The Charming Man

*** CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR 2022*** Relish the wit and wisdom of Marian Keyes in this story of four women caught up in what seems like love, but may be something much darker . . . from the No. 1 bestselling author of Grown Ups 'So funny, so perceptive, so real . . . I changed my life for this book' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'An emotional tour de force with genuine human warmth' INDEPENDENT ___________ 'Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married' Slick, handsome politician Paddy de Courcy is on the up. His party is set to do well in the elections and he's just announced his engagement to the beautiful Alicia. Which is news to his girlfriend, Lola, who, within hours, finds herself dumped and warned not to talk to the press. Yet journalist Grace is on the prowl. She has been after Paddy ever since he ruined her sister Marnie's life way back in college. Grace is looking for the inside story and thinks Lola holds the key . . . But do any of them know the real Paddy? ___________ 'The laughs come fast and furious . . . a gripping, compelling tale' Sunday Independent 'The queen of page-turners . . . brimming with her trademark down-to-earth wit' Cosmopolitan 'Gripping from the start . . . the master at her best' Daily Telegraph Winner of the British Book Awards May 2022

Vampires do not exist. Everyone knows this. So it's particularly annoying when they start popping up around Manchester . . . Nobody is pleased about it. Not the Founders, the secret organisation for whom vampires were invented as an allegory, nor the Folk, the magical people hidden in plain sight who only want a quiet life. And definitely not the people of Manchester, because there is nothing more irksome than being murdered by an allegory run amok. Somebody needs to sort this out fast before all Hell really breaks loose - step forward the staff of The Stranger Times. It's not like they don't have enough to be dealing with. Assistant Editor Hannah has come back from getting messily divorced to discover that someone is trying to kidnap a member of their staff and while editor Vincent Banecroft would be delighted to see the back of any of his team, he doesn't like people touching his stuff - it's the principle of the thing. Throw in a precarious plumbing situation, gambling debts, an entirely new way of swearing, and a certain detective inspector with what could be kindly referred to as 'a lot of baggage' and it all adds up to another hectic week in the life of the newspaper committed to reporting the truth that nobody else will touch. This Charming Man is the second book in the critically acclaimed The Stranger Times series. 'A gag-filled romp . . . in the spirit of Terry Pratchett.' The Times 'Great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise.' Guardian 'Fresh and genuinely funny.' SFX

'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' proclaimed ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling This is Going to Hurt 'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' said the GUARDIAN JASON MANFORD thinks it's 'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.' The Chronicles of St Mary's series author JODI TAYLOR declared 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.' And THE TIMES called it 'ripping entertainment from start to finish.' There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own. When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined. The Stranger Times is the first novel from C.K. McDonnell, the pen name of Caimh McDonnell. It combines his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a joyous celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction. Readers love The Stranger Times: ***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.' ***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.' ***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'

A chilling, eye-opening story of marriage and attempted murder, revealing the truth about a case that made headlines around the world. On Easter Sunday 2015, experienced skydiver Victoria Cilliers undertook a parachute jump, a gift from her husband, British army sergeant Emile Cilliers. Her parachutes failed to open and she plummeted 4,000 feet to the ground, sustaining life-threatening injuries. Miraculously, she survived. Then the police arrived at her door. Someone had tampered with her parachute and they suspected Emile. In I Survived Victoria describes how she fell for Emile, and how the charming man she thought she knew gradually revealed a darker side, chipping away at her self-worth until she found it impossible to sift truth from lies. Can she really believe that her husband – the father of their two young children – tried to kill her? As more shocking revelations come to light, and she has to face his trial and relentless media scrutiny, she struggles to come to terms with the past. Even a guilty verdict does not free her because Emile is not ready to let her go . . . Powerful and honest, I Survived is the story of a woman who was put through hell and yet found the strength to forge a new life for herself and her children.

A portrait of the contemporary music icon explores his enigmatic personality in light of the author's own fan obsession, tracing his rise as the front man of The Smiths in the 1980s through his solo career.

Janice Miller knows this: she loves her husband, her two spirited daughters and the beautiful home in which she has raised her family. But what she doesn't know is how to stay afloat when a devastating discovery tears that familiar world apart. It is only once the damage has been done that she finally realises how distant her daughters have become - and that schoolgirl Lizzie and 28-year-old Margaret now have dark secrets of their own. After years of following separate lives, they are reluctantly drawn back together under the same roof.It's the outside world that has unravelled their dreams, but what they all fear most now is each other. Yet it's there, in the family home, that they are forced to confront their crises - and where, slowly, each of them begins to heal.

‘Give this book to a sister, a mother, a friend; it may change her life.’ LAUREN LAVERNE One in four women will experience domestic violence. We all know a woman whose life is dominated and controlled by her partner – and we might not even realise it. Many women find themselves in the thrall of the Charm Syndrome Man, a man whose distinct pattern of behaviour and use of charm ultimately serves to gain control over the woman. In the new edition of her classic work, Sandra Horley CBE draws on almost four decades supporting abused women to provide an insight into the reality behind the mask of the charming man. The book's aim is to show women they are not alone and to help them walk away from the confusing, dangerous situation they find themselves in. Even after devastating emotional and physical abuse, there is hope. This is a story of courage and strength, told by women who have reclaimed their lives so that others may too.

One of the seminal groups of the Eighties, The Smiths' career was as brilliant as it was brief. Now, drawing on interviews with band members, producers, and colleagues, music journalist Simon Goddard presents a meticulous chronological survey of the group's musical evolution, from their first demos in 1982 to their final fractured studio session five years later. Investigating the stories behind the songs, and detailing every British TV and radio session, he also offers a unique analysis of each track's concert life. Granted unprecedented access to The Smiths' studio archives and to the private collection of outtakes and rehearsals retained by drummer Mike Joyce, the author lifts the lid on unreleased material as well as the lost songs and alternate versions that have remained closely guarded secrets until now.