. A sumptuous French chateau with a deadly secret. And a mystery hidden in a Bordeaux village that will change their lives forever... When elegant Anouk, a dealer in American antiques, dies unexpectedly, she leaves the Metropolitan museum an uncatalogued, multimillion dollar painting by Titian. Her son, Mischa, had no...