Margaret Yorke

The market town of Mickleburgh has successfully hidden the secrets of its inhabitants for generations, but the casual murder of a man trying to prevent vandalism shatters the perfect veneer. The aftermath of the violent death produces unexpected reactions between partners and friends.

The investigation of a young woman's murder twelve years ago sets off a terrifying chain of events.

Jerry and Pete have been successfully conning householders but Jerry decides to go straight after meeting Charlotte Frost. Charlotte is persuaded to let Jerry renovate her garden, and one day she suddenly disappears. Why, and is Jerry involved?

Martin Trent expects his mother to do everything he wishes, and she does because the threat of violence is ever present. When Adam Wilson moves into the village he and his housemate become concerned for Susan's safety, but is this concern too late?

Living on the edge of society, odd job man Denis is desperate to prove himself. After a chance meeting with an inmate of the local open prison he gets his chance, and finds himself tangled up in murder and running for his life.

In the village of Middle Bardolph acts of greed and obsession are about to turn elderly Mrs Newton's prim life upside-down. An ex-convict has moved into the house next door: her recently jilted daughter is going mad with grief, whilst her middle aged son is desperate for his inheritance!

Hermione has been oppressed by her husband for years but his desire to dominate women is becoming pathologically dangerous.

When her housekeeper is found poisoned, it is assumed by everyone that old Mrs Ludlow had been the intended victim. Doctor Patrick Grant, Oxford don and amateur sleuth has other ideas.

Alan Parker cannot bear to tell his wife that he has suddenly been made redundant. While secretly looking for a job he meets Tessa, a waif-like little girl, and her widowed mother, Louise. He and Louise embark on an affair and, when Tessa disappears, Alan is the prime suspect.

In the pretty coastal town of Milton St. Gabriel the arrival of Lydian Cunningham's daughter and her unappealing boyfriend, unleashes events that reveal a sordid and long-hidden tale of illegitimacy and murder.

Emily gets a job as a nanny. She discovers her charge is illegitimate - the father a conman who disappeared before the baby was born. Now, unknown to Emily, he is back, determined to exploit his status as parent in return for some cash.

A chance encounter with a stranger seems to offer Nina Crowther an escape from her problems. When the phone rings on her first night house-sitting in the Blunts' Berkshire manor house, all Nina hears is a shuddering sigh. As the calls persist she fears she has attracted an unwelcome suitor...

On holiday in Athens, Patrick Grant witnesses an accident in which an elderly lady, Miss Amelia Brinton, dies. Shortly afterwards her friend, Miss Forrest, also dies in a suspicious accident at the British Museum. Coincidence or something more sinister?

Major Johnson has served in the army faithfully and now, in retirement, he sets about village life in the same way. But beneath the surface of a quiet village, the paths of thieves and lovers, murderers and innocents, converge. No one is safe from the consequences, including the Major.

Short stories displaying the author's ability to extract unease, fear and evil from everyday situations.

Andrew Sherwood's curiosity is aroused when he meets Louise, an obviously frightened woman who then disappears. Later he discovers that Louise is on the run from her tyrannical husband.

Mick Harvey has been released from prison. He enjoys frightening people – for a thrill. He encounters Laura and Marion, who report him for dangerous driving. Mick determines upon revenge, but a seemingly simple plot ends up keeping the reader on tenterhooks right to the end.

When Miss Darwin bought 'The Willows', she didn't realise that she had upset the plans of a killer, but soon she and her neighbours are threatened by crime and violence.

When William Adams, who has served time for rape and assault, is released and takes on a new identity, he is horrified to meet someone from his past in a rural guesthouse.

Carrie was still young when she first broke the law; Gordon has only transgressed once, but his crime was far more serious. When they marry, she doesn't suspect a thing, but when she begins an affair - a bit of harmless fun - something else she doesn't know about her husband comes to light.

The arrival of a fugitive from police justice brings dangers, sorrow, and pain for the inhabitants of Bramsbourne, particularly for the Trents and the local vicar, a disabled war veteran.

Philip Winter, a mild, sweet-tempered salesman at an elite department store, never suspects a nicely dressed woman will make a pass at him . . . and then accuse him of rape when he turns down her advances. Even though he is acquitted, he just wants to disappear, and finds himself joining the lost world of the homeless.