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Wonder Tales: Six Stories of Enchantment
By Marina Warner. 1994
Marina Warner has gathered together a magical collection of fairy tales by the great women storytellers of the 17th and…
18th centuries. These are passionate, extraordinary, and occasionally proto-feminist retellings of classic fairy stories by women who ingeniously used the fairy tale genre to comment on their own times and experiences. The stories are all in superb new translations by celebrated writers, including A. S. Byatt, Gilbert Adair and John Ashbery. With a brilliant intorduction by Marina Warner, recognised as one of our greatest experts on myth and fairy tale.Wrong Time, Wrong Place (Quick Reads 2013 #1)
By Simon Kernick. 2013
A gripping Quick Read from the master of the race against time thriller.Have you ever been in the wrong place…
at the wrong time?You are hiking in the Scottish highlands with three friends when you come across a girl.She is half-naked, has been badly beaten, and she can’t speak English.She is clearly running away from someone.Do you stop to help her? Even if it means putting your friends’ lives – and your own - in terrible danger?The Wrong Hand
By Jane Jago. 2016
We all make mistakes. Moments that change us and the path we are on irrevocably.For Rachel Allen it was the…
moment that she let her son's hand slip from hers. For Danny Simpson and Graham Harris it was the moment one of them took it.Seven years ago Danny and Graham were just children themselves, angry, marginalized and unguided. That was, until they committed a crime so heinous that three families were left devastated. They were no longer just boys. They were monsters.Released from juvenile detention, it is time for the boys, now men, to start again; new names, new people. But they can never escape who they are or what they did. And their own families, now notorious; the Allens, destroyed with grief; and the country at large have never been able to forget.They will always be running. They will always be hiding. But are some mistakes too large, the ripples to far reaching, to outrun forever?The Woman Who Walked into the Sea (The Sea Detective #2)
By Mark Douglas-Home. 2016
The daughter who nobody wanted learns the truth about the mother she never knew. A page-turning, heart-breaking mystery 'full of…
surprises ... this is a classic whodunit' (Scotsman).Cal McGill is a unique investigator and oceanographer who uses his expertise to locate things - and sometimes people - lost or missing at sea.His expertise could unravel the haunting mystery of why, twenty-six years ago on a remote Scottish beach, Megan Bates strode out into the cold ocean and let the waves wash her away.Megan's daughter, Violet Wells, was abandoned as a baby on the steps of a local hospital just hours before the mother she never knew took her own life.As McGill is drawn into Violet's search for the truth, he encounters a coastal community divided by obsession and grief, and united only by a conviction that its secrets should stay buried...Praise for The Woman Who Walked into the Sea:'An always entertaining and gripping mystery ... Infinitely better written than the majority of its competitors' Herald'A classic whodunit. A mystery from the school of Ruth Rendell, and I can't imagine anyone who likes those not delighting in this' Scotsman'Cal McGill is a triumph ... a wonderfully unique creation' crimefictionlover.com'Simply intoxicating' Library JournalPraise for The Sea Detective:'Raises the bar for Scottish crime fiction ... elegantly written and compelling' Scotsman'Promises to be a fine series of detective novels' Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month'Excellent' Literary Review - top five crime books of the year'A compelling protagonist' The Times Literary SupplementThe Woman in White (The Penguin English Library)
By Wilkie Collins. 2012
'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop ... There, as if it…
had that moment sprung out of the earth ... stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.The Woman in White
By Wilkie Collins. 2010
'The most popular novel of the nineteenth century, and still one of the best plots in English literature' Sarah Waters…
Marian and her sister Laura live a quiet life under their uncle's guardianship until Laura's marriage to Sir Percival Glyde. Sir Percival is a man of many secrets – is one of them connected to the strange appearances of a young woman dressed all in white? And what does his charismatic friend, Count Fosco, with his pet white mice running in and out of his brightly coloured waistcoat, have to do with it all? Marian and the girls' drawing master, Walter, have to turn detective in order to work out what is going on, and to protect Laura from a fatal plot . . .A Wolf in Hindelheim
By Jenny Mayhew. 2013
An atmospheric and gripping novel from an exciting new voice for fans of The Snow Child and The Hundred-Year-Old Man…
Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared.South-West Germany, 1926. The disappearance of a baby girl calls for Constable Theodore Hildebrandt and his son Klaus to visit the remote village of Hindelheim, a place where nothing ever happens. But the news of the missing baby has brought darkness to the community. It is as if someone or something wicked is playing a game. As the wind blows and the mist thickens, tensions rise amongst the villagers as everyone falls under suspicion. And when the rumours begin and secrets start to unravel, the quiet village of Hindelheim is set to change for ever.Wrapped in White
By Kevin Brooks. 2013
PI John Craine - still struggling to cope with the weight of his past - is forced to finally confront…
it in his most personal and frightening case yet.PI John Craine is hired to investigate the brutal murder of a Somali youth called Jamaal Tan. The police are treating the murder as just another gang-related crime, but Tan’s aunt believes there’s more to it than that, and she claims the police are trying to cover up her nephew’s death.While investigating the case, Craine learns of the sudden death of his friend and mentor Leon Mercer. At first it appears to be a tragic accident, but Craine soon finds himself entangled in two deeply suspicious investigations. And before long he comes face to face with a man he hoped never to see again.This engrossing and unputdownable fast-paced thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Simon Kernick, the UK's answer to Harlan Coben, is…
perfect for fans of David Baldacci, Stuart MacBride and Peter James. Guaranteed to get your blood pumping - a real edge-of-your-seat ride!'Hang on tight!' - Harlan Coben'Full of Kernick's trademark cheerful amoral characters, it's irresistible entertainment' -- Sunday Mirror'A spectacularly fast moving and captivating read.' -- Lovereading'Wow I absolutely loved this book from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review'I couldn't put it down and read it within 24 hours of getting it!' -- ***** Reader review'Fast paced thriller with the twists and turns that keeps you enthralled from the first page to the last' -- ***** Reader review'Full of tension and excitement' -- ***** Reader review****************************************************************************************YOU'VE SEEN TOO MUCH. NOWHERE IS SAFE NOW.THE WITNESSWhen Jane Kinnear sees her lover being murdered, she suddenly finds herself in danger. Taken to an anonymous police safe-house, it soon becomes clear that her lover was an MI5 informant with important information about an imminent terrorist attack.THE DETECTIVEDI Ray Mason of Counter Terrorism Command is a man with a controversial past, but his effectiveness at getting results means that he's now been given the task of preventing the attack from taking place. But can he be trusted, and does he know more about the attack than he's letting on?THE KILLERIn the safe-house, Jane is trying to piece together a description of her lover's killer. But what she doesn't know is that the killer has already found out who she is, and where she is hiding.And now he's coming for her ...The Withered Arm and Other Stories 1874-1888
By Thomas Hardy. 1999
"See if she is dark or fair, and if you can, notice if her hands be white; if not, see…
if they look as though she had ever done housework, or are milker's hands like mine."So Rhoda Brook, the abandoned mistress of Farmer Lodge, is jealous to discover details of his new bride in 'The Withered Arm', the title story in this selection of Hardy's finest short stories. Hardy's first story, 'Destiny and a Blue Cloak' was written fresh from the success of Far From the Madding Crowd. Beautiful in their own right, these stories are also testing-grounds for the novels in their controversial sexual politics, their refusal of romance structures, and their elegiac pursuit of past, lost loves. Several of the stories in The Withered Arm were collected to form the famous volume, Wessex Tales (1888), the first time Hardy denoted 'Wessex' to describe his fictional world. The Withered Arm is the first of a new two-volume selection of Hardy's short stories, edited with an introduction and notes by Kristin Brady.The Wisdom of Father Brown (The father Brown Stories Ser. #2)
By G K Chesterton. 2014
The second volume of stories featuring the most unlikely detective in literature - now the basis for a major BBC…
TV adaptation starring Mark Williams. The ingenious amateur detective Father Brown is put to the test again in this second collection of stories, which sees him solve cases featuring bandits, traitors, voodoo and murder, wrong-footing his opponents at every turn with his characteristic blend of mischievous humour and uncanny understanding of human foibles.G. K. Chesterton was born in 1874. He attended the Slade School of Art, where he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown, before turning his hand to journalism. A prolific writer throughout his life, his best- known books include The Napoleon of Notting Hill (1904), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922), The Man Who Was Thursday (1908) and the Father Brown stories. Chesterton converted to Roman Catholicism in 1922 and died in 1938.Wild Places: Selected Stories
By Katherine Mansfield. 2023
A beautiful new hardback edition of Katherine Mansfield's most vivid and distinctive stories.Katherine Mansfield was the only writer Virginia Woolf…
envied. Mansfield transformed the short story genre with her work, creating stories miraculous in their intensity yet seemingly so simple. The shift of a heart, the beat of a moment, the changing of the light: in these stories emotional universes are contained within glimpses.Mansfield only lived to the age of 34 but in that time wrote stories true to her indomitable spirit. A hundred years on from her death, Mansfield's biographer, Claire Harman, has created this new selection to show us the master of the short story form in full flight.WITH A FOREWORD BY HELEN SIMPSON AND INTRODUCTION BY CLAIRE HARMAN'There is something rapturous about her work...she has the power to distil the apparently inconsequential into frozen moments laden with significance' Guardian'Would you not like to try all sorts of lives - one is so very small - but that is the satisfaction of writing - one can impersonate so many people' Katherine MansfieldThe Widow's Secret: Bella Wallis Mystery (Bella Wallis Victorian Mysteries #1)
By Brian Thompson. 2008
Bella Wallis is a respectable society woman with a secret identity: in an office buried deep within the seedy backstreets…
of London, she writes sensationalist novels exposing the scoundrels that litter high society under the pen name Henry Ellis Margam.So when a crested cigar case is found near the body of a murdered prostitute, Bella and her friends are determined to trace the murderer and write a mystery that will avenge the poor girl's untimely death. But the owner of the cigar case is a dangerous - and rich - man who has already destroyed the lives of others who have crossed him. Will Bella see justice done, or will she meet the same fate as so many of her characters...?The Widow's Secret is the first in the Bella Wallis series of mysteries and takes us from London to Paris, from the highest of society to the lowest of the low. It is an entertaining, effervescent romp and a wonderful introduction to this most charismatic of heroines.Who Pays The Piper
By Mackenzie Smith. 2012
It's 1999. The SAS have been sent to the jungle of Sierra Leone to rescue a group of British soldiers…
taken hostage by the notorious West Side Boys. Captain Christian McKie leads an advanced four-man patrol into position, ready to call in the main strike force at a moment's notice.But all is not as it seems; betrayal and greed are deadly enemies. Christian is captured and held hostage, his will to survive only eclipsed by his desire for revenge.Who Among Us? (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Mario Benedetti. 2019
'This novel is a jewel ... one of those books that enters the soul, which it is impossible not to…
be conquered by. It is a masterpiece like few others' Huffington PostMiguel and Alicia fall quietly in love as teenagers, walking back from school together. When Lucas - enigmatic, charismatic - arrives, everything changes, and Miguel is certain he has lost Alicia. Yet, against the odds, she marries him. Now, eleven years later, their marriage has begun to fray, and Alicia sets out to see Lucas again. As each member of this strange love triangle tells their side of what happened, an unforgettable story of desire, deception and tragic misunderstanding unfolds.The White People and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Arthur Machen. 2011
Machen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor…
of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage for a tale entirely without logic.The Valley of Fear
By Arthur Conan Doyle. 2011
'There should be no combination of events for which the wit of man cannot conceive an explanation.'In this tale drawn…
from the note books of Dr Watson, the deadly hand of Professor Moriarty once more reaches out to commit a vile and ingenious crime. However, a mole in Moriarty's frightening criminal organization alerts Sherlock Holmes of the evil deed by means of a cipher. When Holmes and Watson arrive at a Sussex manor house they appear to be too late. The discovery of a body suggests that Moriarty's henchmen have been at their work. But there is much more to this tale of murder than at first meets the eye and Sherlock Holmes is determined to get to the bottom of it.A gripping tale of deception and doubt from much-loved and bestselling author Iris Gower. A crime of passion that will…
have you hooked...Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin. WHAT READERS ARE SAYING'Well written with a real twist to the end of the story' -- ***** Reader review'Fantastic, Iris never lets you down' -- ***** Reader review'Couldn't put this book down' -- ***** Reader review'Absolutely loved this' -- ***** Reader review****************************************************************A ROMANTIC WEEKEND AWAY THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING...Lowri is happier than she had ever been. A romantic weekend away with her brand-new fiancé Jon is proving just the break they both need - until he disappears from their bedroom, leaving nothing behind but a terrifying mystery.For Lowri soon discovers that the man she thought she had known and loved is a very different person in reality - particularly when she meets his wife, Sarah. And the police naturally treat Lowri as the prime suspect in what they assume to be a murder case.More evidence comes to light of Jon's double life, and Lowri wonders who she can trust. She begins to doubt her work colleagues, her friends, even her family.As the net tightens around the man she had thought she loved, she realises that her own life is in terrible danger...When I Lost You: Searing police drama that will have you hooked
By Merilyn Davies. 2019
__________________________Former Crime Analyst Merilyn Davies brings to life a gritty, heart-stopping crime thriller that will have you utterly obsessed.'Assured, fresh,…
engrossing' MEL SHERRATT'Taut, authentic and sensitively told' CHRIS EWAN‘Compassionately, confidently and beautifully written’ STEVE MOSBY‘A breath-taking, page-turning read’ CLARE MACKINTOSH'Fast-paced, authentic ... you’ll be desperate to get to the bottom of the case' CRIME MONTHLY MAGAZINE__________________________When a young couple are the lead suspects for the murder of their only child, Crime Analyst Carla Brown and DS Nell Jackson are assigned to investigate. The evidence seems conclusive, but something just doesn’t feel right. The case is quickly cast into doubt when the lead forensic pathologist starts receiving threatening letters – containing details only the police should know.Who’s sending them? What do they want? And how did they get hold of the information?As Carla and Nell dig deeper, it soon becomes clear that this case isn’t the first of its kind.They must stop at nothing to find the truth – even if it hits close to home.__________________________Readers can't stop talking about When I Lost You:‘An exciting and twisty police thriller’‘A very unusual but gripping storyline’‘I read this almost in one sitting as I was so gripped’‘A first class debut, a mix of psychological thriller meets police procedural’‘All the twists and turns kept me reading into the early hours’‘I love the two main characters - I really hope we see more of them.’‘Once I started, I couldn’t put it down.’The Valley of Fear
By Arthur Conan Doyle. 2008
From the annals of Dr Watson comes this dark tale of Sherlock Holmes’ early encounter with Professor Moriarty. When Holmes…
and Watson receive a cipher from one of Moriarty’s henchmen warning of dark doings at a manor house, they find themselves on the trail of a murderer.Almost immediately, they are on their way to Sussex where they discover a corpse with its head blown to pieces. But all is not as it seems. For the origins of this case lie in America, and involve a Pinkerton’s man and the doings of a terrible and secretive lodge ...