Fiction choice

All civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is. 1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a (read more)

All civilisations think they are invulnerable. History warns us none is.

1468. A young priest, Christopher Fairfax, arrives in a remote Exmoor village to conduct the funeral of his predecessor. The land around is strewn with ancient artefacts - coins, fragments of glass, human bones - which the old parson used to collect.
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`Let the wind take me and the soft rain settle me into the Irish soil from where I came. And may my sins be forgiven.' Arethusa Clayton (read more)

`Let the wind take me and the soft rain settle me into the Irish soil from where I came. And may my sins be forgiven.' Arethusa Clayton has always been formidable, used to getting her own way.

On her death, she leaves unexpected instructions. Instead of being buried in America, on the wealthy East Coast where she and her late husband raised their two children, Arethusa has decreed that her ashes be scattered in a remote corner of Ireland, on the hills overlooking the sea. All Arethusa ever told Faye was that she grew up in a poor farming family and left Ireland, alone, to start a new life in America as did so many in those times of hardship and famine. (hide)

*It can be hard keeping secrets in a tight-knit neighbourhood. In a tranquil, leafy suburb of ordinary streets - one where everyone (read more)

*It can be hard keeping secrets in a tight-knit neighbourhood. In a tranquil, leafy suburb of ordinary streets - one where everyone is polite and friendly - an anonymous note has been left at some of the houses. `I'm so sorry.

My son has been getting into people's houses. He's broken into yours.'Who is this boy, and what might he have uncovered? As whispers start to circulate, suspicion mounts. And when a missing local woman is found murdered, the tension reaches breaking point.
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One life-changing summer Charlie meets Fran... In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph. His (read more)

One life-changing summer Charlie meets Fran... In 1997, Charlie Lewis is the kind of boy you don't remember in the school photograph.

His exams have not gone well. At home he is looking after his father, when surely it should be the other way round, and if he thinks about the future at all, it is with a kind of dread. Then Fran Fisher bursts into his life and despite himself, Charlie begins to hope.

But if Charlie wants to be with Fran, he must take on a challenge that could lose him the respect of his friends and require him to become a different person. He must join the Company. And if the Company sounds like a cult, the truth is even more appalling. (hide)

From multi-million-selling writer Jeff Abbott comes an intense and gripping new psychological thriller about a daughter's desperate (read more)

From multi-million-selling writer Jeff Abbott comes an intense and gripping new psychological thriller about a daughter's desperate search for her mother - when she discovers two other women with the same name are also missing. My mum would never leave me. This has been Mariah Dunning's motto.

So when she glimpses her mother - who's been missing for the past year - Mariah's conviction becomes stronger than ever. Or is she losing her mind?An unlikely coincidence?When Beth Dunning disappeared without a trace, suspicion for her murder immediately fell upon Mariah's father. Until Mariah stumbles upon two other recent disappearances. (hide)

England 1648. A dangerous time for a woman to be different . . . Midsummer's Eve, 1648, and England is in the grip of civil war (read more)

England 1648. A dangerous time for a woman to be different . .

. Midsummer's Eve, 1648, and England is in the grip of civil war between renegade King and rebellious Parliament. The struggle reaches every corner of the kingdom, even to the remote Tidelands - the marshy landscape of the south coast. (hide)

Their darkest secrets won't stay buried forever... The butchered body of a professor is found in a private office of Exeter University. (read more)

Their darkest secrets won't stay buried forever...

The butchered body of a professor is found in a private office of Exeter University. It is the first in a spate of horrific murders that shakes the city to its core. Who would target a seemingly innocent man, and why? DS Imogen Grey and DS Adrian Miles turn to his students for answers, but their investigation turns up no leads. (hide)

Every town has its ugly little secrets... From the outside, the house in Lakeview Terrace looks perfect and the Bigelows seem like (read more)

Every town has its ugly little secrets... From the outside, the house in Lakeview Terrace looks perfect and the Bigelows seem like the perfect family: the respected surgeon father, the glamorous, devoted mother and two beautiful children. A perfect family, in a perfect house living their perfect lives.

But perfect surfaces can hide dark undercurrents and behind closed doors lies a very different story. Teenager Zane and his younger sister, Britt, are terrorised by their violent father and dysfunctional mother. Too afraid to speak out, Zane does his best to protect his sister and counts the days until they can finally be free. (hide)

Betty is running for her life . . . Young Betty dreams of settling down to an ordinary life with her husband. But when he returns (read more)

Betty is running for her life .

. . Young Betty dreams of settling down to an ordinary life with her husband.

But when he returns broken and haunted from the Great War, she finds herself persecuted by his distraught mother - and yearns to escape. It is only when a storm devastates the village that Betty sees her chance. Fleeing to Bristol and changing her name to Mabel Brook, she seeks a new life - only to discover destiny has other plans.
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