The House On The Strand

"Prime du Maurier. . . . She holds her characters close to reality; the past she creates is valid, and her skill in finessing the time shifts is enough to make one want to try a little of the brew."—New York Times

Named a Library Reads Pick, Apple Books' Best Book, Powells’ Pick, Amazon Fiction & Literature's “Best of the Month," The Millions' Top Ten Book of the Month, and one of CrimeReads' and Oprah Daily's Best Historical Novels of 2021 "Funny, eerie, tender, haunting and unsettling, smokily atmospheric, and fantastically enjoyable." ?Helen Macdonald, author of Vesper Flights London, 1893: high up in a house on a dark, snowy night, a lone seamstress stands by a window. So begins the swirling, serpentine world of Paraic O’Donnell’s Victorian-inspired mystery, the story of a city cloaked in shadow, but burning with questions: why does the seamstress jump from the window? Why is a cryptic message stitched into her skin? And how is she connected to a rash of missing girls, all of whom seem to have disappeared under similar circumstances? On the case is Inspector Cutter, a detective as sharp and committed to his work as he is wryly hilarious. Gideon Bliss, a Cambridge dropout in love with one of the missing girls, stumbles into a role as Cutter’s sidekick. And clever young journalist Octavia Hillingdon sees the case as a chance to tell a story that matters—despite her employer’s preference that she stick to a women’s society column. As Inspector Cutter peels back the mystery layer by layer, he leads them all, at last, to the secrets that lie hidden at the house on Vesper Sands. By turns smart, surprising, and impossible to put down, The House on Vesper Sands offers a glimpse into the strange undertow of late nineteenth-century London and the secrets we all hold inside us.

An adventure novel about a dark superhero, whose past has obligated him to become the protector of the innocent.

"DeLuca keeps readers guessing. Minette Walters fans will be pleased." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and Hannah Kent's Burial Rites, this taut psychological thriller offers a delicious take on deviant and defiant Victorian women in a time when marriage itself was its own prison. England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released after one year in a private asylum for the insane. Clara has two goals: to reunite with her husband, Henry, and to never—ever—return to the asylum. As she enters Durham, Clara finds her carriage surrounded by a mob gathered to witness the imprisonment of Mary Ann Cotton—England’s first female serial killer—accused of poisoning nearly twenty people, including her husbands and children. Clara soon finds the oppressive confinement of her marriage no less terrifying than the white-tiled walls of Hoxton. And as she grows increasingly suspicious of Henry’s intentions, her fascination with Cotton grows. Soon, Cotton is not just a notorious figure from the headlines, but an unlikely confidante, mentor—and perhaps accomplice—in Clara’s struggle to protect her money, her freedom, and her life.

A young apprentice to an assassin becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that could destroy a kingdom in a brilliant epic fantasy debut by David Gemmell Award-nominated author RJ Barker To catch an assassin, use an assassin... Girton Club-foot has no family, a crippled leg, and is apprenticed to the best assassin in the land. He's learning the art of taking lives, but his latest mission tasks him with a far more difficult challenge: to save a life. Someone is trying to kill the heir to the throne, and it is up to Girton to uncover the traitor and prevent the prince's murder. In a kingdom on the brink of civil war and a castle thick with lies, Girton finds friends he never expected, responsibilities he never wanted, and a conspiracy that could destroy an entire kingdom. Praise for The Wounded Kingdom: "Dead gods, dread magic, and a lead that feels like a breath of fresh air. Great fun."―Peter Newman, author of The Vagrant "Often poignant and always intriguing, Age of Assassins reveals its mysteries with the style of a magic show and the artful grace of a gifted storyteller."―Nicholas Eames, author of Kings of the Wild "The most interesting treatment of the fantasy assassin trope in a while, and an involving narrative in its own right."―RT Book Reviews The Wounded Kingdom Age of Assassins Blood of Assassins King of Assassins For more from RJ Barker, check out: The Tide Child Trilogy The Bone Ships Call of the Bone Ships

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA 'One of the last century's most original literary talents' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Wickedly readable . . . every woman instinctively wants to read her' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW ' Somehow more personal than Daphne du Maurier's other novels' KIRKUS REVIEWS 'When people play the game: Name three or four persons whom you would choose to have with you on a desert island - they never choose the Delaneys. They don't even choose us one by one as individuals. We have earned, not always fairly we consider, the reputation of being difficult guests . . . ' Maria, Niall and Celia have grown up in the shadow of their famous parents. Their father is a flamboyant singer and their mother is a talented dancer. Now pursuing their own creative dreams, all three siblings feel an undeniable bond, but it is Maria and Niall who share the secret of their parents' pasts. Alternately comic and poignant, The Parasites is based on the artistic milieu its author knew best and draws the reader effortlessly into that magical world.

A beautiful debut novel set in the Outer Hebrides, The House Between Tides strips back layers of the past to reveal a dark mystery. In the present day, Hetty Deveraux returns to the family home of Muirlan House on a remote Hebridean island estate following the untimely death of her parents. Torn between selling the house and turning it into a hotel, Hetty undertakes urgent repairs, accidentally uncovering human remains. Who has been lying beneath the floorboards for a century? Were they murdered? Through diaries and letters she finds, Hetty discovers that the house was occupied at the turn of the century by distant relative Beatrice Blake, a young aristocratic woman recently married to renowned naturalist and painter, Theodore Blake. With socialist and suffragist leanings Beatrice is soon in conflict with her autocratic new husband, who is distant, and wrapped up in Cameron, a young man from the island. As Beatrice is also drawn to Cameron, life for them becomes dangerous, sparking a chain of events that will change many lives, leaving Hetty to assemble the jigsaw of clues piece by piece one hundred years later, as she obsessively chases the truth. In The House Between Tides, author Sarah Maine uses her skills as a storyteller to create an utterly compelling historical mystery set in a haunting and beautifully evoked location. 'Last night, debut author Maine dreamed of a contemporary spin on classic Gothic tropes. Orphan Hetty Deveraux has inherited a crumbling, wind-battered mansion on a remote Muirland Island in western Scotland, "on the edge of the world." The day she arrives to inspect her new property, however, local assessor James Cameron has found a skeleton beneath the floorboards. Who is it, and how long has it been there? Abandoned since the war, the house was the refuge of Theo Blake, a Turner-esque painter-turned-mad recluse and a distant relative of Hetty's. At loose ends since the deaths of her parents, Hetty hopes restoring the house will serve as a new beginning. Meanwhile, in 1910, Theo Blake brings his new bride to Muirland House, whose landscapes have inspired some of his most famous paintings. Maine skillfully balances a Daphne du Maurier atmosphere with a Barbara Vine-like psychological mystery as she guides the reader back and forth on these storylines. The two narrative threads are united by the theme of conservation versus exploitation: Muirland is a habitat for several species of rare birds, threatened in the 1910 plot by Blake's determination to kill and mount them for his collection and in the 2010 story by Hetty's half-formed plans to transform Muirland House into a luxury hotel. Local man Cameron wants to see the island preserved as "a precious place, wild and unspoiled, a sanctuary for more than just the birds." The setting emerges as the strongest personality in this compelling story, evoking passion in the characters as fierce as the storms which always lurk on the horizon. A debut historical thriller which deftly blends classic suspense with modern themes.' Kirkus 'Muirlan Island in Scotland's Outer Hebrides provides the sensuous setting for British author Maine's impressive debut, which charts the parallel quests of two women a century apart. [...] Vivid descriptions of the island's landscape and weather enhance this beautifully crafted novel.' Publisher's Weekly 'There is an echo of Daphne du Maurier's Rebeca in Sarah Maine's appealing debut noel, when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of a derelict mansion on a Scottish island... a highly readable debut.' Independent 'A tremendous accomplishment. So assured, so well-judged, and with such an involving story to tell, this might be the author's fifth or sixth novel, not her first. A literary star is born!' Ronald Frame, author of The Lantern Bearers and Havisham

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF REBECCA. 'Miss du Maurier creates on the grand scale . . . observation, sympathy, courage, a sense of the romantic, are here' OBSERVER 'It is my pick of the Spring biographical material for sheer entertainment value . . . a gifted story teller' KIRKUS REVIEWS 'Daphne du Maurier has no equal' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH When Daphne du Maurier wrote this book she was only thirty years old and had already established herself both as a biographer with the acclaimed Gerald: A Portrait and as a novelist. Here, she further explores her fascinating family history. The Du Mauriers was written during a vintage period of her career, between two of her best-loved novels: Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. Her aim was to write her family biography 'so that it reads like a novel' and it was due to du Maurier's remarkable imaginative gifts that she was able to breathe life into the characters and depict with affection and wit the relatives she never knew, including her grandfather, the famous Victorian artist and Punch cartoonist - and creator of Trilby.