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Winner of the 2016 EDGAR, AGATHA, MACAVITY and H.R.F.KEATING crime writing awards, this real-life detective story investigates how Agatha Christie and colleagues in a mysterious literary club transformed crime fiction.Detective stories of the Twenties and Thirties have long been stereotyped as cosily conventional. Nothing could be further from the truth.The Golden Age of Murder tells for the first time the extraordinary story of British detective fiction between the two World Wars. A gripping real-life detective story, it investigates how Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, Agatha Christie and their colleagues in the mysterious Detection Club transformed crime fiction. Their work cast new light on unsolved murders whilst hiding clues to their authors’ darkest secrets, and their complex and sometimes bizarre private lives.Crime novelist and current Detection Club President Martin Edwards rewrites the history of crime fiction with unique authority, transforming our understanding of detective stories, and the brilliant but tormented men and women who wrote them.

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The complete Kate Maryon collection:GlitterA Million AngelsShineA Sea of StarsInvisible GirlFive stories from Kate Maryon, featuring a cast of sparkling, unforgettable characters.Meet super-rich Liberty, who must learn that not all that glitters is gold when her dad loses his job, Jemima whose dad is away fighting in the war, Tiffany whose mother is a thief, Maya and Cat whose worlds collide in a story of friendship and family, and Gabriella who runs away from home and must find her beloved brother Beckett.

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An epic, emotional story of two girls and their bond with beloved horses, the action sweeping between Italy during the Second World War and present day.When Lola’s grandmother Loretta takes her to Siena, Italy, for the summer, Lola learns about the town’s historic Palio races – a fast and furious event where riders whip around the Piazza del Campo, and are often thrown from their horses while making the treacherous turns. Lola is amazed to learn her grandmother used to take part in these races – and had the nickname ‘The Daredevil’!Nonna Loretta tells Lola that she used to race in a rival team to the boy she loved – who was captured by the Nazis in 1941. Lola develops a bond with a beautiful racehorse. She jumps at the chance to enter the Palio – can she win, in honour of her grandmother? And can she uncover the mystery of the boy’s capture and fate all those years ago?

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The jaw-dropping new psychological thriller from the best selling author of The Boy in the ParkAmber is happy, she loves her husband David and their dog Sadie, she even loves her job as a junior editor on a local newspaper. But when the body of a young woman is found in a stretch of river near her home, Amber’s world begins to implode.The headaches that she has been struggling with seem to intensify and Amber begins to doubt her husband, why doesn’t he want to probe deeper into the story and why does she seem to have such a shaky hold on her own thoughts and memories?Amber begins to question everything she believes in and as she starts to probe deeper, her discovery will bring her ever closer to home…

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A powerful debut set in Belfast and London in the latter years of the twentieth century. The Troubles turned Northern Ireland into a ghost factory: as the manufacturing industry withered, the death business boomed. In trying to come to terms with his father’s sudden death, and the attack on his harmless best friend Titch, Jacky is forced to face the bullies who still menace a city scarred by conflict. After he himself is attacked, he flees to London to build a new life. But even in the midst of a burgeoning love affair he hears the ghosts of his past echoing, pulling him back to Belfast, crying out for retribution and justice.Written with verve and flair, and spiked with humour, The Ghost Factory marks the arrival of an auspicious new talent.

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Prize-winning author Adam Nicolson tells the story he was born to write – the real story of England. It is the gentry that has made England what it was and, to a degree, still is. In this vivid, lively book, history has never been more readable.We may well be ‘a nation of shopkeepers’, but for generations England was a country dominated by its middling families, rooted on their land, in their locality, with a healthy interest in turning a profit from their property and a deep distrust of the centralised state. The virtues we may all believe to be part of the English culture – honesty, affability, courtesy, liberality – each of these has their source in gentry life cultivated over five hundred years. These folk were the backbone of England.Adam Nicolson’s riveting book concentrates on fourteen families with a time-span from 1400 to the present day. From the medieval gung-ho of the Plumpton family to the high-seas adventures of the Lascelles in the 18th-century, to more modern examples, the book provides a chronological picture of the English, seen through these intimate, passionate, powerful stories of family saga. The families have been selected from all over the country and range from the famous to the unknown. Some families are divided by politics , such as the one who took different sides in the Reformation; others destroy their inheritance through reckless gambling or investments . All of them are vivid depictions of the life and code of the gentry, and have left deep archives of family papers which the author has been able to use, often for the very first time.THE GENTRY is first and foremost a wonderful sweep of English history. It presents a convincing argument on what has created the distinctive English character but with the sheer readability of an epic novel.

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A delightful tale of victory against all odds from master storyteller, Michael Morpurgo, lavishly illustrated by Michael Foreman.“Every fox in the whole town, in the whole country just about, is a football fan… And we all have an impossible dream.”In a cosy den under a garden shed lives a family of foxes. They love to watch football – all foxes do. But their favourite team keeps losing and losing, and it seems like things will never look up.That is, until Daddy Fox finds the ghost of a king, buried underneath a car park. A king who wishes only to be free.“Release me,” says the Ghost King, “and I can do anything. Just tell me your greatest wish.”For these football-loving foxes, might everything be about to change…?

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A gorgeous, heartwarming debut for fans of Giovanna Fletcher, Paige Toon and The Unmumsy Mum!‘This book captured my heart’ Bestselling author Christie BarlowMeet Pippa…After years of trying and a failed IVF attempt, Pippa is thrilled to see two little lines appear on a pregnancy test. Finally a precious baby to call her own. This is all Pippa has ever wanted…if only husband Jason could show just a little excitement.Imogen…A baby is the icing on the cake for Imogen and Alice – proof that their love for each other can overcome any obstacle. But when Imogen starts receiving malicious texts, it's clear that not everyone is thrilled about the girls' good news.And Ellie…A drunken one-night stand and Ellie's life is ruined! Pregnant, jobless and the relationship with her best friend, Chris, over- forever. Because Chris just happens to be the father of Ellie's baby…and potentially the love of her life!For these first time mums the road to motherhood is bumpier than most!'A fresh and individual look at three first-time mums and their very different stories. Connected by more than pregnancy, their lives are deftly intertwined to entertain the reader to the last page' Sue Moorcroft, bestselling author of The Christmas Promise

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An enchanting and empowering standalone story from the author of The Princess and the Foal.Twelve-year-old Hilly has landed her dream job, riding on the set of Brunhilda, an epic film based on the fearless warrior of Icelandic legend. Norse fire ritual tells that on mid-summer’s day, animals and humans can shape-shift and one night Hilly finds herself connected to the young warrior and her fire stallion. As the two girls’ lives intertwine, Hilly soon realises that they’ll both have to risk everything for the love of their horses…Inspired by real-life historical events, The Fire Stallion is an epic tale…

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